WHAT A TANGLED WEBSITE WE WEAVE.

Regarding The Real Voice of York, ‘Does Anybody read this Blog’? There appear to be a few Geeks whose cerebral cortex is attached to their laptop resulting in the development of their social media conscience and literary skills being inhibited by a past incestuous relationship between ‘Donkey Kong’ and the ‘Super Mario Brothers’.

Some share the same name- ‘Anonymous’. Some write things like ‘Just a Geek fact James (sic) don’t need to prove it (sic) ask the tech world and it will mellow your claims a little into something more beleivable’.

It is a shame that a Geek from the tech world appears unable to punctuate a sentence and spell believable. The rule is usually ‘I’ before ‘e’ my friend- not freind, but their can be a problem!

Obviously you do not have to have an over-abundance of computer savvy , numeracy neurons to understand that automated robots troll the world’s websites, possibly vastly inflating the number of page-views---or not, as the case may be. The trolling is not done for fun. It is done using key words for key reasons, including trying to access bank accounts and hunting for the next suicide bomber.

However- not one critic of social media websites can claim that they have not had a massive impact on public perceptions and reactions, including in the US elections, and to suggest that readership of any social media site is 10 per cent or less, compared to its page views, is playing with a large synaptic-gap. A computer literate hick, who makes negative claims that cannot be substantiated- is still just that- a hick!

The emergence of ‘Social Media’ has stuffed up the poor quality major newspapers, in WA, to the extent that their circulation has collapsed by at least 60% in the past 20 years- despite a massive increase in population. Now The Sunday Times is owned by The West Australian and it is ‘Custer’s last (newspaper) stand’ with just one proprietor left.

The term readership versus circulation has always been amorphous. Not one newspaper proprietor can accurately gauge actual readership compared with those who only read the comics and death notices, then use the rest to light a fire or line the bottom of the cockie’s cage. This applies equally to online page-views compared to readership but please do not put your laptop under ‘Tweety’.

So despite the prognostications of Councillor Randell that no-one reads York’s social media websites and a pixilated soothsayer suggesting that The Real Voice of York has had its pages read just 16,000 times- here comes the RAM bam thank you Mam!

It could have taken just one (1) powerful reader, digesting the content of just one (1) article by someone like James Plumridge that led to the resignation of former Minister for Nothing, Tony Simpson, and made James Best as popular as a slight explosion between the legs within local government circles. That, by the way, means just one (1) page-view –or hit.

In addition, if Mr Randell and others, Google ‘Commissioner James Best, Australia Day address at York’ you will view at least two York Social Media Site articles referring to his miserable effort in claiming social capitalism was being stymied by these sites promoting the views of self-interested extremists. Also-that he could not spell the poet W.B Yeats name properly, suggesting it was the same as a popular brand of domestic garden fertilizer

Among the authors noted, you will find the names James Plumridge and Councillor Jane Ferro.

So Councillor Randell- how many do you think have read these particular articles displayed on the World’s most popular search engine, and there are a lot more of them out there?

It has become the role of a community social media site in a democracy to reveal bad apples, bad governance, bad government decisions and more than the odd hypocrite. They tell the truth otherwise they would be sued out of existence.

Remember that York has the ignominy of being one of only two councils sacked and/or suspended in WA in the 21^st Century and the causes and their ramifications may have decades of serious local financial and social side-effects. This is an unfortunate truth.

Do we all forget the past and look to the future- while paying exorbitant rates to pay for that past, saying nothing about it and bitching about, and belittling, the social media sites that do? Or do we support them in telling the truth to make York a better place to live?

Then, when The Shire of York becomes The Real Voice of York itself through consultation via communication with its ratepayers, beginning by explaining what actually is going on in the present, these sites will become superfluous.

The letter to the senior executives of the Shire of York regarding the YRCC titled ‘New Year’s Resolution’, published on this site, has drawn a written response from one of those executives concerned that suggests some power to the people, by the people, for the people is delivered by social media.

An answer to the questions raised is said to be forthcoming before the end of this week. It should contain facts, not hypotheses.  These answers will be treated with the respect they deserve,

David Taylor.