Reddit and the new Internet

Lately on the social media site Reddit, there has been a lot of discussion over SOPA and other government plans for censorship and filtering of the internet.
In my opinion this is one of the worst uses of government time and they have no right since the world wide web is used world wide, no one government should have control over it, but I digress.
There is a group of people on Reddit who has created a subreddit (subcommunity)called Darknet where they are working on creating a new "internet" that would not be under control of the tyrannous government acts.
I am excited to see where this goes.

Penn State Alumni Tries to Help Out

Found this article about some Penn State Alumni who are trying to do a good thing and raise some awareness during this awful tragedy. Hopefully, something good can come out of these evil acts.

http://www.examiner.com/social-media-in-newark/penn-state-alumni-turn-to-social-media-to-raise-awareness-for-child-advocacy-1

No longer Six degrees...

Six degrees of separation has just gotten closer. New research has shown that it is no longer 6 degrees that separates people but it is now 4.74. The experiment used Facebook and a series of algorithms as the means to calculate the links between people and the friends they have. This experiment shows how social media has created a vast network of people. A person can easily connect with a person on the other side of the world through connecting with 4 different friends. Facebook is bringing people closer together.

This makes sense, because 1 out of 10 people in the world have a Facebook.

The full article can be found at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/technology/between-you-and-me-4-74-degrees.html?_r=1&ref=technology

A Viral Video Waiting To Happen

Last week the on campus police of UC Davis were ordered to remove the students who were Occupying the campus. The police officers pepper sprayed a group of students sitting on the ground linked together by their arms. The video can be seen here.

I think it's amazing what social media can do. This particular video has the perspective of 4 different video cameras. I think once the order to remove the students was sent down the chain of command a viral video of the events was inevitable.

Now some of the officers have been put on paid administrative leave, but Chancellor Linda Katehi, who gave the original order says she has no plans to step down. I think if you're going to put the officers on administrative leave, it's only right to do the same for the person who gave the officer the order. Although Katehi may not have had control over what the officers did specifically, she had to have known extreme measures were going to take place due to other removal efforts of Occupy rallies around the country.

I think it's very important that people start thinking of the consequences before they order action. It has to be assumed with today's technology that videos, tweets, and fb statuses are going to get out quickly and cause an up-roar. Someone on this campus was not thinking ahead......

Tweet me at the Alter

As most of the class could probably guess I follow all things Disney on different social media platforms due to my newly found obsession with it. On Facebook I follow the page for Disney's Fairytale Weddings, since I desperately want to intern for them. The other day they posted a link to an article letting you know how to tastefully use social media at a wedding.

My mouth dropped. Social media platforms have truly taken over our lives. I thought in NO way could I ever consider tweeting or updating your status on your wedding day because you have a billion things going on.

But after reading the article and putting down some etiquette rules I did find some helpful tips, especially for those addicts that tweet everything.

Main sections of the article go over 1. Pre-Wedding preparations 2. Staying offline during the ceremony 3. Appoint a Chief Twitter 4. A social media station 5. Live stream for those who can't make it. and 6. Enjoy the moment!!

Some really cute idea that I never considered was changing your status from engaged to married shortly after the ceremony (cute). I really liked the idea for a hash tag for wedding guest to tweet about so the bride and groom could look back on after everything settles down. Having the photographer upload images to flicker and then stream them at the wedding. And loved the thought of live streaming for those who can't make it.


But as far as a social media station I put my foot down on that and say no way! Unless of course I become a huge social media figure which I don't for see in my future.

Embracing the force that is social media and incorporating it into your wedding sounds crazy but might give the newlywed's some great memories to share.

Here is the link again:http://mashable.com/2010/11/09/social-media-wedding-etiquette/

YOU WILL BE GOOGLED

Prepare your social accounts.  Make sure you are comfortable with your potential employer viewing everything on your profile.  Even the pictures "only friends" can view.  Also, it's a good idea to get connected with potential employers by following them on Twitter, "like" on FB, and connect with them on LinkedIn to increase your chances of being noticed.  To read more of this article visit moneyunder30.

