The Blogging Journalist

If He's A Genius, Why Is He Living In A Truck?

As I read a Digg post headlined Mac Genius lives in truck for more than a year, I asked myself: "Why is this worthy of the attention it is getting, even from me?"

Numerous people sleep in their vehicles all across the nation. Is "Cal State Fullerton senior Andy Bussell" getting coverage because he works at Apple and is a so-called Apple Genius?

The comments generated by the post indicates that a lot readers are asking the same questions.

If you want to read more about Bussell, see the February 19, 2007 Los Angeles Times article headlined "Homeless by choice, O.C. student learns self-reliance."

PR, Blogging And Social Media

In a January 21, 2007, post headlined "Social Media is a Zombie," J. LeRoy at J. LeRoy's Evolving Web blog said "social media is a hungry beast.  It's like a zombie with an insatiable hunger for brains.  The conversation needs a constant influx of raw material (ideas) and a strong current of synthesis (unique interpretation), to remain vital."

He made the statement in the context of the conversation underway among some bloggers about the merits of public relations and whether the traditional approach is relevant with the advent of blogging and social media."

According to Wikipedia, "Social media describes the online tools and platforms that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives with each other. Social media can take many different forms, including text, images, audio, and video. Popular social mediums include blogs, message boards, podcasts, wikis, and vlogs."

MySpace.com Takes Steps To Appease Government Critics

The Wall Street Journal reported January 17, 2007, that, " In a bid to appease government critics, News Corp.'s popular Web site MySpace.com is planning to offer free parental notification software -- a move that risks alienating its young users."

  According to reporter Julia Angwin, "Parents who install the monitoring software on their home computers would be able to find out what name, age and location their children are using to represent themselves on MySpace."

Angwin said, "The software doesn't enable parents to read their child's e-mail or see the child's profile page and children would be alerted that their information was being shared The program would continue to send updates about changes in the child's name, age and location, even when the child logs on from other computers," she added.

To read more, please see "MySpace Moves to Give Parents More Information."

NBC's Social Networking Strategy

Michael Arrington, proprietor of TechCrunch asks in a January 14, 2007, post: What Does a Deleted Blog Post Tell Us About NBC’s Social Networking Strategy?"

His response to his own question is quite an informative. His readers also offering opinions.

Muhammad Saleem: 'Why Social Sites Needs Forum'

"One thing that socially driven news and content sites are sorely lacking, across the board, are forums," writes Muhammad Saleem in a January 5, 2006, post over at The MU Life "This is regrettable, because it is becoming more and more apparent that forums, that allow interaction between the community and the site owners, are what these sites need most."

To read more, please see "Why Social Sites Needs Forum."

'Social Media' Will Be Here For Awhile

On December 18th, 2006, Mitch Ratcliffe, who writes at ZDNet's tech and media blog Rational rants, posted an article headlined "When (and why) social media fails…"

He makes interesting points but they won't change the fact that social media will be here for awhile.

Is Vox Winning Back Bloggers For Six Apart?

Tech Digest's Stuart Dredge has December 20, 2006, interview on "blogosphere-baroness Mena Trott." It's primarily about Vox, Six Apart Ltd's social networking blogging service, which came out of beta on October 26, 2006.

To read it, see "Six Apart's Mena Trott on Vox: "We're winning back burned-out bloggers." It's quite revealing.

Technorati tags: Stuart Dredge, Tech Digest, Mena Trott, Vox, Six Apart Ltd.

The Concentration of The Economic Value of Content

Recommended: Rough Type proprietor Nicholas Carr's "Sharecropping the long tail." It's about the concentration of "the economic value of content" rather than content in the hands of a few players such as "MySpace, Facebook, and many other businesses" that "have realized that they can give away the tools of production but maintain ownership over the resulting products."

I think Six Apart's increasingly popular Vox social networking blogging service is a great example of what Carr wrote about. With Vox, users get free blogging software and hosting for their Six Apart designed blogs. In exchange, Six Apart gets to put small, content-related ads on users content pages. So far, Six Apart doesn't share the revenue with content creators. At least that's the impression I get.

