Internet journalism in general and blogging in particular is a very interesting media.
Why you ask? I think it is in the quality, you never really know what quality of content you're going to find, especially if it is pushed to you by your peers via email, or stumbled upon by a Google search.
I got another viral tid-bid email today, like so other email every day, from one of my family members who likes to forward anything they seem to like.
I usually just skim those and immedietly send to the trash bin, but this time I kept on reading, and it was quite interesting.
I personally don't like forwarding viral emails, I feel it is a nuisance to the recipient - that I fill up their mailbox.
Instead I prefer social bookmarking, and facebook has become a great platform for that: Everybody is connected, and whoever wants to - can connect
What I usually do when encountering an interesting topic, I start researching the subject with
Google,
Wikipedia.
I always try and find the first appearance, because as these viral emails go, they lose (and sometimes add other) bits and pieces on the way.
This particular email was in my native tongue, Hebrew, so I had to research even further if it was translated or not.
After about 5-7 minutes (yes it takes time), I found the first English source indexed by Google, using Google Search's
Timeline feature.
What I found was somewhat interesting.
This is the closest copy of the email I received. (the Hebrew one)
This is another Hebrew version, which is closer to the source - the only credit is to the translator (Neomi Sebelski).
This is the oldest English source I found.
My guess is that the source isn't English, since the English article is dated 2007, while the Hebrew one is dated 2006 (It was probably translated directly from Swedish).
Along the road the email shed some paragraphs, and details, and was revamped with additional info during it's journey to my inbox.
What I found intriguing was that even when the digital copy-paste is so readily available the human factor insists on leaving it's mark, just like the
Broken Telephone (aka Chinese Whispers) children's game, where one whispers to another in a circle and the original and result are compared.
Also, as most of you have noticed in numerous internet sources, no matter the language, there is a complete disregard of credit, and not to mention accuracy.
The subject of the matter is called the "
Slow Movement", and it is about taking the time with various dimentions of life, including: food, money, parenting, etc.
The reason I found all of this interesting, is that the message of this "Slow Movement", which is taking life one step at a time, taking the time to appreciate value and form, instead of just quantity and volume is that the message itself got syndicated without any appreciation to quality or value, correctness or cross-referencing.
So read about the Slow Movement, and grok the idea, and maybe take your part in it, and evaluate how it can affect your life.
The sources in the net are far better then anything I can write about, start with the Wikipedia link (above).
Also take the time and examine this article itself and evaluate it with your own critical mind, comment on any aspect of it - the writing, the content, coherence of message, also what did you get from it.
Just take your time, and start enjoying the moment, who knows what you would find.
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