<i>Ad Age</i> Talks Best Media Writing of 2010

Matthew Creamer of Ad Age (see Colby Hall, it's really pretty easy!) has collected the best media writing of 2010, and today he's discussing his first few choices. His first pick is the screenplay of The Social Network, by Aaron Sorkin. Considering that Facebook was part of something like one out of three conversations over the year, we agree with this choice. Here's Creamer's take: Rivaled only by Wikileaks and the iPad, the continued ascendance of social media was the most important development in the communications business in 2010. Facebook hit half a billion users, Twitter took $200 million in funding, and every aspect of culture from politics to business continued to change. It's an epic tale and, perhaps fittingly, Hollywood told it best. The next pick by Creamer, the Twitter feed for Kanye West, specifically his rant against Matt Lauer, is a little ridiculous. Creamer says of West: What Yeezy taught me is that Twitter -- once a manageable, useful haven for smart stuff -- is increasingly a shitshow directed by celebrities bleating for yet more attention in a fashion that's at once nauseating, depressing and, I'm ashamed to say it, heart-rending, especially with someone as talented as Kanye. First of all - Twitter has never been a "haven for smart stuff," it's always been a bunch of people yapping about worthless stuff roughly 75 percent of the time. Secondly, if West's tweets were so bad, why didn't Creamer just unfollow him - and more importantly - why would he include on him on a list of "best writing" if his writing is so bad? It doesn't make any sense. Creamer also uses the Gawker-esque technique of complaining about a celebrity wanting attention by putting more attention on said celebrity. Thankfully, Creamer makes up for picking West with his third and fourth choices. He picks the cynical look at social networking by Zadie Smith in The New York Review of Books, as well as the optimistic response of Alexis Madrigal in The Atlantic to Smith's piece. Both are fantastic. The final selection for today is an animated short by a creative duo at ad agency McCann Erickson that attacks the so-called "digital ninjas" of the online world. It's not bad writing for a cartoon, so we approve. Be sure to check back with Creamer tomorrow for the rest of his picks, or rather, just come here and read what we think of what he thinks. And if you're in the mood, tell us what's being left out in the comments.

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Ad Age Talks Best Media Writing of 2010

Chris O'Shea

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Chris O'Shea