Facebook Shedding Its Echo Chamber Name

For some time now, Facebook has been saddled with the unfortunate sobriquet of Echo Chamber. As anyone who’s ever tried knows all too well, ditching an unwanted nickname is more than a little complicated (read: Difficult). But, since the company behind your online life record has the motivation, human resources, and economic means to carry out data studies that can, ahem, empirically disprove the basis on which such an inglorious moniker was erected, Facebook has done just that.

The Facebook Data Team, which harking back to Facebook’s origins in the realm of Ivy League scholarship carries out academic-style research studies, has just cranked out another pointy-headed paper. Eytan Bakshy, a recent Ph.D. from the University of Michigan’s School of Information helmed the study that looked at how previously unknown information is passed along among Facebook friends. His research underscores the importance of the inordinate amount of weak social ties Facebookers accumulate the longer they remain on the network. According to the paper published by Bakshy and his Facebook team, those weak ties do a lot of the heavy lifting related to the introduction of new information to users, thereby giving a good shaking to the Echo Chamber theory, which postulates that we only read/think/opine like our closest Facebook friends.

More details about the study can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-data-team/rethinking-information-diversity-in-networks/10150503499618859

Read More:

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2012/01/online_echo_chambers_a_study_of_250_million_facebook_users_reveals_the_web_isn_t_as_polarized_as_we_thought_.single.html

YouTube’s Networkization Ready for 2012

At seven years old, and swaggering with all its 800 million unique monthly visitors, YouTube is on the verge of something new: original, non-amateur video content. The site even has a swank-ily revamped interface from which to present its offerings of polished content.

The video-sharing leviathan, whose parent company is Google, has gotten more than its feet wet in the waters of entertainment production by hiring professional writers, directors, and producers. One hundred-plus channels will be inaugurated, possibly before the summer, by these pioneers of professional YouTube content. Amy Poehler, the comedian pictured at the left, will be one of them.

John Seabrook has been keeping tabs on YouTube for some time, and he rendered his observations in a New Yorker essay that appeared today. According to Seabrook, YouTube is going after a larger chunk of the $60 billion advertisers shell out on television; they currently only spend $3 billion on the Web. But that’s not it; YouTube is also positioning itself to be able to sell its professional channels to television networks and the cable guys.

In the future YouTube is betting on, fifty percent of homes will be hooked up to view Web channels on their TVs. Without a doubt, the company Chad Hurley, Steven Chan, and Jawed Karim founded is also hoping its professional content will persuade users to stay on the site longer than the 15 minutes they’re currently spending there each day.

Read More:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/01/16/120116fa_fact_seabrook?currentPage=all

Is Google Stretching Its Monopoly’s Muscles?

Perhaps all that’s missing from the Larry Page photo you see below really is an old-fashioned top hat, a curlicue moustache, and some coattails before the familiar figure of Rich Uncle Pennybags emerges. Since Google’s announcement earlier this week that material posted on its new social network, Google+, will be given a prominent position in the results of its more-than-iconic search engine, peers, observers, and rivals (understandably) have been crying foul.

Critics of Google’s latest move to “socialize” company products have decried what they perceive to be Google’s flexing of its monopoly muscles. That’s because the company has what some term a “natural monopoly” in the area of Web search — its dominance is beyond dispute. Google’s derided and “risky” move is being attributed to company brass becoming nervous on account of the heat it’s currently feeling from Facebook and Twitter — the giants of the new Social Web. Either to thwart its rivals, or because it really doesn’t feel capable of successfully embedding the social material of other networks at the moment, Google will not be “surfacing” social postings from Facebook or Twitter in the same way as it will being doing with Google+’s.

In a statement, Google defended its actions by saying:

“Google does not currently have access to fully crawl the content on some sites, so it’s not possible for us to surface all that information. Ushering in the new era of social and private data search will take close cooperation, and we hope other sites participate.”

Read More:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/google-adds-posts-from-its-social-network-to-search-results/?ref=technology

Myspace TV Coming to a Tablet Near You?

