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 Rebecca Black's song Friday is popular for all the wrong reasons.  Filmed for the sole purpose of having someone see it and having her earn actual fame for her talent (a la Bieber), it was shared via social media so much for how bad it was that it blew up.  Her internet famo turned into television appearances and actual fame.  But is this an actual trend? I'm going to post another link in a second...

I actually thought this was just the next iteration of Rickrolling. I guess people actually like the song?

Interesting thing about Rebecca Black. Her Mom actually put up the money ($2,000 or so) for her to record the song and video to dissuade her daughter from seeking a career in the music industry. Funny how things work sometimes.

This site is just a little blurb itself, but it links to a number of other resources for presentations that I think may be of interest to the class, let me know what you think!

I never realized there were so many categories of games. Check out the video about the piano staircase, designed to get more people to take the stairs. It's an example of gamification, creating a game that encourages people to buy a product or to behave in a particular way.

Using this definition, "serious games" are the types that we would use in schools to teach a particular concept, while "gamification" is turning anything into a game. It seems to me that many of is in this class would be more interested in the idea of "serious games", unless we were trying to do some sort of public relations effort in our library, which might bring more of "gamification" into play.

I've been having some technical problems starting a new link to a US Depart. of State sponsored Serious Games Conference, so here it is: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/05/164134.htm Further down the page is a link to live streaming of the conference. It really is starting to look like serious business..!

You should! :) She's a librarian and advocate who's been writing and blogging about the social effects of technology for years. I've been reading her blog librarian.net since 1998. This link is to one her recent talks about the digital divide...its history and what it means now.

And she's got a new book out - http://www.amazon.com/Without-Net-Librarians-Bridging-Digital/dp/1598844539/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1307356401&sr=8-3

This was an interesting video that was introduced to me last semester in Digital Libraries. The creators of Monty Python came up with a very clever way to turn the tables of having so many of their videos "ripped off." Instead of the public posting bad poor quality versions of their videos, they provide a collection of their videos themselves, along with links to purchasing them!

Why Google should be afraid of Facebook -- what I really got out of this article was that Google guesses what people like / want / need based on what they search -- Facebook knows because the user enters it, from people posting on each other's pages to what "like" buttons they click (making interests pages instead of just search terms was a huge change since now companies that own a product people like can now interact with their users on a way more personal basis.)

I'm not sure about this either, Amanda, Isn't the internet big enough for both types of companies (and many more).

The internet is big enough for all sorts of companies, but in a competition to figure out your customer base as quickly and as detailed as possible, Facebook definitely has an edge that Google is lacking right now. Well, outside of scanning your Gmail for keywords to apply to the ads they show you...haha

I always liked this article when I was linked to it some time ago. The author succinctly describes why so many people get very excited about social media but end up doing some very not smart things with that technology. This particular author is a little snarky but I think he gets to the point about how we need to present ourselves on the Internet, rather than just putting ourselves out there "as is."

I make it my personal obsession to erase as much of my online presence as possible.

@Daniel, for any reason in particular?

I'm super interested in how technology and the digital divide impacts education. This article provides very interesting perspectives- particular that mentioned about the racial constructs that technology can reinforce.

Thanks Rebecca! I'll definitely check this out!

Rebecca - that pbs.org teachers database looks really useful.

One aspect of the digital divide includes urban-rural connectivity disparity. Jeanine mentions Jessamyn West earlier in diigo, and I thought this woman required at least one more bookmark here (I'm a huge fan of her work, writing, presentations.)! The link is to the audio recording of Jessamyn's facilitation of the "Offline America" session at last year's SXSW (South by Southwest) conference. You can get the lecture notes, slides and more here: http://librarian.net/talks/sxsw2011/.

The Time Magazine Techland blog reports on theories behind why France banned mentions of Facebook and Twitter on French TV (unless the companies are being reported on specifically). Following French blogger Benoit Raphael (whose French-language blog is linked to in the article), they argue that "both social networks are so ubiquitious as to essentially count as public space."

This seems to parallel (perhaps even extend?) Sarkozy's recent support for building up intellectual property rights and digital rights management on the Internet. Interesting to see what sort of opposition might grow from your example (if any) in light of petitions and other fallout from many civic organizations in his calls for action at the e-G8 summit a couple weeks back: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/defending_innovation_and_net_neutrality_at_eg8_video.php?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4ddffe33e2a44342%2C0

Has anyone read this book? I started it a few days ago. Noticed that reviews, like the one I linked to, were skeptical. Basically, Carr, who is a journalist, not a scientist, cites studies on brain plasticity and research that the brain changes in response to actions to conclude that the way we read and synthesize information online has changed the way we think (for the worse). I like how the NYT review puts new technology in a historical perspective.

