A lot of people know that hunger is a major problem in Africa, but few people ever think about it, let alone do anything about it. One Twitter account claims to be trying to spread the message with the use of very straight-forward tweets pretending to be from a starving African.
The tweets range from “hungry,” to “really, really hungry,” to “belly. distending,” and variations on those. Whoever is in charge the the account writes in its bio, “Social commentary illuminating the startling gap between the haves and the have nots.” But is this just poor taste? Apparently the 300-some people that follow the account don’t think so.
[thanks Eric]
I see only 302 followers.
yeah had the numbers reversed for a second. thanks.
C’mon guys, MG made a small mistake of quoting the number of people that this account is following as followers.
And I think this is poor taste.
Well, the number got fixed by the time i posted the comment – who needs friend feed, TC is as realtime as it gets…
And I meant poor taste in what the account is doing… not what MG did
yeah thanks, whatever the number is, it doesn’t change the entire thing.
I think exactly the same, was just a friendly notice to lower the issue about the high amount of followers. Thank you for correcting:)
Everything on twitter is in poor taste. It’s a website designed to broadcast vanity and conceitedness.
How exactly does this post fit in with the TC mission statement?
It fits right in that understood mission statement of being a decent human being. That is the great joy of having a free will, having the option of not clicking on an article you do not care about or wish to read. Coming in here just to point out your disagreement with the significance of this particular issue is childish and pathetic.
To MG: Kudos for having the sympathy and decency to bring to the front an issue that deserves at least an inkling of peoples’ attention.
Wow. Honestly, I was just curious. Lately I’ve noticed TC veering in a new direction, thanks mostly to their obsession with anonymous users of Twitter, and I’d really like to know where this site is headed in terms of content. If it is going to be more posts like this, than I will probably stop coming here so often. I’m just trying to figure it out so I can save myself some time during the day.
I’d have to agree with you anon. TechCrunch has taken an annoying bent toward long pedantic posts about the ups and downs of iTunes and Twitter – with MG mostly to blame. He seems to treat TC like his personal Twitter account, except he limits himself to 1400 words instead of 140 characters. How about getting back to interesting content?
@Matt – TechCrunch is hardly the forum for bringing every social issue to the fore. Certainly something people should be concerned about, but if TC were that forum, there would be no tech news.
In favour of the above. Grab the domain twittercrunch.com, or have a BIG sodding button at the top to filter out these Twitter posts on TC and be done with it.
90% of TC content is a good read, but for those of us who haven’t given into the Twitterbubble (I for one aren’t narcissistic enough to have to jot my daily thoughts 15 times a day to people who I don’t really know or care about) it gets very frustrating to have to wade through these posts.
I’m heavily involved in the web-industry but it doesn’t mean I need a bloody Twitter account to be part of it! It makes me so frustrated!!
Pretty much this. I just clicked into this post because I wanted to support the twitter haters. For me, my personal way of keeping me informed > your proprietary twitter service. I don’t need twitter. That said, if Techcrunch had a Twitter-only section (twitcrunch), I might even check it out once a week or so to keep up with the latest twitter-hypes.
Sigh.
It goes in the “gossip” section
If it has anything to do with Apple or Twitter… it will be on TechCrunch.
social commentary is annoying at best when it is presented with out solutions (or at least vague ideas about them).
An account that tweeted real statistics and linked to relevant, local enrichment programs (be it water, food, nets, educations etc) would be much more effective. It would let people know what the next step is for them if they want to get involved.
Agree with @sheynk. It’s not “social commentary” unless that commentary includes proposals for how to make it better or resources where we can contribute to help. Right now it’s just lazy attention getting. In poor taste.
I agree – why present a problem (over and over) without a solution? Or at least something more than the same tweets over and over? Something like “I wish more people would understand what it is like to be hungry” or something we can have sympathy for. This is just in poor taste and needs to have more to keep MY attention.
Blame is easy, solutions are hard. Easier to make you feel guilty that you have so much, when there are poor twitter users out there who are hungry (yes, I purposely missed the point the twidiot starvingafrican was making, instead of focusing on the “good” this internet connected, social blamer was attemtping to make us all feel guilty about.) Just goes to show you, 10000000 monkeys, with a 100000000 typewriters…. can tweet.
at the moment it says it has 1502 following and 302 followers
yikes
speaks volumes, this comment, doesn’t it?
I am serious.
The follower number is wrong, there are only a little over 300, just as Vadym commented.
yep switched em, thanks.
I know you have spent more than a few seconds on Twitter and know the difference between following and followers… “But is this just poor taste? Apparently the 1,382 people that follow the account don’t think so.”
