Bitcoin Forum

Don't know if there are any Stephen Colbert fans here, but last night he did a segment on Bitcoin.  He's an extremely popular comedian with a very large 'viewer-ship' - in the millions.  So I think that it's safe to say Bitcoin was just exposed to several million last night. I wish that it were more positive.

I think that the most interesting thing is that at the end of his interview of the NPR guy (Adam Davidson, host of Planet Money on NPR ---who knocks Bitcoins), the NPR guy says that NPR doesn't take Bitcoins as donations, YET!

Not the best coverage for Bitcoin, but still, it was exposed to several million viewers.

http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/wed-april-17-2013-alan-cumming

Got the timecode for when it starts?  I don't have the time to sit through all 27 minutes...

Any UK friendly links out there? Can't stream it to the UK

Sorry. It's right at the beginning.. After he pokes fun at CNN. It's within the first 5 minutes.

The only link available right now is from the show's website.  There hasn't been a youtube posting of the show yet.

That was as positive as coverage gets! You have to understand Colbert humor. He is giant parody of idiots.

Kind of like how Flash Gordon was a parody of shitty movies, but it's such a good parody you don't figure it out until the chick says "thats what makes us better than you."

This is huge.

Indeed this was huge. 

For those who don't under Stephen Colbert's humor, give this quick video a look.  It's his roast of Pres. Bush in 2010 (Pres. Bush looks extremely uncomfortable at times, LoL).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7FTF4Oz4dI

its not that bad. They was laughing at bitcoin because its recent crash in price but well crash was true so its not like they are saying something wrong about bitcoin. I think bitcoin price didnt show us anything yet and i think there are more big things to come. Just imagine if the price would drop from $50 000 to $100 in two days ...

Ok. So the consensus seems to be that this was overall good publicity for Bitcoin.  That's good then.  Several million people have now heard of Bitcoin.

Its funny because Adam was far more critical of bitcoin than Colbert, even to the point where you could tell Colbert actually knew a bit bitcoin and was trying to prompt Adam give a good explanation or to provide an argument as to why bitcoin was NOT a valid money.

My take is that Colbert is pro bitcoin, trying to give it a favourable but subtle plug..  Pitty Adam was such a douche about it.

Still quite amusing though.

Bitcoin has become what it deserved: A running joke...

He isn't. It's called irony. Or playing the devil's advocate.

Ok, maybe not pro bitcoin, but certainly wasn't as dismissive as Adam.

The interesting thing, to me, was that apparently Bitcoin is now enough of a household name to lampoon like this. I'm surprised, actually - this kind of humour requires people to have some familiarity with the subject matter.

lol epic beginning

wow, I am happier and happier with my decision to stop listening to NPR a few years ago.

The general idea is that geeks on the internet have invented a currency that has a variable value and you should probably avoid it, unless you want to buy drugs. A few seasoned daytraders and potheads might find the segment interesting but the vast majority of the viewership will take it as a joke. There's no inducement to investment so don't expect a tsunami of money to hit mtgox from Joe Sixpacks and housewives.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=179686.0

if you want to understand the mindset of Davidson, a boy dressed in man's clothes.

I dunno what anyone was expecting here. Colbert is a satirist, a tv entertainer. his job is to find flaws in people and things in current events and make fun of them, not to promote anything, and certainly not to deliver unbiased news coverage, hell, even the news agencies don't do that. of course, studies have revealed that ~80% of Americans derive their political opinions, and even decide who to vote for, from tv comedy shows like SNL and Tonight show. It kinda shows in the quality of the leaders they elect again and again.
I'm just not sure how he could make a Bitcoin cheerleading session "funny", I know since he was a major Bush-basher everyone thinks he's got some humanitarian agenda behind his comedy, but honestly. He's a showbiz guy, all he wants is attention and admiration. I'm sure he's paid well too.

I understand thatColbert is a satirist, but the guest is not. He really gave it a negative spin IMO, and gave crummy and trolling answers. That kind of exposure is not necessarily good. You could tell Colbert wanted to have an actual discussion about what money or value is and why a decentralized currency could be beneficial, but all the NPR guy gave was basically "it's for hardcore nerds and libertarian quacks, and btw don't invest in it". He didn't give a balanced assessment or apt explanation.

