Law X.0

LinkedIn, the Ultimate Rolodex in Social Networking Sites

Is LinkedIn too old school? According to Sarah Jane Tribble's New York Times article, The Social Network as a Career Safety Net, LinkedIn is intended to appeal to the 41-year-old white-collar professional with an income of $109,000 a year. It has more than 25 million members, and is adding new ones at the rate of 1.2 million a month — or about one new networker every two seconds The growth rate makes LinkedIn a hard to ignore phenomenon in social networking so perhaps the service isn't old school at all.  [JH]

Jury Selection Using Social Networking Sites

Attorneys are turning to various Social Networking sites looking for any bit of information that might aid in process of selecting or removing jurors.   “As more and more information on people becomes available on the Internet, through posting on personal blogs, MySpace, Facebook and other social-networking Web sites, the Internet has, in the last few years, become an important tool for jury consultants and trial lawyers,” writes Kay in her NLJ article, Vetting Jurors via MySpace.  She adds “such sites are a treasure trove of information about potential and seated jurors that can be used in picking the right jurors, bouncing potential jurors and even influencing jurors through the trial and in closing arguments.”  [RJ]

Social Networking Sites, No Longer Just for Fun 'n Games

The dangers of social networking sites as fertile grounds for online mischief are almost front page news now. The Washington Post's article, Hackers' Latest Target: Social Networking Sites, made the front page of one of the paper's inner section Saturday, and Mattathias Schwartz's Malwebolence - The Trolls Among Us was featured in last week's issue of New York Times Sunday Magazine.

Why? Because social networking sites "are all tripping over themselves to embed powerful features that most subscribers will never use, such as digital image or media files with the ability to download content from third-party Web sites" according to Agura Digital Security's Shawn Moyer in the Washington Post article.

See also our recent Law X.0 posts:

• First Malware Attack to Target Twitter Users Reported
• Are You Using Blogger?
• Google Locks Up Legitimate Blogger Blogs After Misidentifying Them as Splogs

[JH]

First Malware Attack to Target Twitter Users Reported

The BBC is reporting what is believed to be the first attack to target Twitter. A fake Twitter profile with a malicious payload has been spotted by Kaspersky. Kaspersky Lab is also reporting that a new worm is spreading via Facebook and MySpace. Details on the Kaspersky site.  Earlier this year, Kaspersky Lab predicted that we'd see an increase in cybercriminals exploiting social networks. [JH]

What are the social media applications you use the most?

Top applications used by survey respondents included Friendfeed, Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn and Google Reader. Check out the results of Michael Fruchter's recent survey on FriendFeed. See also his recent blog post: Staying Active in Social Media. [JH]

Malwebolence: On the Post-Usenet Troll Phenomenon

See Mattathias Schwartz's recent New York Times Sunday Magazine feature, Malwebolence - The Trolls Among Us, and Virginia Heffernan's New York Times post on The Medium. [JH]

Crowdsourcing the Next Big Thing Using Edopter

Edopter is social trendcasting, combining user insight and worldwide buzz to tap into the next big thing. Calley Nye describes how it works in Edopter Attempts “Social Trendcasting” Through Crowdsourcing And Internet Buzz:

The way it works, is by allowing users to generate “trends” according to what they think will catch on. Some trends are “cewebrities” (pictured below), “Batman: The Dark Knight,” and “tap water.” The user who makes the trend writes a “pitch” - the reason they think it will catch on. Then the Edopter system scans the web to measure current internet “buzz.” Users can join a trend, and give their pitch, upload photos and videos related to the trend, and discuss the trend with the other users in that trend. The more discussion and content you add, the more likely more people will join, thus increasing the value of the trend.

