A way to make news, or genuine care? While still a matter of debate, Studiocom‘s idea is not disrespectful. On the contrary — the man, and legend, Steve Jobs, does deserve at least a national memorial in the US, if not a world-wide memorial. But stevejobsday2011.com fails lamentably to deliver that intent.
Studiocom launched a special website dedicated to Friday 14, 2011 – the Steve Jobs memorial day. The site encourages visitors to “look like Steve, tweet about Steve and talk about Steve.” Everyone in the world is invited to participate in a social memorial that can take place in real life, on Twitter, on Facebook or on the Steve Jobs Day memorial site, stevejobsday2011.com.
Social networks like LinkedIn, and Google+, as well as Apple forums and other “geek” discussion boards are not mentioned, but we can assume that can be included. Unfortunately for the site, there are already “abuses” – user avatars depicting genitals, and other inappropriate responses to what seemed to be an altruistic invitation: Sport your black turtleneck, jeans, tennis shoes, and glasses and snap a pic! And this is where the site fails lamentably.
Interestingly, the project was launched September 23, but Jobs only passed away October 5:
“We launched this project on September 23, 2011 as a thank you to a man whose work has impacted so many lives. In light of his passing, we hope that Steve Jobs Day will be celebrated as a tribute to his life and the legacy he leaves behind.”
The intent was to build a platform where people could thank Jobs for the technology that he perfected and made more accessible to the world. Unfortunately, freedom of speech is a broadly misunderstood concept, as you will note browsing the photos published by “users” at stevejobsday2011.com. These images should be carefully scrutinized and moderated by Studiocom, the owners of the site. An image featuring a person eating human feces, to give just an example, is not appropriate for a memorial day, even when the day is not “official.”
Studiocom managed to score a number of headlines with this initiative. With popularity also comes responsibility. The photo gallery at stevejobsday2011.com needs a human moderator, to get rid of the trash and keep only the images that offer the desired tribute to Jobs and his work.
For our readers interested in the official memorial, this was planned by Apple on October 19, however it is open solely for Apple employees.
Update: at the moment, it looks like the site has been hacked.
About Delia Gavrilescu
Pond Scum. Beneath pond scum! Is there something lower? Please tell me.