SXSW: The Elephant In The Room
Every year it changes. South By Southwest is never really the same. For years it was the place where new apps were born. I was there the year Twitter exploded. I was there the year Foursquare went nuts. But this year apps stayed home as did the brands which last year jammed Brazo’s street. And every cool nook and cranny mostly stayed home too. No big “activations” from McDonalds or Anheuser-Busch this year.
Instead of a big boom this year, there was a steady hum and it was politics.
Cory Booker opened a packed house at SXSW Interactive. I’ve seen him speak before, and in SXSW he was in his element. Unlike politicians of the past, he didn’t have the cadence of a preacher or evangelist. Instead, his talk was soulful — warm — and human. He spoke without a teleprompter or a script. He moved back and forth across the stage — making eye contact and sharing stories. He talked about what he called “the most powerful force in America” and the -wait for it — the word was “Love.” It’s worth watching. Honest, warm, and inspirational. It was a necessary breath of fresh air. Bravo.
Now, not all of the political talks got such high marks. Alexis Ohanian’s much-anticipated talk about Reddit had political watchers expecting a revealing explanation of Reddit’s role in powering the Alt Right, PizzaGate and the internal struggles that Reddit is facing. Anyone who came for that talk would be sorely disappointed.
“Ohanian, who surely exists in a different reality than you or I, says Reddit is ‘the global water cooler where people’s minds are changed about things.’ Riiight.” wrote William Turton on Gizmodo. He continued: “The website once home to racist subreddits dedicated to violent hate speech like “CoonTown,” wants people to “come for the cats, stay for the empathy,” according to Ohanian. Is this clown serious? CoonTown was finally banned last year, but white supremacy communities like /r/WhiteRights still exist on the site. And don’t forget about subreddits like /r/CuteFemaleCorpses, which is exactly what it sounds like. Empathy indeed.”
And Turton isn’t alone. After almost 40 minutes of platitudes of FluffyBunny49, Ohanian opened the floor to questions, or so it seemed. Using a software question platform called Slido.com, the audience was invited to pose questions. But what wasn’t revealed but later discovered was that Reddit PR was reviewing all the submissions and selectively allowing only approved questions out into the public queue for up or down voting. One question about Donald Trump made it through. Reddit PR responded “maybe the Redditors are tired of those questions.” hmm… Questions about Serena Williams made the queue. The only question about Trump that was answered was this one: “Question #6: Michael: “What was with your gushing over trump after his address to Congress?“ Alexis denies it. Specifically A. “You’re going to have to remind me when this was — ’cause I’m pretty sure that wasn’t me. Is there a link. Ok. Tweet me the citation cause I’m pretty sure — have I ever…” We’ve reached out to SXSW to ask to read the public question — and perhaps most interesting — from anonymous “What are you views on r/the_donald? Is it toxic for Reddit?” — with 13 up votes (the second most popular) the question was simply ignored. Reddit PR invited us to submit our questions in writing — and we’ve done so. So stay tuned.
But politically engaged had plenty more to chew on. Kara Swisher filled one of the main ballrooms with the team from Crooked Media. The results was a magical elixir of snark and politics — with former Obama political team proving a refreshing and sharp-witted take on the escapades now taking place at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Finally — SXSW dipped its toe in the future and invited attendees to become activists. The first ever Act-A-Thon was opened by Bob Garfield from NPR’s On The Media and invited attendees to embrace their inner activist. A small but feisty group of participants spent an hour exploring issues, choosing a topic, and then working to sketch out a plan to make an impact.
Interestingly, the two projects that came from the process included on the ground local engagement — not national politics. One project focused on what they called the “School to Prison Pipeline,” and asked the question, “How do we get a non-partisan program on this, instead of it being a political battle?” A second project focused on the Tech sector and how to grow a more diverse community of tech leaders to grow platforms and services.
This year, like all years, SXSW was about change. And despite the flow of beer, the smell of BBQ, and the music that filled the streets — the elephant in the room was Donald Trump. How will events in Washington effect tech, social media, virtual reality, education, the arts? Those answers are forthcoming — and the SXSW community is engaged in address them. Austin is a city with its eye on the future. And SXSW is evolving to embrace the coming changes and challenges.
