hannahclair

Digital Curation

hannahclair — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:39:18 +0000

The Internet has made us all into journalists and has encouraged users to open up and creation information. Information sources are exploding, and consequently so is the amount of information. According to an article from the Steve Rubel LifeStream, more content was generated in 2009 than in all prior years. As more and more information is generated, the need for a way to organize that information arises. Much like the curator of an art exhibit, digital curation crafts information and creates context in which to exhibit that information. In an art museum, the curator is in charge. The curator sorts through a large amount of pieces and selects the ones they deem the best for display in an exhibit. Then, the curator ensures that enough background information in known about the piece and is printed on the cards by each piece as well as around the exhibit to make sure that the viewer has the proper frame of reference to understand and appreciate the significance of each piece as well as the exhibit as a whole. Finally, the curator lays out the physical arrangement of the exhibit to ensure optimal movement and experience for the viewer. Similarly, a digital curator must sort through a bevy of information and select that which best represents what they are trying to get across. Using digital curation, one can select relevant information and display it in a way that is contextual relevant and accessible to the viewer. Through digital curation, the author can arrange and select digital information in such a way as to get the most out of their Internet space.

Twitter Tenants

hannahclair — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:28:17 +0000

According to a statistic published in the Harper’s Index of Harper’s Magazine, a Chicago landlord is seeking $50,000 in damages in a defamation suit from a tenant who complained about mold via Twitter. This lawsuit calls attention to a growing concern over what constitutes libel and slander in defamation cases online. The criteria by which a defamation suit is judged comes down to the public versus private status of the individual being defamed; a distinction that has been relatively easy to determine. Now, with the advent of the Internet, what constitutes public versus private space and thus public versus private individuals has begun to change. This case is just an example of ways in which the Internet is posing large problems for our current notions of privacy law and it will be interesting to see the resolution of this case.

It’s All About the Apps

hannahclair — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:42:21 +0000

It was recently announced at yesterday’s Blackberry Developer Conference that Blackberry will be making major updates to its smart phones; especially in the applications and services designed for the phones. As someone who owns both an iPod Touch, the Apple iPod that has all of the application capabilities as the iPhone but without the phone call and text messaging capabilities, and a Blackberry that I use as my smart phone, I am very glad to hear that Blackberry is making an attempt to get their apps up to par. I have several applications on my Blackberry; one to track the weather, sports scores, and a google application, but I have been very frustrated with the speed and quality of the Twitter, Facebook and all other social media applications. In general, the apps are bulking, difficult to navigate and generally of poor quality. In comparison, the apps on my iPod are fast, user friendly and constantly updating themselves to better fit the needs of the user, to respond to consumer feedback and to remain current. Other than the Blackberry messenger feature, that allows instant message-like text communication between Blackberry phones, I find my iPod to be vastly superior and will most likely switch to the iPhone as soon as possible; unless Blackberry makes good on its word to improve the services and quality of its applications.

Friending Brands

hannahclair — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:46:57 +0000

According to digital marketing company Razorfish, 40% of users “friend” brands on Facebook. Furthermore, consumers access brands on Facebook and Twitter mainly for deals and promotions. When brands became available for access on Facebook, I recall many people I know being resistant to consumer products, brands and advertising “infiltrating” Facebook. It appears that only when brands are willing to offer their “friends” deals and promotions are consumers willing to engage with brands in an online platform. Facebook runs the risk of falling out of favor with fans because the site is becoming a hub for advertisements; however Facebook is using the information it possess about Facebook users to better target users with ads which some people may find to be convenient. Brands want to engage with consumers in their social media networks, but it appears that brands must offer consumers tangible benefits in exchange for their “friendship”.

Weezer and the Snuggie

hannahclair — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:27:37 +0000

Since the advent of the Mp3 player and the online digital music stores, music artists are having to be more responsive to the trend in consumer music purchasing toward a totally digital platform. While some artists still release CDs, many are finding it more cost effective to release their CDs solely in a digital format and online sell it online. Other artists who want to maintain a hard copy following of their music, bands such as Muse and Rilo Kiley, are opting to release their records on vinyl and offer a free Mp3 download to everyone who purchases the vinyl record. In an attempt to revitalize the “single” as a viable means on music marketing, online music stores such as iTunes offer listeners the option to pre-order an album and get a single early in an attempt to encourage whole album purchases and to build hype around an artists individual songs. The latest, and perhaps most humorous, attempt to market music in this age came today as Weezer is marketing their latest album in conjunction with the Snuggie, a felt blanket with sleeves. It will be interesting to monitor how compatible a infomercial sensation is with an alternative rock band.