Facebook Hacking

So in the past few days I've seen a lot of people post ABOUT recent hackings on Facebook, but I hadn't actually seen any myself. So I decided to look into it to see what everyone was freaking out about. Apparently within a span of 48 hours pornographic, violent and just plain disgustingly graphic images were flooding people's newsfeeds and message inboxes. This of course wasn't the first time Facebook hacking has happened, but its reportedly one of the quickest spreading hacks that anyone has ever seen. Facebook users were posting about the nasty images on Twitter and claiming that they were officially leaving the social media site because of what they had seen. CNN posted that Facebook reported that they have eliminated almost all of the spam caused by the hack and are working to better improve their systems to prevent such an attack in the future. Other articles and reports online have offered advice on how users themselves can prevent their own pages from any hackers. It's pretty plain and simple, DON'T CLICK ON IT IF IT SEEMS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.

CNN Story:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/15/tech/social-media/facebook-porn-spam/index.html

Tips on avoiding a hack:

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/business/facebook-users-flooded-with-porn-dpgoha-20111115-fc1321394427379

An App to Fight Crimes Against Women

The FightBack app has been created in India to report crimes against women. The goal of this app is to increase the number of reported crimes against women in India. According to the article Women in India tend not to go to the police to report abuse due to the lack of cooperation from police officials and family influence to keep it quiet. Crimes against women are so common in India that police officials have almost gotten desensitized to the issue. The app will serve as a way for women to quickly report an attack and define their location so that police officials can have a greater understanding of where these attacks are happening and address the situation. This app allows users to report the violence on facebook, twitter, and on whypolls own website in order to raise awareness of this growing problem and increase the number of arrests made for female harassment. The app also has a GPS location devise so that once an attack has occured users can show where and when it happened.

I'm not really sure if the point of this app is to protect women or to just get more accurate data of how often crimes against women occur. I also don't know that this app will be any more useful than a help hotline or website. I think it's a great start in the right direction for protecting women and I am excited to see what new technology they will come up with to help this cause even further.

Twitter Can Predict Who's Winning the GOP Presidential Race

Political candidates do better in the polls when they gain more Twitter followers, new research reveals. National polls happen all the time but it’s possible to predict when certain candidates will climb in the rankings based the rate they are followed.

This study is showing just another way that social media is changing the political game along with many other things in our lives. It will take more comprehensive research to find out just how accurate this actually is but this recent study is proving itself to be more true everyday.

The link to this story is below:

http://mashable.com/2011/11/14/twitter-predict-polls/

When Sites Drag the Unwitting Across the Web

Maggie Leifer McGary is a mother, social media fan, and blogger. The social media sites she has includes Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, and she is on Klout. Klout is a popular site that assigns you a score based on its analysis of how influential you are on the social web.

Something very strange happened just days before Halloween. Ms. McGary decided to check her Klout profile and above her score are the names of those she had influenced which is calculated by Klout. She noticed that her 13 year old son Matthew appeared on her profile. Matthew never set up a Klout page, Klout automatically created a page for him and gave him a score. Matthew was only a friend of his mother on facebook. Ms. McGary's 15 year old daughter Mimi then appeared on her Klout page as well asking her to invite Mimi to join.

Ms. McGary stated, "It freaked me out because these are my kids. It's wrong. They shouldn't be marketing to children." After this incident happens, Klout no longer creates profiles automatically for people and if you own a Klout you can now delete a profile entirely.

Klout finds information about people from publicly avaliable sources such as engagement on Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn, post and followers on Twitter, and so on. Joe Fernandez is the chief executive of Klout and says that rates are based on how people engage with the content you create. “Let’s say you and I were friends on Facebook, and I had commented on your Facebook wall,” Mr. Fernandez said. “Klout would see that, and I would get a score from my post on your wall.” Klout has turned off that feature though.

