It’s back to school time. Many schools will be starting this week or the next. It’s the time to think about new classes, new teachers, perhaps new friends, but also a time to think about the many issues in present youth culture.
One of the biggest is cyberbullying. According to a new study, 1 in 4 kids claim to be targets of cyberbullying, nearly 2 of 3 teens have witnessed cruel behavior online, but only 10% of parents are aware that their own teens are one of the recipients. Most of these attacks happen on Facebook where a whopping 92.6% of teens say cruel behavior takes place. It also happens through other mediums such as Twitter 23.8%, MySpace (17.7%), and Instant Messenger 15.2%.
Is Standing up to Bullies Online Safe?
But what is interesting is how teens stand up to bullies more often online. 40% tells them to stop, nearly 21% ended up telling an adult, while 65.8% responded to the attacker. In the small security of not being physically present, teens respond more frequently.
However, beware, 35% of students also end up responding in person and 4.5% of the teens end up in physical fights. 15% avoided school altogether due to an online incident. Worse, 6.3% of people join in the attack.
It is important that parents are aware of what is going on in the online space because it can have dramatic impact on teens especially during the difficult and emotional years of youth. If your child is is often emotionally down or wants to avoid school, you should be aware that cyberbulling is not a simple issues to be ignored. If that doesn’t move you, know that teens who are cyberbullied are 3.5x MORE likely to attempt suicide! Now that is a scary reality.
Check out the infographic below, and let us know your thoughts. Any of the statistics surprise you?
Last year we learned that South Korea was the King of Internet Speeds. Korea owned 6 of the top 10 fastest cities in Asia and the country AVERAGED 14.6 Mbps. Meanwhile only 4.4% of users in the United States were above 10 Mbps.
So what has changed since then? Have other countries caught up? Did someone steal the throne of the internet?
Nope.
South Korea’s Internet Speed Rises
South Korea’s average internet speed is now 17.5Mbps. In other news, the rest of the world averages 2.3 Mbps.
South Korea was also 1 of only 2 countries (other being Japan) that increased in Internet Speed from Q3 to Q4 2011.
Also note that these are averages. South Korea peak in Q4 was 47.9 Mbps. Yes 47.9 Mbps. That’s like… at least a couple songs.
See the latest figures from Akamai below:
Internet Speed Statistics
Some Highlights: South Korea: South Korea’s Average internet speed is 17.5 Hong Kong & Japan: Hong Kong’s speed decreased from 10.5 Mbps to 9.1Mbps, putting them tied for #2 with Japan which increased from 8.9 to 9.1 Mbps. United States: Average speed is 5.8 Mbps, down from 6.1 Mbps in Q3. Ranked #13. Few Risers: Only South Korea & Japan increased in speed in Q4 Down Overall: Average internet speed fell 15% overall from 2.7 Mbps to 2.3 Mbps. 93 countries saw a decrease. 41 countries saw an increase. New & Old: Belgium enters the top 10, Denmar falls off Asia’s Lead: 69 of the 100 cities are based in Asia Pacific. 61 are in Japan, 6 in South Korea, 1 in Australia plus Hong Kong. 24 are from North America, 7 from Europe.
South Korea Plan to Increase Internet Connection
Though South Korea has the fastest Internet connection in the world, it has more plans to further increase connections throughout the country. Choi Gwang-gi is overseeing South Korea’s plan to connect every home in the country at over one gigabit per second by the end of 2012. They plan to increase speeds 10x leaving them 200x faster than the average home in the United States.
“The gigabit Internet is essential for the future, absolutely essential, and all the technologists will tell you this,” said Don Norman, co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group, a leading technology consultancy in Fremont, Calif. “We’re all going to be doing cloud computing, for example, and that won’t work if you’re not always connected. Games. Videoconferencing. Video on demand. All this will require huge bandwidth, huge speed.”
Increased Internet Speeds Causing Internet Addictions?
A big concern with increased internet speeds is the increase ininternet addiction. Internet addiction is a huge social issue in South Korea. The country even has established “Deprograming Camps” to help the young break free from the Internet.
There have already been many tragic stories of Internet additions causing great harm. One man died in a Net Cafe after playing games several days in a row. Even worse, a South Korea couple neglected their own 3 month old daughter who died of starvation as they were immersed in a role-playing game nurturing a virtual daughter.
It’s a sad reality that as technology advances and brings greater connection and good to the world, it is also creating more harm through detachment, social awkwardness and internet addiction.
