Category: Social Media and the Web

Social media, blogging, tweeting, facebooking, web design, and all the stuff that isn’t here yet. Subcategories highlight some areas of particular expertise.

Why I End Up Sharing Without Reading [en]

[fr] Pourquoi je me retrouve parfois à partager sans lire.

A few weeks ago, I came upon an article (which I’m too tired to hunt for right now) which said that a huge number of articles shared through social media (understand: Twitter and Facebook) had not been read by those who share them.

I wasn’t surprised, because I do it regularly.

A few weeks after that, but still a few weeks ago, I shared an article I had just skimmed, and which was a pile of sh*t — and I missed that (also because it was on a topic I hadn’t done my homework on.) Thankfully I was quickly challenged by some of my followers, saw it, went back to the article, realised my mistake, removed it from my timeline (I didn’t want to spread it more), and apologised. I felt really bad.

Just like a car accident is waiting to happen if you habitually text as you drive or take other similar risks: it’s not because you manage to do it 50 times without getting into an accident that you won’t on the 51st.

Since then, I’ve been thinking really hard about this. I consider that being a reliable source is really important. I’m aware that as somebody with a bunch of followers/readers, I have a certain influence. It’s a responsibility. And I take it seriously.

So why do I end up, again and again, sharing links before I read them?

Tonight it dawned on me: it’s because of the way I browse — and maybe also because of how browsers are built.

As I scroll through my Facebook or Twitter timeline, I see article titles and summaries that look really interesting. I see who is sharing them and with what comments. Just as I am a trusted source for some, I have my trusted sources. I open said article in a new tab so that when I am in “reading mode” I can read it (and yes, I do do that). But right now I’m in browsing mode, so I continue scrolling down my timeline.

Do you see the problem, if I don’t share the interesting article right away? When I read it in a few hours or sometimes a few days, there will be no way for me to head back to the post or tweet that brought it to my attention to share it from there — and give credit to my source. So I take a small risk and share an article I know will be interesting and important, right, because I’m going to read it. (Yeah it’s faulty reasoning. But it makes sense in the moment.)

What’s missing here is a way to trace how one got to a given page, sometimes opened in a new tab. It’s even worse in mobile. Or “that page I stuck in Instapaper 5 months ago” — where did it come from?

When I’m “scanning”, I like to stay in “scanning/discovering” mode. When I’m reading, I stay in reading mode. The problem is that the “share” function is tied to the “scanning/discovering” mode. Exception: the stuff I put in Digital Crumble, which is excerpts of what I am currently reading, as I read it.

Do you sometimes share before you read? Have you tried to analyse why?

Comment respirer avec ses mails en 5 étapes [fr]

[en] Five steps to feeling on top of your e-mail, with the new Gmail inbox.

Cet après-midi, j’ai aidé une amie à reprendre le contrôle de sa boîte de réception. Voici une marche à suivre (sous Gmail) pour vous aider à faire de même.

1. activez la nouvelle boîte de réception

Screenshot%206/28/13%2021:02

La nouvelle boîte de réception va trier pour vous vos e-mails, séparant les pubs, les messages provenant des réseaux sociaux, les mailing-listes, et les alertes automatiques.

Screenshot%206/28/13%2020:14

Ce qui est très sympa avec cette nouvelle boîte de réception c’est que le compte des mails à traiter n’inclut pas ceux des colonnes secondaires. Gmail vous indique en tête de colonne qu’il y a des nouveaux mails, mais dès que vous allez regarder, le compte disparaît. Gmail trie vos mails de façon à ce que ceux que vous avez besoin de traiter se trouvent dans la boîte principale. Tous les autres, c’est “pour info”.

2. créez des filtres

Si un e-mail n’est pas à sa place (en particulier s’il est dans votre boîte primaire alors qu’il ne devrait pas y être), déplacez-le sous l’onglet approprié. Gmail vous propose immédiatement de filtrer ainsi les autres mails de ce correspondant.

Des fois, c’est plus compliqué. Beaucoup de gens envoient des “newsletter” sauvages depuis leur boîte mail normale, par exemple (au lieu d’utiliser un service comme MailChimp). Comment faire le tri entre leurs mails-newsletters collectifs et les mails qui nous sont destinés?

