The Power of Social Media

We’ve discussed in class how your behavior on social media can determine what everyone else thinks of you. In this article the writer examines the difference between the way Rihanna and Beyonce conduct their interaction with fans using social media. He doing this will trying to see what it means about a future where everyone has a presence online of some sort, a future he believes we are barreling towards. 

His examination shows how Rihanna uses Instragram and Twitter to chronicle her daily activities with an unfiltered look of her life. Rihanna takes photos of herself using her iPhone camera resulting in grainy, pixilated quality phones. She also curses and has lashed out at anyone taking a jab at her on Twitter.

Beyonce social media choices are Tumblr andTwitter. In contrast to Rihanna, Beyonce only releases photos that look professionally done and most of which looked staged. Some post have handwritten notes from Beyonce written in swirling swoops.  Everything she presents to her fans is to show an image of upper-class. She doesn’t seem to get as personal with her fans as Rihanna keep her fans at a distance.   

Unlike some of the other stars, both Rihanna and Beyonce have successfully used these social media outlets to present the persona they want their fans to see. During this process both of them have also strengthen their brands with the use of social media.

I think there are definitely advantages to using social media for someone who wants to promote an image to the masses. Social media can be a very powerful tool in creating an image you want to promote. It can also do a lot of harm if you promote an image without keeping in mind that anyone on these social media outlets can see that image including a potential employer and if that image is not what they want to see. Rihanna and Beyonce are probably making a lot of money by doing it right and keeping in mind the audience they want to reach. 

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/digital-diary-rihanna-vs-beyonce-a-tale-of-two-online-identities/# 

FlyRights app to speedup TSA complaint filing

On Monday, the civil rights group Sikh Coalition released a new app for Android and iPhone that they hope will make it easier for airline travelers to report and file profiling or harassment complaints to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The app is called FlyRights and the coalition created it as a response to a history of large amounts of secondary screening towards Sikhs and other religious and ethnic minorities at airports in the USA. The forms used by the app are drawn directly from the TSA website.  The goal of this app is to make it easier to file a complaint of profiling or harassment.  The app does this by allowing the users to bypass the website in order to reduce the time lag between the submissions of an incident occurrence and filing a complaint.

The app provides a simple design for ease of use with three buttons on its home screen. The three buttons are “Report” (links to a form where user input their name, e-mail, phone, address, airport, airline flight and describe incident in question, followed by a “Send Report Now” button), “Know Your Rights”, and “About the Sikh Coalition.”

Other civil rights leaders and politicians praised the app.

I think this is a good use of an app. I know that the majority of airline employees are just doing their job, but it’s the ones that use their position of power to harass people of different religions and ethnicity that makes this kind of technology necessary. I know how difficult it is to file any kind of report in a bureaucratic system. I’m sure many people just don’t file the complaint because of the time and aggravation involved with the process. I believe that an app that makes it easy for someone to file a complaint will reduce the power of the employee who would engage in profiling or harassment. 

http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/04/flyrights-app-aims-to-streamline-tsa-complaint-process.ars?clicked=related_right

Microsoft & Nook

Microsoft has decided to back the Nook tablet and has invested $300 million in a new Barnes & Noble subsidiary called Newco.  As part of this deal Nook digital bookstore will be bundled with Widows 8 when its newest version comes out later this year.  With this announcement Microsoft will maintain 82.4% ownership in Newco.  After this news was announced, Barnes & Noble stock rose 83%.  

This influx of cash will allow Barnes & Noble to hire new engineers, software developers, and hardware designers as well as allow them to compete on a marketing front with Amazon and Apple. 

Barnes & Noble also announced for the first time, potential international expansion.  This is because Microsoft screen are all over the world and with this new partnership Barnes & Noble can take advantage of that.  Customers are also more likely to purchase the Nook because they can have more confidence in the continued success of the brand with Microsoft behind it. 

I am really happy about this deal because I would like one traditional bookstore chain to stay around.  I also think that more options for consumers is better especially in light of the collusion between Apple and the publishing houses.  I think it is beneficial for both companies as Microsoft can reach the tablet market and Barnes & Noble can gain stability.     

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57423980-93/microsoft-deal-allows-b-n-to-go-toe-to-toe-with-amazon-and-apple/?tag=mncol;topStories 

Crowdsourced Baby!!

