Social Media Journal blog: October, 2010
Lots of Interest Nationally and Internationally on Expanded Possibilities for the Internet in the News daily.....
An article in the NY Times written by Tanzina Vega talks about the much larger risks of privacy issues that will be much more likely with the new “Web language that will soon power the Internet: HTML 5” (p.1). As I am not that familiar with this new language that is referred to as a “Web code, the fifth version of Hypertext Markup Language used to create web pages”(p.1), I suggest that you read this for yourself as many of us are doing research and working where confidentiality is an issue. The new language will make it easier to browse and view larger multimedia content and get your email, but what are now known as cookies that allow links to one’s interests and more may be just the tip of the iceberg. The new code will apparently allow information history to stay available for longer periods of time so personal info could be more easily gotten by experts. This is worth reading just to be aware as things are moving so fast.
Vega, T. (2010, Monday, October 11). Web Code Offers New Ways To See What Users Do Online. New York Times, International, pp. A1, A3.
I learned in conversation with the writer of the CNN blog called Political Ticker, which must be aimed at a younger audience who tweets that Twitter is seen as a professional information source. Now I am paying a bit more attention to it and a recent article in the NY Times on Oct. 11th on the front page of the Business Section called, After Building a Huge Audience, Twitter Turns to Ads to Cash In. The chief executive of Twitter, Dick Costolo, who was the head of the ad section, is pictured and pleased about their launching last spring of “Promoted Tweets”. The way this works is that the advertisers, who have gone from 6 to 40, pay the site to have their add appear at the top of the search results. It appears that advertisers pay for keywords that surfers are likely to use and when someone searches and clicks on their link, forwards it on to someone, or replies to it, that is when they pay for the service. Their research has found that 5% of people might do this as compared to fewer than 1% who would click on a display add. An advertiser can buy for $100,000 a day from “Promoted Trends” to have their name show up in the most discussed topics list.
The question posed by the writers Clair Cain Miller and Tanzina Vega is whether Twitter will move further into advertising which looks likely and will be as successful at it as Facebook, Doubleclick and Google. Apparently Twitter, which two years ago had three million readers, now has 160 million users. These authors mention several examples of companies who have used advertising on Twitter, Coca-Cola used it during the World Cup and found that people wanted simple explanations not complicated ones, for instance. Advertising which is costly for companies and reaching people on Twitters which is free and popular may have a way to go to work out results for companies and ease for surfers. Personally, I am astonished how quickly advertising has invaded sites and how in your face it is with animation and design. I think this is all just beginning and will only grow in huge proportions, as there is a lot of money to be spent and made.
Miller, C. C. & Vega T. (2010, October 11). After building a Huge Audience, Twitter Turns to Ads to Cash In. The New York Times, Business Day, e.g., pp. B1, B4.
On Another More Fun Note: In the TALK section in the NY Times magazine section, which is all about design and designers in Milan on Saturday, Oct. 16th, p. 82, an online site founded by Federico Marchetti called: Yoox.com is mentioned. This seems to be the first site for high-end clothes and accessories, which are discounted. I haven’t been there yet, but this trend seems to appeal to well known designers as a way to move stock after the season to people who are too busy to shop or don’t want to or are looking for a deal. This has been taking off in the US and now if Italian designers are willing to do this it may get around some obstacles.
Silva, H. (2010, Sunday, October 17). The Italian Jobber. The New York Times Magazine, p. 82.
Sunday, Oct. 17, 2010
There is so much talk in NY with the opening of the movie “The Social Network” which tells the story of the Mark Zuckerberg and the founding of Facebook. The Sunday Styles section of the New York Times has an article on the first page, Hey, That’s Me Up On That Screen by Jenna Wortham. The author mentions man founders of various start-up companies who are in the twenties and their hip names for their sites. Apparently, they could not wait to see the film and lined up for special openings. Somewhere else it said that this film had made over $50 million in the first week. This is the second weekend.
I saw the film today and have a hard time finding any empathy for the Mark in the film who was supposedly very close to the Mark I real life. All the names were real names and the lawsuits and info true and information in the public domain. What is surprising to me is that all are in their twenties still and that this happened at Harvard in the class of 2006. How computer savvy so many are and their quickness in being able to work with codes and the mechanics of the internet is mind blowing. In just our class investigating some tools hopefully for research I am astounded in how many are out there and so much more that is just connecting with who knows who is out there. The fact is you don’t know whom you are exchanging info with unless you are very aware of privacy issues and block access, and often it is easy to venture forth out of curiosity and not realize how to protect your information. I now understand that anything you blog to the public is forever out there and you cannot take it back, edit it, or erase it. There are companies now that are hired to try to get info that one does not want out there “scraped” off the web, very costly. See the movie and I’d like to hear responses, I understand they are buzzing on many sites as I write this.
I want to make sure this blog is only to our class, can our professors verify this and remind us about how to check for this????
The movie was disturbing due to several characters and their lack of moral judgement, which verges on more than just illegal decisions, but on lack of ethical standards. It can be said that standards have not yet been established for the internet, so?? Why not endanger people, ruin people, and take advantage of people?? These are the questions and concerns that a glimpse into this world where it takes an obsessive mentality?? and a willingness to maneuver at all costs for the new game and the money. I have worked in schools where this is a great tool for gathering information of all kinds and curiosity and creativity can be explored in exciting ways, but some of the games are atrocious and dangerous to young and old minds as well. I will stop now on this and say that I hope to find ways to use tools for research that will be useful, artistic, and imaginary and will not compromise issues in therapeutic situations. I think this is a special area and needs parameters.
Wortham, J. (2010, Sunday, October 17). Hey, That’s Me Up On That Screen, The New York Times Sunday Styles, e.g., pp.1, 8.
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