Let me rewind: Edward Snowden, everybody’s favorite fugitive-turned-technology-critic, shot out a seemingly off-the-cuff post on Twitter today professing his disdain for the current state of internet search:
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) November 16, 2021 In what, to this reporter, appears to be a very strange flex, Barry Schwartz quote-tweeted Snowden and called on fellow search engine expert and Google employee Danny Sullivan to opine on the matter:
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) November 16, 2021 I don’t understand exactly what’s happening here, but it looks like marketing. All I know, is that Edward Snowden was having no part of it.
*inaccessible to anyone who cares about their privacy (improper Tor blocking)hostile, scripts-required captchaspage redirect for mandatory, scripts-required cookie — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) November 16, 2021 Background: I should make it clear that when I refer to Schwartz and Sullivan as underground rulers, I’m paying them a compliment. They’re experts on what they do – which is search marketing or buzzword unification or something. Nobody knows! But Edward Snowden’s proclivity against mincing words is a sight to behold when he expands on his initial response with bullet points, tips, and pre-emptive replies to unspoken excuses. It’s truly a thing of art and, because I don’t have a horse in this race, I hope to see more of it.
No law or bot problem justifies this. — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) November 16, 2021 Search marketing. SEO. Jargon. Whatever. If you’re reading this because someone at TNW figured out the secret handshake for getting Google’s Search algorithm to pick us up for this news cycle, good for Google and TNW. But I’m not sure if I should be telling the next generation of journalists to take marketing or communications courses. Consider me in Snowden’s corner for this bout.
