Latest Teaching Blog Posts

A draft of "Online Threats to Youth: Solicitation, Harassment, and Problematic Content" is now completed and available for public review. This document is a review of research literature on the risks posed by the Internet to youth (children and adolescents), as well as from specific technologies and social media. The focus of the document is on quantitative, national-level studies based in the United States, although qualitative studies and those involving more localized populations are also referenced.

Following the election, there’s been a lot of talk about the role social media played in Obama’s successful campaign, and how he may use these connections in his administration. Here’s a few of the points in the ongoing discussion of how the events resulting in the election of Obama to president unfolded using online communities and convergent media.

LinkedIn is getting on the online apps bandwagon. The company is starting with ten applications from eight companies, such as Huddle and Google, which use the OpenSocial platform. LinkedIn walks a fine line. OpenSocial-based applications could mean more spam and more cluttered interface. The site needs to remain appealing to its professional user base, which prefers a sparse presentation with a focus on status and network ties. For one, Google docs is a natural fit with the professional orientation of LinkedIn.

Android is the codename for Google’s new operating system. Their new G1 mobile device, which runs Android, is currently available for a subsidized price of $179 through T-Mobile. This is news because Android is not just another operating system – like Linux, it would be entirely open-source. Online communities would benefit from developers being able to create software for mobile devices. Up until now, this has not been easy or convenient.

APOC was represented at the 2008 Convergence and Society conference at the University of South Carolina (aka, “the other USC”). Conference organizer Augie Grant wisely selected the topic of “The Participatory Web.” Many presentations throughout the conference were peppered with references to online communities. I presented the APOC curriculum, teaching methodologies, and overall perspective.

Henry Jenkins of the MIT Media Lab visited the Annenberg School for Communication today to discuss his ongoing research in and writing on Transmedia Storytelling. He refers to this as the aesthetic dimension of longitudinal fiction, where plot and narratives are drawn out over multiple media. This “expansion” of the typical narrative offered by a movie dramatically adds to the storytelling experience.

Facebook and MySpace presented at the open meeting of the Internet Safety Task Force at Harvard University’s Berkman Center on 9/24 to describe how they implement safety features on their website. Seeing these presentations in sequence drove home the point that they approach online safety in fundamentally different ways.

Gartner recently released a report identifying "cloud computing" as an area of future expansion. This is one of the first signs of the business potential of web-based programs. These are accessed and distributed in a lightweight form online, rather than a bulky program you run on your computer. There's a lot of potential here for online communities. Increased migration to an online environment naturally means that programs that were previously not networked might be.

Strangely, there aren’t many open-source social network packages out there. Some commercial packages such as PHPFox will give you access to an “unlocked” code base, but are built off of antiquated technologies (such as using tables for layout) and are not free. Few are truly open-source, free, well-designed, and use sane development standards. Most are rather limited and are cashing in on the now well-established popularity of social network sites.

Last week, the Associated Press (AP) took a stance against quotations by bloggers they felt were inappropriate. The company requested that the Drudge Retort remove seven quotations of AP articles, ranging from 39 to 79 words in length. Since then, they backed down and rescinded their request in light of criticism. Jim Kennedy, vice president and strategy director for AP, said, “We are not trying to sue bloggers,” and voiced a desire to keep looking for viable solutions.