Deux schémas courants:

  • la personne adresse l’e-mail-newsletter à elle-même, avec tout le monde en copie cachée
  • la personne n’adresse l’e-mail directement à personne, juste avec des copies cachées

Deux solutions:

  • le premier cas est simple: on spécifie dans le filtre que ce sont les e-mails de cette personne à elle-même qu’il faut filtrer
  • deuxième cas, un peu plus délicat: on peut indiquer qu’on filtre les e-mails de cette personne qui ne nous sont pas adressés.

Screenshot%206/28/13%2021:09

On peut demander à Gmail de faire passer un mail directement à l’archivage (sans passer par la boîte de réception), lui appliquer un label, ou le rediriger dans une des colonnes de la nouvelle boîte de réception.

Screenshot%206/28/13%2021:14

Où commencer? Avec votre boîte de réception principale. Commencez en haut, et à chaque fois que vous rencontrez un mail qui devrait en fait aller dans une autre colonne ou bien carrément passer direct à l’archivage, faites un filtre pour lui.

Screenshot%206/28/13%2020:22

3. archivez sans classer

Une grande part du stress de l’e-mail provient de cette boîte de réception sans fond, qu’on ne vide jamais, qui se remplit sans cesse, qui contient un mélange de choses traitées, à traiter, passées, et présentes. Si on est du genre à penser qu’il faut trier et classer ses mails, c’est encore pire: c’est une tâche sans fin.

La nouvelle inbox de Gmail ainsi que les filtres permettent d’en ralentir le remplissage. Il faut maintenant prendre soin du vidage.

La boîte de réception ne devrait contenir que deux types de mails:

  • les mails qu’on n’a pas encore regardés, et qui sont peut-être à traiter
  • les mails ouverts auxquels on n’a pas encore répondu ou sur lesquels on doit agir (= à traiter)

On ne voit donc dans sa boîte de réception que des chose qui requièrent une action de notre part. Il est complètement inutile de laisser trainer dans sa boîte de réception des vieilleries dépassées, des mails informatifs déjà lus, des e-mails auxquels on a déjà répondus.

Si on travaille sur un bureau, on garde la surface de la table relativement libre pour les affaire courantes. Le reste, ça va dans les tiroirs ou les armoires.

Il y a toutes les chances que les mails plus vieux que quelques semaines aient “disparu” de votre champ de vision. Soyons honnêtes, vous n’allez pas les traiter, sauf si on vous relance (= un nouveau mail) ou si vous y pensez à cause d’un événement extérieur. Ils n’ont donc plus rien à faire dans votre boîte de réception. Il faut donc les archiver, mais non les trier (si vous devez remettre la main dessus, une recherche sera bien plus efficace que de longues fouilles dans un système de libellés ou de dossiers bien trop complexe).

Screenshot%206/28/13%2021:44

Sélectionnez tous les messages plus vieux qu’une certaine date, et appuyez sur le bouton Archiver.

Pour ceux qui restent, sélectionnez tous les messages de la page, puis déselectionnez sélectivement (Cmd/Ctrl+clic) ceux qui doivent rester dans votre boîte de réception car vous devez encore les traiter. Archivez.

4. archivez sans merci au quotidien

Quand vous ouvrez votre inbox, la première chose à faire est de régler leur sort aux nouveaux mails: les déplacer dans les autres colonnes si c’est là qu’ils appartiennent, créer un filtre s’il y a lieu, y jeter un oeil.

  • Si une fois le mail lu il n’y a plus rien à faire, archivez-le immédiatement.
  • S’il demande une réponse courte et simple, répondez immédiatement.
  • Envoyez toujours vos mails à l’aide du bouton “Envoyer + Archiver” — une fois que vous avez répondu à un mail, c’est à votre interlocuteur de jouer, il n’a donc plus aucune raison d’encombrer encore votre champ de vision quand vous ouvrez votre boîte mail.

Screenshot%206/28/13%2021:56

Encore une fois: ne perdez pas de temps à classer vos mails. Vous les retrouverez suffisamment facilement grâce à la recherche. Et avec le temps économisé en classement, vous pouvez vous permettre de perdre de temps à autre une dizaine de minutes pour retrouver un e-mail bien caché.

De temps en temps, faites inbox zero: traitez tout ce qui reste à traiter dans votre boîte de réception, et reportez sur votre liste de tâche les e-mails qui résistent. Quant aux colonnes “secondaires”, il suffit de temps en temps de tout sélectionner et d’archiver, car vous aurez déplacé dans la boîte principale les éventuels mails demandant de l’attention de votre part au fur et à mesure.

