Posts Tagged ‘technology’

On December 20th, social media received an official invitation into British courtrooms. Regardless of some inevitable problems, in the age of information, it’s hard not to cheer for more transparent reporting, perhaps especially, in the courtroom.

Alexis Madrigal, who joined TheAtlantic.com from Wired in July to become the lead writer and blogger for its new technology channel, saw that channel go live Tuesday.

The technology channel includes video series How to Think About, in which Madrigal examines key technology topics; Toolkit, a daily service that answers one reader’s questions about tech needs; Tech Canon, lists of the 50 books, Web sites, movies, TV shows, and manuals that enable readers to be tech-literate; and archival content from The Atlantic.

Atlantic Digital editorial director Bob Cohn said:

The Atlantic has long explored the ways technology and innovation shape our world. We’re excited to continue exploring these topics under Alexis’ guidance. His enthusiasm, range, and curiosity reflect the best of that tradition.

And The Atlantic and TheAtlantic.com vice president and publisher Jay Lauf added:

From politics and business to technology and culture, TheAtlantic.com is rapidly evolving as a must-read for intelligent and inquisitive consumers trying to understand the day’s biggest questions. In turn, marketers are looking to TheAtlantic.com as a way to creatively engage with this premium audience.

Big changes have been happening at MySpace over the past several months as the once dominant social networking site tries to re-orient itself in a post-Facebook world. Shortly after unveiling a slick new design this month, the Beverly Hills based company launched an all new music video recommendation app for web and iPad called Music [...]

Hi, I’m Ellie Cachette and I’m the resident nerd who is obsessed with consumer media. You’ll find me crawling between the cracks of Facebook and covering breaking news about new company marketing campaigns and the changes within corporate customer service. My passion for Consumer Media is deeply rooted both as a consumer and entrepreneur. I [...]

In our divided attention-span, interrupt driven lives, it’s sometimes tough enough to remember where we put our car keys, much less a phone number or a URL. Zoove is now rolling out a clever way to fit promotion details into our brains’ short-term buffers. Their StarStar Codes make it as easy as remembering **YourName.

The world of mobile streaming music just got a little more interesting as social music blog MOG and startup Rdio prepare to enter the market with apps for Android, Blackberry and iPhone users. Pitching themselves as cloud-based alternatives to the iTunes store, both companies hope to make a dent in a market which includes players [...]

The National Endowment for the Arts has released a report on technology and the arts with findings indicating that internet users might be more – not less, as some have opined – cultured than others. Audience 2.0: How Technology Influences Arts Participation looks at how new media use affects adults’ interaction with “high culture” like [...]

New year, new president, new administration in the White House, and new focus on technology as an integral aspect of all the changes that lie ahead for President Obama’s term. Just this morning, Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, and already we’ve seen some major updates and changes to the White House’s website.

Aside from a new face and a new blog, the administration’s goals for technology have been laid out on a dedicated page within the website. Nothing posted here seems to be surprising or different from what we’ve heard throughout Obama’s presidential campaign in the past year, but it is important to note some of the changes outlined by the new administration.
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A new study from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in the United Kingdom reports that more British parents are using newer technology to stay connected with their children away at school, according to AllHeadlines.

Now, my mother and I weren’t always the best of friends, but while in college I still called her every Sunday afternoon. Back then, I called her on her landline. She rarely used her cell phone and had no idea how to send or receive text messages. Things have changed in the past few years, and my mother now happily embraces her Blackberry, email and LinkedIn. But how much easier would things have been if my mother had been on an online social network when I was in college?
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This weekend I was pondering the existence of many of the niche social networks that exist out on the web. A quick look at the growth in traffic for Ning.com shows that there is a huge demand for sites catering to specialized interests. Can’t all of the discussion that takes place on the niche social networks just as easily take place on a site like Facebook or MySpace? Why do we need to have distinct websites for each of these conversations?

Ultimately even a blog can be a social network in theory since it assists in connecting people but in this instance I am referring specifically to social networking websites that enable users to present public profiles of themselves. My online identity has become so distributed that it is occasionally overwhelming. As we age and obtain new priorities, the time available for socializing via the web decreases dramatically.

Wouldn’t it be much more useful to keep all of our conversation contained within one location? It would make for easier management and better organization. While I know that this won’t be happening anytime soon (this is the internet, a distributed platform), perhaps we will see conversation consolidation. Do you think there really is a need for niche social networks? Are you an avid participant of any niche social networks?