Here's an idea, hurricanes are bad.
So Hurricane Sandy has passed.
I'm very lucky, I didn't even lose power or internet,
but I am trapped in Brooklyn.
Mass transit is shut down, the mayor is telling people
not to drive, so it might be a little while
before the next Idea Channel gets posted.
So I thought I would make a fun little thing in my apartment
here with my own fake Idea Channel wall.
But real Idea Channel updates might be a little slow.
And speaking of updates, um, I forget
who it was, but I'll try to figure out
and post a link in the description.
I saw a really interesting Twitter posted this morning
from someone who's saying that they thought
reading a trustworthy Twitter feed for five minutes
is more informative than watching
CNN for a whole half an hour.
And this made me realize that I actually spent the entire storm
flipping back and forth between watching "Undeclared"
on Netflix and reading Twitter.
And that when the mayor would come on I
would flip on the broadcast news and watch him for as long
as he was on TV, but for the most part,
I was getting my news-- for lack of a better
word-- from my friends who were living the storm
and posting updates on the internet.
For the last very long time, I think
that we think of news as something that's
handed down from on high from like a broadcast
network or something.
And actually, I saw someone else post something on Twitter
and they said, why would anyone ever believe anything
that people are saying on Twitter about Sandy?
And this made me wonder, why do people believe things that they
see on the broadcast news?
Not in like a skeptical, kind of like jerky way, but, but
honestly, what is it about broadcast news
that makes it trustworthy?
Is it the fact that they have a satellite
or are regulated by the FCC?
Which is interesting to think about, but maybe
beside the point that during a scary and dangerous event
I was able to stay in touch with my friends
and experience the storm with them.
I mean, if I had been only watching the news I probably
would have been worried sick, and that for me the best news
is the most personal news.
So I don't know, that's just a thought that I had.
What do you guys think?
Is it weird that I spent the entire hurricane on Twitter
instead of watching the news?
And what, what even counts as news?
Let us know in the comments.
And if you want regular updates as to when the next Idea
Channel episode is-- hopefully very soon-- find us on Twitter.
And if you are in the East Coast, stay safe and good luck.