In case you see this ship out in the bay later …

We happened to be on the downtown waterfront a little while ago and just had to go over and check out this ship docked at Bell Street Pier, since we didn’t recognize its flag. Turned out to be the Peruvian navy cargo ship “BAP Mollendo.” Capped an international morning for us – we were by Pier 66 because the World Affairs Council across the street had invited us to come chat with a German delegation touring the US to learn more about how “new media” is utilized here. Talking with the trio (from Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk radio, the Leipzig Public Library, and Der Spiegel) after they asked us a bunch of questions about WSB and community-news blogging, we learned: (a) Not many Germans blog, (b) The Internet isn’t a big deal for kids/teens in Germany the way it is for American kids, and (c) Wikipedia is REVERED in Germany — editors have meetups, etc.

Y in Westwood April 3, 2008 (11:59 am)

This is why I love this blog!!!! I work in the Darth Vader building on the 18th floor in Belltown. There’s been an ongoing office discussion about the boat and from what country. Mystery resolved by WSB! Thanks!

WSB April 3, 2008 (12:58 pm)

No problem. Validates the existence of those of us who are chronically curious :)

marco April 3, 2008 (2:03 pm)

I can’t leave this uncommented, I don’t think any of the descriptions of new Media in Germany are true.

>(a) Not many Germans blog,
What?!? Sorry, but I think that is complete BS (and not only, because I’m a German blogger ;)
20six.de has almost 40k members, livejournal.com has almost 50k in Germany. And those are only the two large ones I could think of. Out of 80 Million people in Germany, that is a pretty significant percentage, I would say.

>(b) The Internet isnâ€™t a big deal for kids/teens in Germany the way it is for American kids, and
I also don’t buy this. It’s a big deal in Germany as well. Maybe not Myspace-crazy as in the states, but still pretty big.

>(c) Wikipedia is REVERED in Germany â€” editors have meetups, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Past_meetups I see now big German presence there. And everybody I know in the US looks stuff up on wikipedia as well.

Maybe this was all a case of the people you met with being a bit out of touch with the young generation and new Media…. Der Spiegel and MDR I would count towards the old Media establishment…

Sorry about the rant :)
Marco

WSB April 4, 2008 (1:51 am)

Hi, Marco. Actually these folks were pretty young. I don’t think any of them were over 35.

WRT Wikipedia, it has had a credibility problem in the US with some high-profile “bad edits” … I think it’s more credible than people give it credit for, though.

The German presence might be more concentrated here? I don’t speak the language but you’d certainly know :)
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauptseite