Google Search Moving Web 2.0

Michael Arrington previews what purports to be a prototype of a new Google search experience, incorporating user commenting and voting such as we see on Digg and other social media sites: The video above shows a user interface being bucket tested by Google to select (probably randomly determined) users. Earlier today we showed a screen shot of the interface and a ...

Evolution of Social Media: From Blogger to Twitter

Looking for art to illustrate the previous post, I stumbled on this amusing bit at Dave Schappell's blog: There's some truth to that. . . .

Congressional Twitter Fight Hits NPR

Friend of OTB Aaron Brazell was on NPR very early today talking about the controversy over Congress and social media. The cause of the Twittering representatives has been taken up by bloggers like Aaron Brazell of Technosailor. "Frankly, we're in 2008, and we have a government for the people and by the people," says Brazell, who lives in Baltimore. "Right now, ...

Blogrolls, RIP

Duncan Riley laments the demise of the blogroll. Once upon a time in the land of the blogs, the blogroll reigned suprmeme. Everyone had a blogroll, and it was a great way to discover new and interesting blogs. But somewhere along the way blogrolls fell out of favor, and you don’t seem them much at all today. [...] Unlike other areas of blogging, ...

Congress Banning Social Media?

As if to prove Robert Heinlein correct, the House Administration Committee is, apparently with honorable intent, considering effectively banning the use of popular social media sites, including YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook by Members. Soren Dayton couches this in partisan terms: "In typical fashion, House Democrats are trying to pass rules that stifle debate and require regulation." In fact, though, it appears ...

Blog Linking Less Important?

Louis Gray believes the importance of blog linkage is declining, noting that, "I've seen traffic from other blogs to be driving an ever-declining percentage of visits to my site, swamped by social media tools, aggregation sites, and of course, Google search." He offers three likely explanations: 1. People are relying on aggregators to find them new sources of information, including ...

Presidents and Computer Literacy

Jane Hamsher wants to know, "If You Can’t Use a Computer, How Can You Be President?" I chuckled when I saw the story at memeorandum since, after all, it's unlikely that any president before Bill Clinton could "use" a computer in any meaningful sense. (Maybe Jimmy Carter, who was a nuclear engineer in a past life, could, too, but proficiency ...

Shelby Steele: Yes He Can

The gang at Media Matters is excited that they have caught Shelby Steele admitting that the subtitle of his book, A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win (Free Press, December 2007) is wrong to Sean Hannity. HANNITY: All right, so he can't win? STEELE: He can win. I regret that subtitle. HANNITY: OK. STEELE: It was ...

Social Media Overload

Mark Glaser calls attention to one of the strange dilemmas of modern life: deciding whom to "friend" on various social media sites like Facebook and MySpace. Is the person a friend, a real friend, or someone who wants to be a friend? Should I add them as a friend because it’s polite, or ignore them because I want to protect ...

Intelligence Agencies Don’t Want Intelligent Employees

That's my takeaway from Noah Shachtman's story on the Office of the Director of Intelligence's research on employee screening procedures. With the growing prominence of information technologies (IT) in the home and work place, individuals spend an increasing proportion of time engaging in computer-mediated activities and communications. Many computer-mediated activities provide opportunities for individuals to behave in ways different than ...