Roger Ebert on Social Media

August 16, 2011 8:32 AM

Roger Ebert has posted the intro of his memoirs, Life Itself, to his blog, which particularly talks about how therapeutic his blog has been, giving him a voice when he can no longer speak. Originally dismissive of online media, he's gone on to embrace it (for example, with his twitter feed), in a manner matched by few other celebrities.
posted by kaszeta (22 comments total)

Roger Ebert is the only person over the age of 30 who I've had to unfollow on Twitter for posting too much.
posted by Zozo at 8:41 AM on August 16, 2011 [9 favorites]

I'm sort of impressed he's found time to write his memoirs in between all his blog posts, tweets, reviews, movie viewing, festivals, keeping up with his thousands of blog comments, etc. I think he's hardwired into the 'net.
posted by starman at 8:55 AM on August 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

Roger Ebert is the only person over the age of 30 who I've had to unfollow on Twitter for posting too much.

Clearly you never followed Stan Lee.
posted by griphus at 9:02 AM on August 16, 2011 [2 favorites]

Hardwired to the net would explain it -- as if every thought ends up blogged or tweeted. I used to think that he was posting/writing so much these days because of his inability to speak as he used to do. But now I think that even before his health issues, he couldn't have been able to talk that much.

Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised that if some days he tweets/blogs more than I speak out loud in a day. And I say this as a fan who thinks it's a good thing.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:20 AM on August 16, 2011

His twitter volume is definitely high, but I have to say it only really bothers me when he links the same post 2-3 times. Once is enough. And given all the shots he likes to take at ebooks I'm glad to see that there's a Kindle version for preorder, though I'm sure that has everything to do with the publisher.

All that aside, I enjoyed the excerpt and am looking forward to reading the rest when it comes out. The connection between the loss of speaking ability and the rediscovery of memory due to having to live so much his own head so much is really interesting. It makes me wonder if that wouldn't be tantamount to imprisonment but for the outlet that his blog and other media provide.

I'm on the older edge of "Millennial" and I grew up with parents and peers questioning the validity of the connections I created online. But I just can't imagine my life without it; it was so key for surviving some really tough times. If I had been born a generation earlier I'm not sure what I would have done. Likewise for Roger Ebert--what would this stage of his life be like without the outlets he's created? He may have written memoirs anyway, but there have been some incredibly touching and community-creating posts at his blog, words that went streaming across thousands of miles of fiber and air and made that many more people feel that they weren't alone. For all the problems the net can introduce in our lives, that right there makes it all worth it to me.
posted by Kosh at 9:41 AM on August 16, 2011 [2 favorites]

Words are wind.
posted by Crabby Appleton at 9:57 AM on August 16, 2011

Originally dismissive of online media...

Hard to believe. Way back in 1991/1992, Roger Ebert was active on Compuserve and was quite enthusiastic about the online world and its possibilities.
posted by grounded at 10:15 AM on August 16, 2011 [3 favorites]

Roger Ebert is the only person over the age of 30 who I've had to unfollow on Twitter for posting too much.

Clearly you never followed Stan Lee.

Or Hugh Hefner.
posted by jbickers at 10:41 AM on August 16, 2011

I believe Hugh Hefner is the one actually tweeting under his account the same way I believe his girlfriends want to be with him for love and are naturally blonde. Zing?

But anyhow. Yeah. Ebert posts some great stuff on twitter but he is really the driving force for me to wish twitter had a way to filter or categorize tweeters, cause damn if twitter for me isn't "Roger Ebert and associated guests". Still good stuff though.
posted by cavalier at 11:02 AM on August 16, 2011

If all the posting and commenting tires him out, he could always relax with a nice video game.
posted by keratacon at 11:22 AM on August 16, 2011

Zing?

I just pictured a Family Guy-style cut to Hugh Hefner in a swimming pool full of money saying (with a droll British accent for some reason) "yes, yes, quite clever indeed" and then puffing on his pipe a bit before starting one of the Benny Hill parodies they've driven into the ground.
posted by griphus at 11:25 AM on August 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

I believe Hugh Hefner is the one actually tweeting under his account the same way I believe his girlfriends want to be with him for love and are naturally blonde. Zing?

This is my Ebert face.
posted by hal9k at 11:52 AM on August 16, 2011 [3 favorites]

Last year, when Nicholas Sparks gave a particularly asinine interview, Ebert posted the following on his blog:

'I resent the sacrilege Nicholas Sparks commits by mentioning himself in the same sentence as Cormac McCarthy. I would not even allow him to say "Hello, bookstore? This is Nicholas Sparks. Could you send over the new Cormac McCarthy novel?"'

I think he wins the internets.
posted by lily_bart at 12:24 PM on August 16, 2011 [5 favorites]

Or Penn Jilette's wife. Non stop argument with Catholics vs aetheists
posted by stormpooper at 1:41 PM on August 16, 2011

So who's this Roger Ebert fellow then?
posted by joannemullen at 5:40 PM on August 16, 2011

Wow. Only 15 comments so far on a Roger Ebert FPP? I am amazed. At joannemullen's comment, I am not so amazed.
posted by Splunge at 5:59 PM on August 16, 2011

Yes Ebert has been ignored on the blue.
posted by Ideefixe at 6:40 PM on August 16, 2011

Roger Ebert is the only person over the age of 30 who I've had to unfollow on Twitter for posting too much.

What a loss that must be for him.
posted by applemeat at 7:16 PM on August 16, 2011

Roger Ebert is the only person over the age of 30 who I've had to unfollow on Twitter for posting too much.

Actually, once I blocked his retweets (he is a retweet MACHINE) it was much better.
posted by padraigin at 7:26 PM on August 16, 2011

Do they have irony where you live Splunge? If not I can send you some.
posted by joannemullen at 2:00 AM on August 17, 2011

What a loss that must be for him.

Oh, zing. You sure did put me in my place. I am humbled in the face of such scathing wit.
posted by Zozo at 9:00 AM on August 17, 2011

joannemullen: "Do they have irony where you live Splunge? If not I can send you some."

Zozo: "Oh, zing. You sure did put me in my place. I am humbled in the face of such scathing wit."
posted by Splunge at 7:38 AM on August 18, 2011