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Blogoshpere Gone Wild: Top Blogs Play Telephone with Nissan
I saw an interesting article pop up last week about Nissan developing color changing paint... Sounded like something perfect to blog about on my color + design blog, so to confirm the story, I sent an email into Nissan Motors and they were nice enough to call me back. Turns out Nissan has no idea where this current web urban legend originated from and they confirmed that they aren’t developing color changing paint.
As I tried to search for where the story originated, I stumbled into the blogging equivalent of a childhood game of telephone. How exactly did this rumor spread in 3 days from a small energy news site to some of the highest trafficked auto & technology blogs on the web? Could Wired, GizModo, Engadget, Jalopnik, etc. really have been part of such a badly spun web of news?
Follow us post by post in the latest game of Blogophone...
Around November 6th, NextEnergyNews.com put up a story about the color changing paint technology being developed. They explained the basics of how this technology works, but they set this all off when they mention Nissan in passing::
Scientists Develop Auto Paint That Changes Color With the Press of a Button
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What seems to be the first blog to pick this up, luxvelocity doesn't add much to the story, but a little suggestion of a sexy Nissan spotscar to imagine this feature on...
Paramagnetic Paint: Change the Color of Your Vehicle at the Touch of a Button
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This is Where the Blognannegans Really Begin...
Motor Authority picked up the story, and definitely got inspired by luxvelocity... they added fancy image of a red, black and white Nissan GTR and connected the recently released Self-Healing paint by Nissan to this new technology.
Paramagnetic paint changes color at the touch of a button
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World Car Fans didn't like all the white that Motor Authority used in their example picture and scaled it back to just a strip... but what they added as the source tag for the image is probably what helped this thing rocket out of control.
Advanced Paintjob that Changes Colour at the Touch of a Button
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Taking the same red and black car from WordCarFans, Jalopnik continues the story:
The New Switcheroo: Electrical Chameleon Paint Changes Color
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Going off of Jalopnik's connection of the color changing paint that Nissan actually has developed Mobile Magazine merges the two:
Nissan's Magical Electric Paint Changes Colors on the Fly
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Crediting Mobile Mag as the source for thir post, but playing off Jalopnik's Chameleon title... Wired goes full in on the Nissan invention thing. At least Wired knows that red is so 2006 and it is all about going Green in 07... they updated the example car image:
Carma Chameleon: Nissan Developing Color-Changing Auto Paint
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Gizmodo doesn't credit a source for their story, but judging by the Red and Black Nissan image they use and considering they are in the same blog family as Jalopnik... we have a pretty good idea where they were getting their information:
Nissan Developing Color Changing Paint
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Another Strain of the Motor Blog Rumor...
I'm not sure how Auto Blog picked this story up so late in the game from Motor Blog and managed not to credit or even mention Nissan with this new technology, they even used a multicolor Polo image too.
Don't dig your paint? Change it with the touch of a button.
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Engadget credits Autoblog as their source, but obviously went all the way back to Motor Blog for a majority of their content. They apparently weren't digging on the Rainbow-Polo and went back to the Red, Black and White Nissan and started back up the conversation again:
Paramagnetic paint lets you change your car's color on a whim
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Continuing On from World Car Fans...
It wasn't just Jalopnik that picked up the story from Word Car Fans, Daily Tech continued on connecting even more dots. Oh and they weren't all about the red either... they went with a subtle Gray and Black color choice. (Unfortunately most of the readers of DailyTech were more concerned with the use of word Twist instead of Torque to notice that there was no truth to 90% of the article.)
Nissan Develops Color Changing Paint for Vehicles
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And finally from NewLaunches...
Nissan's "paramagnetic" paint coating allows you to change car color at the flip of a switch
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Yeah, they've been working on it for about 3 days or so according to the blogosphere.
From This... to... What?
So in only 3 days, the details of the story went from:
"viewed by Nissan and other auto companies"
to...
"Nissan talking up their bogus but juicy claim to have developed a self-healing paint system that can actually change color based on your mood, will be on production vehicles by 2010"
In the interests of full disclosure, I accidentally started a pretty major game of blogophone early last week. I was pointed to an article about T-Mobile having a German trademark on the color "magenta� and wrote up a post about it, doing some quick research and grabbing what facts I could find about the trademark and the lawsuits they had filed against companies who were using that color.
When I posted the article, with the title "BEWARE T-Mobil Owns the Color Magenta", the blogosphere erupted with buzz about t-mobile "owning" magenta, partially due to my playful use of that word in the blog title. Despite this trademark being in effect for 6 years, the post spread like wildfire, becoming more and more twisted as it went from blog to blog.
So what can bloggers learn from all of this? It is far too easy to pick-up and push along stories in the blogosphere. Every time we "hear and tell," a few of the details get transformed into something else. Bloggers and readers should do more to research the facts and original sources before jumping to the publish button. How else will we establish blogging as a credible, journalistic endeavor?
P.S. Did you guys hear that Apple has developed the first artificial intelligence home automation system? It will act like a butler turning lights on and off, answering the phone, playing your favorite songs based on your moods... And the iHome will be in stores by Christmas!
