Infoshare

September 13, 2001 12:55 AM

Infoshare is a syndicated information block which can be added your page in a few seconds. It includes links to up-to-date news and other useful numbers and links to help all affected.
posted by nico (13 comments total)

I've been working on something like that myself, check it out at http://wtc.childish.org/
posted by uk_lad at 2:32 AM on September 13, 2001

The WTC infoshare:

posted by sudama at 8:17 AM on September 13, 2001

I don't know at what point Infoshare ceases to be useful. How long do people think we should have it on our sites?
posted by barbelith at 8:19 AM on September 17, 2001

I don't know at what point Infoshare ceases to be useful.

The 5 more days sounds about right. The amount of news about the Current Situation has slowed somewhat so that people going to CNN, MeFi, Moreover, etc. can keep current fairly easily.

Perhaps a transition from a news feed to an educational-type feed?
posted by jkottke at 3:02 PM on September 17, 2001

What kind of stuff would that have on it?
posted by barbelith at 3:23 PM on September 17, 2001

I dunno...background information. On the Middle East, on terrorism, on Islam, on religion, etc. etc. The type of stuff that doesn't often get covered on the news (except in typically shallow special reports). Resources that people can use to educate themselves with.
posted by jkottke at 5:26 PM on September 17, 2001

That's a great idea, Jason. Most people aren't familiar with anything that's been going on in the Middle East in the past few years. And, the network news only seems to report things in the most basic way, offering overly simplistic views.

All of these "vignettes" are starting to seem more like war propaganda than actual news.
posted by mudpup at 6:21 PM on September 17, 2001

Has anyone got any specific sites they think might be useful?
posted by barbelith at 2:08 AM on September 18, 2001

http://webarchivist.org/ looks useful, I think.
posted by palnatoke at 2:38 AM on September 18, 2001

Has anyone else noticed that the infoshare link with the alarming title Taliban declare holy war on U.S. leads to a story that indicates the opposite? There's no headline like this on the Guardian main page. I wonder where this weird header got applied?
posted by BT at 9:03 AM on September 18, 2001

Ack. Of course, now that headline is gone from the Infoshare (although for what it's worth, it's still on this page).

Serves me right for posting on something so ephemeral.
posted by BT at 9:06 AM on September 18, 2001

I suspect the Guardian updated its article at the same URL. This morning, the news was that "holy war" had been declared.

I think the idea of providing educational and background links is a fine idea. It's the direction I see my weblog taking in the future as we fight a war in a region most Americans know little about. My mental map is fuzzy; we need clear maps. US propaganda in the form of shorthand headlines and news briefs often holds Islam responsible for the attack; we need to understand Islam from Mohammed to the Sunni/Shiite split to the mujahedin to the Nation of Islam and so on. US political and economic relationships with various powers in the region are as complicated as it gets; who's providing clear unbiased digestible background info? And on and on and on.

Maybe there's even room for a few infoshares -- history/background, activism, breaking news etc. I'd consider maintaining one.

Just noticed this open letter about the end of this wtc infoshare.
posted by sudama at 9:56 AM on September 18, 2001

Thanks sudama -- as usual, I overlooked the simple explanation.
posted by BT at 10:36 AM on September 18, 2001