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A Decade of Innovation: How We See the Internet 10 Years After the Boom

cgseo — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 03:06:56 +0000

According to recently released research from the Pew Center , we're just as optimistic about the web as we were ten years ago during the Internet's first boom cycle. At the end of 2009, most Americans in this Pew survey have a dismal view of the 2000s. Between the Iraq war, the 9/11 attacks, economic and political distress and the curse of reality television, the decade has been voted the worst in our collective memory. But one of few bright spots in a tense ten-year period was and remains technological innovation, including the Internet, cell phones and email. Social sites, however, still have a way to go in the public eye. Sponsor Over a five-day period, the Pew Center interviewed 1,504 American adults and asked them to weigh their feelings about culture and technology over time. The respondents' answers are enlightening. While positive feelings outweigh negative ones for almost every cultural epoch from 1960 until 1999, our feelings about the 2000s are predominantly unhappy. Fully 50 percent of respondents have an overall negative impression of the past decade, while only 27 percent said they felt positively about these years. However, almost across the board, technological advances in basic online and mobile communication tools have been a bright spot in our shared perception of this decade's progressions and events. Cell phones, email and the Internet were viewed very favorably among all types of Americans, and online shopping and smartphones evoked positive reactions from a majority of respondents, as well. Blogs and the social web, however, earned a solid "meh" from those surveyed. It is worth noting that the greater a respondent's age, the less likely he or she was to view these technological changes positively. For example, 45 percent of folks between the ages of 18 and 49 - a huge demographic - saw social networking websites as having positive effects on our society. But after the 50-years-old mark, that percentage lowered significantly to between 25 and 21 percent. It's also interesting to note that the dot-com crash hasn't effected our late-nineties optimism about where the Internet would take us. Most of us still feel, as we did in 1999, that the Internet is having an overall positive effect on Americans. Again, these responses were subject to age. Around three-quarters of younger respondents saw the web as a positive change, but only 42 percent of people age 65 and older felt the same way. But these older Americans didn't seem to think the Internet was necessarily negative, either. Their responses indicated that they were unsure of its impact or thought its influence was negligible. Another correlation in this opinion was between a positive view of the Internet and a college education. A full 82 percent of folks with a college degree said the web is doing good things for America. For more details, read the full study , and do let us know in the comments what you think of the 2000s and where the Internet will take us in the 2010s. Discuss

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A Decade of Innovation: How We See the Internet 10 Years After the Boom

Facebook, Google & Twitter Unite for World AIDS Day Around the Web

cgseo — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:38:17 +0000

December 1 marks World AIDS Day , and every major social site around the Internet has come together to spread awareness about the disease, its transmission and available treatments. Thanks to efforts from Facebook, Google, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube, AIDS is a more visible topic today than perhaps at any other point in the history of World AIDS Day. Read on to see what each site has done and the impact this joint campaign is having on users. Sponsor YouTube Live Streams a Concert with Alicia Keys In partnership with the singer's foundation, Keep a Child Alive , YouTube is live streaming an Alicia Keys concert starting at 8 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific. The site is also asking suers to donate $5 toward medication and other support for these sufferers. The site is also hosting and promoting this video about the Lazarus Effect, the seemingly miraculous results seen in HIV/AIDS patients given two pills of a specific medication - pills that are available at just 40 cents a day: Flickr Asks How Users Are Living With AIDS In a blog post and a group dedicated to those living with HIV/AIDS, Flickr asked its community of users to print a PDF emblazoned with the words "Facing AIDS" and incorporate it in a photograph to share with the world as part of an initiative with AIDS.gov . Facebook, Google and Twitter Go (RED) Both Facebook and Google have announced they're working with (RED), a brand that helps raise awareness and money for the fight against AIDS in Africa. Google set up a page just for today's events for users to learn more about the global effort to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, to find volunteer opportunities in their area, to get involved with the ONE Campaign, to purchase (RED) products as holiday gifts and to unite with others at the Global Network of People Living with HIV. Facebook asked users to change their profile pictures to (RED)-themed avatars, shop for (RED) products and join the (RED) Facebook page. And Twitter, our generation's megaphone, encouraged users to tweet certain terms, @usernames and hashtags, which would turn tweets red and have certain outcomes. For example, for tweets containing #red, @joinred, 40 cents, AIDS, World AIDS Day, HIV and #laceupsavelives would change the color of the text and help raise awareness with users across the site. At press time, AIDS, HIV and World AIDS Day were all trending topics on Twitter. The site is also offering a red profile theme. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone wrote that the site would be partnering with (PRODUCT)RED to raise funds, and 100 percent of funds raised would be used to help AIDS sufferers in Africa. What Does a Social Media Campaign for AIDS Really Do? In a Facebook blog post , (RED) CEO Susan Smith Ellis wrote, "Our success is very much owed to the emerging world of social media that exploded, just when we needed it. Like social media itself, with (RED) the power is not so much in the act of one individual but in the incredible power of the collective acts of individuals. In just over three years, over 1.5 million people have joined (RED) via a range of social media." Indeed, today's efforts are a testament to the collective power of social media - and the power of all platforms united in the name of a single cause So, what does all this social media buzz do for real-world sufferers and their families? Ellis wrote of the (RED) campaign, "In three year... people's choices have resulted in $140 million being contributed to the Global Fund, with 100 percent of that money going directly to helping fight AIDS in Africa. Millions of people like you together have created this impact. "But it's bigger than dollars. This money flows directly to AIDS grants that have already reached more than four million people with testing, counseling, AIDS treatment and services - programs that truly change lives." Discuss

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Facebook, Google & Twitter Unite for World AIDS Day Around the Web

8tracks to Launch Playback API and Developer Program

admin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:00:00 +0000

It appears that the time for freemium music services in the US has passed. Earlier this week streaming music site Imeem sold to MySpace for under $10 million dollars while laying off a large number of staff. For a company with all four major record labels signed, more than 15 million uniques a month and well over 5 million tracks in its catalogue, it came as a sobering blow to the industry. While many companies move to a subscription model, 8tracks continues to forge along in what some describe as a convenient loophole. As of this weekend the company is publicly launching its API for Boston's Music Hack Day . Sponsor Similar to the original concept for Muxtape , 8tracks allows users to trade 30 min (8 track) playlists. But unlike Muxtape, because 8tracks songs are not identified prior to play, the company is treated as an internet radio station. This status as a radio station means that it avoids the high licensing fees plaguing the streaming music sites. While Muxtape was forced to close in 2008, 8tracks continues to thrive. This weekend 8tracks is publicly launching its music playback API in the hopes of leveraging the collective brain power of Music Hack Day attendees. Some of the tools already built using the API that will be demoed include an iPhone player, a player widget for Facebook and a weekly Hype Machine mix . For those interested in getting involved with 8tracks on Music Hack Day, the developer API is available tomorrow at developer.8tracks.com . Discuss

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8tracks to Launch Playback API and Developer Program