I’m such a sucker for Facebook parodies. First came RightWingFacebook.org.
Now this:
Posts Tagged ‘facebook
08
Jun
08
Book Review: We The Media
A few weeks ago, as I was consuming my nearly constant dose of news from the Web, I ran across a fascinating story that demonstrates just how different today’s communications environment has become. It also brought home many of the points raised by We the Media (available for free here). On May 16th, the Washington Times ran an article highlighting how John McCain has begun a series of weekly conference calls with influential political bloggers. The story explains how the McCain campaign is using this kind of an outreach as a way to “reach millions of readers” online. A decade ago, would this kind of sustained, personal outreach to citizen journalists by a Presidential candidate from a major political party have been conceivable? Probably not. Clearly, the emergence of online citizen / grassroots journalism is forcing something big to happen in the world of media and politics. In We the Media, Dan Gillmor explains what’s going on.
In the book, Gillmor walks us through the historic communications revolution that is taking place within our lifetime. Gillmor makes a compelling case that powerful institutions and media conglomerates (what the author calls “Big Media”) are losing their ability to command and control the flow of our news and information. This is happening because new online communication tools are allowing the flow of information and news to become increasingly democratized. Thanks to the arrival of new democratic and participatory Internet technologies like blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, and Internet broadcasting, traditional media hierarchies have begun to crumple under the weight of legions of citizens who are their own publishers, editors and reporters. Indeed, Gillmor’s most important point in this text is that we are now in a new era – a time in which new online communications tools are quickly shifting power away from powerful institutions and toward individuals. If institutions are to continue to be relevant and effective, they must adapt to meet the realities of the read/write Web.
Gillmor’s explanation of the democratization of the communications industry isn’t a rhetorical exercise. In the book, Gillmor presents numerous real examples of how this new communications regime has changed our political and commercial reality. For example, Gillmor cites the resignation of Trent Lott as majority due to the pressure of outraged bloggers. He also presents us with examples of how powerful institutions like Microsoft, Dallas Mavericks CEO Mark Cuban, and the Department of Defense have been able to successfully adapt to the new realities of participatory media by embracing the Web and using it as a medium that spurs a spirit of openness, trust, accountability and transparency with the outside world.
If I have one criticism of the book it would only be that it failed to anticipate the enormous impact that new social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook have made on media and politics. Surely, if We the Media had been published even just a year or two later, Gillmor would have noted how these new tools have further broken down the walls of old media systems.
One last item related to We the Media and Cluetrain Manifesto: I just came across a a great overview by Shel Holtz of the past 20 years of the Web over on Geoff Livingston’s Buzz Bin blog (Geoff’s a fellow Hoya, by the way). Here’s the video:
18
May
08
The Machine just joined the group: Facebook Must Be Taking Off Because My Mom Just Joined Facebook
(Note: This is a cross post from the “What’s Shaping the Global Information Society?” course blog at Georgetown. I may post more of my previous writings here again since my original posts were on a “closed blog”…how anti-social, right?)
Facebook is an amazing cultural phenomenon. While I’ve suspected this for some time, two recent developments have really brought this home to me.
The first occurred just a couple months ago. On February 4th, over 2 million Colombians flooded the streets of that nation (as did thousands of other people in over 190 cities across the globe) to protest the actions of the FARC, an international terrorist group that for the past 40 years has financed itself by kidnapping innocent people, extorting Colombians, and profiting from the illegal drug trade. What’s amazing about this march is not just the size of the demonstration (the largest in Colombian history) but also the fact that it was completely organized on Facebook by one person – Carlos Andres Santiago – a student from Bucaramanga, Colombia who started the group “One million voices against the FARC.” According to Santiago, “This was a snowball that kept growing and growing….A few years ago no one would say anything against the FARC. In the march, we’ve shown our faces and we’re working for a new country.” If you’ve followed Colombian politics recently (and I’m sure ALL of you do) you’d know that this Web-organized march has served as a significant turning point in that nation’s work to weaken the political influence of that terrorist organization.
The second event was when my mom decided to join Facebook. I was shocked to learn that she had accomplished this because I feel like it was just yesterday that I was going ABSOLUTELY crazy trying to teach her how to double-click a mouse (“no mom, you have to do it fast – click, click, NOT click……………..……click. UGH!”). Now, my mom is friending people, writing on fun walls, poking her co-workers, and ruining my brother’s social life by browsing his photos. God bless America.