November 18th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
This was just about the best blog post I’ve read in…ever. I love it! While I adore blogs and blogging, sometimes I want to write in big ugly letters in the comments “SAYS WHO?”
Push-button publishing is great and all, but we’re just bloggers. There is often zero editorial process involved from conception to clicking “publish”.
Yes, Virginia, there is a color-changing Nissan and you can have it in two years.
November 18th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
[...] Blogoshpere Gone Wild:Top Blogs Play Telephone with Nissan. [...]
November 18th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
Nice post Darius! Pretty detailed as well.
It’s funny to see how saying one thing can be changed around in so many ways.
Question is, how much is that iHome gonna be?
November 18th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
I guess if anyone were to automate a home, it would be Apple. I’d hate to see what would happen if Microsoft got a hold of an idea like that. Can we say Vista For Home? I don’t think so.
Seriously, your post was a work of art in itself. Excellent job!
November 19th, 2007 at 12:18 am
Great work. I was amazed that so far Gizmodo is the only blog that put a correction section at the end. Never been a big fan of Wired, specially after reading about faking wired news few times in the past.
Lifehacker rocks, get to learn some cool tricks. Both Engadget & Gizmodo are just telling people what is cool, what they should buy next & what not.
November 19th, 2007 at 1:02 am
Writing a post about the iHome as you read this. :)
November 19th, 2007 at 1:19 am
Makes me wonder, is there an internet fact checker? Socially moderated leaves something to be desired, especially when the bulk of youngsters day (28 = internet grandpapa) quote wikipedia as a viable source in scholastic papers.
Thanks Darius – pretty sweet post.
November 19th, 2007 at 1:56 am
Haha….nice detective work. That is some awesome stuff BTW. I’ve been dreaming of paramagnetic paint ever since I was a little boy watching Viper
November 19th, 2007 at 6:02 am
Funniest thing I’ve read today…
November 19th, 2007 at 6:51 am
It’s a nice game of follow the first to break the news, and write the story.
November 19th, 2007 at 9:48 am
Now that was some good detective work!
November 19th, 2007 at 9:50 am
You are about to uncover a secret that you cant handle. Back off while you still can.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:03 am
[...] can find the full article over here: http://www.younggogetter.com/2007/11/18/blogoshpere-gone-wild-top-blogs-play-telephone-with-nissan/Â and it talks about the progression of a rumor about a supposed color-changing paint that Nissan [...]
November 19th, 2007 at 10:05 am
@Sharif: Be wary. Those “reports” about “fake wired stories” were fake themselves.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:05 am
[...] Blogoshpere Gone Wild: Top Blogs Play Telephone with Nissan [...]
November 19th, 2007 at 11:16 am
[...] The “colour changing paint” by Nissan has taken auto blogs by storm last week. As everybody was raving on and on about how this development could change the world, only one site decided to double check with Nissan to confirm the story. Turns out, you’ve all been taken for a ride! The True Story [...]
November 19th, 2007 at 11:32 am
Now isn’t this article in itself the proof that bloggers DO research their posts thoroughly? So what’s the worry ;-)
November 19th, 2007 at 11:49 am
[...] using simple and clean illustration Publié novembre 19, 2007 Chaud devant Here is the well-documented story of “Nissan’s Paramagnetic paint”, a totally [...]
November 19th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Wow, what a great job you did of tracking that all down. And to imagine, you slapped it all down with one phone call. You deserve an award.
Color changing paint would be cool though, too bad i don’t like Nissans.
November 19th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
I guess we bloggers have to make the mistake of not doing our research properly to understand how important it is to..well research properly.. :|
November 19th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
[...] the line, the message has been distorted beyond recognition? Here’s an amusing analysis of a simple news item about automobile paint that got hugely distorted as it was passed from blog to blog. In this case the real-life consequences of the distortion are pretty harmless, but it’s a [...]
November 19th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Great research, shocking to see some of the top blogs posting false articles.
This has to make us think about what sources to believe.
November 19th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Great article. Great detective work.
On the other hand, if Nissan was in fact, secretly developing something like this, maybe their PR department would deny it if someone asked them.
How’s that for a conspiracy theory?
Tom Bonner
http://alphatracks.com
November 19th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Really good article. I have to say, I’m not suprised that you had a “he said, she said” path that that article went through.
November 19th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Sensational article Darius, really well done.
November 19th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
[...] Top Blogs Play Telephone with Nissan [YoungGoGetter] [...]
November 20th, 2007 at 9:39 am
Color changing paint is real. It doesn’t work in quite the same way that these stories suggest but paint that changes color depending on your viewing angle does exist and you might see it on cars some day soon.
http://www.jdsu.com/index.cfm?pagepath=Products/Decorative
November 20th, 2007 at 10:47 am
First rule of Journalism (not blogging)…. GO TO THE ORIGINAL SOURCE and if possible, cross check it with another one. Obviously in a world where quantity counts more than quality, that’s a difficult thing to do.
When you’ve got limited resources and only 24 hours in a day, churning out 12 quality news articles with one part time staff is something of a challenge.
