To end the week, a few amazing, amusing and alarming observations from the world of social media:
The New York Times and an excellent piece about how kids and teens consume the news. The answer: They clip and share, just like they do on social networks.
Writes the Times's Brian Stelter:
"According to interviews and recent surveys, younger voters tend to be not just consumers of news and current events but conduits as well -- sending out e-mailed links and videos to friends and their social networks. And in turn, they rely on friends and online connections for news to come to them. In essence, they are replacing the professional filter -- reading The Washington Post, clicking on CNN.com -- with a social one."
Meantime, our friends and fellow PBS.org hostees at MediaShift--a blog on the transformation of culture as media is changed by new technologies--has a fascinating report on the African blogosphere.
It's easy to dismiss or trivialize bloggers in the U.S., who often are just using blogs to ventilate personal opinions (present company excepted, of course). Not so in Africa, where technologies like blogs and e-mail lists are crucial means of getting information out during times of civil unrest, communication crackdowns by authorities and violence in the streets.
On a less political note, check out Afrigadget, a blog dedicated to "solving everyday problems with African ingenuity."
And finally, a thought-provoking essay appears on the blog Social Times. A big part of human experience from the early 21st century--our online social communication--is likely to be lost forever as technology changes and data overwhelms storage capacity. This makes our online social life different from "analog" historical information that documents life in previous times, like letters, artifacts and even the printed word.
Writes Anthony LaFauce:
"What of all your great ideas you have have shared on twitter, in a flick of a switch they are gone. All your Facebook applications will not work when Facebook shuts down. All your debates on political message boards, gone when they switch to a new server.
"In 200 years no one will resurrect Myspace to see what all the hoopla was about. All of your comments and will be lost to the ages. All of your toils and all of your ideas will have no way of enlightening future generations."
Whether that thought inspires or deflates your online life--that's your call.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
NewsTrust
Email This
AfriGadget
A friend who covered Africa for the Independent said they have the coolest mobile phones on that continent. Her favorite was a phone with a flashlight on it, useful in a country with many areas without electricity.
Genocide
I am a high school student who is working on a genocide research paper. I was wondering if anyone could perhaps give me some insight on the topic, such as first-hand accounts with one of the recent genocides in our world.
It would truly be appreciated if someone could reply with any such information.
Post new comment
- Keep your comments focused on the topic at hand.
- Don't use profanity, personal attacks or hate speech.
- Don't promote a business or raise money.
- When all else fails, think "Golden Rule": Treat others the way you'd like to be treated yourself.
We reserve the right to remove posts that don't follow these guidelines. By submitting comments, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which include more details.