If you’re a #263chat regular you probably noticed yesterday was the first Tuesday since #263chat started that the virtual Twitter discussion was not held. The reason, according to the founder, Nigel Mugamu (@SirNige), is that #263chat is going live. Mugamu posted an update on his blog yesterday evening announcing the development.
This week the usual #263Chat on Tuesday will NOT go ahead as usual. Here’s why: #263Chat together with NewsDay and the US Embassy in Harare are proud to announce the first #263Chat Live Event to be held this Thursday 20th December 2012.
The event will be held at the US Embassy Public Affairs Auditorium in Harare. Asked why he’s taking the virtual event live, Mugamu said the reason is to allow people to network and meet face to face. “The plan for #263Chat is to continuously engage people so we can work through the various issues together irrespective of background,” he explained, “Most people in Zimbabwe aren’t on Twitter so live events reach out to another audience.”
We can’t agree more of course. And we’re sure the event will be live tweeted so the virtual folks still get the opportunity to join in the discussion.
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5 comments
So why should that stop the online version then? i dont understand? how about us in the diaspora?
People will live tweet from this event so you can follow this event by following the usual hashtag #263Chat and #NewsDayConnect
Despite what many will say or suggest, #263Chat remains a twitter based conversation and will continue in this format.
Love forward to connecting.
I think it’s a little too early to be making this a live event. Why don’t they wait a little more and be more patient while the platform becomes bigger to the effect that it now warrants a live event or radio show, or whatever. The reason why most liked it, including I, was the fact that it’s based on twitter…and I could post comments anonymously without revealing my identity….
NIgel should relax a little.
Hi James, thanks for the honest feedback.I always appreciate this,I’m sure you can tell by my interaction on twitter & other social media tools that I encourage other people’s views etc in the hope that we both learn and grow from the interaction.
The main reason for the live event on Thursday relates to the topic itself. Some of the diaspora population are now back or coming back for the holidays so it was seen as a perfect opportunity to reach out and connect with them by discussing issues that seem to affect them more than us ‘Zim Locals’. Many want to return, some are frustrated with their current situations ‘over there’, some simply want to link up and connect – share/exchange ideas etc. Allowing for that space was seen as a positive thing. Organisations like NewsDay and the US Embassy came onboard as a result of this vision so hopefully the event will be worth it for those who attend and those who follow the discussion online.
Hi James, I think people ought to know that they are not as anonymous as they think on Twitter (or the internet) in general. To remain anonymous, you must never make a mistake: a single post containing identifying information (photo, location, workplace/etc) is enough.
I was shocked when I made the discovery: ‘Doxing’ people is surprisingly easy (especially with the tendency to reuse same handles on different services, Google image search). It’s really a fascinating area, e.g. it’s possible to give a good guess on authorship by using software that analyses your writing style/word choice, given input text of a sufficient length.
A good rule of the thumb is to assume what you do/say online can/will be traced back to you, IRL, even though the probability of someone to be sufficiently motivated to do so is rather low.