News
Google upgrades blogging service
Google has announced an important upgrade to Blogger, the world’s first major blogging platform. Founded 11 years ago and after having played a major role in popularizing blogs, Blogger users are now promised more freedom than ever before when it comes to customizing their site’s design. In addition to choosing from a wider range of professionally-designed blog templates, bloggers will have more control when it comes to adding their own personal touch. Users will now have the option of modifying the colour palette they use when setting up their blog, selecting from a wide range of stock photos as background images and even making major design changes to their template by using an HTML and CCS interface.
Facebook and Twitter add new geographic location tool
Within a month, Facebook users will be able to share with their friends precisely where in the world they happen to be whenever they post status updates to their profile. According to The New York Times, Facebook will unveil this addition in April, at a technology conference, while Twitter is prepared to introduce a similar feature on its micro-blogging site within a matter of days. Both social networking websites have realized that a growing number of users are logging on using mobile devices, particularly iPhones. In fact one quarter of Facebook’s 400 million users now use Blackberries and IPhones to update their status or post comments, and this number appears to be rising each month. Once the new service is introduced in April, users may choose whether or not to have their location information automatically added to each status update.
IBM program tries to solve blog fatigue
Blog fatigue is really just another way to describe “writer’s block,” a phenomenon which can wreck havoc in the lives of freelance writers, journalists and novelists alike. According to a recent study produced by IBM, blog fatigue is one of the main reasons why the majority of bloggers—both corporate and personal—give up on their blogging and let their website flounder. In fact, 80 percent of those who launch a corporate blog only end up posting five or fewer posts, before giving up on the project. Yet the world’s largest corporations, the most famous politicians and celebrities all realize what a crucial role blogging can play in reaching and expanding their target audience, so giving up on a blog due to writer’s blog can have very significant ramifications. One solution is to turn to content creation firms, where a large team of skilled freelance writers can produce regular blog posts on just about any topic under the sun. But the most effective option, might be to use this service in conjunction with a new widget introduced by IBM, which predicts the topics that a given blogger’s audience would most like to read.
Twitter plays key role in White House communication
Robert Gibbs, the White House’s press secretary and his deputy, Bill Burton, have both signed up for separate Twitter accounts and together they aim to use the world’s first micro-blogging site as a way to give President Barack Obama’s policies and message a more informal feel, as well as offer a glimpse into life inside the Oval Office. But Gibbs admitted that the learning curve has been steep, since writing 140 character tweets in a compelling manner can be a challenge for someone schooled in the art of formal press releases and lengthy journalistic analysis. Gibbs admitted that at first the “whole language of numbers and symbols” evaded him, and he added that he might be well advised to turn to his son, in order to get a better grasp of this increasingly powerful form of communication.
Facebook games appeal to unlikely audience
When Facebook first launched its various game applications—such as the popular FarmVille—the assumption was that it would appeal mainly to men. The image of men enthusiastically playing video games in their home’s basement is one that is deeply ingrained in society. But somewhat unexpectedly, Facebook’s games appeal just as much to an unlikely crowd, namely [...]
Twitter passes milestone with 10 billion tweets
The number of tweets posted on Twitter hit the 10 billion mark this week, highlighting the very rapid growth of the micro-blogging service which was launched less than four years ago. The only disappointment perhaps for Twitter enthusiasts is that the San Francisco-based company was not able to reveal precisely which of its users sent the 10 billionth tweet, due to privacy regulations and the fact that the tweet was posted on a so-called “protected” profile. This simply means that the individual user’s tweets were only visible to a small handful of followers, rather than the broader public. The number of tweets generated is likely to increase even further with Gigatweet—a website dedicated to tracking Twitter-related statistics—estimating that the micro-blogging service may pass the 20 billion mark as early as July.
Top secret Israeli information added to Facebook
A soldier caused havoc within the Israeli military earlier this week, when he decided to post classified army information to his Facebook profile on planned operations in a Palestinian settlement. Apparently not realizing the consequences of his actions, the solider in question posted a status update in which he mentioned that on Wednesday his unit would “clean up” the town of Qatanah, before returning home on Thursday. The soldier’s Facebook friends quickly realized that this seemingly innocuous status update constituted a breach of confidentiality. Rather than adding a comment to his profile, or sending him a Facebook message, they reported him directly to the military.
New York bloggers to be treated like journalists
Major changes are coming to the way New York City officials treat traditional journalists and bloggers, and this move is certain to lend more credibility than ever before to the Blogosphere. Until now, only journalists working for accredited news organizations enjoyed most media privileges in New York, such as the right to cross police barriers when reporting on stories and being issued press passes. But starting later this year, New York officials will begin offering press passes to any journalist based exclusively on his/her personal achievements, rather than affiliations with major print, television or online news organizations. What this means in practice, is that bloggers will be eligible for press passes and will be permitted to cross police barriers after they have reported on at least six events sponsored by New York City and published these online or in print.
Facebook and Twitter make people turn to internet for news content
As a sign of the dramatically changing times, more people are now turning directly to the internet for news, rather than to printed newspapers or magazines, and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are playing a major role in driving traffic to websites with news content. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project survey, fully 61 percent of Americans indicated that they get some of their news online. The majority of Americans who do turn to the internet for news now also use social networking sites to help sift through the wealth of content available online. The survey found that 75 percent of Americans access news content through Facebook posts, Twitter links, or by e-mail. Additionally, more than a third of all internet users (37 percent) share newsworthy content using these same social networking sites, or by e-mailing links.
Soldiers to tweet from the front
American soldiers are now able to literally tweet messages to loved ones and supporters from the battlefields, thanks to new rules introduced by the Pentagon. US officials have lifted a longstanding ban, which prohibited active soldiers from sending messages home about their life on the frontlines and opened the door for Web 2.0 technology to make its way into the world’s most dangerous war zones. The Pentagon had been very concerned up until now that allowing soldiers to use Twitter, Facebook or Youtube and to permit them to blog about their experiences in battle would result in dangerous leaks and may expose military secrets. There were also worries that thousands of soldiers using Web 2.0 technology on the military’s overseas computers would eat away at the army’s bandwidth. But after a seven-month long review of the Pentagon’s policy, soldiers will be able to share more personal information on their experiences in war zones than ever before, adding thousands of new voices to the world’s most popular social networking sites.