The account is following 1382 people, not the other way around. There are currently 300 followers of this account comprised mostly of bots and auto-followers.
This is a really good point. I frankly have a hard time believing the true value of any follower statistics in Twitter. I’m not questioning the numbers — just the value.
Many “followers” are like subscribers to a free magazine, who then toss the newest issue into the recycling bin as soon as it arrives. (Go to any company and see the number of free industry/trade magazines that immediately get the circular file.)
It’s too easy to follow someone on Twitter and then just ignore them. The spambots are also easy to compile. Perhaps the more interesting statistic is the ratio of following to followers — and this guy is certainly not getting a return on his Twitter investment.
Except for this article. One little publicity stunt “followed” by spambots gets him a writeup in TechCrunch. He rules.
I’ve never tweeted anything of any relevance to anyone and my account has had a few dozen auto-followers subscribe. As pointed out above, the number of followers is insignificant and likely comprised of robot scripts.
I also see very little relevance to TechCrunch.
Thank you everyone past the original correcting comment who continue to point one the one small error in the article and don’t bother to discuss the content itself at all. I appreciate you.
This is one problem with twitter. Many people have default settings using free tools to Auto-Follow anyone who follows then. I am sure 90% of these 302 followers don’t even know who they are following.
@harishagrawal
Know what is in poor taste? The hours and hours of media and dialogue dedicated to Michael Jackson’s death while 3.2 Million people die each year from water related illness. That’s not even getting into hunger issues.
In fact, it’s not just poor taste. It’s downright tragic and disgusting.
It’s nice to see someone trying to remind people where their priorities should be.
Good point.
Surely there’s a holocaust-denier Tweeter who deserves a story all their own. Much more keeping in TC’s style. Maybe Errington hasn’t woken up yet.
Yes, agreed regarding the sad plight of so many slow and painful deaths from worldwide starvation, but also sad is the entirely avoidable, abrupt, terrorizing, inhumane “terminations” of innocent unborns at the rate of 4,000 a day that take place in abortion mills around the US – Each Day. This country has to wake up to that fact.
I think I’d like to focus our resources on helping save the lives of children who are actually already born, conscious, and aware of their misery, than the few unconscious cells which are terminated in the majority of abortions.
Furthermore abortion will never be truly illegal, so better it be done in a controlled and safe manner rather than the horribly dangerous manner it would be performed if it was illegal.
I mean really, why make MORE kids which will grow up hungry and miserable with parents who don’t want them and orphanages who rarely raise mentally healthy kids? Focus on the ones who are already here and have parents who actually love them.
Yeah, one day we’ll all realize the value of giving birth to 4,000 more starving children every day.
Yeah Peter, because the two are the same *sigh*. I have more sympathy for the cow you slaughtered for dinner last night. It was capable of experiencing greater depth of emotion, pain, and experience.
Speaking of Twitter accounts in poor taste…
http://twitter....om/helen_Keller
Whoah, what is that??
It’s a URL, pointing to a user’s account on the website “Twitter.” Beyond that, it’s a comment placed on a story on the website “Techcrunch” by a person who calls themself, “Jordan Arnold,” who is him/herself apparently a member of the Twitter website as “@naldien.”
HTH
HAND
I think HK jokes are in good taste.
wow thanks, I didn’t know people in africa starving, thanks twitter!!
Twitter change (saves) lives, yes! =)
This seems to be a good way to say: Hey! Pay attention!
The Helen Keller one was amusing to me really. Perhaps I am a bad person. The starving kid in Africa one? I don’t find it amusing but I am glad TechCrunch was able to break the story of annoying and crude people on the internet. Never saw that coming.
Now back to SomethingAwful.com…..
WTF is the excitement about? They sold their brothers and sister into slavery and now their free brothers and sister are eating better than they are on their own after fighting for their freedom from the hands of savages in the so called free world.
Is this God’s wrath on them? what do you think?
By the way Twitter and Facebook caused the world’s first Internet revolution in a country by organizing mobs in the street of Tehran
First internet coup d’état, maybe?
Way to blame the victims, Anti Matter. Who exactly do you think “they” are? Africans are not a single culture or society, and the millions of people struggling to survive have little or no connection to those who participated in slave trading over a century ago.
Bringing things back on topic, I think it’s perfectly appropriate for TechCrunch to cover the use (or misuse) of emerging technology in relation to wider global issues.
Well that’s a pretty convenient attitude, what shouldn’t TC cover?
“the millions of people struggling to survive have little or no connection to those who participated in slave trading over a century ago”
BS Bro.
http://en.wikip...tic_slave_trade
Make sure you read further down
“African kingdoms of the Era” they were heavy slave traders.
