Interesting stuff I saw online, May. 30 to May. 31
Here’s some of the stuff I thought was interesting while stomping through the Internet from May. 30 through May. 31:
- Four observations about charging for news that are often overlooked – “Plenty has been written about the futility of erecting pay walls — much of which I agree with — but a few points are often overlooked.”
- 100 Amazing Free Wordpress Themes for 2009 – “High quality free Wordpress Themes have become harder and harder to find in the past year, with the influx of premium themes, more and more designers and developers are selling themes (and rightly so, they do amazing work). But, that aside, the quality is certainly there, and we are sure you will be impressed with this Wordpress theme compilation for 2009.”
- Getting the mean out of comments – A group of citizens meeting on the evening of May 20 in Knoxville over sandwiches and sweet tea might be end up influencing how news sites across the country view and manage comments.
- Cyberbullying: What the research is telling us… – “Delivered to the Year of the Child summit, this talk surveys the current research on cyberbullying and online harassment, pulling in Pew Internet data as well as the work of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, Internet Solutions for Kids and other academics and scholars researching this topic.”
What I’ve read, Aug. 2 through Aug. 8
These are my links for August 2nd through August 8th:
- Pew Internet: Search Engine Use – The percentage of internet users who use search engines on a typical day has been steadily rising from about one-third of all users in 2002, to a new high of just under one-half (49%).
- Advertising – Google’s New Tool Is Meant for Marketers – NYTimes.com – Users can also slice the data into finer geographic areas than with Trends and view it on a map. And they can download the data onto spreadsheets to compare it to their own forecasts or research.
- The Mr. Spock Guide to Effective Blogging | Copyblogger – “ITry using a little Vulcan logic to move it in the right direction.” OK. This is a fun read. Thanks, Will. And for the record, I didn’t want “to Pon Farr his pointy ears off.”
- paidContent appears on Guardian site -
- If the FCC comes to regulate the Internet, newspapers will lose their freedom of the press « The Future of News – “…what if the FCC comes to regulate the Internet, as might begin to happen should they be given the right to enforce Net Neutrality policies?”
- Understanding Your Legal Risks When You Blog or Publish Online | Citizen Media Law Project – The risks you could face when you publish online can take a number of forms, depending on what and how you publish.
- TrekWeb.com – First Cut of Star Trek Movie Screened at Paramount with Impressive Results – What can I say? I’m a trekkie.
- Newspaper Consortium Picks Mike Silver As Its First-Ever Leader – Fantastic news for a man I have known and respected for a long time. (via Online News Squared)
- ONA News: 2008 Online Journalism Awards – Finalists – Finalists for the 9th annual Online Journalism Awards, which honor excellence in digital journalism, were announced today by the Online News Association (ONA).
- LATimes-er’s farewell blog item: 42 things I know – Telling reader’s comment: “You forgot to mention that the Times and other large papers forgot or dismissed the small business owner.”
- What’s really killing newspapers: They’re no longer the best providers of social currency. – By Jack Shafer – Slate Magazine – But to read a newspaper and then keep your trap shut is to miss the point: Newspapers are designed to be read and argued over.
- Net Law Luminaries File Amicus Brief in Lori Drew Case – “…the government’s theory … would impose criminal penalties for … violating a website’s terms of service, something … millions of Internet users do every day, often without even knowing it.”
Pew study: Gains in social media for political info
The obvious news from Pew’s latest study is the huge increase in the percentage of people using the Internet to get information about politics — that number is 46 percent. So far, the study says, “more Americans have gone online to get political news and campaign information than during all of 2004.”
And the “real” election season is only just beginning.
But I was more interested in this sentence from the study’s summary: “Two-thirds of Internet users under the age of 30 have a social networking profile, and half of these use social networking sites to get or share information about politics or the campaigns.” (Emphasis is mine.)
They are likely to be the people who will be running for office and among the largest voting bloc in the next election season. These are also the same people who aren’t reading newspapers, but are well-informed people, interested in their world, and seeking news.
Here’s the bad news from the Pew study: Internet users have mixed views about the general role of the Internet in politics. Here’s what researchers found about these questions:
Sixty percent agree that “the Internet is full of misinformation and propaganda that too many voters believe is accurate.” (32 percent disagree)
People are closely split on this: “the news and information you get online is just the same as you can get anywhere else.” (48 percent agree, 47 percent disagree)
Happily, 56 percent disagree with this: “The Internet lets those with the loudest voices and most extreme positions drown out average people’s views.)
But sadly, 67 percent disagree with this: “The Internet helps me feel more personally connected to my candidate or campaign of choice.”
And, though I’m not sure I believe this, 74 percent disagree with this statement: “I would not be as involved in this campaign as much if it weren’t for the Internet.”
Kurt's Tweets- @bfelice Hey, thanks so much for the heads-up on this. Great to see.
- Funny. SW airlines magazine bothers to mention that pacemakers are always authorized electronic devices. #fb
- A disgrace, St. Louis. People still litter? http://post.ly/OUsk
- Redemption for Lindsey Jacobellis in snowboardcross? Only click if you really wanna know. http://bit.ly/99OgbM
- West Countians: If you're in the market for a pancake supper tonight, there's one here: http://stmartinschurch.org.