Justin Timberlake-endorsed Myspace is back on the scene, and it just may have beaten Apple and Google to a big consumer good: TV on the Web. Specific Media, Myspace’s current owner, issued a public statement concerning company plans to make the service available by early this year. Their idea is to offer network and cable content on any device with a screen and an Internet connection. The big announcement was made at the Consumer Electronics Show going on right now in Las Vegas, Nevada. In a subsequently published press release, company scribes say that the first channels to be offered by Myspace’s new service will tap deep into Myspace’s immense music video library.

Despite the ambitious date for service launch, Specific Media CEO Tim Vanderhook was open about the fact that deals with television content providers were still being sorted out. Details about what fees consumers will be expected to pony up for the service are still hard to come by. Sticking to its social network roots, Myspace TV will be outfitted with features permitting easeful shared “virtual viewing,” meaning you’ll be able to watch TV with friends in faraway places at the same time, and talk about it online as if you all were sitting next to each other on a TV couch of yore.

Kanye West Tells the World on Twitter that He Is Hiring

Kanye West, who’s touring with Jay-Z, and whose daring and gorgeous album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” was the toast of 2010 and 2011, has just put out a huge For Hire ad on his, let’s say it, acclaimed Twitter feed. Scientists, designers, writers, social media experts, tech guys (and gals), and even nutritionists are asked to reach out and participate in DONDA, West’s still-in-formation, 22-division “design company.”

The company is named after his mother, Donda West, who died in November 2007 after undergoing elective plastic surgery. Mrs. West was a literature scholar and the former Chair of the English department at Chicago State University.

In his tweets, West proclaims his willingness to invest in creativity and his commitment to making a difference in the world using his talent for “connectivity,” his resources, and his access to the world’s movers and shakers.

Kanye says, “I invest every dime back into creativity… hiring amazing creatives paying for flights, offices … etc…” and continues with “DONDA is a design company which will galvanize amazing thinkers and put them in a creative space to bounce there dreams and ideas…”

If you’re looking for a job, hear ‘Ye out: “If anyone would like to reach out email us at contactDONDA@gmail.com.”

Read More:

http://twitter.com/kanyewest

Today Is Dump GoDaddy Day

December 29th is Dump GoDaddy Day. That’s today, so will you be joining in the celebrations? The “holiday” came about at the insistence of SelfProdigy, a Reddit user who was very troubled by GoDaddy’s early backing of SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act. The bill is currently being reviewed by the House Judiciary Committee. If SOPA passes, responsibility for content uploaded to a site, in violation of copyright laws, will be thrust onto the shoulders of the site owners, be that Facebook, YouTube, or their tech peers.

Before kicking off Dump GoDaddy Day, SelfProdigy informed GoDaddy of his disapproval of their position with regard to SOPA. GoDaddy responded to SelfProdigy’s criticism with a “generic letter,” which only served to further enflame SelfProdigy’s indignation. In an interview with Fox News, SelfProdigy said: “My heart was broken. I’ve used them for years. I didn’t like the generic letter they sent back to me so I posted a call to boycott. I didn’t know it would catch on the way it did.”

After Dump GoDaddy Day went viral, GoDaddy releases a public statement abandoning its previous stance and proclaiming that it no longer supported SOPA. GoDaddy apparently wanted to stay on the side of the “internet community” when all the SOPA hullaballoo blew over. But many are saying it’s more than a little too late because GoDaddy registrations are already being “dumped.” Four days ago, 72,000 GoDaddy registrations had been lost. GoDaddy spokesperson, Danica Patrick, appears above.

Read More:

http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2011/12/dump-godaddy-day-is-dec-29-in-response-to-sopa-support.html

Britney Spears, Google+’s Ashton Kutcher

Britney Spears has done it again, and this time there’s no need for cloying interjections, the newly engaged singer gained the distinction of being the first person on Google+ to reach one million followers. Ashton Kutcher shares the same honor, but on a different network: Twitter.

There seems to have been a very concerted effort on behalf of Spears’ management to ferry her across the magic threshold because, as many have been pointing out, there’s an enormous section on her official homepage existing for the sole purpose of enjoining visitors to follow her on Google+.

Despite the still-somewhat uncertain merit of making it big on Google+, at least at this particular instance in time, the triumphant score will be something a great many Britney fans will be cheering. The Google+ achievement can certainly also be credited to her enduring popularity, and perhaps, also, to the nostalgia people feel for the era she defined. Critics and skeptics, as if we needed a clue, will no doubt patter on and on about the lack of competition from other major stars that Brit faces in the network that has been out only since the summer.

