Complete Facebook Privacy Settings Checklist

Facebook Privacy Concerns Overblown

Facebook Logo - Large SquareThere has been a lot of news about Facebook Privacy concerns in news lately. However in my opinion, it’s being overblown by the media because it is a juicy subject to talk and write about. It capitalizes on the new big fear of privacy in the rapidly growing online world. But recent history shows that privacy concerns are short lived. Privacy issues always come up whenever large companies like Google or Facebook launches something new and different (i.e. Google Buzz, Facebook News Feeds etc). Usually the companies respond with a new set of privacy features and within weeks all the clamoring dies down as people accept it as the norm.

The last Facebook uproar was more legitimate as it was a demand from the public that Facebook provide privacy options so the user can better control what gets shared. Facebook responded by providing more privacy settings. Facebook doesn’t have it right just yet and needs to provide more functionality, but all the concerns about sharing information shouldn’t be blamed on Facebook because we have the settings control to limit what get’s shared. By nature Facebook is a social site – meaning it is meant to be able to share information so it shouldn’t be alarming that Facebook makes it easy as possible for information to be shared.

So what can we do to protect ourselves?

Facebook - Privacy SettingsIt boils down to two things:

1) Use privacy settings to be safe and limit who has access to what on your profile.

2) Be very careful about what you share. Once it is out on the net it is OUT.

Ok that makes sense. But let’s break it down below step by step as well as some of my personal recommendation to help you get started in protecting your Facebook account. By all means you should tailor the accessibility to your info to what you are comfortable with. I only share my own “minimum recommendation” as a starting point since it may be helpful for some.

Minimum Recommended Settings in [Brackets]

COMPLETE LIST OF PRIVACY SETTINGS ON FACEBOOK

[Located on the top right nav bar under “account”. Select Privacy Settings]

Adjusting your Facebook privacy settings is a must to help protect your identity and to prevent mass sharing of personal information. GO THROUGH EACH LINE ITEM. I’ve listed all the settings but only highlighted the more important or confusing ones below. Where relevant I’ve also added my personal recommended “minimum” setting in brackets. Hope this helps.

The Privacy Settings page is organized into the following sections:

Facebook - Privacy Settings ScreenPersonal Information and Posts:

Covers personal details like your birthday, email address and political views. It also covers your content and content others have posted to your Wall. You control who is able to see each type of information.

  • Bio: About Me – Don’t put sensitive info in your profile ever. If you want to put private info, use this to block people from seeing your bio.
  • Birthday: [Friends of Friends] – Recommend leaving out birth year. Birth Date is important piece of info useful for stolen credit cards and identity theft.
  • Interested In & Looking For
  • Religious & Political Views
  • Photo Albums – You can pick and choose who has access to what album. Don’t put up potentially embarrassing photos of you OR your friends!
  • Posts by Me [Friends of Friends] – Best to keep your posts amongst a smaller circle.
  • Allow Friends to Post on my Wall [yes] – Shouldn’t be a problem unless you have some immature friends.
  • Post by Friends [Only Friends] – Entirely up to you. You know your friends and how they behave.
  • Comments on Posts [Only Friends] – Who do you want to enable to comment on all your posts?

Contact Information:

Covers contact details like your mailing address and phone number. We recommend you make this visible to friends only.

  • IM Screen Name
  • Mobile Phone – I would not post this at all. Don’t put sensitive info on the web.
  • Other Phone
  • Current Address – I would not post this at all.
  • Website
  • Add me as a friend – Everyone is fine. Unless you don’t want people to befriend you.
  • Send me a message – I would limit to friends of friends so you don’t get spammed by random people.
  • Email Address – Friends Only or None!

Friends, Tags and Connections:

Covers information and content that’s shared between you and others on Facebook. This includes relationships, interests, and photos you’re tagged in. These settings let you control who sees this information on your actual profile.

  • Friends [Friends] – Do you want everyone you connect to know who else you are connected to? Up to you.
  • Family [Friends of Friends]
  • Relationships [Friends] – Do you really want the world to know your relational status update? Think about it before posting anything.
  • Photos and Videos of Me [Friends] – I would limit this as well as someone “tagging” you in a photo is out of your control. What embarrassing picture might your friends have from the past or some event you were at? If someone else TAGS you in a picture, this privacy setting limits who can actually see those pictures from your profile. Remember, it’s really easy for recruiters or executives to look you up on Facebook. What will they see?
  • Current City [Everyone] – Posting your current city will help people identify your profile especially if you have a generic name. However do not post anything more specific then this.
  • Hometown
  • Education & Work – Remember, anything you post that is identifiable allows more people to find you through that connection. If you want people to find you, post your college & high school. If not, then leave it all blank.
  • Activities
  • Interest
  • Things I Like

Be very careful about what you post and keep in mind who can access it. If you have odd activities or interest that you don’t want your co-workers, your mom, or your children to know… then… actually you probably shouldn’t be doing those things!.. But you get the idea.

Search:

Facebook Search Results: [Everyone] – If you don’t want your friends and old contacts to find you, you can limit it right here. If you put “Friends” no one will be able to find you, until you invite them to be your friend. Why would I not want my friends to find me? If your friends can find you, so can that old stalker boyfriend, the ex-wife, bad influences from the past, old acquaintance you want to avoid and so on.

Public Search Results: [Disallow] – Just opt-out. Why make it so easy for random strangers, recruiters, stalkers to find you via Google? Unless your goal is to have the biggest friend list in all of facebook, just turn it off.

Application and Websites:

Covers what information is available to the applications you and your friends use.

  • What you Share – Click this to see more info.
  • What your friends can share about you – I would check OFF the following: My photos, birthdays, photos and videos I’m tagged In. Everything else is “ok” but completely up to you. Birthdays because it is usable info for credit card theft & identify theft.
  • Blocked Application – Don’t worry about this. Only useful if you want to block specific applications.
  • Ignored Application Invites – Just an option to stop that annoying friend who invites you to every application he/she tries out.
  • Activity on Applications & Games Dashboards [Friends] – Again up to you. I would limit it to Friends as sometimes you have no idea what your application is broadcasting. When your friend is spamming your profile with their recent Mafia War updates or another “I just planted an eggplant” notification from farmville, most of them have no idea they are doing that.
  • Instant Personalization Pilot Program [Off] – just turn it off for now. it’s relatively new so could have flaws and privacy concerns. This pilot program allows facebook to share basic info with partner sites to customize your experience. This isn’t anything to be alarmed about and it is where internet is headed, but while it is still in development, better to be safe and turn it off until they work out all the details.

Block List:

Allows you to identify specific people who you want to prevent from interacting with you on Facebook.

Do you like this article? Please “Like” our Facebook Page!

Hope this was helpful.
Facebook is looking to simplify their Privacy Settings again so we’ll see what happens next.

Please come back for our follow-up post “Top 10 General Security Tips for Facebook”.

Please let us know your thoughts!

  • Was this helpful for you?
  • What other potential dangers are there by sharing your info?
  • Any other suggestions or comments about any of these sections?
  • Any other general tips about safe facebook use?
  • Parents! How do you monitor your children?
Continue Reading

Growth of Social Media Statistics Video: Socialnomics


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We don’t have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it,” – Erik Qualman

 

Facebook 3rd Largest Country in the World

In the beginning of 2009, Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook) proudly stated that if Facebook was a country it would be the 8th largest country in the world. As of 2010? It would stand as the third largest country in the world, right behind China & India and ahead of the United States.