[JH]

Nonprofits Use of Social Media

Following their Web 2.0 & Social Networking Nonprofit Survey (pdf), Citizen Schools and the Public Learning Media Laboratory have launched a survey to gather information about specific Web 2.0 and social networking technologies that nonprofits are using. Hat tip to LibGig. [JH]

Google's Joe Kraus on How to Make the Web More Social

Wharton legal studies professor Kevin Werbach interviewed Joe Kraus, director of product management at Google, recently about the increasing socialization of the Internet. Here's the transcript (or listen to the podcast for the provided link). [JH]

Jobs in Social Media

Jobs in Social Media is a social network and job board for those interested in working in the social media industry. Bloggers, podcasters, online community managers and social media professionals are the target audience. Check it out. [JH]

Niche Social Networks Gaining Traction

Check out MySpace, Facebook: Big Not Always Better on CNN. The story notes that huge social-networking sites are losing people to smaller, specialized sites.

Professor Kagan observes on his A Little Class on the Internet blog:

An intriguing question is whether the next phase in social networking will be a migration to micro-interest sites. For now, FB and MS are permitting these niche sites to build widgets that integrate into the larger sites, so that users can keep tabs on all their social networks from a single location. But will that be enough as FB and MS users realize that the high-quality information and truly devoted hobbyists/interestists on niche sites exceed the lowest-common-denominator status that comes with having a truly immense user base?

Seems inevitable to me. [JH]

Just Released, Managing Online Forums

Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards
by Patrick O'Keefe

List Price: $24.00
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: AMACOM (April 10, 2008)
ISBN-10: 081440197X
ISBN-13: 978-0814401972 

Book Description (from the book's website): In this book, Patrick O’Keefe, owner of the iFroggy Network, shares his experiences in a straight forward, honest fashion and shows readers how to make the right decisions about every aspect of their forums, including:

• Creating an organizational structure
• Designing and launching their community
• Deciding on user options like avatars and private messaging
• Promoting and attracting members
• Utilizing technology to their benefit
• Developing and enforcing guidelines
• Choosing and managing moderators
• Shutting down users who disrupt and harm the community
• Involving their users and keeping the site interesting and inviting
• Generating revenue

What is talked about this book is not hypothetical - it consists of in use, battle-tested theories and solutions, making it so that when you must deal with these issues on your forums, you will be better equipped. Real life examples are cited throughout, including the actual user guidelines, staff member guidelines and more, from real communities.

Conference on University Policing of Facebook, MySpace and Other Social Networking Sites

Facebook, MySpace & On-Line Communities: What Your College Must Know
Tuesday, April 8, 2008, 1:00 - 2:00 PM ET
Live, 60-Minute Audio Conference
Online Registration | Cost: $199

From the Conference Blurb: The misuse of online social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook can have serious consequences for your university.  How are students improperly using these sites and what rights do your college administrators have to monitor student behavior? How do you create an effective policy for your college? Join us for a live, 60-minute audio conference where you and your colleagues will learn:

• Drafting an Online Network Policy: Keys to Protect Your College
• The Monitoring Student Debate: Strategies to Avoid Common Pitfalls
• Keys to Effectively Utilize Public Safety, Staff, & Campus Community
• How to Use Social Networking Sites to Benefit Your Institution

Conference Presenter: Tomás Gonzalez is the Senior Assistant Dean at the Syracuse University College of Law.  He is a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of legal issues and on-line communities. His expertise includes legal issues in Higher Educations, leadership and community development, academic support programs, diversity education and student success/recognition programs.

[JH]

OCED Report on Social Media

Participative Web and User-Created Content: Web 2.0, Wikis and Social Networking
OECD

Free e-book (PDF)
124 pages | October 2007
ISBN 978-92-64-03746-5

From the summary: This study describes the rapid growth of “user-created content” (UCC), its increasing role in worldwide communication and draws out implications for policy. Questions addressed include: What is user-created content? What are its key drivers, its scope and different forms? What are new value chains and business models? What are the extent and form of social, cultural and economic opportunities and impacts? What are associated challenges? Is there a government role and what form could it take?