I consider this segment extremely positive news. The content and opinions of the commentators are irrelevant. They just spent 5 minutes talking about Bitcoin on one of the most watched TV shows in the US. Intelligent people will be asking themselves questions and Googling Bitcoin. The rest? Who cares! They'll follow in time like late adopters always do...

That was extremely enjoyable. I'm a Colbert fan although I haven't watched recently.

That was actually not as bad as it could have been given the complexity of Bitcoin. The biggest problem I have is with the guest saying not to buy them at all because you don't know what the value will be the next second. That's actually a good point, but it's not complete. First, bitcoins value will probably stabilize greatly as its market cap grows. Second, you don't need to hold bitcoins long term to use them effectively.


+1 exactly.

 ;D

https://i.imgur.com/KUuaYft.jpg

Nice... a little free advertisement on one of Comedy Central's most viewed shows.

here's what the public gets

blah blah blah blah bitcoin blah blah blah bitcoin.

bitcoin enters consciousness.  blah blah blah is forgotten

agreed, not intentional ;) ofcourse

Both QFT.

Colbert brought Adam on for a reason, he knew that Adam would be dismissive and he also knows that Adam is paid to speak at Bankster conferences by JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, BoA and the like.

Colbert is obviously somewhat pro-bitcoin but didn't want to appear to fanboyish/pushing a bubble by having a totally pro-bitcoin guy on. Plus, that wouldn't be anywhere near as funny or entertaining - it would be informative, and people don't watch the Colbert Report to get preached at about sound money, they watch it to be entertained. Go Colbert for throwing in some Bitcoin coverage - in fact I think having a negative guest is better than a positive. A positive guest might be more likely to have people reject it automatically "too good to be true, must be ponzi" whereas a negative guest will have people think a little bit...

We all knew that they would be criticized, I mean its a satiric show, however any type of attention is good attention. I am not too familiar with the Colbert fan base, but hopefully it will convince people to do research of their own.

this seemed clearly positive.  The guest came in with an agenda to trash it and Colbert derailed and interrupted every time the dude got started.

I agree, it was entertaining and surprisingly positive. 

Seemed like a good balanced report, although the guest was a bit overly adamant that you should never buy bitcoins. They should have made some mention of the fact that you could avoid the exchange rate issue by buying them only right when you want to send them, but I guess that would have been a bit complicated to explain.

Overall a nice introduction to bitcoins for a lot of people who never heard of them before.

While I was watching it, my daughter (age 6) comes up behind me and says "Why is he talking about bitcoins? I don't think they are real. You just made them up." Hmm, I guess I need to explain these things better to her...

I gave my 6 year old daughter a few physical Bitcoins.  She loves them and keeps them in her little jewelry box.  When I gave them to her they were about $5 a coin.  When I told her at the top they were about $200 each her little eyes just lit up!  She understood just fine.

This is GREAT. You can't buy advisement like this!

I think it's mixed. Other side thinks he is real thing and other one gets the satire...

I think the not too positive way of advertising it is the right way. Get's people interested, but don't create new craze...

All publicity is good publicity.

People underestimate the fact that any business that accepts bitcoin has a chance to get on the international news.  That sort of advertising is priceless.  Look at all those Mom and Pop pizza shops who sold an item for thousands of bitcoins back in the day, which would be a million bucks.  That's a great story.  The price fluctuations are just one more aspect of how remarkable it is.  Some people became millionaires and others will become millionaires.  It inspires hope and fear.  It's a movement where there is energy and some people are gonna get hurt and others are being left behind.  It has all the hallmarks of a great story that can end with success or catastrophe.

I also find that people fail to explain that it is a great way to transfer money from one person to another without having to pay all the western union fees or having to worry what country someone is in.  Buy bitcoin at one price, send it to a friend, he cashes it out at practically the same price and no one loses any money.  You save money.

NPR is so boring and terrible too with its begging donation drives.  It is just an extension of the government.  It's so lame.  The NPR guy really tried hard to put a negative spin on bitcoin, but any young contrarian would just dismiss him and check it out for themselves.  Those NPR people are part of the old school.  They didn't keep us out of the wars or protect us from the banksters.

I'm just glad anytime bitcoin is covered in the media, because it leads to questions about the fed and monetary systems and pro active solutions to our problems.  Wait a goin Colbert!