5. et les libellés?

Les libellés peuvent être utiles si vous devez grouper des e-mails qui ne sont pas faciles à regrouper grâce à une recherche. Par exemple, tous les mails concernant le projet X. Mais attention: si les mails de votre projet X contiennent systématiquement certains mots-clés (=> recherche facile) ou proviennent toujours des deux mêmes interlocuteurs (recherche facile aussi), ne vous fatiguez pas à les libeller!

Associés aux filtres, les libellés permettent aussi de classer automatiquement certains types d’e-mails pour pouvoir faire des recherches parmi eux facilement.

Plus utile (et toujours avec les filtres), ils aident à rendre visibles certains e-mails dès leur arrivée. On peut donner une couleur de fond à un libellé, et donc “marquer” les e-mails d’un client important, ou qui nécessitent d’être particulièrement réactif.

De façon générale: utilisez peu de libellés, et triez très peu à la main.

Votre boîte mail vous fait-elle étouffer? Cette méthode vous est-elle utile? Faites-vous autrement pour éviter de vous sentir dépassé par votre courrier électronique?

3e #back2blog challenge (5/10), avec: Brigitte Djajasasmita (@bibiweb), Baudouin Van Humbeeck (@somebaudy), Mlle Cassis (@mlle_cassis), Luca Palli (@lpalli), Yann Kerveno (@justaboutvelo), Annemarie Fuschetto (@libellula_free), Ewan Spence (@ewan), Kantu (@kantutita), Jean-François Genoud (@jfgpro), Michelle Carrupt (@cmic), Sally O’Brien (@swissingaround), Adam Tinworth (@adders), Mathieu Laferrière (@mlaferriere), Graham Holliday (@noodlepie), Denis Dogvopoliy (@dennydov), Christine Cavalier (@purplecar), Emmanuel Clément (@emmanuelc), Xavier Bertschy (@xavier83). Follow #back2blog.

Third Back to Blogging Challenge [en]

[fr] 10 jours, 10 articles, histoire de relancer la machine à bloguer. Qui se lance avec moi?

Starting Monday, I’m going to blog daily ten days in a row to kick the blogging machine into gear again. Who else is in?

Seems I need a periodical reboot. As you can see I’ve written a few blog posts recently after a terrible dry spell. What happened?

After the success of the second Back to Blogging Challenge, I kicked off the Blogging Tribe Experiment, went sailing in Spain (which put a serious dent in my blogging habit), came back to a lot of work and orphan kittens, which ended up spending 5 weeks with me and only left for their final homes last Thursday. (Yes, I have hundreds of kitten photos and videos to process, now.)

So, I feel like I’ve “failed” the Blogging Tribe Experiment, personally, because I didn’t blog anywhere close to what I intended — or as regularly as I would have expected from the tribe members. So, while we figure out where and how to take this experiment forward, I need a little structure in rekindling my blogging habit. It really is a habit.

Sign up if you want to join me.

Edit 24.06.2013: thanks to Luca, I’ve discovered Twitter widgets. Check out the latest posts from the challengers here!


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The Blog of Unfinished [en]

[fr] Un blog, c'est un espace pour lancer là-dehors des choses. Pas nécessaire que ce soit tout léché. Quand je veux faire du léché, c'est simple, je ne commence pas. Ou si je commence, je ne finis pas. Avec le blog, je me dis "bah, peu importe si c'est vraiment bien ou pas; l'essentiel c'est que ce soit publié". 13 ans que ça dure.

Hopefully you’ve heard by now that I co-direct a course on social media and online communities here in Lausanne. We’re preparing for the fourth year. This means I have students. And believe me, I learn a lot from them — they’re fascinating people. Of course, they are, they chose to follow the course I co-direct 😉

I’m mentioning this because I realized something very recently following conversations with two ex-students (or soon-to-be-ex). The reason I like my blog so much, and am still blogging 13 years after I started, is that it is a space where I can indulge in my natural tendency to start stuff and not finish it.

Said like that it’s a bit extreme, but let me explain.

The first step was the evening I spent with my ex-student who is starting a little side business of interior design alongside her day job. She waffled out a few free sessions and I took one. At some point the conversation drifted to more personal topics, and I mentioned my urges to start things and my difficulty in finishing them — probably related to my difficulty throwing things out. I’m a starter, generally. I have ideas. I want to do stuff. Way more than the space of my life lets me. Once I’ve started something, I do tend to lose interest, or at least find it more difficult to keep going. And don’t get me started (!) on finishing.

