If you caught my recent attempt to wax lyrical on the subject of causememes, and the new age of digital caring, it’s possible that you may have detected a small amount of cynicism in my stance on the subject. You may even have developed the impression that I’m one of those generally negative people who has lost all faith in humanity, believes that one man can’t make a difference and that people are generally, selfish and lazy when it comes to looking out for their fellow man.
If this is the case I would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight
I am in fact a generally cheerful sort of person, filled with faith in my fellow man and hope for a better future. I believe that one man can make a difference and that if everyone works together we can build a future for our species that stretches beyond the boundaries of this failing planet and into the great beyond.
Don’t dig out the John Lennon classics, just yet mind you..
No success can become lasting, without the tempering that comes from harsh criticism, no greatness achieved without the burning desire to overcome imperfection.
If we are to succeed as a species and circumnavigate the treacherous potholes on the road to our brighter future, then we must be willing to address our failings head on and strive to become better humans.
It is for this reason today, that I would like to address with you some small issues that have recently come to my attention, particularly surrounding the previously mentioned issue of the taking up of causes, average attention spans and a general misuse of the mediums which many of you have erroneously deduced to be effectively employed for the greater good.
If you will allow me one more disclaimer before I cut to the proverbial chase: While I have long harboured suspicions regarding these issues I am not here to today, my friends, to deal in opinion and speculation. I have in fact come, bearing statistics.
Our friends over in the Googleverse, where all Internet traffic must eventually pass through, are kind enough to maintain a comprehensive statistical engine which is free to all-comers to examine and gain a deeper understanding of what it is that people are actually doing with their time on the Internet.
One of the quick features one can access is the Hot Trends list, which maintains the top 100 search traffic generators
I would draw your attention first to the opening point of our investigation, June 12 the day the story broke about the usurped Iranian elections. As you can see the election results managed to gain a spot at number 46 on the list, just beaten out by Facebook vanity urls, which was clearly a more pressing social issue, vanity urls also appeared higher up the list under a different search phrase, no other topics pertaining to Iran made the top 100.
Fast forwarding through the rest of June this apparently hot cause, in fact causes barely a flutter on Google’s hot trends beyond the 14th. on the 17th the search terms green now and green again peak briefly, however there is almost certainly a crossed line here with environmental
issues that is skewing the results and there is again not so much as a flutter about Iran in the rest of the list.
Finally, on the 20th the story seems to gain a little traction in the global attention span contests, coming in at number 7 with ‘neda iran’, however this attention is short lived. The very next day the hot list is invaded by Shiloh,Pepin, the mermaid girl and Iran and it’s rapidly failing neda (it means voice) slip down to position’s 86 and 100.
The next day sees Iranian girl shot holding on at position 75, however for the majority of the searching world coverage of the US Open, and watching Weeds Season 5, episode 3 are far more pressing concerns.
On the 23rd traffic spikes nicely again, seemingly brought about by a new batch of videos entitled ‘Iranian woman shot’. I’m sure that I shouldn’t be disturbed by the fact that video footage of the deaths of innocents grabs your attention spans far more effectively than any actual discussion of the political situation unfolding – you’re watching because you care, right?
By the 24th it seems that most Googlers have had their fill of morally obligated snuffing and the woman shot videos predictably begin to fall off the charts again.
and then on the 25th day, Michael Jackson died.
So tell me again, how much you care about the plight of the Iranian people?
as this year’s British commentator firmly securing it’s status as a high point on the ‘camp calendar’.
The contest itself went off with little incident. Russian snipers up on the balconies held their fire as the Georgian contestants nervously performed their entry entitled 