This study further expands published OECD work, exploring the development, rise and impacts of user-created content (UCC) in greater detail, and drawing out implications for policy. Questions addressed include What is user-created content? What are its key drivers, its scope and what different forms does it take? What are new value chains and business models? What is the extent of its economic, social and cultural impacts? What are associated challenges? Is there a government role and, if there is, what form could it take?

[JH]

Differences Among Users and Non-Users of Social Network Sites

In Whose Space? Differences Among Users and Non-Users of Social Network Sites, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1) (2007), Eszter Hargittai examimes predictors of social media site usage, with particular focus on Facebook, MySpace, Xanga, and Friendster based on survey data administered to a diverse group of young adults. From the abstract:

Findings suggest that use of such sites is not randomly distributed across a group of highly wired users. A person's gender, race and ethnicity, and parental educational background are all associated with use, but in most cases only when the aggregate concept of social network sites is disaggregated by service. Additionally, people with more experience and autonomy of use are more likely to be users of such sites. Unequal participation based on user background suggests that differential adoption of such services may be contributing to digital inequality.

[JH]

Social Networking in Plain English

Created by the great folks at Common Craft, Lee and Sachi LeFeve are producing a series of short explanatory videos covering social media. Their goal is to "fight complexity with simple tools and language." They succeed at achieving this goal. Their videos are great introductions for educating Internet-reluctant and Internet-semi-literate audiences.

Lee and Sachi LeFeve  publish a new video about once a month and you can subscribe to their YouTube Channel, The Common Craft Show, here. [JH]

The Blogging Revolution: Government in the Age of Web 2.0

Professor David C. Wyld's The Blogging Revolution: Government in the Age of Web 2.0 (pdf) examines public sector implementation of blogging in "the context of the larger revolutionary forces at play" in the development of Web 2.0. Wyld observes that "blogging is growing as a tool for promoting not only online engagement of citizens and public servants, but also offline engagement."

Blogging at U.S. Strategic Command. Wyld describes how blogging is used within agencies to improve internal communications and speed the flow of information. Of special interest, his report includes a case study of the experience of the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), which has led the way in using blogging to transform the culture and flow of information, prompted by the need for speed in fighting today’s challenges. [JH]

Instant Conversation

The age of instant conversation is upon us. See how we got here: Danah M. Boyd & Nicole B. Ellison, Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1) (2007); Alex Iskold's Read/WriteWeb post, Evolution of Communication: From Email to Twitter and Beyond; A Brief History of Traditional and Social Media; and Snippets from the Digital Age (post published today, below)

Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan challenged bloggers around the world to contribute 400 words on the topic of "conversation." The resulting book, The Age of Conversation [Print: $29.95 | eBook: $9.99] contains contributions from 103 bloggers who responded to the challenge. It's a very interesting read (proceeds from the book are donated to charity). Will the economy of ideas implode under its own weight? Not according to Heaton and McLellan:

Far from seeing an implosion, we are living in a time of proliferation — ideas build upon ideas, discussion grows from seeds of thought and single headlines give rise to a thousand medusa-like simulations echoing words whispered somewhere on the other side of the planet. All this — in an instant.

You can follow-up and extend your interest in the topics covered in the book at the Age of Conversation blog. There's also a Facebook group, a series of podcasts with the contributors, and a custom Google search that allows you to search the blogs of all contributors. If all this hasn't got your attention, I hope you take the time to read Tim Leberecht's The Conversation Economy: When words speak louder than actions, the human voice becomes the marketing message. [JH]

Snippets from the Digital Age

Snippets from the Digital Age is based on the photos and quotes selected by Lynette Webb.  [JH]

Is Facebook Overrated?

The article is about the advertising prospects of Facebook and MySpace. "Members of both Facebook and its chief rival, MySpace, spend on average about 3 1/2 hours a month clicking around on each site, but they get so caught up in checking out their friends' pages and updating their own that they are less likely to click through to the ads, writes Anita Hamilton in this Time article. [JH]