Yes, I’ll own up to being an immediate gratification junkie.

The second step, a day or two later, was a phone call with another ex-student that I had gently chided for signing a blog comment (“best regards” and the like). I was encouraging him to blog earlier about the project he was working on, and he was telling me he found it challenging to put things “out there” without them being sufficiently polished. My reaction of course (which I think wasn’t actually very helpful in his precise situation) was to say that blogging is for the imperfect, the good enough. A blog is great as a “put it out there” space.

And this is really how I use my blog. The stuff I don’t write about, I often don’t write about because I feel I need to work on it more. Wanting to do things well — too well — prevents me from doing them.

It sounds contradictory with what I said above about starting things and not finishing them, doesn’t it? It isn’t.

So this is why I like blogging. It’s a tool that makes it easy for me to “just get it out there”. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Yes of course it could be better. I’m sure I could have said the things I’m saying now more clearly. I’m sure I could have made them more compelling. More SEO-thingy. Found photos to illustrate. Thought about when to publish this kind of post and how to distribute it.

But no — I go the brain-dump way. And because I brain-dump, there are hundreds (thousands) of blog posts here which actually might come in handy to others.

JFDI.

Fausse alerte enlèvement qui tourne (Granges-Marnand) [fr]

[en] Fake SMS doing the rounds here.

Reçu par SMS tout à l’heure:

Evernote%20Camera%20Roll%2020130522%20112834

une petite fille de 2 ans a ete enlevee a Grange Marnand Village par un homme de 30 ans barbu. Il etait vetu tout en noir cet homme est de peau noir. Conduisant une voiture bleu foncee plaque : 27B 138 fait Tourner ce message, ca pourrait sauver la vie de cette petite fille. Fait passer a tous tes contacts ! ca te prendra que 2 minutes! Fais le pour la petite

 

Soupçons de canular:

  • c’est un message en chaîne (déjà rien que ça)
  • pas de date
  • numéro de plaques qui est pas vaudois
  • le suspect est noir, bien sûr!
  • insistance à la fin du message pour faire passer
  • pas de source
  • je cherche en ligne, je ne trouve rien

Je vais sur la page Facebook de la Police vaudoise et je trouve ceci:

Screenshot%205/22/13%2011:25

Un autre témoignage corroborant:

Screenshot%205/22/13%2011:25

Mon réseau me renseigne:

Screenshot%205/22/13%2011:28

Il semble bien que ce message soit une version “suissifiée” d’un autre message français qui faisait référence à Sarcelles-Village (exemple trouvé rapidement avec Google).

Rappel: les messages qui “tournent” sont quasi tous des fakes. Avant de “transmettre à tous vos contacts” cherchez une source crédible pour votre info. Dans le cas de ce message qui est en train de tourner, en le transmettant à vos contacts vous contribuez par vos bonnes intentions à renforcer des stéréotypes racistes et augmenter la “peur de l’enlèvement” qui est déjà démesurée face au risque réel.

Update: Le Matin dénonce aussi le canular.

IRC Bots as Social Objects [en]

With the resurrection of #joiito, I’ve been struck by the role our channel bot (jibot) plays in catalysing interactions between us humans.

Jibot is a topic of discussion as Kevin Marks and others tinker with its various incarnations. We teach it stuff, check to see what it knows. We use it to say things about ourselves and others, but also to play (for example with the function “?cool <username>” implemented by Jens-Christian).

The IRC bot is clearly here a social object. It is an object that generates social interaction. Or maybe more simply, and object that makes us talk about it just by its simple existence. Because jibot is there before us, we have conversations, interact, get to know people that we wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been there. And jibot doesn’t really have to do anything to make that happen; it just has to be.

Pet Peeve: Marketers and Advertisers Cold-Sending Junk E-mails [en]

[fr] Un truc qui m'énerve: les e-mails non-sollicités me proposant des liens ou autres ressources pour mes articles. Ou de la pub pour mon blog.

I’m sure you all get these. They’re bloody annoying. Here’s the last one I got:

Subject: Interested in Purchasing Advertising: https://climbtothestars.org/

Hi,

I need this type of placement could you do this?