The Future of Apps: E-Books

hannahclair — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:02:33 +0000

According to an article in ReadWriteWeb, developers now launch more e-books than games in Apple’s iPhone/iPod Application Store. E-Books, as opposed to games or other “lifestyle” applications, are easy to transfer from their original state into an online format as all it requires is an input of text. This trend of transferring books published originally in print, I believe, will evolve into books published totally in a digital state. If online becomes as acceptable of a medium for original work for books as it currently is for music there could be a great number of new authors. E-Books remove the barriers of entry into the publishing world and have the potential to help aspiring authors in a similar way apps have helped aspiring musicians.

Google Wave

hannahclair — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:17:58 +0000

While sitting in on a class at the UT Law School last week, I noticed a good portion of the students taking notes on their laptops were taking notes in the format of GoogleDocs. I found this interesting because I have never really noticed any undergraduates doing this. I started to think about why someone would do this and other than having your notes stored somewhere online in case your computer crashes I wasn’t really coming up with any major advantages. Today, on the ReadWriteWeb Reader, an article about Google Wave came up along with a discussion about how it was being harnessed by several graduate students for educational purposes. It appears to me that the students in the law school were most likely collaborating their notes post-class and with this application of the GoogleWave they could not potentially do this collaboration in real time. I will be interested to keep an eye on this trend and see if students are really willing to submit their personal notes and ideas into a online group think or if the competition for grades at places like UT will discourage that kind of communal activity.

Defamation

hannahclair — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:08:27 +0000

As November 1 draws near, I find myself consumed with Law School applications as I work to meet the looming deadlines. I, like most law school applicants, probably spend time that should be spent actually completing applications, reading law school admissions forums and blogs. Among the most popular is the forum, “AutoAdmit” which totes itself as being the most prestigious law school discussion board in the world. Recently, two former Yale law students sued over comments posted about them on the website. The students have quietly settled outside of court with the defendants and the terms of the settlement will remain confidential. This dispute resolution is becoming the norm when it comes to court handling the sticky situation of liability in online forums. The standards for proving defamation are dependent upon the public or private status of the plaintiff; however with the increased accessibility into the private lives of individuals afforded by the Internet, the lines are becoming harder and harder to draw. Though no definitive precedent has been established, the courts appear to be leaning toward a broader definition of “public figure” that could have big implications for those who take to the Internet to defame another individual.

FastPencil: The MySpace of Books?

hannahclair — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:30:59 +0000

The Internet has facilitated the pursuit of success by hopefuls in nearly every profession in the media and entertainment industries. Up and coming bands who just years ago never could have afforded to make a CD, never mind be signed to a major record label, can now find their audience and promote their music online using sites like Facebook and MySpace. The Internet has made the distribution and promotion of music much cheaper and has therefore opened the door for a large number of new bands. Similarly, blogs and Twitter give anyone with the itch to be a journalist a public platform from which to speak their mind and disseminate their ideas. It is fitting that the world of books is next to be swarmed by would-be authors looking for publication and recognition. FastPencil is a tool for authors to create novels and when they are ready, they can publish their masterpiece in several digital formats ranging from PDF to those available for access on Amazon’s Kindle. If this idea takes off, the Kindle may to the publishing industry what the iPod has become to the music industry; as not only a new way to access traditional content but also the medium that has exclusive access to unique, new material.

Twitter: Is It Worth It?

hannahclair — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:32:16 +0000

Recently, Twitter was said to be valued around $1 billion dollars. I am always skeptical of evaluations such as this because it attempts to quantify in a dollar amount something that in reality holds it real value in non-quantifiable information. The value of Twitter to a company is supposed to be the knowledge of consumer thoughts and opinions in a transparent format along with the ability to directly respond to those consumers. The problem with this value is for a company to truly be able to engage with consumers their follower count would need to remain relatively low; however a low follower count signals to consumers that the company lacks popularity and social media relevance. As Twitter continues to grow in popularity are companies really amassing valuable consumer insight or are they merely getting lost in the white noise of millions of tweets. Until there is more meaningful data that a strong presence on Twitter actually helps companies achieve its goals, I would be wary of the $1 billion dollar value.