It is almost impossible to have any rational discussion about 9/11/2001 and the events leading up to it with anybody, there is simply too much emotion involved.
I agree. It's nearly impossible to do some sort of memorial which won't somehow offend someone, making the downside rather large. By contrast, the upside is nearly invisible - only the most moving tribute ever would see any uptick in Google's favorability or search volume.
I can't speak for google, but personally I feel like it's starting to get over-played. There's constant specials on TV of every order, on every channel. Though "We Will Not Forget" I don't think we need another 500 reminders as to what we're not forgetting.
Yeah, its one thing to not forget, its another to obsess over something. Overplaying it doesn't show respect and support for the family of victims any more than not mentioning it all, especially when you consider how politicians and news networks use 9/11 for their own profit and benefit.
Perhaps Google decided to stay out of it for the very reason that everyone else was already talking about it.
This has been brought up before (also regarding Memorial Day in the U.S.). Their response in 2008 was:
"Google's special logos tend to be lighthearted in nature, this would be a particularly challenging design. We wouldn't want to create a graphic that could be interpreted as disrespectful in any way."
Take it for what it's worth. Anyway, they have this going on to help commemorate the event this year:
I'm not about to be offended by a company, Google, over a single event. They did, after all, simply fail to remind us about what we already knew.
I am not saying that major events are not important. But some perspective is required.
Google could not properly recognize the world's disasters even if it was extremely vigilant. Unbelievably brutal things are happening all the time; 2009 alone has enough problems to keep Google home pages decorated, and flags at half mast, every single day. Barring that, you don't have to go too far into history to find more. Here are just two examples:
At what point do millions of people around the world feel snubbed when Google doesn't recognize their anniversaries?
I personally hope that most people spend at least some time trying to appreciate just what kind of world we live in. Don't feel frustrated because you weren't reminded of what you already knew; instead, be glad of the chance to learn about everything else that's happening. This sort of enlightenment is the first step toward a world with fewer of these atrocities.
For the same reason Google doesn't participate in remembrance of the British subway bombing (edit: or the Holocaust, or the 30 Years War, or the eviction of Armenians from Turkey, or the deploying of atomic bombs against Imperial Japan), at a first guess. Not to mention, what would they do? Change the 'l' to a tower being knocked over? That would end well.
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 27.6 ms ] threadIt is almost impossible to have any rational discussion about 9/11/2001 and the events leading up to it with anybody, there is simply too much emotion involved.
So I've flagged this, sorry.
Perhaps Google decided to stay out of it for the very reason that everyone else was already talking about it.
This has been brought up before (also regarding Memorial Day in the U.S.). Their response in 2008 was:
"Google's special logos tend to be lighthearted in nature, this would be a particularly challenging design. We wouldn't want to create a graphic that could be interpreted as disrespectful in any way."
Take it for what it's worth. Anyway, they have this going on to help commemorate the event this year:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/make-history-with-nat...
I am not saying that major events are not important. But some perspective is required.
Google could not properly recognize the world's disasters even if it was extremely vigilant. Unbelievably brutal things are happening all the time; 2009 alone has enough problems to keep Google home pages decorated, and flags at half mast, every single day. Barring that, you don't have to go too far into history to find more. Here are just two examples:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_disasters...
At what point do millions of people around the world feel snubbed when Google doesn't recognize their anniversaries?
I personally hope that most people spend at least some time trying to appreciate just what kind of world we live in. Don't feel frustrated because you weren't reminded of what you already knew; instead, be glad of the chance to learn about everything else that's happening. This sort of enlightenment is the first step toward a world with fewer of these atrocities.