Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Covid-19 & The Techlash


We used to complain about the big tech's dominance. 
Now, we heavily rely on them and are glad they exist.


The new virus changes so much in our world, and I won't repeat all the apparent ramifications. However, an interesting trend emerged:
Normal life grinds to a halt, but so does the Techlash (Tech-backlash), which has dominated the tech coverage for the past three years.


While working on my upcoming book about the Techlash and "Tech Crisis Communication," I realized that this pandemic is also affecting the tech companies' coverage, so I'm adding a new chapter to discuss it.

There's still a lot of criticism, for example, about the spread of misinformation, but the change in the critical tone (actually complimenting the companies' services and work) – is noteworthy.

In this short post, you are invited to see how this current trend started and developed. 
  • I promise to update it with new relevant articles:

March 15, 2020
The New York Times - Ben Smith

March 16, 2020
Reason – Elizabeth Nolan Brown

March 17, 2020
TechDirt - Mike Masnick

March 18, 2020
Axios - Ina Fried

March 20, 2020
WIRED - Steven Levy

March 21, 2020
CNBC - Salvador Rodriguez

TechCrunch - Josh Constine

The Wall Street Journal - Joanna Stern

March 23, 2020
The New York Times - Daisuke Wakabayashi, Jack Nicas, Steve Lohr, and Mike Isaac

  • Update:

The Information – Cory Weinberg

March 25, 2020
The Interface – Casey Newton

April 1, 2020
The New York Times – Shira Ovide

April 2, 2020
ZDNet - David Gewirtz 

April 6, 2020
The Interface – Casey Newton

April 9, 2020
Bloomberg - Eric Newcomer

April 27, 2020
The Washington Post – Elizabeth Dwoskin

  • Update:

On the other hand:

May 1, 2020
The New York Times – Kara Swisher

May 1, 2020
Politico – Steven Overly and Leah Nylen

But then again:

August 5, 2020
The New York Times - Shira Ovide

"I'm a widowed great-grandmother in my tenth decade, living alone. My family is scattered all over the globe. WhatsApp, FaceTime, Zoom, and Google Meet (with instant captions) have been a lifeline for me. Seeing my children and grandchildren's faces and talking with them on a regular basis, sometimes daily, has made the lockdown and isolation bearable. I'm aware of the nefariousness of Big Data. But this technology cancels it out for me." — Blanche Korngold, Brookline, Mass.

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