Growth of Social Media Video

It wasn’t long ago that Social Media made big news when it overtook Email in terms of online activity. Now, it is the #1 activity online and it continues to grow at a rapid pace both in the United States and around the world. The video below is a follow up to a the first Did You Know Socialnomics Video that quickly went viral due to all the fascinating statistics about the growth of social media. It has a lot of fascinating statistics.

Watch the video and tell us what statistics wowed you the most in the comment section below!

Sorry – The video was made “private” due to copyright issues socialnomics is having. But please do check out the LATEST socialnomics video here!

Some Social Media Statistics

  • More than half the population is under 30
  • 96% of Millennials have joined a social network
  • Facebook has more internet traffic than Google.
  • YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world.
  • Amazon sold more e-books for the Kindle than physical books on Christmas
  • 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
  • 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands
  • If you were paid $1 for each posted Wikipedia article, you’d make $1,712.32 per hour!
  • 80% of companies use social media for recruitment
  • Social Media is the #1 activity on the web.

Social Media’s Influence on Culture

There is no doubt that social media is increasingly becoming a huge part of our daily lives. Facebook records 60 million status updates that inform people of what friends are doing. Twitter records 50 million tweets a day (source: twitter) and a large number of that is news from around the world. We no longer search for news, the news simply finds us. Also everything on the web is becoming personalized. With the amount of social information now available via the networks, both self-declared or deduced from connections within the networks, – everything from advertising to news is becoming customized to the user whether we like it or not.

When was the last time you were online and saw ads for something you were just looking at yesterday? It’s not coincidence.

How many sites have you been on where you see a Facebook “like” feature and pictures of your friends who also like the site or bought something? (like clean cut media!)

  • Please Comment below with your thoughts on the video
  • What statistics jumped out at you the most?
  • What are your thoughts about what part social media will play in our lives?

[poll id=”13″]

Continue Reading

Third of US Teenagers sends 3,000+ Texts a Month

1 in 3 Teenagers Send 3,000+ Texts a Month

Texting TeenagersPrepare for an overload of Teenager Texting Statistics:

  • Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month. One in three send more than 100 texts a day (or more than 3,000 texts a month.)
  • 15% of teen texters send more than 200 texts a day, or more than 6,000 texts a month.
  • Boys send and receive 30 texts a day while girls send and receive ~80 messages per day.
  • Teen texters ages 12-13 send and receive about 20 texts a day.
  • 14-17 year-olds who text, send and receive 60 text messages a day.
  • Older girls who text are the most active, with 14-17 year-old girls sending 100+ messages a day or more than 3,000 texts a month!
  • 22% of of teen texters send and receive just one to 10 texts a day, or 30 to 300 texts a month.
  • Just the Girls

    • Girls typically send and receive 80 texts a day; boys send and receive 30.
    • 86% of girls text message friends several times a day; 64% of boys do the same.
    • 59% of girls call friends on their cell phone every day; 42% of boys call friends daily on their cell phone daily.
    • 59% of girls text several times a day to “just say hello and chat”; 42% of boys do so.
    • 84% of girls have long text exchanges on personal matters; 67% of boys have similar exchanges.
    • 76% of girls text about school work, while 64% of boys text about school.

    Teens & Texting Report - Text Messaging

    More interesting tidbits about Teens & Texting –

    • A third of U.S. teenagers with cellphones send 100+ texts a day as texting has exploded to become the most popular means of communication for young people, according to new research.
    • The Pew Research Center said that three-fourths of young people between the ages of 12 and 17 now own cellphones and of those that do, girls typically send or receive 80 text messages per day and boys, 30 per day.
    • Study author Scott Campbell said focus groups conducted by Pew also offer insight into the subtleties of teen communication and culture, revealing for example that, while boys don’t typically use punctuation, for girls such nuances are critical.

    “If a girl puts a period at the end of a text message (to another girl) then it comes across as she’s mad,” Campbell said, which explains the prevalence of smiley emoticons.

    “They have these practices because they’ve learned that texts can lead to misunderstandings,” Lenhart said. “It’s a deliberate thing and it’s also part of a culture that’s interested in differentiating itself from adult culture.”
    Cell Phone Text Image

    • The mobile phone has become the favored communication hub for the majority of American teens.
    • Cell-phone texting has become the preferred channel of basic communication between teens and their friends, with cell calling a close second. Some 75% of 12-17 year-olds now own cell phones, up from 45% in 2004. Those phones have become indispensable tools in teen communication patterns. Fully 72% of all teens2 — or 88% of teen cell phone users — are text-messagers. That is a sharp rise from the 51% of teens who were texters in 2006. More than half of teens (54%) are daily texters.
    • Among all teens, their frequency of use of texting has now overtaken the frequency of every other common form of interaction with their friends (see chart below).

    How are Parent’s Responding to it All?

    For parents, teens’ attachment to their phones is an area of conflict and regulation.

    Parents exert some measure of control over their child’s mobile phone — limiting its uses, checking its contents and using it to monitor the whereabouts of their offspring. In fact, the latter is one of the primary reasons many parents acquire a cell phone for their child. However, with a few notable exceptions, these activities by parents do not seem to impact patterns of cell phone use by teens.

    • 64% of parents look at the contents of their child’s cell phone and 62% of parents have taken away their child’s phone as punishment.
    • 46% of parents limit the number of minutes their children may talk and 52% limit the times of day they may use the phone.
    • 48% of parents use the phone to monitor their child’s location.
    • Parents of 12-13 year-old girls are more likely to report most monitoring behavior.
    • Limiting a child’s text messaging does relate to lower levels of various texting behaviors among teens. These teens are less likely to report regretting a text they sent, or to report sending sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images by text (also known as “sexting”).
    • Teens whose parents limit their texting are also less likely to report being passengers in cars where the driver texted behind the wheel or used the phone in a dangerous manner while driving.

    Cell Phone Uses Functionality

    • 83% use their phones to take pictures.
    • 64% share pictures with others.
    • 60% play music on their phones.
    • 46% play games on their phones.
    • 32% exchange videos on their phones.
    • 31% exchange instant messages on their phones.
    • 27% go online for general purposes on their phones.
    • 23% access social network sites on their phones.
    • 21% use email on their phones.
    • 11% purchase things via their phones.

    Texting & Driving

    • Half (52%) of cell-owning teens ages 16-17 say they have talked on a cell phone while driving. That translates into 43% of all American teens ages 16-17.
    • 48% of all teens ages 12-17 say they have been in a car when the driver was texting.
    • 40% say they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a way that put themselves or others in danger.

    What are your Thoughts?

    That my friends, is a ton of statistical information. What is clear is that texting has become the favored form of communication for teenagers. 100-200 texts a day? Many will grow to have finger arthritis at that rate. But seriously, what are your thoughts in all this?

    Though I see it can be beneficial in being able to stay constantly connected to friends, what I fear the most is that when teenagers grow up relying on less personal mediums that do not requires face-to-face interaction – it could have some negative effects in the way a teenager is able to relate to people in real life situations. It is so easy to text something, especially something seemingly uncomfortable, then to pick up a phone and call or *gasp*.. meeting up with someone. It creates a easy way to not experience the real work of building personal relationship. Just a thought. What do you think?

