YouTube Trends map shows most popular videos by region
I don’t know about you, but when I go to YouTube, I check my subscriptions and then look at what videos are currently popular. Because you know, it’s important to stay up to date on the most current news about kittens, people getting caught doing weird things, and movie trailers. The YouTube Trends Map is another way to see what’s popular, but from a geographic and demographic point of view.
A look into Los Angeles’ Youtube tastes: Apparently there are a whole bunch of The Clood, Rich Kid Brand and Queens of the Stone Age fans out there!
test reblogged from npr
DRUMROLL PLEASE…
This year’s Webby Nominees have been announced!
We received over 11,000 entries from 60 countries, the most ever in our history of honoring the very best of the Web.
The Internet is huge.
Winning is huge.
And this year, it’s huger than ever.
NOW, it’s up to you to decide who wins the Internet this year. VOTE now in The Webby People’s Voice.
A big congrats to everyone honored! Check out everything that’s been nominated, it’s a great rundown of some of the best work on the web over the past year.
test reblogged from webbys
More legal action likely for Facebook’s bungled IPO
Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. may plan to repay brokerages $62 million lost during the disastrous launch of Facebook’s IPO, which morphed from a minor slip-up to an investment debacle last year. An estimated $500 million was lost due to the delays and general chaos caused by Nasdaq’s insufficient planning for demand of the stock.
But waiting in the wings is the possibility of the government or other interested parties filing their own legal complaints against Nasdaq.
Plus, there’s the SEC probe into the matter that has yet to be released, which probably won’t like the handling of Facebook’s IPO.
Read more on the possibility here.
Photos: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times
Finding .gifs just because easier
Not to assume that everyone out on Tumblr is fond of animated images or anything, but this announcement from Google may excite some you:
Starting today, there’s an easier way to unearth those gems: when you do an image search, click on “Search tools” below the search box, then select “Animated” under the “Any type” dropdown box.
It’s not working for us yet, but when it does…
Say hello to the new news feed
Facebook debuted the latest news feed design earlier today, hoping that users will quickly warm to another change on the world’s largest social network.
From technology reporter Salvador Rodriguez:
Before presenting the new design, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg explained Facebook wants to create “the best personalized newspaper we can”for every one of their users. The new feeds are intended to accomplish that goal.
Facebook currently has a waiting list open for those who want to recieve the new feed as soon as possible.
So does Facebook’s latest revamp look like a winner, or is it another change to the site that does little but elicit groans from users?
Aaron Swartz’s memory lives on
This week, the New Yorker joined up with a number of outlets who have tried to understand the now-famous Internet activist and pioneer, a group that includes, Slate, New York magazine, Rolling Stone, the Atlantic and your very own L.A. Times.
From journalist Matt Pearce, who has been covering Swartz since his death:
Swartz was, put simply, a lot of things to very many people, and his death amid the federal criminal prosecution accusing him of improperly downloading millions of academic articles has inspired a flourishing of stories, blog posts, memorials and profiles erected in tribute — or condemnation — for the hacktivist’s most controversial exploit.
What do you think Swartz’s lasting legacy will be?
Photo: Mary Altaffer / Associated Press
A heads-up to all of you out there enjoying Tumblr on your phones
With the number of mobile users quadrupling over the past six months, Tumblr has decided to launch mobile ads, which be similar to their browser-based counterparts.
Read more details over at Tech Now.
![Twitter is not the world: Or America, for that matter. In a new study from Pew Research, reactions to events on Twitter often are detached from society’s reactions as a whole. While Pew found that Twitter consensus moves back and forth from liberal to conservative, what really sticks out is just how much more negative Twitter discussions can be.
For both [presidential] candidates, negative comments exceeded positive comments by a wide margin throughout the fall campaign season. But from September through November, Romney was consistently the target of more negative reactions than was Obama.
And as always, it’s important to understand the limitations of Twitter’s reach.
The overall reach of Twitter is modest. In the Pew Research Center’s 2012 biennial news consumption survey, just 13% of adults said they ever use Twitter or read Twitter messages; only 3% said they regularly or sometimes tweet or retweet news or news headlines on Twitter.
Read Pew’s full study here (or follow them on Tumblr, which will hopefully be proven to be more positive than Twitter).
Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP](http://24.media.tumblr.com/d6019699851e9f5b1d17fac8fdc39704/tumblr_mj5k8ajIKB1qzss4xo1_500.jpg)
Twitter is not the world: Or America, for that matter. In a new study from Pew Research, reactions to events on Twitter often are detached from society’s reactions as a whole. While Pew found that Twitter consensus moves back and forth from liberal to conservative, what really sticks out is just how much more negative Twitter discussions can be.