1. We will provide php file with plugin source code

2. Webmaster will need to FTP to root folder of blog, then open folder wp-content/plugins

3. Webmaster will need to create folder ‘footerlinks’, then enter that folder and upload php file that we provided

4. Webmaster will need to log into blog admin area, click ‘Plugins’ in left menu, click ‘Installed’ in submenu, find plugin named ‘Footer Links’ and click ‘activate’ link

5. After that links will appear at the bottom of the blog like here [redacted] see our links in footer.

Very simple work just 1,2 minut only,Our links show on your old ABOUT PAGE.

i can give you $200 for uploading our php file for 1 year time period only.

Let me know are you agree if you agree then send me paypal id please.

Waiting for your Answer

Thanks

And another:

Subject: Interested in Purchasing Text links Advertising

I am basically interested for business reasons. I found your site:”https://climbtothestars.org/” really enchanting and would like to buy a number of text-links on your website. Let me know if you would like to hear more of this.We will provide php file with plugin source code.i need links on your old Post.Give you all instructions.I can offer you a good price.

Or:

Subject: Partnership with an OTA

Dear Editor,

I would be interested in buying a simple text based advertisement on your website.

The advert will be text, not a visual banner. It will appear on a single page of your website.

The text link will be Travel related ( ex: airplane ticket,airfare, etc.. )

We pay an annual fee to you as soon as the advert is live. It is a straight forward process and we work with you to make sure we fit naturally with your site.

If interested we can also provide you with Unique Travel Articles.

Please let me know if you are interested and I’ll send you more details.

If Possible can you send me a link of the page where you would accept advertising on?

Here is one of the latest, which prompted me to write today:

Subject: An Inquiry About an OpenCourseWare Database

I’m reaching out to you because I was extremely impressed with the content that you have created on digitalcrumble.com/post/306596904/the-copy-editors-old-bugaboo-about-not-using. As a writer and researcher in the education field, I sometimes find it very difficult to track down good web resources for prospective students–I just wanted to say that you’ve done a great job with your site.

Do you have any interest in adding a supplemental resource that provides your readers with links to hundreds of OpenCourseWare classes? I think could be really valuable for your site’s visitors because the classes are free and cover a wide variety of subjects.

If you’re not the right person to contact, can you let me know who is?

Adding insult to injury, my silence resulted in three follow-up e-mails over the last months. Three! Sure, following up is good. But at some stage it morphs into pestering.

Follow-up #1

I wanted to follow up with you and make sure you had received my email I sent a little bit ago regarding my research project, [redacted].

I had contacted you initially because I believe the readers on your site would find our OpenCourseWare informative and valuable. It would be great to have you include a link to the resource somewhere on your site. Do not hesitate to get back to me with any questions!

Thanks, I look forward to working with you!

 

Follow-up #2

I hope all is well! I am writing to follow up with you about the resource — [redacted] — I sent you a few days back. Let me know if I can answer any questions for you in regards to it or myself.

Thanks for your help. I look forward to hearing back from you!

 

Follow-up #3

I hope this message reaches you well. I am following up with you to see if you had the opportunity to review the resource that I sent you?

Please let me know what you think, I look forward to hearing any feedback you might have.

In your book, do these contact attempts qualify as spam? For me, they aren’t technically spam, as they seem to have been sent out by hand and by human being robots, and therefore do not really meet the criteria for automated mass-sending.

But the end result is pretty much the same. They’re just noise. How do you deal with them? Respond, or straight to the spam box? Or ignore, at the risk of being pestered?

If you know more about the (misguided?) process that results in this kind of junk arriving in blogger mailboxes, I’d love to hear about it.

Here are a few other choice morcels for you, and I’m out to enjoy the Spain sun a while.

Subject: Education News Resource Inquiry

I recently came across your page at digitalcrumble.com/post/306596904/the-copy-editors-old-bugaboo-about-not-using.

I am emailing you because I am a contributor to the online education publication, EducationNews.org, and have been active in spreading the message about it. The site is a vast resource of education news from K-12 and higher education policy and politics all the way to education technology. The editorial efforts of the site have been cited by the New York Times, Washington Post and Cato Institute while also being added as an educational resource in the New York Times Education section.

Given the quality of our writing and breadth of topics discussed, I thought this resource could be of interest to you and those who frequently visit your site. Please let me know what you think; if interested, it would be great to see it listed on your site for others to read and refer to.