I think he means that since it happened in the past, it doesn’t matter anymore. See? No connection!
Wrong. Karma baby.
I think he means you’re a knee-jerk asshole. The people starving to death there today are the same ones once shipped overseas as slaves.
The elite are still living just fine.
“The people starving to death there today are the same ones once shipped overseas as slaves. ”
Are u for real? How can they be shipped over to the new world and make it back to Africa and starve?
Their descendants in the new world are not starving, except maybe Haiti. The descendants of those who sold their brothers and sisters into slavery to savages are now starving. You get it now?
If people follow someone on Twitter – it doesn’t immediately mean they support his/her ideas. I for instance follow Dane Cook and I also consider him the worst comedian ever (next comes Carlos Mencia).
There are many reasons to why people follow each other on twitter: to show support, to be updated, out of curiosity, etc. I actually expected TC folks to know it given that writing about twitter is their bread and butter now.
OK, so the question is whether the Twitter account is a valid exercise in raising awareness of starvation in Africa, or simply a further layer of exploitation?
I cannot see any way in which, even if this were the original intention, this approach could make a significant difference in the popular lassitude around issues of global poverty and famine.
The only potential benefit is in giving the issue the ‘oxygen of publicity’, but publicity has never been the problem. The problem is an endemic issue to do with the global distribution of goods and the means to acquire them.
The use of comedy as an instrument of social change is always a finely-balanced thing. When successful, it can prick the bubble of autocracy, undermine dictators and highlight the absurdity of man’s inhumanity to man.
When unsuccessful, as I would suggest it is here, it is simply a canker on the edge of a gaping wound – an unnecessary aggravtion which, at worst, might confirm in the minds of those suffering terrible hardship that the world really doesn’t care.
However, I am writing this in a democratic nation which holds at its core the principles of the rule of law and a free press. No law has been broken, and you could reasonably argue that the account is simply one person’s self-expression, however misguided.
I would suggest that, if you find it distasteful, you exercise the most powerful sanction in the modern world, and simply ignore it until it goes away.
I understand that TC readers want to hear about technology/internet development, and that people aggressively attack MGs posts about Twitter, but how can you possibly miss the connection between twitter and the very real social issue of african’s dying of starvation?
Sure, it isn’t news about the newest SaaS firefox plug-in, but like it or not Twitter is a platform that has hit critical mass in the US so the way that groups utilize it is 100% newsworthy and relevant to the tech sector.
In all seriousness: If the power of the social web doesn’t lie in making people’s lives better, then what is the point?
After i read http://www.gran...t-Africa/Page-1 actions like this will never get me into action.
This post was put up in quite a hurry and not properly articulated. I am guessing that MG just got wind of it, it pissed him off and decided to write immediately.
That said, I get where he is coming from. You see, the westen media has somehow embeded it in the conciousness of the world that Africa is a hungry and war torn place/country. it will take years to undo the negative branding.
A few people realize that Africa is a continent, having 59 countries and a population of 964 million people. We have lots of beautiful places (ask Sarah Lacy). Only about 5 of those countries are at some kind of war…
The image that we are so helpless is a wrong one and posts like these (though done in good faith), only help give the world a wrong image of us.
http://www.tech...osion-tomorrow/
No, neither Twitter, Celebs, nor mosquito nets can save that ‘doomed’ place called Africa..
Great! I like to hear statements like this. That’s because i never like stories from western media about Africa, as it’s defined as a one non-structured territory without social ladders.
P.S. http://www.gran...t-Africa/Page-1 — right?
I agree 100% they’ve succeeded in painting an entire continent as impoverished, you’d think there are no cities, no successful businessmen and everybody just sits there and waits for western donations.. in actual fact less than 5% of africans actually need aid, there are countries like Gabon who’ve never even needed it..
why do i have the sinking feeling that the starving African kid twitter feed is more than likely owned by a mother of 3 who got tired of constantly reminding her kids to finish all the food on their plates? the plausibility of a 21st Century update of the classic childhood cliche?
It would be a lot more impressive if they handed the phone over top the kid and let him/her speak for himself. And answer replies.
I guess that tweeting out that a fictional child is starving is somewhat helpful, but what is the actual benefit? Perhaps some of those tweets might reference a valid nonprofit taking donations for aid?
You “guess” that it’s helpful, then wonder what that help might be? Given that logic, it seems equally likely that you could “guess” that it’s unhelpful. Thanks for sharin’!
Seriously, this is not news worthy of Tech Crunch. Please keep the articles worth reading above the fold and stop publishing fluff stories and fillers.
Those 300-some people that follow the account are certainly automated accounts that auto follow people. There are too many problems with too much automation on Twitter.
