It seems that today too many media institutions chase superficial metrics of online virality at the expense of investing in rigorous reporting and analysis of the most important stories of our time. When few people are investing in media institutions with such bold aims as ‘enlightenment to the problems of the nation,’ I believe we must.Just-announced New Republic majority owner Chris Hughes • Discussing his plans for the small-but-influential magazine, which are somewhat ironic because he’s the co-founder of Facebook. Huge props to him, though. We need someone fighting for serious, well-considered insight even as the world is moving closer and closer to sharing as little as possible.
Where 35-year-old social outcasts plan their next trip the the Kroger to buy some Faygo with their social outcast friend, the only other person in town who likes ICP.
» Word is that a major restructuring is happening: New CEO Scott Thompson (no relation) reportedly plans to cut back heavily at the company, which analysts see as a key example of tech company excess, in an attempt to focus on the things the company does well. While the company has had some recent success (their Open Graph collaboration with Facebook has been a boon, for example), the company has not undeservedly built a reputation of acquiring other companies (for example, Delicious) and letting them languish under the corporate structure. It used to be mentioned in the same breath as Google, but now it’s more likely to be mentioned in the same breath as AOL. Would cuts bring Yahoo back to life?
Facebook rolling out timeline for brand pages, available to all by March 31 http://tnw.to/1DUtl This is the preview we just got
I feel like this will encourage us to put more work into the thing. Esp. Like the fact that static FBML pages are now full-frame.
seldo says: This massively understate’s Twitter’s real influence, since its consumption is primarily mobile (and Facebook’s is 50% mobile, so it’s actually even bigger).
» SFB says: It doesn’t count third-party app usage, either. So I agree with you on that. I’ll link to this conversation on the post. As far as desktop goes, I think that it’s a more accurate gauge of the other services than Twitter. Which is actually pretty bad for G+, as most people use that through the Web site (though it does have a mobile presence) and third-party apps are still pretty much nonexistent. — Ernie @ SFB
A somewhat different take on the thing we reblogged earlier, but it shows two very interesting things: First, Tumblr and Pinterest are timesucks in equal measure, and second, nobody’s actually hanging around Google+ once they sign up. The latter is the subject of this super-interesting Wall Street Journal piece. (EDIT: A good point: Don’t take that Twitter number at face value, as this graphic skips two key elements of the Twitter experience — mobile and third-party apps.)
Headline of the year, which, surprisingly, isn’t a Gawker original.
60 seconds on social media by David Fung
This informative, and somewhat staggering, chart displays how many interactions occur every sixty seconds on various “social” sites. We might caution against using these numbers for comparative purpose;,is there really an equivalency, for example, between viewing a YouTube video and sending a message on Facebook? Still, the overall thrust of the image is well-taken: Those of us with unfettered access to the Internet spend a whole lot of time on it. Also notable (or maybe not) is the exclusion of MySpace.
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
Wrote a thing.
Hat tip to this headline writer.
Congrats Tumblr!
Don’t screw this up Yahoo.
In 2007, I was...
I started tumblr when I was at one of the lowest points of...
Apps that collect or transmit a user’s contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines. We’re working to make this even better for our customers, and as we have done with location services, any app wishing to access contact data will require explicit user approval in a future software release.Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr • In a statement about Apple’s privacy policies, as pertaining to the iPhone. This statement came hot on the heels of the revelation that two Democratic congressman (G.K. Butterfield and Henry A. Waxman) had sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, requesting information about privacy permissions. The inciting incident here was the iPhone app Path, which was revealed to be uploading users’ address books to their company servers without asking permission, or offering any notification. Path tried to curb the controversy by apologizing and offering an opt-out, but the damage to their credibility (and, by association, Apple’s) had already hit. And amidst word that a number of widely-used apps — most notably Twitter — did the same thing, Apple has affirmed that what Path did was a violation of their privacy practices, and has released an update for iOS that allows users to delete the database by switching off location services. source (via • follow)
Does Mark Zuckerberg really support Mitt Romney? (That link he liked goes here.) This showed up in my news feed (yes, I subscribe to his profile) but doesn’t seem to appear on his profile. Mere months ago he was wearing a tie for Obama!
Update: No, he doesn’t. But this shows that even Mark Zuckerberg himself can have his intention confused in the Facebook News Feed.
How to piss off the Internet by simply removing essential context. A fascinating story worth a read from Gawker.
Now, obviously there are some cultural differences between India and the U.S., but journalism is generally a very pro-free-speech industry. So it disturbs us greatly to hear that the guy who’s been using the court system to force Google and Facebook to censor content in India is the editor of Akbari, an Urdu publication. His reasoning? “The content I have submitted to the court deeply offends several religions including Hinduism, Islam and Christianity,” he told The Wall Street Journal last month. “It involves pages and groups where users have mocked Hindu gods and goddesses, Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ. Such content can create communal riots across the country. These are just a few examples…My intention is to ensure that the sentiments of any religion or community are not hurt.” Rai said he once had a Facebook account, but got rid of it after getting too much spam.
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