    • Do you feel there is little harm in youths sending 100 texts a day?
    • Do the benefits of constant connection outweigh the detriments of losing real social interaction?
    • How many TEXTs do YOU send a day?
    • If you don’t mind – kindly state your age (or age range) since I am going to go out on the limb to assume different age groups will think very differently about this issue.
    • Take the Poll: Come Back to See Results:

      [poll id=”15″]

    Continue Reading

    Sexualization of Girls in Media – New Report

    [Welcome Twitter Visitors – follow @CleanCutMedia Here!]

    Sexualization of Girls Report by the APA

    American Psychological Association came out with a report that shows girl as young as 4 and 5 years old are wearing new clothing styles such as push-up bras, thongs, mini skirts and other adult type outfits. Following the onslaught of media images girls see on TV, there is a changing standard born out of the pressure these images give to children to “get with it” or “fit in”. This report brings up the decrease in self-esteem and the increase in depressions and eating disorders linked to the increasing sexualization by the media. It also emphasizes the increasing underage sex rate.

    Sexy Children Halloween Costumes
    Please don't let your daughters dress like this

    Defining Sexualization of Girls

    The APA taskforce on the Sexualization of Girls was formed in response to these public concerns. The APA taskforce also produced reports on the Violence in Mass Media, Advertising to Children, Video Games and Interactive Media among other similar reports. The “sexualization” process was defined having one of the following criterias.

    • a persons’ value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics;
    • a person is held to a standard that equates physical attractiveness with being sexy;
    • a person is sexually objectified – that is, made into a thing for other’s sexual use, rather than seen as a person with the capacity for independent action and decision making; and/or
    • sexuality is inappropriately imposed on a person

    Examples of Sexualization in Advertising

    Sexualization of Girls is pervasive throughout all media. The report outlines a few categories:

    • Ads – Sketchers “Naughty & Nice” – featured Christina Aguilera dressed as a schoolgirl in pigtails with her shirt unbuttoned, licking a lollipop
    • Dolls – Bratz Dolls – dressed in sexualized clothing such as miniskirts, fishnet stocking, and feather boas
    • Clothing – thongs sized for 7-10 year old, some printed with slogans such as “wink wink”
    • TV – Televised Fashion show in which adult models in lingerie were presented as young girls.

    In addition, I find the most powerful media messages are often a lot more subtle. It is true that the constant barrage of images of pretty women with questionable outfits changes what we consider the “norm” in terms of how we define “beauty” and what is “appropriate” behavior. However just as powerful, is the message found in the lifestyles of sitcom characters. People love watching sitcoms. They become attached to characters and they see the characters in the context of “life”. When people watch their beloved characters living a promiscuous lifestyle or behaving in a sexualized way (using their beauty to charm guys, chasing after pretty woman, gawking at a pretty girl who walks by) we take in these “behaviors” as normal reactions and how things actually are in the real world. We learn what is normal through what we observe in carefully constructed sitcoms that milk on what sells and let’s face it – sex sells.

    Interesting Studies of Sexualization in Report

    List of some interesting studies covered in the report:
    Note that these bulletpoints are not at all comprehensive.

    • Sexualization inhibits Mental Capacity – Women who were in bathing suits trying to conduct a test did poorly then when wearing sweaters. Men found no such drop off. Thinking about the body and comparing to sexualized cultural ideals disrupted mental capacity.(Frederickson, Roberts, Noll, Quinn, & Twenge 1998; Gapinski, Brownsell, & LaFrance, 2003)
    • Mental Health Problems – Researched links sexualization with 3 of the most common mental health problem of girls and woman: eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression (Abramson & Valene, 1991; Durkin & Paxton, 2002)
    • Diminishing Sexual Health – Self objectification linked directly with diminishing sexual health among adolescent girls measured by decreased condom use and sexual assertiveness. (Impett, Schooler, & Tomlman 2006). Negative effects such as shame due to sexualization may lead to sexual problems in adulthood (Brotto, Heiman & Tolman, in press)
    • Sexual Stereotypes – Girls and young woman who more frequently consume or engage with mainstream media content offer stronger endorsements of sexual stereotypes that depict women as sexual objects (Ward, 2002; Zurbriggen & Morgan, 2006)
    • Effects on Men – Exposure to narrow ideals of female sexual attractiveness make it difficult for some men to find an “acceptable” partner or to fully enjoy intimacy with a female partner (Schooler & Ward, 2006)

    Problem of Sexualization of Girls is Deep

    The problem is not just the clothing they wear or even what girls are learning about sex – the problem is that girls at a young age are being taught how to approach relationships and how to approach intimacy. Media is teaching girls that being sexy and using their sexuality is important. Even Disney is responsible for using pretty, skinny woman characters using their beauty to get what they want. In the real world, many big name celebrities also are using their “sexuality” for all it’s worth.

    Parents: Protect Your Child from Sexualization!

    The ultimate message is that parents must protect their child. Some may think it’s cute to allow their young daughter to wear t-shirts that say stuff like “Don’t cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me” (the main line from a popular song) or allow your daughters to those “cute” mini skirts or short-shorts that have things written on their bottoms. To buy them make-up kits as a child and teach them to adorn themselves with beauty products. But it won’t be funny when those very children becoming sexuality active by middle school and learn to objectify themselves, placing their self-worth on how they look.

    Download & Read the Full “Sexualization of Girls” Report Below

    • Please let us know what other good pieces of statistics or information you find below in the comments section!
    • Also what are your thoughts about the Sexualization of Girls? Do you see it as a big problem?
    • What do you think we can do?

    Summary: Executive Summary
    Full Report: Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls (PDF, 408K)

    The proliferation of sexualized images of girls and young women in advertising, merchandising, and media is harming girls’ self-image and healthy development. This report explores the cognitive and emotional consequences, consequences for mental and physical health, and impact on development of a healthy sexual self-image. – American Psychological Association

    Follow Clean Cut Media @CleanCutMedia Twitter!

    Continue Reading

    Most Famous April’s Fools Day Jokes in History by the Media

    Sorry folks, no april fool jokes this time. But you can relieve the last year’s April Fools Joke! Below are a couple list of April Fool Jokes + the latest in 2010.

    Most Famous List of April Fool Jokes in History

    Meanwhile, just for your entertainment on this fine day. Gathered mainly through Wikipedia

    • Alabama Changes the Value of Pi: The April 1998 newsletter of New Mexicans for Science and Reason contained an article written by physicist Mark Boslough claiming that the Alabama Legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi. This claim originally appeared as a news story in the 1961 science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein.
    • Spaghetti trees: The BBC television programme Panorama ran a famous hoax in 1957, showing Italians harvesting spaghetti from trees. They had claimed that the despised pest, the spaghetti weevil, had been eradicated. A large number of people contacted the BBC wanting to know how to cultivate their own spaghetti trees. It was, in fact, filmed in St Albans.
    • Left Handed Whoppers: In 1998, Burger King ran an ad in USA Today, saying that people could get a Whopper for left-handed people whose condiments were designed to drip out of the right side. Not only did customers order the new burgers, but some specifically requested the “old”, right-handed burger.
    • Taco Liberty Bell: In 1996, Taco Bell took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times announcing that they had purchased the Liberty Bell to “reduce the country’s debt” and renamed it the “Taco Liberty Bell.” When asked about the sale, White House press secretary Mike McCurry replied tongue-in-cheek that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold and would henceforth be known as the Lincoln Mercury Memorial.
    • DT Day: In 2008 fliers were handed on Brigham Young University campus, saying that the last in a series of dorm buildings being torn down was scheduled to be imploded on April 1. Hundreds of people eagerly turned up to see the implosion, but to their consternation it never happened. The culprits of this prank remain unknown.
    • Smell-o-vision: In 1965, the BBC purported to conduct a trial of a new technology allowing the transmission of odor over the airwaves to all viewers. Many viewers reportedly contacted the BBC to report the trial’s success. In 2007, the BBC website repeated an online version of the hoax.
    • Tower of Pisa: The Dutch television news reported in the 1950s that the Tower of Pisa had fallen over. Many shocked people contacted the station.