I found a story released about 3 days ago that talks about how parents received the money to fund IVF treatments through crowdsourcing! Crowdsourcing is a term used for when a task is outsourced to a group of people, or crowd, in order to solve a problem. This is different from outsourcing because the group of people is not defined or specific. The process of crowdsourcing is now being used primarily online, but can be done offline as well. A computer is used with the crowd, thus solving the problem at hand together, reviews the information the group of people applies to the problem. In the case of Jessica and Sean Haley, their problem was that they needed to raise funding for IVF treatments. The couple did not want to make their story public to their friends, but when they saw no way out they turned to the Internet. They first pitched their idea to Kickstarter, a crowdfunding website, but were rejected because Kickstarter does not handle medical funding. They were able to share their story instead on IndieGoGo. They asked for $5000, and ultimately were able to raie $8050. 


You can read the entire story here:


http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/6802078/Woman-gives-birth-to-crowdsourced-baby


The story is quite moving and explains a new way crowdsourcing is being used these days.  No longer is crowdsourcing used solely for solving a problem. Now a days crowdsourcing has helped locate missing children, and fund projects. The money raised for Kony2012 is also a form of crowdsourcing. I personally have helped fund a movie through Kickstarter. It is quite the experience. Usually there is a time limit for when the amount of money needs to be raised by. The worst part is if you get refunded it is because the project failed to raise enough money. With crowfunding, you really become part of the action. You can see how much is left and spread the word about it through Twitter and Facebook. I think this is the most innovative source of funding yet. How else do you expect to reach the masses in a short amount of time. The Internet is fastest way to spread your concerns all over the world, and many projects do receive funding from people in countries they had never even imagined their project would reach. 


The whole theory of crowdfunding amazes me, and worries me at the same time. I am not sure how much these crowdfunding hosts screen, but what happens if a story gets funded that has no truth to it? How will people know what to believe. I have not found anything as of yet that would actually support what worries me; but if there is a crack in the system many people can learn to exploit it. 

Recent Piracy Issues

Earlier in the semester we talked about piracy, and how different governments are cracking down on copyright infringement. I found two different articles in the news that link to each other.

The first article is about the Hong Kong film industry's loss of $308 million to YouTube. They discovered that films were being uploaded to the site because of the release of one film that did not do as well as anticipated. When the producers of the movie found out about the film on YouTube, they did further research, which led to the discover of over 200 films that were illegally uploaded. The funny thing is the producer of the film does not hold YouTube accountable, even though when Media Asia informed YouTube about the copyright infringement they did not close them down immediately. I think something needs to be done. With YouTube, they allow anyone to claim a copyright even if it is not theirs. This causes an abundant amount of loss to the various film industries. Many people believe that copyright infringements do not happen in YouTube often, but you would be surprised. Even Arabic and Indian films are available all over the place on YouTube. The problem is YouTube does not bother to check this stuff out for itself which I think is wrong on their part.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hong-kong-film-piracy-youtube-314976

The second article is about how Finland's government has recently given IFPI permission to identify and pursue the different users of Pirates Bay. After a Pirates Bay leak of an album two days before it was meant to be released, the label went to court to force information on the infringers be released to them. The label is only looking at the people who uploaded and shared the album, and not looking about the illegality of Pirates Bay itself. After receiving information about the infringers, they plan on looking for other infringements on the site and gathering information about the sharers of those albums. I still think that some of the fault lies with Pirates Bay; but it was also the choice of the people who shared. The Pirates Bay did not take this lightly. Because of the courts ruling, the Pirates Bay was supposed to be blocked. This instigated a lot of questioning about the rights of filtering the internet. The founders of Pirates Bay are planning to sue the IFPI for suing the people that allow access to their site. They believe that the IFPI has an unfair monopoly on distribution regardless of the means. I do not think they have a right to sue the IFPI, to be honest. It just does not make any sense.

http://torrentfreak.com/court-gives-ifpi-permission-to-identify-pirate-bay-users-120423/

For the article about Pirates Bay planning to sue IFPI go to:

http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-plans-to-sue-ifpi-090206/

Personally, for both YouTube and the Pirates Bay, I believe that the organizations themselves are to blame just as much as the people who upload or share the material. I am intrigued to find out what YouTube, and their parent company Google, have to say about their copyright policies that have led to many copyright infringements. They have yet to make a statement. 

Coursera

As we discussed earlier in the semester Stanford professors were offering free online classes to everyone.  After completion, those in the class would receive a certificate of completion rather than actual class credit.  This idea has spurred a lot of conversation especially with the announcement of Coursera last week.  Coursera is an expansion of the idea, which now includes Princeton, the University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania.  Coursera has received $16 million from venture capitalist firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and New Enterprise Associates. 

Other instances of this free online learning are occurring as well.  Dr. Thrun of Stanford University left his position to start Udacity, a similar online learning site.  MIT is also jumping on board and offered their first free course on circuits and electronics in March.

