Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

"..the impact of digital information and networking provokes a reconsideration of the model of medium theory. Every time it is written or stated that digital convergent technology has re-shaped the use and effects of media forms, then some form of medium theory is being employed." Good analysis of the strenths and weaknesses of both technological determinism and social shaping for understanding internet issues, with a look at the hybrid solutions like ActorNetwork Theory. Excellent background paper for understanding critical theories of technology.

Mexico will hold presidential elections in 2012. Eight years after it lost the presidential seat to the conservative party PAN, the PRI (which held the "perfect dictatorship" by staying 71 years in power), is gaining momentum and seems to be the clear front-runner. The party has conducted many efforts to engage young voters (those who grew up hearing about the absolutist years of the PRI) with its political agenda. In Mexico. the money that parties invest in campaigns is prone to debate and finger-pointing. How will efforts like this Twitter account be accounted for? Is social media an investment? 

Very interesting article about people being marked in social networks even if they are not a member - can Facebook and the like be made responsible? An Italian court recently sentenced three Google executives because of a video posted by a user. Swiss and German privacy watchdogs further discuss the matter, many other EU nations are also involved. Google asks where to draw the line between censorship (controlling users' content being an invasion of their privacy) and free speech. There could be a conflict between US Web Giants and EU authorities. Only mentioned in passing that American media companies only react very slowly to European concerns "given the close relationship between Silicon Valley and the administration of President Obama".

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is convinced that big Web players like Google or Facebook are collecting too much personal information of their users. Users could barely choose privacy, a FTC representative stated. They insist that the current privacy regime is not efficient.

Contrary to the Obama-McCain 2008 campaign, where Internet users with liberal tendencies where more prone to follow their candidates via Twitter and other social media, the recent UK campaign shown the aparent leadership of Conservatives in political digital communications. They have double the Twitter followers than Labour. Do you think the digital divide between Democracts and Republicans in the US will shorten in the 2012 presidential campaign?

Ofcom has conducted a survey in the UK on the handling of personal data online. The result: In the light of recent news about privacy issues online (Facebook for example) people have become more weary about Internet privacy. The Scottish are the least worried. Also interesting: "about a quarter of internet users say they 'lack confidence' in installing filerting software or security features."

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is really into his digital persona. Now he has a blog. Interesting how he has taken social media communications seriously. 

Interesting piece dissecting the Kremlin's Plan to Prevent Facebook Revolution (yes, that probably requires the comedy Russian accent) - the assumption that people who *currently* use the Internet apolitically will *always* use the Internet apolitically doesn't necessarily hold.

- 30% of smartphone users accessed social networks via mobile browsers - this was up from 22.5% in 2009. - Total social networking access via mobile browsers on all mobile phones rose to 11.1% - this was up from 6.5% in 2009. Most of this growth was in the uptick in smartphone usage. Big numbers. But how can content creators make money off it? Where's the profit? Are these sustainable media?

During a speech at the Media Institute in Washington [February 24, 2010], Larry Strickling, President Obama's top official at the Department of Commerce and administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), suggested that there should be policy discussions between government agencies, foreign governments and key Internet constituencies on issues such as privacy, child protection, cybersecurity, copyright protection and Internet governance. "It's now time to respond to all the social changes being driven by the growth of the Internet," Strickling said. "We need Internet Policy 3.0. We enter this new decade recognizing that we rely on the Internet for essential social purposes: health, energy efficiency, and education. It's also a general engine for economic and social innovation. We must take rules more seriously if we want full participation, but we must keep the need for flexibility in mind."

This article has explored the successful application of internet in Obama's political campaign. Obama's is said to be the first internet president. This article analyzes the advantage of the new media internet campared to the traditional media such as Newspaper, Television, radio, newspaper and so on. As is listed in the article the main advantages of the internet for the campaign use are including the ability to focus on specific demographic segment, and the convenience to create a place for participant to donate, and as is said by the author Samuel Greengard "Obama's staff could conduct polls, solicit ideas and opinions, and hold online town，hall meetings." However this article does not explore the reasons why Internet has this power deeply enough. Behind this power, in my opinoin, it is the "recursive public" that exerts impacts, it would be better if the author also to the "social capital" theory to analyze the power of the internet.

The White House will now archive its tweets. Wonder what role Twitter will play in the not-so-far-away 2012 US presidential campaign. If Obama runs for re-election... will he start the race ahead?

Blog Post 1 - Online Safety

Letter to Google from the Canadian government regarding their concerns about Google's disregard for privacy standards when joining GMail to the social network - Google Buzz.

According to this article "word of mouth has become word of web." People are using digital technology to communicate important information such as social gatherings and recommendations about things such as new recipes - things that used to be transferred through offline word of mouth. The implication is that people without an online presence miss out, and the response of the Canadian (as well as the Australian) government is to inject millions of dollars into decreasing the 'digital divide' to encourage social participation through increased digital literacy.

After the class last night, I kept having a thoght that maybe our whole society structure is changing bcuase of the internet, the accessibility to the Internet. Money, education, perhaps are the main critaria to structure the society anymore.

People are taking actions to express their feeling about Facebook privacy issue.

Some western companies (Yahoo, Cisco) operating in China have handed over information leading to the arrest of dissidents. Others have happily ignored the censorship and oppression in an attempt to garner market share. Google is the first and only western company operating in China to make a stand against the Chinese regime, even if this has only happened after operating in China for four years. The author argues that two things will need to happen to end internet censorship: other companies need to follow suit and a social movement from the society of internet users needs to gather force.

A comprehensive study conducted by the Pew Center for Research in the States looks at one of the demographics that experience the 'digital divide' - people with a chronic illness. The results indicate that although people with chronic diseases are less likely to have access to the internet, those that do use it productively to contribute to the online bank of knowledge about health-realated topics, as well as forming supportive online communities.

thanks Tiana, I'm actually covering a related topic in my DRP journal article. This is really helpful.

Defending her tweets and taking aim at the fallout, Deveny, who was sacked as a columnist for The Age over her Logies comments, likened Twitter to "passing notes in class, but suddenly these notes are being projected into the sky and taken out of context. "Twitter is online graffiti, not a news source." Wrong.

A university in the U.S. has provided an online reputation management program for all its graduating seniors. Since majority of companies are performing background checks on job applicants, this will allow students to clean up their Facebook and Twitter profiles. This step made by the university seems very beneficial, since for majority of the younger generation who don't know how it is not to have the Internet, the separation between online and real-life identities is a fine line.