This site can be used by anyone to gauge someones popularity, for example, teachers, employers, homecoming queen committee and etc.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/technology/klouts-automatically-created-profiles-included-minors.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&sq=social%20media%20trends&st=cse&scp=1

IN CASE YOU'RE WONDERING, THE 'MINORITY REPORT' IS HERE.

Smart signs using facial recognition software are
scheduled for introduction in three cities this month.  (credits: Immersive Labs)

I was already concerned about my privacy before I read this article in the NYTimes, "Face Recognition Makes the Leap From Sci-Fi"

As this excerpt explains, "As SceneTap® suggests, techniques like facial detection, which perceives human faces but does not identify specific individuals, and facial recognition, which does identify individuals, are poised to become the next big thing for personalized marketing and smart phones. That is great news for companies that want to tailor services to customers, and not so great news for people who cherish their privacy. The spread of such technology — essentially, the democratization of surveillance — may herald the end of anonymity."

"SceneTap, a new app for smart phones, uses cameras with facial detection software to scout bar scenes". This app has been rolled out to the excitement of 20-somethings, hoping to successfully hook-up on their night out on the town.

Facebook is also incorporating this facial recognition software to assist in ‘tagging’ friends in photos (see FB article: http://www.facebook.com/blog.php?post=467145887130).

The article states, “When you or a friend upload new photos, we use face recognition software—similar to that found in many photo editing tools—to match your new photos to other photos you're tagged in.”  However, this FB practice is drawing fire from both governmental agencies and users alike so it is doubtful that this new feature will be the success that FB originally had in mind.

Mixel

So I am doing my blog post early, but I should be writing a paper right now and found something on the internet instead that will help me with a different project so now I am blogging about it for this class. So it's as if i am getting 3 different class assignments done at the same time, while procrastinating. Awesome.

I found this site Mixel.cc on Uncrate. TANGENT ALERT: If you haven't heard about uncrate you need to do it now. It is a buyers guide for men and it is awesome. There is stuff on their from tanks and yachts to bluray movies and video games. It just really awesome dude stuff so go check it out gentlemen. and Ladies, it can give you inspiration for gift ideas for the dudes in your life as well as just show you awesome stuff. TANGENT COMPLETE.

The project I am working on is a scenic design for a play and I need to create a collage for research. this website is an interactive collage. "Mixel lets you make, share and remix collages in a whole new way." You can use the site but I think it is geared towards mobile devices, especially the iPad. The creator calls it a "social art app." I understand that it may not be useful to everyone but it got me so excited because its literally exactly what I need right now. I had already started to use pinterest to draw inspiration and create a sort of collage but its more organized and works better as an album and catalog than the actual collage I need.

Introducing Mixel for iPad from Mixel App on Vimeo.

Alright, I guess I have to go back to writing the paper now.

Minimun Age to be on Social Media?

I found an article discussing a minimum age limit to be on social media I wondered what other would think of it. The article says Facebook requires people to be 13 to be on the site but there is no way of checking. So Should there be an age minimum? Would this harm or help? I do not have kids and I am fine with my nieces and nephews being on social media.But what do others think?

Link

Aliens; Colonial Marines

I posted this link on Twitter earlier for the new Aliens: Colonial Marines game coning out this fall for 360! Chek it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy8bul3jb7c

Penn's State crisis and the use of social media

The Penn State crisis is thought to be one of the worst crisis in the history of college athletics. This article ask the question on weather or not Penn State University is handling the situation correctly using social media. Many of the fans are going to social media for answers, but Penn State is not answering back. It first started with canceling the press conference. Though Penn State is not commenting they however, are allowing the angry, emotional,and sincere post to stay up on Facebook. Though this can be a positive thing the fans still want answers.


http://socialmediatoday.com/chrissyme/385012/how-would-you-grade-penn-states-use-social-media-crisis

Skype makes Long Distance calls

Long distance relationships for some seems out of the question. To others its a way of being with someone with out the commitment. Any way you look at it many people come up with the conclusion that it is tough. I don't understand how some people can do it.