Correct. This statement (”Apparently the 300-some people that follow the account don’t think so.”) is not likely to be true at all.
Saying “Hungry” over and over does not constitute social commentary, imho.
We’re talking about the issue. Mission accomplished.
Crowd sourced citizen journalism straight from the horse’s mouth and TC complains. Shame on you! Twitter is a Nobel Prize winning service!
How can you be hungry after eating a whole Beatle? Ringo and Paul both have enough meat on them to feed a family of four for at least a week.
I don’t care.
I’d say it’s hard-hitting.
I’d say it’s definitely hard hitting.
I find this extremely politically incorrect. But it’s just even more hilarious this way
slow news day?
Seriously, some Twitter account with 300 followers is big news? I have inactive accounts that have accrued more followers.
You know, Siegler, I happen to consider you the best writer on TechCrunch. Not that I don’t love the others, but you happen to be the best journalist in my eyes.
Which is why it’s so absolutely depressing to see you degrade not only yourself, but all of TC with these absolutely menial, worthless posts about nothing. Some dude started a not-funny, not-interesting, not-helpful, not-ANYTHING account randomly tweeting out “Hungry”, and laughing his ass off as he saw the followers slowly rise.
Please, is there not a single other topic you could be using the time it took to write this post to better cover? Both you and TC are above this, come on. This is a news blog, not a Tumblr account.
anybody who thinks this is bad taste has obviously been consuming more than their fair share..
Um obviously this Twitter account is raising awareness, so it’s good. Thanks Twitter for creating such a great tool for sharing everything.
I have to stop reading comments… if only all the people who can only complain about people who post something complaining and not putting forth a solution could have a solution that would keep this from happening.
I don’t really expect a twitter account to offer any solutions to children starving in africa, but one person reminding me about it drives it home than any statistics could. He’s just got another follower.
Oh and everyone who is hating on this article, remember it wouldn’t be above the fold if everyone didn’t read it, stop hating yourselves for what we make popular.
If social commentary is really the goal here, it might be a helpful if the tweeter thought about Africa as a continent of 53 countries rather than a mass of starving people.
I would imagine the architects of Africa’s more successful states would appreciate a little less condescension and a little more access to the international business community.
It’s tacky. Unless this person proves that he or she is somehow helping starving people in Africa, it is silly to try and personify one. In fact, I think it’s insulting to the underprivileged that someone with seemingly little to know tangible understanding of their struggle is speaking on their behalf like this … probably sitting on his couch watching TV with one hand in a bag of chips.
What’s the big deal. This is just as blunt as those black and white commercials of starving kids you see on TV.
Oh look at this! http://www.feed...ngchildren.org/
Quick write something up about how this is a horrible website cause i see a couple starving children on it who probably just had dung beatles as a snack.
the world’s nutted up now, we just addin’ to it.
we still got em kid who starved on da street.
I am sorry, but MG has to go… These posts don’t fit into what techcrunch is supposed to be about “obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies. In addition to covering new companies, we profile existing companies that are making an impact (commercial and/or cultural) on the new web space.”
That is from TC’s own about page… MG please explain how your most recent dribble fits into this??? I mean an article about a twitter account that talks about hunger that has a whopping 302 people looking at it?? Is this really the best journalism or blogging you can bring to the table?
If so join do us all a favor and join the blogging efforts of the Perez Hiltons and leave techcrunch, or pull your head out of TWITTER CLOUDS for a minute and bring something better to techcrunch.
Well, this surely has a cultural impact if I’m not mistaken! As far as MG leaving, I find him one of the most entertaining blogger on here (that’s coming from a 14 year old)! Though I think he posted wayyy 2 many articles about anything/everything twitter–kinda getting tired of it! What’s with all the twitter hype? Isn’t it just posting your status update using a separte account(another hassle!)? Don’t get what the big deal is!
Who are these pricks busting MG’s balls every two seconds over the number of followers and little pointless details.
Go feed some poor kids and quit complaining, scumbags.
Keep’n it real.
-TS
TC is really going downhill, simply mentioning Twitter or Craiglist in the post doesn’t automatically make it a TC material, or does it?
You people missed the point entirely–that this posting was not about starving african children but instead about the disparity between twitterer’s relentless stream of narcissistic BS status updates and the unchanging status of a starving african child: hungry… About the dichotomy of a world where we have the technology and ability to stay completely connected all the time (for no other reason than to stroke our own egos) but do not have the solution yet to a problem like hunger.
we are the web (thanks @nicktadd); @starvingafrican is tweeting our collective conscience; when did Conscience start following fashion / good taste?