Mathew Ingram ran a piece saying Twitter is censoring.#

Dan Gillmor says if it's not a government doing it, it's not censorship.#

In this case, for a couple of reasons, I think it is censorship.#

1. When a service becomes a standard form of communication that can't be substituted with some other form of communication, when they deprive someone of the ability to use it, I think that is censorship. Rules of business apply differently for companies with monopolies. So do legal and linguistic concepts.#

2. In this case, Twitter is acting on behalf of governments. So even if you don't buy that Twitter is doing it, a government is forcing Twitter to do it (the alternative is to black out the whole country). So it's an act of censorship, even within Dan's definition. #

Note: I wrote this in response to a user's question on a mail list.#

With any new tool, I always try to approach it on the path of least resistance. Get something working quickly. Use it, see where that leads me.#

In the case of Fargo as a website editing tool, the path of least resistance is a chronology -- otherwise known as a blog.#

I recommend using it that way for a bit, poke around under the hood (use the suitcase icon in the left margin) -- and you'll pretty quickly see how it works. #

Trying to learn how it works from the docs is not a great idea. #

Use the docs to get started, to find out the theory of the product. The product itself is designed to show you how the product works.#

The conventional belief is that the new tech companies have wisdom that's informed by the future, and the 20th century versions of those companies are stuck in the mud, destined to be replaced by the newcomers. But every company gets stuck. People want to keep their jobs. You have to make your bosses look good. That means not rocking the boat. Try all you want to make a different kind of organization, that's what you're stuck with. Every captain of industry has hit this wall. Some sooner than others. #

The lesson is this -- and it's a hard one. Look for people who you think are abrasive and piss off everyone in your management structure, but whom most people agree, have an understanding of what you do. And then find a way to incorporate that person's thinking in what you do. Accept the organizational angst as better than the drifting that happens otherwise.#

#