    Top April Fool Jokes By Television Stations

    • Free Color TV – In 1962 the Swedish national television did a 5-minute special on how one could get color TV by placing a nylon stocking in front of the TV. A rather in-depth description on the physics behind the phenomenon was included.
    • Digital Big Ben – In 1980, the BBC reported a proposed change to the famous clock tower known as Big Ben. The reporters stated that the clock would go digital. England was in a state of shock.
    • Flying Penguins – In 2008, the BBC reported on a newly discovered colony of flying penguins. An elaborate video segment was even produced, featuring Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) walking with the penguins in Antarctica, and following their flight to the Amazon rainforest.
    • The Trouble with Tracy – In 2003, The Comedy Network in Canada announced that it would produce and air a remake of the 1970s Canadian sitcom The Trouble with Tracy. The original series is widely considered to be one of the worst sitcoms ever produced. Several media outlets fell for the hoax.
    • Diet Water – In 2004, British breakfast show GMTV produced a story claiming that Yorkshire Water were trialing a new ‘diet tap water’ that had already helped one customer lose a stone and a half in four months. After heralding the trial as successful, it was claimed that a third tap would be added to kitchen sinks, allowing customers easy access to the water. Following the story, Yorkshire Water received 10,000 enquiries from viewers.

    Top April Fool Jokes by Radio Stations

    • Death of a mayor: In 1998, local WAAF shock jocks Opie and Anthony reported that Boston mayor Thomas Menino had been killed in a car accident. Menino happened to be on a flight at the time, lending credence to the prank as he could not be reached. The rumor spread quickly across the city, eventually causing news stations to issue alerts denying the hoax. The pair were fired shortly thereafter.
    • Phone call to Nelson Mandela: In 1998, UK presenter Nic Tuff of West Midlands radio station Kix 96 pretended to be the British Prime Minister Tony Blair when he called the then South African President Nelson Mandela for a chat. It was only at the end of the call when Nic asked Nelson what he was doing for April Fools’ Day that the line went dead.
    • Jovian-Plutonian Gravitational effect: In 1976, British astronomer Sir Patrick Moore told listeners of BBC Radio 2 that unique alignment of two planets would result in an upward gravitational pull making people lighter at precisely 9:47 a.m. that day. He invited his audience to jump in the air and experience “a strange floating sensation.” Dozens of listeners phoned in to say the experiment had worked.
    • Cellphone Ban : In New Zealand the radio station the Edge’s Morning Madhouse enlisted the help of the Prime Minister on April 1st to inform the entire country that cellphones are to be banned in New Zealand. Hundreds of callers rang in disgruntled at the new law.
    • National Public Radio Every year National Public Radio in the United States does an extensive news story on April 1. These usually start off more or less reasonably, and get more and more unusual. A recent example is the story on the “iBod” a portable body control device. In 2008 it reported that the IRS, to assure rebate checks were actually spent, was shipping consumer products instead of checks. It also runs false sponsor mentions, such as “Support for NPR comes from the Soylent Corporation, manufacturing protein-rich food products in a variety of colors. Soylent Green is People.”
    • Three-dollar coin: In 2008, CBC Radio program As It Happens interviewed a Royal Canadian Mint spokesman who broke “news” of plans to replace the Canadian five-dollar bill with a three-dollar coin. The coin was dubbed a “threenie”, in line with the nicknames of the country’s one-dollar coin (commonly called a “loonie” due to its depiction of a common loon on the reverse) and two-dollar coin (“toonie”).
    • U2 Live on Rooftop in Cork: In 2009 hundreds of U2 fans were duped in an elaborate prank when they rushed to a shopping centre in Blackpool in Cork believing that the band were playing a surprise rooftop concert. The prank was organised by Cork radio station RedFM. The band were in fact just a tribute band called U2opia.

    Best April Fools Jokes & Pranks By Websites

    • Dead fairy hoax: In 2007, an illusion designer for magicians posted on his website some images illustrating the corpse of an unknown eight-inch creation, which was claimed to be the mummified remains of a fairy. He later sold the fairy on eBay for £280.
    • Water on Mars: In 2005 a news story was posted on the official NASA website purporting to have pictures of water on Mars. The picture actually was just a picture of a glass of water on a Mars Candy Bar.
    • Microsoft Research Reclaims Value of Pi: In 2008, an executive with the Microsoft Institute for Advanced Technology in Governments posted on his personal blog an updated spoof of the 1998 April Fools hoax claiming Alabama’s state legislature had rounded the value of pi to the “Biblical value of 3.” The 2008 hoax claimed that Microsoft Research had determined the true-up value of pi to be a definitive 3.141999, or as expressed in company literature, “Three easy payments of 1.047333.”
    • Assassination of Bill Gates: In 2003, many Chinese and South Korean websites claimed that CNN reported Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, was assassinated, resulting in a 1.5% drop in the South Korean stock market.
    • SARS Infects Hong Kong: In 2003 during the time when Hong Kong was seriously hit by SARS, it was rumored that many people in Hong Kong had become infected with SARS and become uncontrolled, that all immigration ports would be closed to quarantine the region, and that Tung Chee Hwa, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong at that time, had resigned. Hong Kong supermarkets were immediately overwhelmed by panicked shoppers. The Hong Kong government held a press conference to deny the rumor. The rumor, which was intended as an April Fools’ prank, was started by a student by imitating the design of Ming Pao newspaper website. He was charged for this incident.
    • How Animated Tattoos Work: www.howstuffworks.com does an annual bogus article. In 2006, it was “How Animated Tattoos Work”; in 2007 “How Phone Cell Implants Work”; in 2008 “How the Air Force One Hybrid Works”; in 2009, “How Rechargeable Gum Works”; in 2010, “How the Twapler Works”.
    • Neopets – It Ain’t a Joke… : The popular site Neopets runs regular hoaxes, year after year. These can be anything from changes in site design to announcements of free prizes. In fact, when new designs for the Neopets pets were released, several users complained and demanded to know if it was a “late April Fool’s joke.” It wasn’t.
    • Fake Products go Live: ThinkGeek sends an e-newsletter containing mostly false products each year. Several of these products, such as the 8-Bit tie, were eventually realized due to customer demand.
    • Excited for a Movie: IGN, a video game website, released a realistic-looking Legend of Zelda movie trailer on April Fool’s Day 2007. Many people were excited and tricked into believing that a real Legend of Zelda movie was coming out, but IGN revealed that it was a fake. Later rumors were spread that a real Legend of Zelda film is going to be made.
    • Rick Rolled Everywhere: YouTube – In 2008, All featured videos on YouTube’s front page hyperlinked to the Rickroll. The prank began with international YouTube portals before appearing on the main site. In 2009 the videos, links and most text (using Unicode substitution) were turned upside down and there was also a link to help users view the new site layout with hints such as hanging the monitor upside-down or moving to Australia. In 2010, a new option was created in the video quality settings called “TEXTp”. Clicking on this option showed a message under the video which read “By using text-only mode, you are saving YouTube $1 a second in bandwidth costs. Click here to go back to regular YouTube and happy April Fools Day!”
    • Fly to Mars: Expedia ran a prank on 1 April 2009, offering flights to Mars. This was internally known as Project Dawnstar.
    • Another Fake Product Considered: On April 1, 2009 ThinkGeek.com “introduced” the Tauntaun Sleeping Bag (based on a well-known scene from The Empire Strikes Back). Due to the overwhelming popularity of this faux item, ThinkGeek is now attempting to bring the item to market.