However with the arrival of Skype, Long distance relationships has become some what useful to the couples looking to continue that summer romance. Many couples in relationships that are long distance turn to Skype to help them still have those romantic evenings. Although for some it just makes it harder. Some advantages to Skype is being able to see the other person you are talking to, you get to interact with them through facial expressions and see their non verbals. But disadvantages include the lack of haptics, or missing the set appointments. This article talks about some couples who used Skype in their long distance relationship.

Occupy Facebook

We have seen the use of social media to revolt in several different countries all over the
world. We have also seen it to be a very powerful tool to assist in over throws and legislative changes.
Before "Occupy Wall Street", The United States had never put the main players in social media to this test. We have typically used Facebook and twitter to post about our everyday routines or events we attended.
According to The Daily Athenaeum, North Americans have used social media in its most meaningful form since the beginning of this movement. This form is the power to organize on a mass scale.
In this article, the author encourages Occupying protestors to "Combat this by supporting social media – not through your ‘wall posts' or TwitPics – but through embracing an edifice that doesn't conform to the conventional media structure, instead relying on actual journalistic integrity and the absence of media bias."
This is the reason it has proven itself effective in situations like these and will always be the ultimate organizing tool.

Siri Down

The voice-based intelligent assistant, baked into the iPhone 4S, needs to connect to external servers to perform any of its tasks. For many users Thursday, there’s been only one response to any query: “I’m sorry, I’m having trouble connecting to the network.”

We’ve reached out to Apple for confirmation, but the service appears to have been down since at least 12:30 p.m. ET. That’s when users started posting to this MacRumors forum, complaining of being unable to access the service.

As most of us iPhone 4S owners know, Siri will occasionally have trouble accessing the network — but the problem tends to go away in a matter of minutes. An outage of three hours or more suggests some serious problems with Apple’s servers.

Print and Viral Combine

This article http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/a-print-focus-on-social-media/?scp=3&sq=social%20media&st=cse

talks about how print newspapers are beginning to help business by focusing on Social Media outlets Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc.

These publications are unique, I think, because they combine the more traditional print method of news and the more contemporary viral news media in an effort to help local business owners be more successful.

People helping people...an interesting combination and an unusual idea in this time.

Social media saves the day

A 22-year old woman released a video on Youtube a few years ago of her father beating her. Her father is a judge for Aransas County. So, as you can assume, shit is hitting the fan. The father was apparently harassing her, which is why she posted the video. And now that cops are searching for him, he seems to have magically disappeared. What a douche, and what a courageous thing to do by the girl. Hurray social media.

http://news.yahoo.com/dad-caught-video-beating-daughter-needs-help-070228201.html

Managing your E-Reputation

Before saying anything online, you should really consider the long-term effects of what your comments would do to you when applying for a job. A digital marketing firm, KBSD, gathered information, tips and techniques about what to do online so you can come across well to a future employer.

Results from the search found that 48 percent of recruiters and HR professionals refer to personal websites when deciding if they should hire you. Another statistic found that 78 percent used search engines to find out more information about you. What about social media? They check that too. Sixty-three percent of recruiters check social media sites while eight percent of companies have fired someone for abusing social media.

People you know also pose a threat to you by their postings. To avoid negative material about you, KBSD released some tips to help people stay on top of things such as googling your name frequently, checking social media sites to see everything that is being said about you and securing your accounts so a hacker cannot post unpleasant things.

Infographic

Mr. Clean gets creepier

In addition to no-shave-November, the month also has the nickname Movember, "which supports funding for prostate cancer." Mr. Clean is accepting donations via his Facebook page and will grow a mustache to mirror the size of the collection.

