Web 2.0, support systems and Tobias Buckell
Whatever you do when someone you care about is in trouble, you should start doing it now. One of my great friends and a talented writer, Tobias Buckell, went into the hospital yesterday for a heart problem; one they are still trying to track down. While Toby is doing better than when he was admitted to the ER early Tuesday morning he is still under observation and continues to look like a prototype of the Six Million Dollar Man.
Throughout this whole ordeal Toby has been blogging the experience and updating us on his status as well as twittering other updates during the past day and a half. According to one source close to Toby, twittering has been one of the most helpful distractions from the hospital, which I’m sure is a major plus.
This brings me to two points regarding blogs and Twitter. First of all I am extremely thankful for the information that I was able to find out about his current condition without constantly bothering his family but the whole process highlighted an important aspect of relying on Twitter for important communication. Yesterday; when Twitter was undergoing, “database maintenance”, I felt extremely cut off from the situation and refreshed Twitter more than a Wooter trying to get the next Wootoff item. Even though Twitter was able to stand up to the recent election, it can prove unreliable when it’s most important to you, meaning it might not be up for mission critical duties just yet.
Getting back to my other point, it is amazing to see the outpouring of support for Tobias and his family both on TobiasBuckell.com and on the BoingBoing post about his latest novel Sly Mongoose. As I write this there are almost 300 comments from writers, readers, family and friends on Tobias’ website and likely untold numbers of facebook, livejournal, instant and email messages waiting for him. The fact that Web 2.0 and social networking have the possibility to quickly lend and direct support to a person and their family in a time of need cements the importance of social media, networking and blogging, at least to me.
While you have a minute, take a second to share your well wishes over at Toby’s page, keep him in your thoughts, prayers, tweets and blog posts while he recovers.
I know, personally, I can’t imagine a world without the characters and worlds Toby brings to life in his writing, any more than I can imagine a world without a friend like Toby.
Get well dude, I need to beat Gears of War 2 with you, the locust hordes won’t wait forever!
Josh Status Update
I hope at least someone enjoyed my April fools joke rickrolling you via a Trillian Astra download link. In all seriousness I am looking forward to the release of Trillian Astra, and wish I could get in on the Alpha right now. I’d pony up for Trillian Pro but I don’t feel like repaying when Astra is released and no upgrade path has been announced to my knowledge. If you are with Trillian and want another tablet tester drop me a line!
Updates may be sparse or less lengthy as I pull into the homestretch of my MBA program at Bluffton University. I will be wrapping up my final class on April 29th and cannot wait! April 29th is also the same day that GTA 4 comes out so I’ll be taking the 30th off to get knee deep in Liberty City.
What are my plans after graduation you ask? I am planning on staying on at Bluffton and I hope to get involved a little more with Young Alumni cultivation and I also hope to use some of my new-found free time to blog more.
How To Respond To Blogger Criticism
According to Marshall Kirkpatrick you Fix it!
I had an opportunity to comment today on the question of how a company ought to respond to bloggers who have damaged their reputation. Below are my thoughts. I’d love to read yours, too.
The best thing that companies can do in response to bloggers who have done their reputation harm is to take the bloggers’ complaints as seriously as is appropriate. Readers will determine the validity of blogger criticism for themselves, but if the criticism is valid then there’s no hiding from it any more.
Josh Smith is a blogger, database manager and adjunct professor of business and technology. 