November 20th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
[...] shows off how online tech blogs played the telephone game with Nissan’s color-changing paint. Is fact-checking really so [...]
November 20th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
that is incredible, but not surprising with all of the douches in blogland. nice working on tracing the origin; that’s fantastic stuff.
next week, i’m writing an article on how humans can breathe water. and how i taught my yellow lab to talk. and how acura has added an option to the new tsx: wings.
actually, that would kind of be a fun game. start something on purpose and track it to see exactly who picks it up and what it turns into after 7 days in the blogosphere. i know you said you already kind of did it on accident, but it would be a fun experiment/trick to play.
November 20th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
[...] Read More Other stories breaking the silence… [...]
November 20th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
As I understand it, the iHome system will be distributed for free on future iPods using flash memory.
The first time you plug in your iPod, the system will download itself into your electrical system and begin mapping your home’s appliances. Then it will short out any non-Apple devices and email you a list of the Apple replacements you’ll be needing.
To support the launch of iHome, Apple is readying a slew of new devices, including iCold, iMicro and iBulb, to followed up by iShave, iTwist and iPoke.
November 20th, 2007 at 8:52 pm
@Al Brown – YGG doesn’t partake in the game of telephone
November 21st, 2007 at 2:05 am
[...] Link: Top Blogs Play Telephone with Nissan. [...]
November 21st, 2007 at 4:40 am
A thus proof, if you read it on a Blog site, take everything with a pinch of salt.
Xbox owners should take the most note of this, as Microsoft are notorious for posting crap on blogs, and letting Xbots suck it up and pass it on. Morons.
November 21st, 2007 at 6:14 am
[...] importancia para el blogger de comprobar las fuentes y llegar hasta el final de la noticia (Young Go Getter), algo de lo que pecamos muchos, solo leer nuestra fuente y no ir más allá, como si nuestras [...]
November 21st, 2007 at 11:27 am
Love this post, and it really speaks to the scary place we are right now in terms of information. While the poster above is correct that we should always go to the original source, few people do and that is how we have so much crap spread around with very little verification … but let’s not kid ourselves, this “write first verify later” attitude is hardly limited to blogs and bloggers.
November 21st, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Well done, Darius.
Research your blog. Something most of us bloggers are starting to forget often.
November 21st, 2007 at 2:37 pm
[...] the gist of the Digg title that really spiked YoungGoGetter.com when they wrote this article on the Blogosphere Gone Wild. If there is one way to get a true Alexa spike, its to target bloggers with a controversial and racy [...]
November 21st, 2007 at 4:12 pm
A game of broken Blogophone…
Darius Monsef over at YoungGoGetter.com and COLOURlovers.com has written probably the best and most insightful blog post on blogging that I’ve ever read. It is a sordid tale of a simple scientific research story about colour changing paint that gets…
November 21st, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Perhaps one solution to this problem might be a blog that first gets presented to the relevant experts before being released to the general public, so that errors of this sort can be caught. Priority could be given to their feedback if the story was still published as is so the general public would see all sides straight away.
November 21st, 2007 at 7:45 pm
[...] there is no Nissan that changes color, but Nissan was one of those interested in the product. I won’t be surprised if I see [...]
November 22nd, 2007 at 1:57 am
[...] know why cousins don’t marry, right? Here’s a fantastic story of new media inbreeding and feeding on [...]
November 22nd, 2007 at 6:05 am
[...] Monsef posted a fascinating article over at YoungGoGetter this weekend that points to some of the current major weaknesses in [...]
November 22nd, 2007 at 9:10 pm
[...] shows soured how online school blogs played the ring game with Nissan’s color-changing paint. Is fact-checking rattling so [...]
November 24th, 2007 at 8:39 am
[...] read more [...]
November 25th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
[...] is an interesting story picked up by Darius Monsef at Young go Getter about the dangers of exaggerating initial stories so that we end up with [...]
November 26th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Great timeline of events there, and good to hear Nissan responded back to you. But, really guys, Apple would have no idea how to automate the home. Domotics is far out of even their reach…
December 5th, 2007 at 12:11 am
Where can I get one of those cars?
December 6th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Seriously, click my name for undeniable proof that everything on the internet can be mathematically proven as fact.
December 7th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Sounds like something you’d see on James Bond, “And this James is your remote key-less entry, starter, and paint job changer. Please try not to destroy this one”
January 11th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Make peace, not war!
April 1st, 2008 at 12:09 pm
[...] run. Ironic, as Quarterlife began life as a failed TV pitch. The anatomy of a rumor – see how a weird game of blog telephone resulted in a widespread (and false) story that Nissan had created color-changing [...]
November 4th, 2008 at 10:18 am
I don’t even know,fellow!) continued to write in the same vein, it is interesting people!
August 5th, 2009 at 4:15 am
Interesting article really. It was quite interesting to see something like this. Really the whole concept is great.
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:25 am
[...] Science of Retweets on TwitterOctober 23, 2009View commentsComments Source: Young Go GetterOver the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with “Viral Marketing Scientist” [...]
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I’m Out! :)
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