    Best April Fools Jokes & Pranks By Google

    Google gives the green light for every department to pull pranks during April 1st, so every year we are treated with a long list of April Fool’s Jokes. Here are a few of th better ones.

    2000 – Read Your Mind – Google announced a new “MentalPlex” search technology that supposedly read the user’s mind to determine what the user wanted to search for, thus eliminating the step of actually typing in the search query. This always led to a page full of April Fool’s results.

    2004 – Jobs on the Moon – Fictitious job opportunities for a research center on the moon. Luna/X (a pun to Linux as well as a reference to both the Windows XP visual style and Mac OS X) is the name of a new operating system they claimed to have created for working at the research center.

    2006 – Google Romance – On April Fool’s Day 2006, Google Romance was announced on the main Google search page with the introduction, “Dating is a search problem. Solve it with Google Romance.” It pretends to offer a “Soulmate Search” to send users on a “Contextual Date”. A parody of online dating, it amusingly had a link for “those who generally favor the ‘throw enough stuff at the wall’ approach to online dating” to Post multiple profiles with a bulk upload file, you sleaze in addition to Post your Google Romance profile. Clicking on either of these gave an error page, which explained that it was an April Fool’s joke and included links to previous April Fool’s Jokes for nostalgia.

    2007 – Gmail Paper – At about 10:00 PM Pacific time (where Google has its headquarters) on 30 March 2007, Google changed the login page for Gmail to announce a new service called Gmail Paper. The service offered to allow users of Google’s free webmail service to add e-mails to a “Paper Archive”, which Google would print (on “96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum”) and mail via traditional post. The service would be free, supported by bold, red advertisements printed on the back of the printed messages. Image attachments would also be printed on high-quality glossy paper, though MP3 and WAV files would not be printed. The page detailing more information about the service features photographs of Ian Spiro and Carrie Kemper, current employees of Google. Also featured are Product Marketing Managers of Gmail Anna-Christina Douglas, and Kevin Systrom.

    2008 –
    Google TiSP, Toilet Internet – Google TiSP (short for Toilet Internet Service Provider) was a fictitious free broadband service supposedly released by Google. This service would make use of a standard toilet and sewage lines to provide free Internet connectivity at a speed of 8 Mbit/s (2 Mbps upload) (or up to 32 Mbps with a paid plan). The user would drop a weighted end of a long, Google-supplied fiber-optic cable in their toilet and flush it. Around 60 minutes later, the end would be recovered and connected to the Internet by a “Plumbing Hardware Dispatcher (PHD)”. The user would then connect their end to a Google-supplied wireless router and run the Google-supplied installation media on a Windows XP or Vista computer (“Mac and Linux support coming soon”). Alternatively, a user could request a professional installation, in which Google would deploy nanobots through the plumbing to complete the process. The free service would be supported by “discreet DNA sequencing” of “personal bodily output” to display online ads that relate to culinary preferences and personal health. Google also referenced the cola-and-Mentos reaction in their FAQ: “If you’re still experiencing problems, drop eight mints into the bowl and add a two-liter bottle of diet soda.”

    Google Book Search Scratch and Sniff
    Google Book Search has a new section allowing users to “scratch and sniff” certain books. Users are asked to “…please place your nose near the monitor and click ‘Go'”, which then “loads odors”. When clicking on “Help”, users are redirected to a page in a book that describes the origins of April Fools’ Day.[5]
    Inside Google Book Search Blog: “Google Book Search now smells better”

    Google Calendar is Feeling Lucky
    Google added the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button to its calendar feature. When a user tries to create a new event, the user was given the regular option of entering the correct details and hitting “Create Event,” and also the new option of “I’m Feeling Lucky” which would set the user up with an evening date with, among others, Matt Damon, Eric Cartman, Tom Cruise, Jessica Alba, Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton, Angelina Jolie, Britney Spears, Anna Kournikova, Johnny Depp, George W. Bush, or Lois Griffin.

    Virgle – Mars Settlement
    Google announces a joint project with the Virgin Group to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars . This operation has been named Project Virgle. The announcement includes videos of Richard Branson (founder of Virgin Group) as well as Larry Page and Sergey Brin (the founders of Google) on YouTube, talking about Virgle.[8] An “application” to join the settlement includes questions such as:

    I am a world-class expert in:
    A. Physics
    B. First Aid
    C. Engineering
    D. Guitar Hero II

    After the user submitted the application, the site notifies the user that the user are not fit for space, or that the user’s application is fine and “all you have to do is submit your video” [as a response to their video on YouTube]. As a result, an open source Virgle group has been established, OpenVirgle. On the FAQ page, the final question is “Okay, come on — seriously. Is this Virgle thing for real?” The reply links to a page that tells the user it’s an April Fool’s joke, and then mentions that the user “Dragged us out of our lovely little fantasy world, to crush all our hopes and dreams.” [9]

    2009 –

  • Google Autopilot – Having a hard time reading and responding to every email message? How about Gmail Chats? Google will analyze your speaking style and help auto respond to your emails!
  • Google Autopilot for Gmail Chat

    2010 –
    See bottom of this postings for 2010 April Fool’s Jokes.

    Google non-April Fool Jokes

    Google has regularly pumped out numerous April fools jokes at once. Ironically due to their playful nature, many ACTUAL news was seen as a hoax when it was not as a form of viral marketing. The best one is below.

    2004 – Launch of Gmail was announced. Many believed it to be a hoax. 1 Gig of free Web Storage was unheard of at the time. Other competitors such as Yahoo & Hotmail only provided anywhere from 2-4 megs.