The pressure to change this will likely increase if geeks start to use the service, which came out of beta on October 26, 2006, in great numbers. It's currently aimed at the masses.

Finally, I think Carr did a good job analyzing "Richard MacManus's new analysis of web traffic patterns" that helps "illustrate the point" referenced above.

NOTE: This post can also be found at The Technology Free Press, my technology blog.

Technorati tags: Nicholas Carr, Rough Type. Sharecropping the Long Tail, Richard McManus, MySpace, FaceBook, Six Apart, Vox, Social Networking

InfoWorld: 'Shimon Peres Stops By Blogging Event'

"The stars of the French blogging firmament attending a social media conference ( Le Web 3) on the edge of Paris were outshone on Tuesday [December 12, 2006] by Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres, who stopped by for a surprise visit," according to a report at InfoWorld.

If you want to read more, see IDG News Service correspondent Peter Sayer's "Shimon Peres stops by blogging event.

Technorati tags: InfoWorld, Le Web 3, Social Media Conference, Shimon Peres, IDG News Service

Scripps' Guide to Social Web Sites

On November 7, 2006, ScrippsNews published "A guide to social web sites." You might want to bookmark it.

Are Older People Showing Interest in MySpace?

TheStreet.com Senior Writer Jonathan Barr reported July 10, 2006 that, "MySpace, the cyber home of countless teens and 20-somethings, is attracting more interest from an older crowd." See "MySpace Grows Up."

Reuters: 'Murdoch Meeting Raises Disclosure issues'

Reuters reported July 8, 2006 that, "News Corp. shareholders learned how much revenue a closely watched Internet division would generate -- if they were lucky enough to be invited to a meeting in Australia last week with Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch."

To read more, see "Murdoch meeting raises disclosure issues."

Thee More 'MySpace Officers' Suspended

Cassandra Kirby, staff writer at the Lexington (Kentucky) Herald-Leader, explains in a July 7, 2006 article why "The Urban County (Kentucky) Council approved a recommendation" July 6, 2006 "to suspend three more Lexington police officers without pay for comments and photos they posted on the popular Web site MySpace.com."

To read more, see "Council approves suspensions for 3 more MySpace officers."

Music Magazines Use MySpace To Reach Thousands

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a July 8, 2006 article on music magazines that use MySpace.com to attract readers. "

It'd take quite a bit of space to bring together 15,862 of your friends," writes Scripps Howard News Service correspondent Mike Tumolillo . "But for a small publication covering music, all it takes is MySpace."

Tumolilo said, "Since 2004, Hyperactive Music Magazine has used the social networking Web site (www.myspace.com) to connect with thousands -- 15,862 to date -- of bands, readers and anyone else interested in the publication.

"Hyperactive isn't alone," he said. For more, see "Business finds a place on MySpace."

Scott Rafer's MyBlogLog

On July 3, 2006, Matt Marshall at the San Jose Mercury's Silicon Beat  told the blog's readers: Here comes MyBlogLog, with yet another social networking offering: A promise to let bloggers make more money by letting them see their users and their preferences."

"It is the latest company of Scott Rafer, former chief executive of Feedster," Marshall noted. "So far his team has boot-strapped. He wants to launch it before raising capital."

To read more, see "MyBlogLog: The social networking company wants to profile your traffic."

Mydeathspace.com

Michael Patterson, the Fort Worth, Texas paralegal who six months ago created Mydeathspace.com to chronicle the deaths of MySpace.com users says he's " hoping that teens will think about something they've seen on the Web site next time they're put in a situation where there's a chance they could hurt themselves," the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported July 2, 2006

According to Star-Telegram Staff Writer Melissa Sanchez said, "Since December, Mydeathspace, which is not affiliated with Myspace, has posted details about 331 deaths, including 50 suicides, Patterson said. Links to the profiles of 15 suspected killers appear next to links to the profiles of the victims.

Sanchez said, "On its biggest day so far, the site recorded 250,000 hits. More than 250 people have registered their e-mail addresses on the site and use the discussion boards to talk about death."