Thanks for your help and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

 

Subject: Graphic on How Taking a Break is Saving Your Life

My name is Kayla and I came across climbtothestars.org after searching for people that have referenced or mentioned workplace health. I am part of a team of designers and researcher that put together an infographic showing why skipping out on your work break might be killing you. I thought you might be interested, so I wanted to reach out.

If this is the correct email and you’re interested in using our content, I’d be happy to share it with you. 🙂

 

Subject: Infographic about How Plastic Bags are Suffocating the World

My name is Kayla and I came across climbtothestars.org after searching for people that have referenced or mentioned the importance of living green. I am part of a team of designers and researcher that put together an infographic showing why plastic bags are ruining the environment and the impact of plastic bag bans. I thought you might be interested, so I wanted to reach out.

If this is the correct email and you’re interested in using our content, I’d be happy to share it with you. 🙂

The Blogging Tribe is Live [en]

[fr] Une quinzaine de blogueurs qui prennent l'engagement de bloguer régulièrement durant un mois, pour commencer. Suivez-les sur The Blogging Tribe.

Last week at the chalet, I had an inspiration (amongst others!) whilst reading Here Comes Everybody: gather a small-scale tribe of bloggers who commit to blogging regularly over a period of time.

It’s done. We’re pretty much set. After a little back-and-forth on Facebook to try and figure out the best way to get started, we’re off for a month of “blog regularly and see what happens”, pretty much.

Here is the tribe:

You can follow all our posts at The Blogging Tribe, kindly hosted and set up by Claude.

Here Comes Everybody: Journalism and Ease of Publication [en]

I’m reading “Here Comes Everybody“. I’m taking notes.

In the chapter “Everyone is a media outlet”, Clay explains very well what is the matter with the journalism industry. (He has since then co-authored a report on the future of the news industry, which I need to read.)

In a world where everyone is a publisher, journalism is becoming an activity rather than a profession — activity which can be carried out both by those employed by the news industry and the “amateurs” (oh heck). A profession serves to solve a hard problem, that requires specialisation. Reproduction, distribution, and categorisation are now orders of magnitude easier and cheaper than before: professionals are no longer required for these activities.

Look at iStockPhoto and professional photography: the price of professional photography not so much due to the incredible quality of the professional’s work, in many cases, but comes from the difficulty of finding the right photo. iStockPhoto helps solve that problem, so the photo now costs 1$ instead of 500$, can very well have been shot by an amateur, and be no lesser in quality than a more expensive, specially-commissioned professional one.

As it has become easier to publish, public speech and action have become more valuable and less scarce, just like the ability to read and write became more commonplace with the invention of movable type, and scribes lost their raison-d’être.

Journalism is a profession that seems to exist because of accidental scarcity of published material due to the expense of publishing in the physical world. Scarcity (and therefore cost) is not an indication of importance: water is more important to life than diamonds, but that doesn’t make it expensive (The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith).

When everybody had learned to read and write, and scribes weren’t needed anymore, we didn’t call everybody a scribe, we just stopped using the word; reading and writing is ubiquitous and so not rare enough to pay for, even if it’s a really important skill. Scribes as a profession died out.

As for music and movie industry: the service they performed was distributing music and movies, but now anybody can move music and video easily and cheaply. The problem they were solving does not exist anymore, and so they are trying to maintain it by turning on their customers and trying to make moving movies and music harder artificially.

Because it’s so easy to publish, making something public is less the momentous decision that it used to be. The general criticism of the low quality of online content has to do with the fact we are judging “communications” content (conversation, often) by “broadcast” content standards of interest and quality. We look at Facebook statuses and think “was that really worth broadcasting?” — not realising that it was never intended for broadcast in the first place. It was not meant for us. If you eavesdrop on a dining hall conversation at the table next to you, doubtless you’ll find it uninteresting, but you won’t think “why are they speaking so loud I can hear what they’re saying?”

There used to be a distinction between communications and broadcast media, which has now broken down. Broadcast is one-to-many, a one-way megaphone which attempts to reach as many people as possible of a target audience. Communications, on the other hand, are two-way conversations for specific recipients, one-to-one. Now we also have many-to-many, communications tools which enable group conversation. There is a continuum between broadcast and communications rather than a sharp break neatly following the lines of the technology used (TV/radio vs. phone/fax). Communications and broadcast are mixed in the same medium, and we make the mistake of judging communications by the standards of broadcast.