    Top April Fools Jokes By Magazines, Newspapers, and Books

    • 168 Mile Fast Ball – George Plimpton wrote a 1985 article in Sports Illustrated about a New York Mets prospect named Sidd Finch, who could throw a 168 mph (270 km/h) fastball with pinpoint accuracy. This kid, known as “Barefoot” Sidd Finch, reportedly learned to pitch in a Buddhist monastery. The first letter of each word in the article subhead spelled out the fact of its being an April Fool joke.
    • Lies to Get You Out of the House – In 1985, the L.A. Weekly printed an entire page of fake things to do on April Fools’ Day, by which hundreds of people were fooled.
    • Comic strip switcheroo – Cartoonists of popularly syndicated comic strips draw each others’ strips. In some cases, the artist draws characters in the other strip’s milieu, while in others, the artist draws in characters from other visiting characters from his own. Cartoonists have done this sort of “switcheroo” for several years. The 1997 switch was particularly widespread.
    • Coldplay to back the Tories – On April 1, 2006 the UK Guardian journalist “Olaf Priol” claimed that Chris Martin of rock band Coldplay had decided to publicly support the UK Conservative Party leader David Cameron due to his disillusionment with previous Labour Party prime minister Tony Blair, even going so far as to produce a fake song, “Talk to David”, that could be downloaded via the Guardian website. Despite being an obvious hoax, the Labour Party’s Media Monitoring Unit were concerned enough to circulate the story throughout “most of the government”.
    • President Barack Obama pulls fundings for NASCAR – On April 1, 2009, on the heels of the auto industry bailout, Car and Driver claimed on their website that President Barack Obama had ordered Chevrolet and Dodge to pull NASCAR funding. The article was removed from the website and replaced with an apology to readers, after upset NASCAR fans protested on the Car and Driver website.
    • The Guardian to publish to Twitter – On April 1, 2009 The Guardian announced that it would be the first newspaper to publish exclusively on Twitter.

    April Fools Jokes, Products & Hoaxes in 2010 Online

    • Google Changes their name to Topeka – In response to the mayor of Topeka changing their city name to Google, Google has decided to honor their gesture by changing their own company name to Topeka.
    • Google Logo Topeka

    • iPhone to iPad Converter – Can’t afford iPad? Just get this iPad dock that will magnify your iphone so it’s just like an iPad! Ouch says Apple.
    • Life size Picasa – Google offered an option which allows the user to print lifesize cardboard cutouts of all of their photos.
    • Reddit Website – Everyone has been made an admin resulting in total chaos and fun. Move stuff around. Ban other users. I am sure they will reset this tomorrow… right?
    • Google Translate for Animals – Bridging the gap between animals and humans check it out!
    • Google Gmail Login Page missing all their vowels.
    • ThinkGeek Announces the iCade – Pretty clever. Just look at the picture.

    thinkgeek iCade iPad - April Fools

    Share Your Favorite April’s Fools Day Joke or Hoax

    • Which one was your favorite?
    • Know of Any other Good Pranks not listed here?
    • Share below!

    Want to see More? Check out some of the Best April Fool Jokes Online in 2010. Props to Starbucks and Google: Best April Fool Jokes in 2010

    Continue Reading

    Girl Starves to Death as Parents Raise Virtual Child

    South Korea is easily the video game capital of the world. With the fastest connections and a huge base of gamers young and old, it is no surprises that the idea of playing games is so integrated into their psyche.

    Unfortunately, this also means there are more cases of video games resulting in harmful consequences. Recently a Korean couple, Kim Yoo-chul and Choi Mi-sun, was arrested for the neglect of their 3 month old child as they devoted themselves to hours of playing a computer game which involved of all things, raising a virtual child.

    Neglected Infant Dies as Parents Raise a Virtual Child

    Prius Online Anima - Infant Korean Girl
    Anima Prius Online Screenshot

    The 41-year-old man and 25-year-old woman, who they themselves originally met through a chat site, had left their infant unattended for long periods of time as they went to internet cafes to raise their virtual child. They only stopped by to feed their child powdered milk. They arrived home after playing for 12 hours at the local internet cafe to find their infant daughter dead. The police suspected neglect due to the baby’s malnourished body which was later confirmed by an autopsy.

    Up until two weeks before the death on Sept 24, 2009, the baby had been taken care of by Kim’s parents as the couple was finding it difficult to take care of their premature baby. As Kim’s mother was ill, the baby was given to the couple for care. After the funeral the couple disappeared for months until they were found on March 2, 2010 at the wife’s parents home in Yangju, Gyeonggi province.

    The game is called “Prius Online”. It is a very popular role playing game where you can create a virtual life in a virtual world. You create your character and traverse through life as you interact with other users, find jobs, build a family and so on.

    Chung Jin-Won, a police offer said “The couple seemed to have lost their will to live a normal life because they didn’t have jobs and gave birth to a premature baby… they indulged themselves in the online game of raising a virtual character so as to escape from reality, which led to the death of their real baby.”

    The case has shocked South Korea once again highlighting obsessive behavior related to the internet.

    Other Incidents due to Video Game Obsessions

    This is not the first of such incidents involving the obsession over video games.

    In 2005, a man died in a internet cafe in Taegu after playing Starcraft for nearly 50 hours straight. He suffered cardiac arrest after not eating or drinking during that time.

    In September of 2009, a young man murdered his mother for nagging him about playing too much video games. He then went to a local internet cafe and just continued to play games as if nothing had happened.

    Of course these incidents are unique just to Korea as the child that killed his mother over the game of halo was well publicized here in the United States.

    As these incidents continue to arise, there has been some movement to battle these dangerous and upsetting trends. Lee Joung-sun, an MP from the ruling Grand National party of South Korea has submitted a bill restricting the hours of online gamers. There are several such bills pending in the national assembly with varied proposals of how to limit teenagers’ time at internet cafes and limits to online game.

    What is the Impact of Addictive Video Games on People?

    These kind of incidences highlight the uneasy notion how these addictive games, as well as the general increase in internet use, has had a direct impact on the way we live our lives and relate to others. It is easy to point at these perpetrators in shock and blame them for being “neglectful” or “dumb” or even “crazy” while brushing off how the internet as a whole has had some negative impact in society as a whole.

    Children from an early age sit in their rooms playing games hours into the night rather than developing their social skills by playing outside with their friends. The negative effects of media usage on children are well documented. As they children consume 7.5 hours of media a day, their worldview in terms of how to understand themselves, understand others, and understand the world are defined by what they see on the screen. Even adults spend hours and hours watching online videos or playing online games as soon as they come home from work. An average American watches 153 hours of TV a month while going online 68 hours a month!

    Yes, the perpetrators are at fault and are completely responsible for what they did. However, it really say something about the our ever-pervasive dependence on media as well the status of our culture that these kind of horrible incidences can even occur.

    • What is your reaction to this horrible news?
    • Do you think people will reconsider their behavior due to this incident or brush it off saying it is different?
    • Is it a valid statement that the addictive nature of some video games causes social harm?

    Follow Clean Cut Media @CleanCutMedia Twitter!

    Continue Reading

    Internet Growth Map Visuals 1998-2008

    BBC News recently put up a visual map showing the internet growth from 1998 to 2008. You can scroll through each year and visually see when and where the internet started to grow.

    It starts from 1998 where only a few countries had significant number of internet users. Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, Iceland, Netherlands, Denmark, and the United States were the only countries with at least 20% of the population online.

    Within 10 years, it is astonishing how quickly the internet penetrated into our daily lives. It was only a decade ago that we all survived freely without the “internet” or “email”. Just 15 years ago, cell phones were novel as well. Now we are very dependent on these technologies – just the mere idea of surviving without them seems unfathomable.

    A second tab shows internet user counts around the world. As of the time this post was written? 1,719,053,000 users. 214 billion emails sent TODAY, 455,500 blog posts written TODAY (we claim one of those!) and 2.285 Google searches TODAY. Don’t tell me we are not dependent on the internet!

    Question of the Day:

    • What would happen if the internet crashed completely and we were unable to recover it for months?
    • What would happen? (anarchy? economy crashes? teens die by boredom?)