If you are interested in more, see "Internet Site Focuses on MySpace User's Deaths."

AOL Plans To Re-launch Its Netscape.com

InformationWeek's Thomas Claburn reported June 15, 2006 that "AOL plans to re-launch its Netscape.com portal as a place where user participation is balanced by moderator control." See "AOL Relaunches Netscape.com To Challenge Digg and YouTube."

Claburn said, "The renovated site will feature community-driven news and user-submitted video, guided by editors called anchors. Imagine a mixture of Digg.com and YouTube.com under adult supervision," he added. 

Is NSA Mass Harvesting Data At Social Network Sites?

Julie Tomlin at the online press gazette  reported June 9, 2006 that, "Following revelations that the Pentagon’s National Security Agency has been logging phone calls since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the New Scientist reveals that the NSA is funding research into the mass harvesting of the information that people post about themselves on social networks."

For more, please see "Pentagon Eyes Social Networking Sites."

You Can't Blame This On MySpace.com

The Houston Chronicle reported May 19, 2006 that, “The recent discovery of an 80-minute DVD for sale depicting bloody street fights between Arlington [Texas]youths has rattled parents, police, school officials and others in this normally placid suburban city.”

This time rap music, not MySpace.com, is blamed for the youngsters’ behavior. If you are interested, see “Street-fight Video Horrifies Arlington.”

Davenport, Iowa Bans MySpace From Schools

MySpace, "a website that's popular with students is being banned from all public school computers in Davenport, [Iowa]," according to reporter Matt Kelley at Radio Iowa.

Kelley said, "School district spokeswoman Karen Farley says "my-space-dot-com" was designed to be a place for young users to post pictures, comments and funny quotes, but it's being misused."

 

Bloggers Blog on 'Death and MySpace'

Bloggers Blog, a favorite of mine, has a commentary on New York Times reporter Warren St. John's April 27, 2006 article headlined "Rituals of Grief Go Online."  As Bloggers Blog noted, The Times article tells "how profiles on social networking services like MySpace have become memorials after people have died."

"We have discussed this topic before in a post called The Unplanned Afterlife of Blogs,  Bloggers Blog reminded its readers.

Prosecutor's My Space.Com Site Gets Him Taken Off Taylor Case

You'd think he would know better. Miami-Dade County assistant prosecutor Mike Grieco has been taken off the case of "former University of Miami and Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor" because he "posted articles about the NFL player's case on MySpace.com, a social networking Web site," Local10.com and other news outlets reported April 12, 2006.

For more, please see "Prosecutor Accused Of Using MySpace.com To Promote His Second Job."

Aftab to Speak at May 9 Forum on "Social Networking" Sites

Lawyer Parry Aftab, "an Internet safety consultant and executive director of Wiredsafety.org.," will be the main speaker at Westchester County New York Executive Andrew Spano and District Attorney Janet DiFiore's "May 9 [2006] forum on "social networking" sites such as MySpace.com, Xanga.com and Facebook.com" according to an April 12, 2006 report in The Journal News, a Gannett paper that covers "Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties in New York."

As reporter Liz Anderson notes, the above-named sites are "often used by teenagers to share personal information and pictures,"

"Aftab is the author of "The Parent's Guide to Protecting Your Children in Cyberspace," and has lectured nationally on the topic," The Journal News told its readers.

For more, see "Forum to help parents blast MySpace invaders." Links added.

A Look at 'Useful Web Sites That Connect People'

James Derk at "Scripps Howard News Service reported April 11, 2006 that, "With all the furor around teens and MySpace (www.myspace.com), it can be lost that there are quite a few "networking" sites on the Internet that are full of positive buzz, including some aimed at grown-ups and business-people."

To read about them, please see "Useful Web sites that connect people."

WBKO Offer Viewers a Series on Social Networking

WBKO TV in Bowling Green, Kentucky recently presented its viewers with a three part series on social networking and blogging. See Invading My Space-Part I, Invading My Space-Part 2 and Invading My Space-Part 3.

