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This is an organization that publishes credible statistics and research reports on internet usage

Great place to find stats of internet use and demographics

I've seen their director Lee Rainie speak a few times as the lead keynote at Computers in Libraries. He is such an amazing speaker, I keep going even though each year he pretty much gives an update on their research into internet usage.

This is not scholarly, but it is a humorous look at the world without the internet, and how we might react.... relocation to refugee camps, inability to function in our jobs and the ultimate message, that "we can't take the internet for granted".

This refers to how less restrained people feel on the internet v. real life. This might seem more related to internet identity, but it can have huge effects on civil community on the internet too. I thought of this when I read "One important social rule was built into the software that the WELL lives inside: Nobody is anonymous. Everybody is required to attach their real userid to their postings" (Rheingold, Chapter 1).

"The Internet doesn't steal our humanity, it reflects it. The Internet doesn't get inside us, it shows what's inside us. And social media isn't cold, it's just complex and hard to define."

Should internet addiction be in the DSM?

Interesting! I am convinced that any compulsive behavior might fit the DSM- not sure if they even need to claidfy the outlet (internet, food, gambling, etc).

Sherry Turkle's "alone together" is called a "self-help book" - i thought that was funny. I guess it's hard to say if internet addiction is the primary problem or if its compulsive behavior or depression. Not sure.

The people that bring you Sesame Street now bring you some pretty incredible statistics on internet use by the five and under set. Doesn't Sesame Street have an on-line presence?

Interesting talk- makes a good counter-argument to those who only see social media and the internet as disconnecting us or increasing depression. Like my best friend I can see clearly how the internet and having a 'voice' can be helpful :)

Is the internet an addiction or a passion?

"In general, if a pastime is not classy, those who love it are 'addicted.' Opera and poetry buffs are 'passionate.'"

On Jan. 25 a bill was introduced in the Senate to allow the President to shut down the Internet in an emergency. This article discusses shutdowns in Egypt, China, Nepal, Tunisia, Iran, Thailand, and North Korea.

AAAAAAAAAGH.

This article discusses SXSW-Interactive, the technology portion of the festival. This is the festival where Twitter was first launched in 2007. Theme so far: the blurring of real life and online life is happening. Other topics discussed: web 3.0, asymmetry of privacy, biomimicry (designing technology to mimic nature), work/life balance. Clay Shirky also gave a presentation on social media and revolution: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/mar/12/sxsw-2011-clay-shirky-social-media

Savvy techies are finding ways to circumvent politically motivated shutdowns of the internet. Dissidents get around government shutdowns of the Internet via range-extending antennae, satellites, microwave ovens' radio waves, short-range radio stations, and converting digital computer data to analogue radio signals and back to computer data again.

A proposed privacy law could help as well as hurt America's web companies. A "privacy bill of rights" was introduced on March 16 by Obama, which will outline internet privacy rights. Internet Explorer and Firefox will have more do-not -track features in their new versions. Privacy laws are stricter in the EU.

People used to use the Internet to try on personalities and express themselves freely. Now it may be a corporate trap. Social robots sometimes supplant people. The author comments on "the banalities of electronic interaction" and how we don't interact in meaningful ways. However, some studies have shown than facebook users, for instance, have greater social capital.

we're actually going to read a bunch of Turkle's stuff - I really like her work

Adam Gopnik wrote on overview on many of the issues we are discussing this week in last Monday's New Yorker. I haven't read the article as closely as I would like yet, but I noticed many familiar names.

nothing like ICT related article hot off the press!

I found a similar article from the UN sharing how cell phones and texting was used during a recent election in Kenya to limit riots and other unsafe activities. Though not used for either candidate the initiative did save lives and destruction of public areas by quickening the response times of police.

The internet being cut off in Egypt is just unprecedented. What are people reading and what sources are they following? Here's an interesting article about how it was turned off: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/01/egypts-internet-blackout-unprecedented.html also, it's interesting how one small company is still providing service and how people with international calling plans can use foreign dial-up providers. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/01/despite-severed-connections-egyptians-get-back-online/70479/

This site documents the public response to internet phenomena (e.g., smiling dogs, phrases, viral videos).

This is fascinating to me. Some years ago I have read Richard Dawkin's The selfish gene (http://www.amazon.com/Selfish-Gene-Anniversary----Introduction/dp/0199291152/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1296232952&sr=1-3) and the Idea of Memes, using us, humans, to reproduce and evolve was quite amazing. I would also recommend Susan Blackmore's The meme machine (http://www.amazon.com/Meme-Machine-Popular-Science/dp/019286212X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296232884&sr=8-1), it was interesting for me. Yes, it falls under the "popular science" category, and her pseudo)scientific style could be a bit irritating; but overall there were some interesting ideas. P.S. I did not get the hyper-linking to work for me. I would appreciate some clues :-)

scientismic - a new term?

LOL Cats are a huge phenomena, and even offer a comedic insight into our language. The SpeakLolSpeak Wiki is a project to provide a dictionary for those people a little out of the loop or who need a quick reference. How is the Internet affecting us? ez shokkin.

Clay Shirky and how the Internet allows people to vote for logos, etc.

There's so many examples of info on the internet being considered as "evidence." This was struck me as really surprising. There was another piece about insurance companies doing similar tactics in the LA Times this week: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-facebook-evidence-20110125,0,4304729.story

Details are emerging about the recent blackout.

I just heard an npr episode where Terry Gross interviewed twitter co-founder Biz Stone about this. Very interesting. I think I'll put it into one of our future units: http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/