What is your gut reaction to the rise in internet speeds?
Do you think enough is being done to prevent the harms of the internet?
Do you have any checks or accountability for your or your family’s internet use?
I know that many of the readers here on Clean Cut Media have strong interest in Social Media. Whether you are marketing professionals, business owners, or perhaps just curious on how Social Media is being used to reach various audiences, I would recommend you check out this Social Media Summit 2012.
Why this Social Media Conference?
No travel – All Online Webinars. Saves a lot of money!
Session Recordings – Miss a seminar? You can watch the recording. Or just watch at your convenience.
Ask Questions – It’s a great place to ask all the social media questions you’ve always had but never could get good answers for. The speakers here are all veterans of social media marketing, people who’ve found a lot of success. They can speak through experience.
Network & Private Forum – There is a private Linkedin group you can join where you can network with others in a similar boat as you and other professionals in the space. It’s also one of the best Q&A spaces. Everyone asks each other questions and opinions on social media and get immediate answers from real people in similar situations. It’s great. It’s a great resource.
Cheap & Money Back Guarantee – Conferences are usually $2,500-$3,500. It’s a hefty price to pay to learn. This conference is only $297 if you sign up before April 19th(Extended to April 20th!) (50% off!). If I do the math… give me a second… that means if you sign up after that date, it’ll be $594! Still cheap, but not as cheap if you sign up NOW! Nothing to lose as you can just email them within the first 2 days if you rather get a refund. Full refund with no hassle. Nice.
Need Another Good Reason to Attend Social Media Success Summit?
I personally attended the last two Facebook Success Summits. What I like about this conference (other than that super cheap price) is that the examples are more concrete, more catered to smaller businesses. Also you get great access to the speakers both during the webinar and the ample opportunity to connect with them through twitter afterwards. Also the Q&A section in the linkedin section is super helpful!
Sample Social Media Summit Webinar Topics
Google+ For Business: How Google’s Social Network Changes Everything
How to Grow Your Brand and Following with Facebook
YouTube Marketing 2012: No Camera, Content or Audience? No Problem!
Twitter Power Strategies: Essential Insights for Business Success
How to Put Google+ to Work for Your Content and Your Business
3 Simple Steps to Generating Massive Traffic with YouTube
8 Steps to Managing a Social Media Crisis
How Social Customer Service is Attracting New Customers and Increasing Sales
How Big Brands are Using Blogs
The Social Sale: How to Turn Fans and Followers into Customers
No Fluff Social Media Measurement
The Art of Story: How to Succeed with Blogging
Pinterest: How Your Business Can Use Images to Drive Traffic
This has to be the ugliest, most mind draining infographic ever made. However, the statistics are interesting a relevant so put on your thinking caps, take off your creative sensibilities and check out the statistics below! Highlights written out for the faint of heart.
Statistics: How the Internet is Ruining Your Brain
Internet Usage Statistics
35 Billion: Collective hours we spend on the internet per month
3x: We consume 3x more information than the 60s’ (not that I would know)
61%: Admit to being addicted to the Internet (that means either you or I are addicted. It’s you… i think)
Multitasking the Internet
Frequency: We Change Windows/Check Email/Programs more than once every 2 minutes
Avg Tabs Open: See chart below. It’s a lot. How many do you have open right now!
Google is Great, but makes you Dumb
7.2 Billion: # of times we collectively visit Google per day
3 Billion: # of queries we collectively make per day
Social Networking – Growing # of “Friends”
8 Hours: # of hours a month we spend on Facebook
245: Avg # of Friends
73.2%: Percentage of those friends we really know
4%: Percentage that we would actually hang out with
Internet Causing Happiness or Depression?
Heavy internet users are 2.5x more likely to be depressed (chicken & egg?)
Share Your Thoughts
Use your brain a bit.
Seriously Google makes it so easy to look up information as it is needed. How did we live without Google back in the day? Hmm… can’t remember. I better Google it…
How many tabs do YOU have open?
Do you agree the Internet is causing some bad mojo?
Does your head hurt from trying to read this infographic?
It has become commonplace for internet firms to get in the April Fools media fun. Last year we saw a few hilarious April Fools Jokes from Starbucks introducing the 128oz Plenta & 2oz Micra Sizes to Animal Translate by Google. Some companies like Google have confused consumers by introducing real products like Gmail on April Fools Day!