Well, if I had to take a guess, I think she did it since one of her main points is that media isn't an external force outside of our control -- we can shape it, caring about it enough to respond and filter it. With a graphic novel, the images draw you in because they're abstract; the reader plays an active role by seeing themselves in the images and connecting all the images/words together to make it make sense. It engages so many of our senses at once. I love what Scott McCloud has to say about this, and the following talk that he gave actually relates more to how comics have been impacted by technology: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXYckRgsdjI

The idea that media has the potential to shape how we reason reminds me of Neil Postman and Marshall McLuhan. As an undergrad, I was basically obsessed with Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death" and the idea that some forms of media -Postman was especially thinking about TV- are inherently shallower than other forms and that the predominant medium tends to set the standard of what makes a good argument. Anyway, I wanted to find a YouTube video of Postman but instead found a really good video of Mike Wesch talking about Postman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09gR6VPVrpw&feature=related

I came across blip.tv while working on a project for Principles of Searching last fall. The link above, (Social Buzz t.v.) is an example of a program related to our social informatics topic. While the commercial cans be a little annoying and quality of production can vary greatly, I have found some really good videos here. Here's an episode from a different program that I came across that discusses one of my pet peeves...iphone dinner table etiquette. (It's also kind of funny!) http://blip.tv/captureyourflag/social-media-dinner-table-etiquette-caroline-giegerich-8-27-09-chapter-12-2698172

:) How sad that we feel so connected that we can't get through a dinner with face to face interaction without constantly checking our emails, facebook, etc. Sometimes I look at families at dinner and laugh because they all have their ipods and phones out, and they're not even talking to each other.

I find it amazing that people can't get through A MOVIE without taking out their phones to see if anyone emailed, texted or called. Crazy!

Zizi Papacharissi is a professor and head of the communications department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has written a lot of really interesting stuff on social media and internet culture that she links to on the "research" page of her website. I've come across her stuff before and I think she's pretty cool!

It seems to be that Indiana University is a top school for social informatics research. Any others out there that we should be looking at in particular?

I went on Social-informatics.org which gives a list of study programs around the country and world.

Here's a link to the article that JSB referred regarding blogging as a means to create context rather than just content. Sullivan is a terrific writer; I think what he outlines here is blogging at its best. I'm not sure it universally applies because so many blogs I encounter just take up words in space.

I felt like I hit the jackpot when I found this article on eSchool news. A company called 3D Game Lab offers workshops to teachers on how to design/incorporate games into their curriculum. As the article says, lessons learned from "Worlds of Warcraft" are applied to the design of games that cover school curriculum topics. Check out the link to the company and the You-tube video.

I really like the idea of teacher training on this topic. I have the feeling that gaming is a real "outlier" in the world of education... but isn't this where many students go after their school day is over? Why not start training teachers on how to make this part of the curriculum.

Elisa - I agree with you. I also think that just as necessary as training teachers, is getting administrators/directors of curriculum on board with the idea...! I think that's the bigger challenge...

The article is kind of long, but it talks about some interesting issues that might arise for companies thinking about moving to cloud storage. The price is right, but the risk is high. Introduces possible solution of a hybrid cloud, where sensitive data is still stored internally.

I attended a virtual presentation a few days ago through SJSU on Cloud Computing. The speaker, who works as State Archivist for Oregon, was speaking of the cost savings for using a cloud for storage of government records. It was interesting to hear her points on the benefits she found in using the cloud...The session will be archived and posted for later view soon if anyone is interested. Her presentation will be available to the public at: http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/slis/colloquia/2011/colloquia11su.htm I liked the related article linked at the bottom of the site you posted about the Dallas-based iCloud company suing the new Apple iCloud for using their name. You would've thought Apple would've done some research there...

My favorite cranky librarian casts a skeptical eye towards a social media survey, and (as always) Library 2.0 - worth reading the blog and the survey it talks about/links to.

Here's a link to the debate about the Three Strikes Your Off policy that Doctorow discusses in his interview.

One aspect of the digital divide that we didn't delve into much in this week's discussion is that of net neutrality - tiers, based on increased cost, that enable access to to "premium" content and faster broadband speeds. This articles provides some great links to other sources on the issue of the digital divide, net neutrality and what some see as a right to the Internet.