There is a lot of concern among universities as to where the future of higher education is heading.  There is also concern that the prestigious universities offering the free courses will lose some of their name brand appeal.  I think just the opposite.  I think it positions these schools in a more favorably light as they no longer seem elitist and exclusionary. 

Facebook and No More "Privacy"

Facebook, once again, is all over the news in regards to their new terms of use.  One of the major changes included changing the name from "Privacy Policy" to "Data Use Policy".  Personally, I think that whenever someone sees the word "privacy", they are automatically concerned that their privacy will soon be violated.  Since Facebook is free, the article clarifies that they make most of their money from advertising, with some of their funding coming from a cut of the profits from games that are played through Facebook.  If people started to be too concerned with their privacy (which, let's face it, how much do we really have anymore if you are using the Internet?), then Facebook could start to lose users. If they lose users, they are no longer going to be the $100 billion public company that they hoped for.

In a bulleted list, they revealed what some of their newest updates would be to this "Data Use Policy".  The full list can be found in the article below.  This list was made public for all Facebook users to review. And, like in true social media fashion, they are asking for comments about how people feel about them.  They will go into effect on April 27, so start commenting away. I think that I understand pretty well that there is very limited privacy when it comes to Facebook.  Do you think their new terms will change how people feel about using Facebook?  Will it decrease the number of users?

Facebook Clarifies Changes to its Terms of Use

EBooks in the News

Since no one else has mentioned Ebooks yet....

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice has accused Apple of partnering with five publishers to keep ebook prices artificially high to compete with Amazon.com. The anti-trust charges are likely to lead to a reduction in the price of eBooks, according to the USA Today article. The allegations are that Apple allowed publishers to sell eBooks for any price thy chose, assuming it was not cheaper than any other price on the internet. So, publishers set prices high to make more profits, which forced Amazon to also set prices high to compete. This lead to artificially high prices of eBooks. Apple plans to take on the Department of Justice in court because they claim that they helped to break “Amazon's own monopolistic grip on ebook sales.” So, Apple claims it was helping to break up Amazon’s monopoly but the Department of Justice claims that in doing so, Apple was breaking the law in a different way. Three publishers have already decided to settle out of court. Reporters estimate that e-Books will return to prices closer to Amazon’s original $9.99 each once the case is settled.


Today, Apple is still fighting the lawsuit that “accuses them of colluding to keep ebook prices high.” According to an eWeek article, Apple is claiming that the allegations are not true. The Justice Department maintains that it is filing suit to protect consumers against companies who try to control the market.


Personally, I own a Kindle. When I first purchased my Kindle I was expecting to be able to purchase eBooks and eSubscriptiosn at prices greatly reduced from physical copies. This was not that case. E-versions were cheaper but most of the time it was still cheaper to buy a used copy of a book then to buy an eBook. Needless to say, I was disappointed. In the days since the allegations have been made public, I have not seen the price of eBooks drop, but I have seen the price of magazine subscriptions drop dramatically. Although I cannot remember the exact price, I estimate the price of Time Magazine was $3.00 an issue last week which has dropped to $0.54 per issue today. Cosmopolitian $0.83 per issue. RollingStone $0.77 per issue. These are the prices I was expecting when I purchased my Kindle.

April 14, 2012 10:58 AM

Extra Credit Posts

As part of receiving extra credit toward the final exam in the class, you can either see an event around campus, or view a documentary or movie related to the class.  In addition, you can post a class-related topic on this blog that you read, heard or saw online.

In your post, create a linkable URL to the original article (or website), as well as other related links.  Write up a summary of the article (or other media), including the main points you thought most interesting.  Then, provide your own views.  Others can comment on the post for participation credit, or cabncontinue the discussion with other links that provide another viewpoint and, again, summarize, and offer your view (for extra credit).  See below for more details.

Some details about URL choice:

1. The URLs have to be very recent, preferably in the last few days.  
2. It has to be technology-related.  So no posts in the news that do not have a technology component.
3. First one to post about it gets the credit; if another student wants to comment on the same post and add another link (and another point of view), that is fine.   Students can also comment for participation credit.

Comment on Assignment 4

In my response to this Assignment, and your comments, let me first say you all found really depressing findings.  I'll have to redo this assignment next year. :)  So much bad speech, and it's everywhere.  In government, on sports fields, in quiet neighborhoods.  But as most First Amendment lawyers (and others) will say, the best way to fight offensive speech is with more speech.  Examples include the McCain response and the white supremacists.  If you let people get away with saying these things, no matter how often you hear it (as in Vishal's example), saying nothing back is not always a good solution, although there are risks either way.  Clearly it is no longer a free speech issue when you kill someone.

Good work.  Continue to comment here, or add new posts on any topic related to the course.