Either way, seems Google+’s tech adoring users have a soft spot for a singer.

Read More:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397948,00.asp

Charlie Sheen Tweets His Cell Number to Justin Bieber, Publicly

Reportedly, “Winning!” and “Ray’s Pizza!” is how Charlie Sheen was answering his cell phone last week after the torrent of calls and text messages started coming in: he had inadvertently tweeted publicly a direct message disclosing his phone number. His online followers did not wait a second before commencing the serial retweeting and dialing of the once-privileged digits. As if that weren’t enough to cause a media riot by itself, the kicker was that the would-be direct message was sent to @justinbieber, the person whose unquestioned dominance in the Twitterverse forced Jack Dorsey’s group to recalibrate the trending formulas.

To go by captured screen shots, Sheen’s would-be direct message to Justin Bieber read: “310-954-7277 Call me bro. C.” Although questions remain about why Sheen wanted Bieber to call him, many are probably relieved that the message didn’t contain anything scandalous beyond the individuals involved in the exchange. Sheen, who’s seen his share of controversy, was the object of unrivaled attention earlier this year after a tumultuous exit from “Two and a Half Men” and his subsequent replacement by Ashton Kutcher as the show’s lead. Sheen has a Twitter following that exceeds 5.5 million while Justin Bieber comes in second only to Lady Gaga.

Read More:

http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/charlie_losing_on_twitter_R1a76bCjgMCgQcTeZRNX6O

The Original 7ven’s Twitter-Inspired Funk Track Is Out

The beloved funk band The Time has a new name and a new single, and both are making headlines. The Original 7ven, as the band is now known, recently debuted “#Trendin,” which may or may not constitute the first hashtag as song title. The track is also further proof of Twitter’s unfaltering progress in lodging itself in the American cultural imagination. But the best news is that the song’s actually good! You’ll have a good-natured chuckle after taking in an earful and hanker after a lyrical belt-out, if not a jam session.

So beware: next time you’re getting down at a house party, it’s likely you’ll find yourself making emphatic head banging motions (à la Jellybean Johnson) between alternate shouts of “We trendin!” and entreaties to your dance floor cohorts, with earnestness and feeling, to “tweet it up ‘yall!” It’s also foreseeable that these will proceed to do just that, because as anyone who’s been out lately knows, people now dance with iPhones in hand — all the better to capture the awkward and suave moves of their “tweetie pie.”

The group has been grooving since 1981. A few years ago they performed their classic “Jungle Love” with Rihanna on the Grammy stage, and last month they opened the Soul Train Music Awards. “#Trendin” is available on iTunes.

Read More:

http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/america-have-you-heard-the-time-sings-about-twitter/?ref=technology

Big Changes for Twitter Before 2012

Earlier today, Twitter invited the press to its still-under-construction new digs on San Francisco’s busy Market Street to announce some big news: a site redesign is going live before January. The updates are meant to make Twitter even more engaging and interactive. The overriding principle for the adjustments seems to have been making the site more accessible and easy to use, for both ordinary people and for advertisers. As it could only have been expected, a hashtag has been created for the new Twitter design: #LetsFly.

Dick Costolo, Twitter’s CEO, was quoted as saying: We are going to offer simplicity in a world of complexity.” Those who attended the conference did not miss the fact that many of the redesign’s aspects harked back to the Jobs-ian/Ive-ian minimalist aesthetic. Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s co-founder and current executive chairman, has called Steve Jobs his “mentor from afar.”

Because the company is looking to court advertisers, it needs to demonstrate Twitter’s potential for attracting and retaining readers. With the new design, embedding and watching videos in tweets will be much simpler and pages for brands will have more space for content. As of now, the company has no plans to charge for this additional space, but it’s only open to Disney, Pepsi, American Express, and Dell. Twitter said brand pages would be available other users later on.

Read More:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/12/twitters-fly-redesign-looks-to-be-faster-simpler-and-more-personal.html

http://allthingsd.com/20111208/your-ad-here-twitters-big-brand-friendly-makeover/

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