Finally caught up with Stephen Fry’s Radio 4 interview the other day, after my lovely sister put it on my Facebook wall – “I’m sure you may have seen this already as you’re clever and like the internet a lot” – I can live with that bio, haha!
Anyway it’s well worth a read, my favourite bits are speculation on why the celebrities and the press seem to love and hate Twitter respectively in equal measure. Mainly because it allows the former to sidestep the latter:
“And the press are already struggling enough – God knows they’ve already lost their grip on news to some extent. If they lose their grip on comment and gossip and being a free PR machine as well, they’re really in trouble.”
Ouch!
And about letting us be grown-ups online:
“The internet is a city and, like any great city, it has monumental libraries and theatres and museums and places in which you can learn…But there are also slums and there are red light districts and there are really sleazy areas where you wouldn’t want your children wandering alone.
And you say, “But how do I know which shops are selling good gear in the city and how do I know which are bad? How do I know which streets are safe and how do I know which aren’t?” Well you find out.”
This neatly brings to life the way the web should be viewed- an amazing place to explore and learn infinitely from, somewhere where you need your wits about you sometimes but as Stephen also says, incredibly empowering.
He’s also funny about missing spellcheck when writing by hand – I am rubbish at writing by hand now. Full of gems of course, he’s so much more – but as fun as the new Jeremy Clarkson.
Ah, does it get any better than Stephen Fry. On Radio 4. Talking about Twitter? I think not, top class geekery.
Jaz Cummins 
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