julia allison

this email i wrote to julia allison is a follow-up to the post on ukulele-julia.

" dear julia,
i was at dld and also saw the panel on story-telling with you. until then i did not know who you are and what you do and i also did not find the time yet to look at your blog properly.
but i was very glad, that dld invited you, since the statments you made were very interesting, to the point and gave me food for thought.
i followed the nasty back and forth on your "question of the day" comment list this afternoon. i wanted to add my positive impressions of you and the oberservations you talked about, but did not find the time to do so until now (since i am german, finding the right words in english takes me a bit longer). since in the meantime you've taken those comments down, it does not really make sense for me to raise the topic again. (and i think you have the absolute right to take them down).
so i write my comment in this email. and if you want me to, i'm happy to copy-paste it in the comment thread.
have a great time in davos

"from a woman in the audience, aged 36

- I had never heared of Julia Allison or nonsociety before. My comment is based on what Julia said on the panel "telling stories" at DLD09.
For me it was one of the most intersting, insightfull and inspring panels of the conference and I am very glad, that Julia and the other speakers on that panel were invited to speak.
Julia is the living proof that the stereotype "short skirt equals small brain" is not true. Her observations are sharp, her conclusions are intelligent, she is independant in her opinion and the way she brings it accross is witty, charming and entertaining.

"Nonsociety is an experiment and I am using myself as a guinea pig" she says "yes, there are consequences which affect your actual life when you break down the forth wall between you and the audience. This is a new form of journalism, it's happening and it will be even more in the future. And judgemnent is a fucking scary thing. But there are consequences to everything, good ones and bad ones."

"When you interact with other people you chose a persona that you have. It's not fake, but the person you are with your boss might not be the person that you are with your boyfriend, might not be the person that you are with your parents or with your girlfriends. They are all you, but you conduct yourself differently. Well, on the internet you only get one choice.
So when I watch politicans go from private citizens to actual politicans, I see them become blander versions of themselves. They choose what pisses of the least number of people. That's why they are so boring."

Question from the audience: "You are becoming more and more popular. How are you going to use your power to help women get ahead in life?"
Her answer: "Young women don't tend to start their own businesses. I don't know why, it also did not occur to me for a long time... This is a huge issue. I tell you the shit I get - no wonder women don't put themselves out there.
The number one thing I am interested in right now is the fact that
women are told they can either be interested in fashion, in makeup, in boys. Or you can be intersted in physics, in engenering, in feminist rights. And I am interested in both. The fact that I like cute outfits doesn't mean I could not compete with any of these guys here on the panel or out there.
Young women should all be in this together, to support each other."

If you want to know more about Julia's thoughts on story telling, on manners in the internet and on commenting in blogs, you can watch the panel in full length.
I finish my comment with a quote from another panel: "Moderating user comments on your blog? Sure. If you invite people to your house to share your life with them, you also don't want them to piss on your living room carpet, do you?"-

and here are notes somebody else took including the comments julia took off her own webpage.