So what happened in 2012? Below are a few of the funnier ones from 2012. Enjoy.
Let us know what was your favorite and please share other good ones you’ve found on the web!
Google – 8 Bit NES Maps
Google teamed up with square enix to added a button allowing users to view a 8 Bit NES style map as you would find it in old nintendo RPGs. Pretty fun to see what your home town looked like in an 8 bit world. Graphics have come a long way!
West Jet Introduces Child-Free Cabins! – Kargo Kids
This one is cute (can I say that as a man?)…
WestJet, Cananda’s low-cost airline introduced Kargo Kids! From the Horses Mouth:
“Kargo Kids is an exciting new program allowing guests to travel on select child-free flights, creating a quieter and more relaxing inflight experience, while children travel in a special VIP area of the aircraft”
What a great idea. it’s like having a play pen section with baby sitters. The question now is, why not MAKE THIS REAL!
Love the images of kids in the little cargo bins. Just watch it.
Google – Multitask in Chrome
Need to increase productivity? Forget browser tabs. What if you could click on multiple things all at once! Google Introduces Multitasking on Chrome, but not in the way you would have thought. Now you can control multiple cursors at once! Watch the video below. then try it out yourself!
Ever wish you had that YouTube video handy but didn’t have an internet connection? Well now you can order the YouTube Collection on DVD and watch your favorite YouTube videos online. What is in this collection you say? Every single YouTube video ever created. That’s right, it’s the biggest collection you have ever seen and since YouTube is growing like a man-child, the will continue to deliver dvds by the truckloads every week.
All these Ultrabooks and Netbooks were bound to fail. Nothing can hold up to what Apple is doing these days. But this. This just might do it. Check out the new Sony VAIO Q. Amazingly small. It would make Steve Jobs proud. See the video below and be amazed. It’s a laptop literally at your fingertips.
Toshiba Announces “Shapes” Tablets – iPad Killer?
Apple has been making all the news with their new iPhones and new iPads. All other companies have done is to copy iPhone & iPad designs and produce sad copy cats that are dead on arrival. In addition to the Sony introducing the VAIO Q, Toshiba has also been innovating to make the news waves. Finally an iPad killer worth talking about. Innovation at it’s finest. Check out the “Shapes” Tablets. It’s just the kind of thing you would have never thought of. Enjoy!
Come in Oblong, Rhombus & Amore. Available April 1st.
AdBlock has been a wonderful piece of add-on software to help block ads on the internet. I love this plug in and thus wrote an AdBlock review on it. But they outdid themselves this year. Introducing CatBlock. No, it doesn’t block Cats. Rather it replaces ADs with Cat images because you know, we can’t get enough of those cute furry things.
Warby Parker Presents, Glasses for Dogs
Sadly, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if this was real. Seeing dogs where clothing already is disturbing to me. Luckily, it’s not real, so it’s cute.
Power Ranger Fragrance
Already Pre-ordered the whole set. Since I am a man, looking forward the blue one.
Google – Interplanetary Reporting in Google Analytics
Alright you analytical nerds. Already segmenting your data by demographics? By source? By engines? By location? No idea what I am talking about? It’s ok, you’ll still understand the joke.
Google has plans to expanded their features. Starting in the year 2030, you can know from what planet people are searching from. Is it true men are from mars and woman are from venus? Now you can find out. Google states it will start as far as the Andromeda Galaxy. Check out the screenshot below!
Mashable is a very popular technology blog followed by millions of people including yours truly. Recently we got the exciting news that Conan O’Brien has officially bought Mashable and has Ousted CEO Pete Cashmore. Conan O’Brien is the new CEO and he promises great things.
Unfortunately several hours later and a couple videos later, Conan sadly resigned stating that he mistakenly actually bought a M.A.S.H sitcom fan site instead. Good while it lasted.
History of April Fools Day
Lastly, here is a fun video talking about the History of April Fools, or at least their best guesses.
Teens ages 13 to 17 use on average 320MB of data per month?
Adults ages 25-34 use on average 578MB of data per month?
A study by Nielson analyzed mobile data from 65,000 U.S. subscribers. Smartphone users using mobile internet has increased 45% this year. Take a look around. Before the iPhone revolution, who among the people you know had smartphones? Very few people I imagine.
Teens & Texting: Where are Thou Social Skills?
We’ve had many article here following the incredible growth of text usage among teenagers. During Q3 of 2011, female teens had reached 3,952 texts per month. Male teens were at a “paltry” 2,815 per month. It wasn’t long ago that I was fine with a 200 txt msg plan! Not anymore.