So far the campaign has raised just $25, but that's likely to improve as word gets out. There's also this quote from Mr. Clean himself apparently:

“I’ve gone over 50 years without facial hair of any kind. Even the 70′s couldn’t make me grow a moustache. But for an important cause like this, I’m gonna grow the greatest mo’ ever illustrated.”

So creepy.


http://mashable.com/2011/11/02/mr-clean-movember/

Homeland Security reviews social media guidelines

Well, if you, the class and anybody else how knows me best, couldn’t tell by now that I listen and watch many forms of publicized political news - listen, we are all crazy to someone else - then you don’t understand the feeling I have towards this article I’ve linked at the bottom of this confession. It’s not as direct as it may seem I’m more interested in the implications of what is being said, rather. Basically, the article is talking about the impact of social media on the Homeland Security Intelligence Department. I know, that’s a lot to swallow, I believe in you though – wink. Here, maybe I can help; the United States Homeland Security, more specific the intelligence department, has run across an evident relationship between data from social networking sites and its supportability of resolving, and quite possible preventing complex global issues. The Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary Caryn Wagner theorizes the real issue is not the data itself but how to gain and use the data efficiently i.e. gathering correctly, how to use things like Twitter or Facebook to produce an intelligence product. Like many of you probably know, data is useless until it can produce information. In other words information is a sort of measurable and concrete feeling, usually following some sort of protocol, which can be reached from its littler parts, data. That’s to say, that information helps explain some sort of effect or lack of an effect by studying the little bits that make up the entire effect. She went on to say a part of that challenge is the ‘developing of guidelines for collection and analyzing information’ from social media sites. The wheels are defiantly in motion over at the Homeland Security Department; however, according to Mrs. Wagner Homeland Security is not currently monitoring any social networks. Yeah! I’m not sure how much I believe that, but ok.

Aren

Homeland Security reviews social media guidelines

Apps for Education

Facebook is always changing and adding things to make it better. One thing that Facebook does, as do many other businesses because of its trendiness, is have applications. Facebook Applications range from silly games to productivity to even educational application. I always thought of apps on Facebook as just games but when I saw the infographic about Facebook last week in another blog post it sparked my interest to check out these "educational" applications further. To my surprise these educational applications aren't just trivia question type of apps, they are applications to help students get their work done, educators to get their information out there, and even programs to publicize events on campuses. These Facebook apps are used for a wide variety of educational purposes.

Here are a couple of neat ones for you to check out:

• Flashcards: With this application you can create flashcards to help you study on Facebook.


• SlideShare: Create presentations to send to students with this slideshow application.


• Rate My Professor: Find out what other students think of professors before you register for their class.


• BookTag: This app offers a great way to share and loan books out to students, plus create helpful quizzes for studying.


• ClassNotes: Use this application to find scanned notes for your classes on Facebook.

Twitter and Slang

This article discusses the differences in words that show up on Twitter from specific regions of the United States. There are distinct words that someone from the East coast uses that others don't, etc. The article then goes in to discuss how people are getting angry with others because people who aren't from certain coasts are using slang from a seperate coast. It all seems so trivial. Words are words, who cares who uses what slang? It seems as though claiming others can't use your slang just further divides us, which I think is the exact opposite of what social media does. With social media becoming more and more prevelant it's inevitible for trends (words and slang) to spread faster and to a larger audience. To read the full article click here.

NBA Commish Fines Heat Owner for Tweets

In my social media paper about athletes I raised the question "Should coaches/management have censorship rights?". Well, the NBA seems to be a dictatorship (it has been since David Stern became the commissioner) when it comes to this issue. Micky Arison, owner of the Miami Heat, was fined $500,000 for tweeting comments related to the NBA lockout. David Stern has a long history of controlling players and owners and he should be credited for helping save the leauge in the 80's (Magic, Bird, and Jordan might have had something to do with that too), but his reputation as a power hungry commissioner has gotten worse over the last few years. Bryant Gumble recently equated him to a slave owner running a plantation. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-wojnarowski_nba_micky_arison_fine_103111