SearchSecurity.com: 'Scam Artists Flocking to MySpace'

Anne Saita, News Director at SearchSecurity.com reported April 5, 2006 that, "Though the wildly popular social networking site MySpace.com typically has no place in most enterprises, it's becoming a security issue when employees access their accounts on the job."

Why? Because "some users are also being lured to fake MySpace sites that capture keystrokes -- including the same logins and passwords used to access corporate networks and sensitive databases."

MySpace is not unique in this regard. Scam artist are all over the Internet and use the same tactics to scam people using banks and other online services.

To read Saita's article, please see "Scam artists flocking to MySpace."

Some Adults, Children Using MySpace to Do Dumb Things

In addition to being a good social networking site, MySpace.com is also a site police departments around the country use to catch lawbreakers. That's because in addition to attracting legitimate users, it also attracts criminals including child molesters: Here are three examples:

SFGate.com, the San Francisco Chronicle's website, reported April 5, 2006, that "Two teenage boys [from Novato, California] were arrested [April 4, 2006] on charges of possessing "destructive devices" after a video allegedly showing the duo firebombing an empty airplane hangar was posted online at MySpace.com, a social networking site." It sounds as if they wanted to be caught."

In Colorado, Sue Lindsay of the Rocky Mountain News reported April 5, 2006, that "An Evergreen High School student [in Evergreen, Colorado] who posted Internet photos of himself posing with guns was convicted Tuesday [April 4, 2006] on a charge of possession of a handgun by a juvenile."

She said, "The conviction came despite his parents' testimony that they gave him permission to handle guns in their home without their supervision."

On April 5, 2006, AccessNorthGeorgia.com carried an Associated Press article that says "authorities in Cumming [Georgia] have charged a University of Georgia student ["20-year-old Andrew Ross Levitz, a sophomore from Marietta, Georgia"] with using a popular Internet site to try to extort a 17-year-old Forsyth County [Georgia] girl to have sex with him."

About 70 Percent of Carnegie-Mellon Students Use Facebook.com

Andrew Peters reported in an April 3, 2006, article in The Tartan Online, Carnegie Mellon University's student newspaper, that "by late 2005, nearly 70 percent of Carnegie Mellon undergraduates had profiles on facebook.com." To read why, see "Facebook filled with interest and ignorance"

The Post: Visits to Blogs, Social Networking Sites Skyrocketing

Washington Post Staff Writer Leslie Walker reports in the April 4, 2006 issue of The Post that, "While growth is slowing at most top Internet sites, it is skyrocketing at sites focused on social networking, blogging and local information."

For more, see "New Trends In Online Traffic: Visits to Sites for Blogging, Local Information and Social Networks Drive Web Growth

Freelance Writer: 'Don’t Be Afraid of the Internet'

Daniel B. Kline, "a freelance writer living in Newington, Connecticut," according to The Mountain Call of Salida, Colorado, has an article in that paper headlined "Don’t be afraid of the Internet. He wrote:

To properly safeguard their children online, parents must actually learn about the Internet and not simply accept the hysterical local news reports about its theoretical dangers As anyone who remembers the endless stories about killer bees knows, television news often reports events that might happen or happen not nearly as often as the story suggests.

Kline said, "This latest round of stories designed to frighten parents happens to deal with Myspace.com, but they are no different than past scares about telephone chat lines and malls."

Kline has a point. On the other hand, we have to safeguard our children by being aware of their activities on and off line.

A Small Town Paper Analyzes the 'MySpace Phenomenon'

Patrick Carlson, a reporter at the Daily Record in Ellensburg, Washington, told the paper's readers April 1, 2006, that "MySpace.com, a social networking Web site is closing in on the big brands of the Internet [Google. Amazon. Yahoo]. Its popularity has come in a way much different than many other successful Internet sites," he wrote, adding:

"Rather than selling goods or helping people search and navigate the Net, MySpace has achieved billions of visits by connecting visitors to its most valuable product — each other."

And its former owners made $580 million when they sold the network, formed in 2003, to Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp.

For more, please see "The MySpace phenomenon."