    Please share your thoughts below!

    Continue Reading

    South Korea: World’s Fastest Internet, PC Gaming Capital

    Internet Speeds Getting Faster, Asia Leads the Way

    Internet speed around the world continues to become faster as technologies advance. That is not a surprise. However the speed difference between a country like Korea and the United States are quite startling.

    South Korea, who already has the fastest connection in the world, continues to increase their national internet speed at the fastest rate as well. Korea owns 6 of the top 10 fastest cities in Asia and as a country averages 14.6 Mbps. Compare that to the United States where only 4.4% of users are above 10 Mbps. Korea averages 14.6 Mbps. In Korea 45.6% of users have connections above 10Mbps. 75% are connected above 5 Mbps while only 24% of the United States is at that level.

    Korea Japan Fastest Internet Speed Connection

    #1 Korea, #2 Japan, #3 Hong Kong… #12 United States

    Compared to 2009, the distribution of connections in South Korea has risen in all the high speed categories. 16% of South Korean users are above 25 Mbps compare to only 1.9% for Japan who falls second in these rankings.

    Those Asians are fast aren't they!
    Those Asians are very fast aren't they!

    Why the huge gap in South Korea?

    The primary reason South Korea sits so far ahead in terms of connection speed, is that Korea has the infrastructure to do so. Back in the late 1990s there was a nationwide focus on developing cutting edge technology. The government built out the infrastructure necessary to get the entire country on high speed broadband. In the United States you have to walk into a Starbucks with an AT&T account or Borders to get some free wifi. Connections are now available everywhere you go. It has become part of the culture and an expectation.

    Another more interesting topic, and worth it’s own blog posting, is South Korea’s obsession with Internet Gaming. South Korea could easily be considered the gaming capital of the world. The “elite” of the PC gaming world are often full fledged celebrities as thousands gathers in stadiums to watch the elite play each other on a game of Starcraft. These tournaments are broadcast nationally on TV by five national channels dedicated solely to gaming. Believe it. 1% of all TV watched is accounted for by these channels. That is a lot of people!

    South Korea - Starcraft Tournament
    South Korea - Starcraft Tournament

    Korea has five major leagues for professional Starcraft alone. All the elite gaming teams know if they want fame, they need to travel to Korea to compete in tournaments. These “clans” get corporate sponsorships and wear corporate logos as if they were about to enter into a nascar race. It has become a popular desire for high school boys to pursue a career in being a professional gamer just as boys would want to become a professional basketball player. Even the “commentators” on these networks have become full fledged celebrities just as famous sports commentators.

    Some 26,000+ Net cafes and game rooms are found all over the nation where people can come to pay to play games in a room full of fast computers and fast connections. These cafes make up around $6 billion a year from visiting gamers.

    With gaming so tightly integrated with Korean culture, it is not surprising that the demand for faster high speed internet continues to raise the bar in terms of internet connection speeds across the nation.

    *image source: thomascrampton.com

    • What are your initial reactions to Korea’s whopping internet speeds?
    • What are your opinions about the Korean PC Gaming Industry?
    • How do you feel about the fact that Korean boys dream and seek to become celebrity gamers?
    • How about the fact that elite gamers are even considered celebrities, with endorsements, fans and immense fame?
    Continue Reading

    Google Buzz – What is the Purpose?

    Google Buzz Logo Privacy - Google Buzz

    What is Google Buzz?

    On Tuesday February 9th, Google suddenly swooped into the social media fray by introducing Google Buzz. What is Google Buzz? It is a twitter like service for sharing thoughts, multimedia and other information with your friends who are also part of Gmail.

    Google Buzz is the Buzz of the Internet

    Within 2 days, Google reported they are averaging 160,000 comments and posts per hour. Pretty wild numbers especially considering so many social media companies have tried and failed to stir the social media industry. However let’s remember that lot of people are seeing this for the first time and there are plenty of people who will “buzz” once or twice then proceed to forget about it.

    Also unlike other services, Google connected their new service with Gmail which means on the flip of a switch they had millions and millions of users signed up for their service. However it remains to be seen what this service will morph into.

    Privacy Controls

    There was a huge controversy as soon as Google Buzz went live. Since it is linked directly into Gmail, you are now mixing something private such as your personal email with something as public as Buzz. The result? Lot of angry people.

    After Google Wave found criticism for the difficulties of finding other members using it, Google Buzz launched with you connected to tons of people from the get go. All your frequent contacts were automatically added as followers. “Frequency” being quite generous. It could be you emailing them or them emailing you. That’s all it really took. People became very upset that it was easy for people to see who you interact with the most and people who perhaps you do not want to be connected with were automatically being connected because they had emailed you sometime before.

    Why the anger? It also opened up access to one’s Google profile thus allowing access to Google Reader Comments and Picasa Albums.


    However it really makes one think:

    • Do people have that much to hide that it brings up so much passionate anger?
    • Why is it so bad other people can see your buzz conversation?
    • Does this outcry over privacy reveal anything about our culture and what we value?

    Note: If you want it private conversation, don’t use a public tool!

    Google Responds Quickly

    Google responded very quickly in shoring up the Privacy Concerns by making the auto-follow into an auto-suggest. But for those who were activated early? You’ll have to manually block everyone.

    They also added an option to block others from seeing your list as well as the ability shut off buzz altogether.

    I was going to post some instructionals on how to deal with privacy issues and also how to shut off buzz, but Google keeps changing the process. All the tutorials out there are outdated. Google outsmarted us again!

    Google Buzz UPDATE:
    If you’d like to alter your privacy settings you go to “settings” on the top right corner of your gmail, then hit “buzz”. This “buzz” link seemed to be being implemented slowly as different people were unable to see it until very recently. See screenshot below:

    What is the Purpose of Google Buzz?

    • Can you think of a good reason to use Google Buzz?
    • What niche do you figure it will fill considering Facebook and Twitter are already well established?
    • Could this potentially become just another time sink and a distraction?
    Continue Reading

    Nobel Peace Prize Nominates.. the Internet

    Nominees for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize includes a Russian human rights group, a Chinese dissident and of course the Internet.

    Nobel Peace Prize Emblem Logo
    Nobel Peace Prize Founder Alfred Nobel: Not Amused

    Say what?

    The Internet to Win the Nobel Peace Prize?

    Yes, the Internet was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. This is the year after Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for doing nothing at the time he won. It sparked a lot of debate on the value of the Nobel Peace Prize as well as the whether the committee should ever award a nomination based on “potential” rather than concrete actions. Before discussing the Internet, let’s note the other real-human candidates that are known at this time.

    Svetlana Gannushkina – Russian Human Rights

    One nomination is a Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina and her group “Memorial”. Nominated by Erna Solberg, the head of Norway’s Conservative Party, this organization often leads the criticism against the Kremlin.

    “These are people who are at the forefront of human rights and are putting their lives at risk for their work,” Solberg told The Associated Press.

    Liu Xiaobo, Chinese Dissident

    Kwame Anthony Appiah, president of the PEN American Center and a Princeton philosophy professor mentioned that he had nominated Liu Xiaobo. Liu Xiaobo is a Chinese dissident who was jailed by the government. Kwame Anthony Appiah says that he nominated Liu due to his “distinguished and principled leadership in the area of human and political rights and freedom of expression.” The Chinese government is obviously against this nomination.