For both [presidential] candidates, negative comments exceeded positive comments by a wide margin throughout the fall campaign season. But from September through November, Romney was consistently the target of more negative reactions than was Obama.
And as always, it’s important to understand the limitations of Twitter’s reach.
The overall reach of Twitter is modest. In the Pew Research Center’s 2012 biennial news consumption survey, just 13% of adults said they ever use Twitter or read Twitter messages; only 3% said they regularly or sometimes tweet or retweet news or news headlines on Twitter.
Read Pew’s full study here (or follow them on Tumblr, which will hopefully be proven to be more positive than Twitter).
Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP
(This is for Groupon employees, but I’m posting it publicly since it will leak anyway)
People of Groupon,
After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I’ve decided that I’d like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding - I was fired today. If you’re wondering why… you haven’t been paying attention. From controversial metrics in our S1 to our material weakness to two quarters of missing our own expectations and a stock price that’s hovering around one quarter of our listing price, the events of the last year and a half speak for themselves. As CEO, I am accountable.
You are doing amazing things at Groupon, and you deserve the outside world to give you a second chance. I’m getting in the way of that. A fresh CEO earns you that chance. The board is aligned behind the strategy we’ve shared over the last few months, and I’ve never seen you working together more effectively as a global company - it’s time to give Groupon a relief valve from the public noise.
For those who are concerned about me, please don’t be - I love Groupon, and I’m terribly proud of what we’ve created. I’m OK with having failed at this part of the journey. If Groupon was Battletoads, it would be like I made it all the way to the Terra Tubes without dying on my first ever play through. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to take the company this far with all of you. I’ll now take some time to decompress (FYI I’m looking for a good fat camp to lose my Groupon 40, if anyone has a suggestion), and then maybe I’ll figure out how to channel this experience into something productive.
If there’s one piece of wisdom that this simple pilgrim would like to impart upon you: have the courage to start with the customer. My biggest regrets are the moments that I let a lack of data override my intuition on what’s best for our customers. This leadership change gives you some breathing room to break bad habits and deliver sustainable customer happiness - don’t waste the opportunity!
I will miss you terribly.
Love,
Andrew
test reblogged from digg
Using data from his Opte Project, Hungarian physicist Albert-László Barabási, author of the mind-bending Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means, says that you’re connected to everyone else on the web via 19 clicks or less.
Now that’s an incredible visualization.
test reblogged from explore-blog
Want Google to put a computer on your face? The technology juggernaut is currently looking for “explorers” to test out it’s new Google Glass technology. Google’s grand hope is that one day, you’ll be just as comfortable wearing fancy glasses are you are looking down at your smartphone.
But until then, you’ll have to send over a brief application, and $1,5000, to Google.
Sexist Social Media? Our senior opinions producer and blogger Alexandra LeTellier, always a proponent of the conversations that spring up through social media, has written about her own realization about the gender inequities that still remain on Twitter and Facebook.
Further inspired by Laura Bates’ recent story in the Guardian, LeTellier’s eyes were opened when she realized just how many conversations and posts made light of issues like rape and domestic violence.
So read the rest of her article, follow her on Twitter and ask yourself: Should users, or companies, do more to combat discussions that wade too far into sexist waters?
The Red (computer) Scare: Is the Chinese military behind hundreds of hacking instances since 2006? One U.S. computer security firm believes so, fanning concerns that U.S. digital infrastructure, both private and governmental, isn’t up to snuff. From reporter Michael Muskall’s look at Mandiant’s findings:
The hacking activity was likely part of the mandate of the Unit 61398 of China’s People’s Liberation Army, identified in the report as “one of the most persistent of China’s cyber threat actors.” The unit is based in the Pudong New Area, outside of Shanghai from where the computer attacks originate.
Read the report for yourself here, and see if you agree that the recent hacking spree, which has targeted companies from Facebook and Apple to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, is being dictated by the Chinese government.
Photo: Keith Bedford / Bloomberg
R.I.P. Presidential Pup Barney: Times Managing Editor Jimmy Orr, a staffer in George W. Bush’s White House, remembers the creation of the “Barney Cam.”
People liked our videos. People loved Barney. Why not strap a video camera to the first dog’s head, chase him through the White House so viewers can see the Christmas decorations from his vantage point, and stream it over the Internet?
Read more about Orr’s experiences in the Oval Office, and the passing of the 12-year-old Barney, here.
Photo: Eric Draper / White House
If you build it, porn will come: Vine, the hot new Twitter app that allows users to post six-second video loops, now has an age restriction after users immediately began to flood the app with pornographic clips.
Now when users attempt to download Vine, they are first prompted to confirm that they are at least 17 years old before the app begins installing.
Read more about Vine, and the implications of its popularity for similar services, here.
Image: Vine
