100 NOT OUT

Congratulations to Coun Matthew Brown from Preston ,who is my 100th Facebook Friend. Whatsmore, I have actually spoken to him in my real life, which is an unusual phenomenon in this virtual networking facility. Catalogued extensively in the media and now recognised as a political tool of some significance, Facebook was unbeknown to me before the John McDonnell leadership campaign. Now it is a way of life, an addiction. And I'm only half joking.....

You can spend hours messing about, creating groups which are in-jokes to youand your pals, updating your "status," trawling around to see what people are up to. And, even worse, get caught up in the minefield of "Comparing Friends", doing quizzes and generally wasting time. So, today, no more internet distractions. Quick shuftie round the newspapers and that will be that. Unless, of course, I get any more Facebook messages.....

HOME IMPROVEMENTS !

This internet lark is truly amazing. I am not even particularly computer literate. Yet with the click of one switch supplied by Google we now have videos and links to other left-wing websites broadly supportive of the Labour Left .
Ten years ago, this stuff would have seemed like science-fiction. In 1985, when I started out as a journalist, we still had manual typewriters and carbon copies. We thought the fax machine was pretty amazing!
Now here we are in a cyber-world where I firmly believe much of the future of political campaigning lies. Door-to-door canvassing and leafletting must still have its place and nothing beats a well-attended, old-fashioned political debate.
But the USP of the blogosphere is its ability to reach out and communicate all over the world, potentially to thousands of people. And the incredible beauty of it all is that blogs cost - virtually nothing.
In a world where the media is utterly dominated by Daily Mail-speak and right-wing billionaires like Rupert Murdoch, and even Labour-friendly papers like The Guardian fail to give a proper voice to socialists, ordinary people can publish their thoughts and share their hopes with others of like minds ( and hopefully those who disagree, too). I will be adding more interesting links in the days and weeks ahead .