    “It would be completely wrong for the Nobel Prize committee to award the prize to such a person,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu

    George Ryan, Former Illinois Governor

    Francis A. Boyle, a law professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, nominated Former Illinois Governor George Ryan who is currently in jail for federal corruption charges. He was nominated for his campaign to abolish the death penalty.

    Alfred Nobel: Nobel Peace Prize 2010
    Alfred Nobel: 2010 Winner.. What the heck is an Internet?

    Would they really give the Nobel Peace Prize to the Internet?

    Last year’s choice of Obama already stirred a great deal of controversy as Obama had just joined office and had no real accomplishments that warranted the prize. Some felt that it cheapened the Award.

    This year, some speculate that due to the controversy the committee may select a conservative winner. Others say that last year is just more evidence that we can expect anything.

    Alfred Nobel left simple, vague instructions on how to select winners in his 1895 will. It was to promote “fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies”. It was meant for people who promoted peace through what they did. This definition has since been broadened by the Nobel Committee to also include human rights activist and the protection of the environment. The Nobel Committee is appointed by Norway’s parliament.

    Why mention Nobel Peace Prize on this Blog?

    The mere fact that the Internet is being nominated for what is considered one of the greatest awards today speaks volumes about how central internet has become.

    Plus the internet is a mixed bag. Yes the internet has brought upon great proliferation of information and news. Yes, it has connected people from all around the world. It has opened new doors and opportunities to collaborate. It has truly been amazing. However we also know the Internet has caused a whole new set of emotional issues. It has opened the world to wide spread pornography and other degrading material for easy access to all ages. It has caused more people to waste more time staring at a screen whether it be simply cruising the internet or playing online multi-player video games. Our children grow up watching 8 hours of screen time a day, a huge chunk of that watching videos or tv shows on the Internet. 8 hours per day. There are many studies and professionals who mourn at the influence of media on our children’s development.

    Nobel Peace Prize Nomination Process

    Before getting carried away, let’s remember that numerous people are nominated every year for the Nobel Peace Prize. The information regarding who was nominated is not released by the Nobel Foundation until 50 years after the prize, but some information is made public by the ones who nominate the candidate. Yes the Internet was nominated, but in the past so was Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, and believe it or not Adolf Hitler, thought the latter was done out of protest to the nomination of a different candidate. Meanwhile candidates like Mohandas Gandhi was nominated several times but never awarded.

    • What is your first gut reaction to this news?
    • What do you think? Does the Internet warrant consideration?
    • Do you think if the Internet wins the Nobel Peace Prize, it cheapens the Prize?
    • Did the Internet bring about Peace in some way?
    Continue Reading

    Tim Tebow’s CBS Pro-Life Super Bowl Ad Battle on Facebook

    Tim Tebow’s Pro-Life Super Bowl Ad

    Tim Tebow SuperBowl Ad - CBS Focus on the Family Ad MotherHave you ever heard of a viral video that no one has seen? A group called Focus on the Family has shot a pro-life spot featuring the college superstar and former Heisman Winner Tim Tebow. The spot will star Tim Tebow and his mother who will discuss how she went against the doctor’s advice to abort her son due to a life threatening infection. After contracting a dangerous infection during a mission trip to the Philippines, doctors recommended she terminate her pregnancy, fearing she might die during childbirth. They named their son “Timmy” who later was known to the world as Tim Tebow, the University of Florida’s Quarterback who led his team to national championships in 2006 and 2008. He also won the Heisman Trophy in 2007.

    Tim Tebow is the biggest star in college football, if not considered one of the greatest college football player to ever play at that level. He is also known for being born in the Philippines while his parents were in the mission field and still frequently joins his father on mission trips there. He also ministers to prisoners during the off-season.

    As soon as this news broke out, women’s group started to ask CBS to drop the ad. So far CBS has declined their request.

    “I know some people won’t agree with it, but I think they can at least respect that I stand up for what I believe… that’s the reason I’m here, because my mom was a very courageous woman. So any way that I could help, I would do it.” – Tim Tebow

    CBS’s Stance on Controversial Super Bowl Ads

    CBS has run into similar controversies before. Back in 2004, CBS had rejected a Super Bowl ad from a “liberal-leaning United Church of Christ” that highlighted their welcoming stance towards gays and others who felt shunned by conservative chruches. This ad would be one of the first advocacy ads accepted by CBS during the big game.

    When CBS was asked to comment on their current stance of allowing this ad to air, they replied that their past stance of rejecting any controversial ad as they saw fit “did not reflect public sentiment or industry norms”.

    “We have for some time moderated our approach to advocacy submissions after it became apparent that our stance did not reflect public sentiment or industry norms.” – Dana McClintock CBS Spokesperson

    Growing Discussions on Facebook and Twitter

    One of the interesting developments, is with the rise of social media, this topic has resulted in tons of discussions and activities in sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Both sides have started to form groups, throwing their support for or against this ad. Below are the largest growing groups on Facebook:

    Americans United for Life Action – Facebook Group Supporting Ad (43,500+ Members)
    Facebook Group Supporting Ad 2 (31,2001+ Members)
    Facebook Group Against Ad (7200+ Members)

    Tim Tebow SuperBowl Ad - CBS Focus on the Family Ad
    Twitter Activity on "Tebow" Search since News Broke

    Online buzz is continuing to ramp up and will inevitably become larger as Super Bowl Sunday nears. The question is what will CBS do? Freedom of Speech? Avoid the Controversy? One thing that is certain – once it airs, it will spread quickly across the web and there will be numerous discussions over this video spot. The discussions are already heating up.

    What do you think? Should CBS Air the Super Bowl Ad?

    • Should CBS air this ad?
    • Should CBS have aired the ad from 2004?
    • Should controversial ads be allowed to air? Why or Why not?

    Another interesting point noted by a commenter on the web:

    • Since the mother made her “choice” would this still fall under a celebration of “pro-choice” or is that at this point just semantics and “pro-choice” is just support for abortion? (this is assuming the ad doesn’t attack the idea of choice)

    Share your thoughts! We’d like to know.

    Continue Reading

    Children Media Consumption: 7.5 Hours a Day

    Children Consume nearly 8 hours of Media per Day

    Kaiser Family Foundation released their most recent media usage study. Six years ago they found the usage of 8 to 18 year old was about 6 hours and 21 minutes of media consumption a day. This recent study shows that the media consumption rate has risen to 7 hours and 38 minutes. That is almost as much time as adults spend at work except remember that adults only work 5 days a week.

    Youth Children Media Consumption Statistics

    The amount of media consumed by children has always been a point of concern as media has been found to have great affects in molding a child’s view of the world. It has become all the more important that parents watch over what their children are consuming and what kind of message they are taking in.

    Some things parents can do are to regulate what kind and what type of media their children consume. Another is to watch what your kids are watching together so you can explain how best to process the message it portrays. Another is to ensure internet safety for kids with tools that can supervise online activities.

    With the proliferation of online media, increased video sharing, and mobile media – these numbers are shocking, yet they are not a surprise.

    For the first time, Traditional TV consumption actually fell as other mediums such as video games, music, online media and movie watching has increased. What is even more wild is that kids are often watching multiple forms of media at once. The actual consumption of media was found to be closer to 10 hours and 45 minutes.

    Continue Reading