63% of poll results are entirely made up
The Home Office published a report last week, entitled ‘Sexualisation of Young People.’ It was trailed on the radio, along with some of its radical recommendations, which include relegating ‘lad’s mags’ like Nuts to the top shelf. It’s an entirely worthy subject, and as the mother of a young teenage boy and a preteen girl, I was pretty interested in what it had to say. The report author, Linda Papadopoulis, states firmly in the introduction that: This is not an opinion piece, the evidence and arguments presented within this document are not based on...
Read MoreEvidence and belief
This morning, news came in from the inquest into the death of a 14-year old girl, Natalie Morton, who died shortly after receiving a vaccination against HPV (human papilloma virus). In short: the poor girl had a malignant tumour in her chest which was undoubtedly the cause of death. This hasn’t stopped the anti-vaccination squads from speculating about the safety of the vaccine. The Daily Mail, long-time opponent of most childhood vaccinations (except the ones against really horribly scary illnesses) has already been running a story depicting HPV vaccination as ‘a mass...
Read MoreThe curious case of the game show neuroscientists, or how NOT to research an online community
I’m a fond member of the blogging/social networking site, Livejournal. Over the last few days, I’ve seen the most incredible shitstorm unfold, over the cack-handed efforts of two rogue academics to research what they were pleased to call ‘the cognitive neuroscience of fanfiction’. Background First, a bit of background: Livejournal (one of the original social networks) is a vast and varied set of subcultures, and interconnected blogs, dominated by film, TV, book and gaming fans. It is more counterculture than culture, really: it tends to be left-wing, creative and...
Read MoreManifesto
Some of us find it quite simple to put our real organisations and authentic selves online.
Others - well, let's just say that some of us can't bear to look at our own websites.
My mission is to help you transform your online presence so that other people understand and appreciate what you really have to offer. So that you can achieve what you want - whether that's better engagement, more readers, or more sales.