UF Social Media Scholars

"Students have always faced distractions and time-wasters. But computers and cellphones, and the constant stream of stimuli they offer, pose a profound new challenge to focusing and learning. "

"What purpose does it serve to notify your friends that you're out on the town but to hide the location? And what does it tell us about the future of location-based services & privacy? This was the question I set out to answer by surveying nearly 500 Foursquare users."

Long NYT read about a the challenge facing society - "a challenge that, in big and small ways, is confronting millions of people around the globe: how best to live our lives in a world where the Internet records everything and forgets nothing - where every online photo, status update, Twitter post and blog entry by and about us can be stored forever."

"On this week's show, Nora sits down with Bill Wasik and Hal Niedzviecki to talk about why the heck we post regrettable videos on the internet. It's one thing to do the embarrassing or foolish or inappropriate thing, but it's a whole other problem when we record a video and upload it on YouTube for the world to see."

"The editors of Webster's New World Dictionary chose the verb 'overshare' as their word of the year in 2008. Why are we increasingly compelled to share mundane details of our lives online? We talk with Hal Niedzviecki, author of 'The Peep Diaries: How We're Learning to Love Watching Ourselves and Our Neighbors.'

"In this week's podcast, Hal Niedzviecki, writer, culture commentator, editor and publisher of Broken Pencil magazine, muses on the current 'peep culture' and the future of reading."

Screenshots and descriptions of some of the best media Tumblrs circa 2010.

"Altimeter has conducted a research project to find out how companies are connecting social technologies to the overall buying process as well as analyzing how they increase revenues for brands."

"Altimeter Group conducted research, and gleaned input from 34 vendors, agencies, and experts, to determine success criteria and develop a roadmap for Facebook page best practices. We found Eight Success Criteria for Facebook page marketing, and then tested the maturity of 30 top brands across six industries."

Infographic with some nice nistory and demographics for social media students.

A recent analysis of Twitter content found that local governments in Virginia are mainly ignoring the popular microblogging website. The research study showed that only 17% of county, city and town governments had Twitter accounts. Tweets averaged at around one per day, and only five of the accounts had more than 1000 followers.

"Import posts from your site or blog, or copy/paste from a manuscript. Edit content and drag it into chapters, then congratulations ... you're an eBook author!"

"These are the post-bureaucratic realities that tomorrow's employees will use as yardsticks in determining whether your company is 'with it' or 'past it.'"

"Too often lately it seems journalists are caught publishing faulty information or photos found through Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and other social or online media. As a result, several journalists have created lists of tips for fellow journalists learning how to vet online information."

Announcement of LinkedIn Signal, the news-feed-like product for LinkedIn social network.

Basic overview of social networks for those who haven't used them and don't know what all the fuss is about.

A Q&A discussion with Mark Zuckerberg and david Kirkpatrick on the history, technology, and cultural effects of Facebook. Nothing shocking but worth the time nonetheless.

Shirky speaks at Google on his book, Cognitive Surplus, and answers some interesting questions after the talk. It is mostly the same material as the TED talk, but more of it, with more details and examples and diagrams.