My point here is that despite all the media hype and public discourse about privacy rights in the age of social networking services, we cannot ignore the wider opportunities that Web 2.0 technologies offer. No longer does the Web connect computers with other computers, but with Social Networking Services like Facebook, MySpace, and Linked In, the Web is now connecting PEOPLE to other PEOPLE in meaningful ways.
As the Beacon case demonstrates, this leap to Web 2.0 comes with some problems. Perhaps one of the sacrifices we have to make in this brave new world is an erosion of our expectations of privacy. But as Facebook’s reforms have demonstrated, we also know that with increased social connectivity also comes an increased ability to organize and fix the systems we don’t agree with.
Three additional links you might want to look over:
Colombians in huge FARC protest
Check this one out, a great parody from the People for the American Way: www.rightwingfacebook.org
Like everyone else, I was skeptical. Twitter just doesn’t make sense! Who would care about what I’m up to in 140 characters or less? Do people actually keep up this stuff?
As it turns out, they do. This also might sound cliche and lame, but I’ve re-discovered how fun it can be having my own little community of (in this case) like-minded web 2.0 geek friends to keep up with. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks the same thing.
Whatknows has put some real thinking into what Twitter does. He also has some great advice:
People complain that Twitter is just “one more thing”, and I guess it kind of is, but I’m not convinced that it has to be. I originally joined Twitter to see if this “one more thing” was something worth adding, but over time have grown mildly fond of my 140 character updates. The recommendation I would give those who are not quite sure how to integrate Twitter into their lives (or visa versa) is to mix it into something you already know and do. We all update our Facebook status. And what is Twitter if not the Facebook status minus the Facebook?
True dat.
We’ll see what happens once my summer classes begin, but in the meantime I’m hooked. So if you’re not already on it, join up so I can stalk you.
30
Apr
08
Facebook in Reality
Pretty good! Pretty pretty pretty goooooood…
Yaaaaay!!!
(Thanks, Craig)
22
Nov
07
MoveOn.org vs. Facebook
Fight!
Liberal watchdog group MoveOn.org is making allegations that Facebook’s new social advertising strategy is violating users privacy. The service in question is called Beacon and is explained in this passage from CNET.com:
Beacon, which is part of Facebook’s new social advertising strategy, broadcasts information about members’ activity on third-party partner sites to their friends’ “News Feeds.” MoveOn’s campaign has cited problems with the program ranging from its potential to reveal a user’s entire holiday shopping list to the possibility that it might expose sensitive information that could put someone at risk.
Is MoveOn.org right? Are Facebook user’s privacy rights being violated? I’m not really sure. I’m inclined to agree with Jessica, who has noted over on her blog, that people (like this guy) who post personal details about themselves online and then complain when others find their information have a weak case.
What I AM interested in knowing is why MoveOn.org has a HUGE banner headline on their Web site complaining about Facebook, and then IMMEDIATELY encourages people to USE Facebook.
Isn’t it kind of hard to make the case that MoveOn.org really cares all that much about privacy when it’s asking them to become active in the system it is raging against? Wouldn’t a better strategy involve asking folks to switch to an alternate, privacy-friendly social networking site like…well….there isn’t really one, but you get my point.
UPDATE: MoveOn.org explains their strategy in the comments section (Thanks, Adam)
Fellow CCT student and Pew Internet and American Life Project researcher Jessica blogs about the ramifications of increased use of social networking over on Pew’s blog site. Her post raises some interesting questions:
The growth of Web 2.0-related products and services has brought numerous new technologies to life on the internet, many aimed at integrating various aspects of our digital lives together. One of the most prolific, especially over the last year, has been social networking websites. Sites like MySpace and Facebook attract millions of members, and, as seen in Alexandra Rankin Macgill’s blog post on the Facebook-Microsoft financing deal, they are also becoming big business. Now Google, whose shares passed the $700 mark last week, has entered the field with the launch of OpenSocial Nov. 1. With the motto “Social Will Be Everywhere,” Google joins the ranks of innumerable companies in recent years stressing the many social possibilities the internet presents. I don’t know about you, but I feel the pressure to be “social” on the Web somewhat overwhelming, and I am someone who is fascinated by the topic.
A friend just sent me a link to this hilarious Facebook parody site: www.RightWingFaceBook.org
My favorite part:
Rudy Giuliani is wondering how he can fit 9/11 into a speech about agriculture policy.
Mitt Romney joined the group “Pro-Lifers.”
Mike Huckabee added “Entrusting the female body to the care of loving, paternal legislators” to his Interests.
If you look closely you’ll see the site is run by the liberal watchdog group People for the American Way. Is this type of marketing effective?
The Machine is Us 