Some people argue that social networks and easy communication access is lowering children’s ability to socially connect with others. Well this latest crop of statistics show that voice minute usage is dropping among teens. it dropped 17% year over year as they opt to text as it is faster and easier. An older poll from 2011 of 500 social networking Americans between ages 13 to 21, showed that 71% of the respondents preferred texting to phone calling. Ok, confession time. I would fall in that category as well. It is indeed easier and quicker, but do you think it has an adverse affect? Will it hurt social abilities and limit experiences for children and teens who grow up texting, talking online, messaging on Facebook, and IMing on gchat. I would argue, yes it would have an effect, though it may not be obvious or all that dramatic at first. I’ve worked with enough college students and youths to know, it could potentially become a problem.
What do you think?
Mobile Texting Statistics for Teens
45% of teens send at least 30 texts a day
54% of teens say they are just “chatting”
14% text in class
17% text while riding in a car
10% text during a movie
Teens Ages 13-17 average 3417 text messages per month
Did you know a lot of employees of leading high-tech firms in the silicon valley such as Apple, Google, Yahoo, and Hewlett-Packard send their children to a computer-free school?
Schools nationwide have rushed to supply their classrooms with computers, and many policy makers say it is foolish to do otherwise. But the contrarian point of view can be found at the epicenter of the tech economy, where some parents and educators have a message: computers and schools don’t mix. – NY Times
So then comes the questions:
Why would high tech employees and internet executives who are so immersed in technology not want their child to use such technology to learn? Do they know something we don’t?
SURVEY: Will Millennials Benefit or Suffer Due to their Hyper-Connected Lives?
A recent survey released by Pew Internet Projects asked technology experts about this issue. The question: Will Millennials benefit or suffer due to their hyperconnected lives?
In this survey, technology experts and stakeholders were fairly split in their opinions about whether highly connected people will end up having a positive or negative impact by 2020. The feeling is that young people who grow up hyper-connected via the internet, mobile web, and the internet will reap the benefit of being more nimble and quick-acting multitaskers. However on the other end, the same experts expect that those growing up fully connected will increase in their need for instant gratification, settling for quick choices, lacking patience, and the loss of social skills. Many expressed concerns of these trends, some mentioning George Orwell’s 1984 as well as fears of control by powerful interests in an age where distractions and quick entertainments rule.
Anyone remember this haunting quote?
” [it’s] easier [online] to be who you want to be, because nobody knows you and if you don’t like the situation you can just exit and it is over. ” – Clean Cut Media
[poll id=”24″]
Internet Connection helps with Learning & Multitasking!
The respondents were encouraged to pick one of two stances. 3% did not respond.
55% agreed with this statement:
In 2020 the brains of multitasking teens and young adults are “wired” differently from those over age 35 and overall it yields helpful results. They do not suffer notable cognitive shortcomings as they multitask and cycle quickly through personal and work related tasks. Rather, they are learning more and they are more adept at finding answers to deep questions, in part because they can search effectively and access collective intelligence via the internet. In sum, the changes in learning behavior and cognition among the young generally produce positive outcomes.
Internet Connection makes People Shallow & Lose Social Skills!
42% agreed with the opposite statement:
In 2020, the brains of multitasking teens and young adults are “wired” differently from those over age 35 and overall it yields baleful results. They do not retain information; they spend most of their energy sharing short social messages, being entertained, and being distracted away from deep engagement with people and knowledge. They lack deep thinking capabilities; they lack face to face social skills; they depend in unhealthy ways on the internet and mobile devices to function. In sum, the changes in behavior and cognition among the young are generally negative outcomes.
What is considered Hyperconnected?
Hyperconnected basically means, you are always connected, a finger tip away. It is a word describing an environment where people are linked continuously through some kind of technology to other people and information.
Another survey from Pew Internet Projects show that 95% of teens ages 12-17 are online, 76% use social networking sites, and 77% have cell phones. Those in ages 18-29? 96% use the internet, 84% use social networking sites and 97% have cell phones. Over half of them use smartphones and 1 out of 4 own tablet computers like the iPad.
Want more Amazing Internet & Social Media Statistics?
YouTube users upload 60 hours of video per minute.
In 2011 alone there was 1 TRILLION playbacks on YouTube, and this is rapidly growing.
The Impact of iPhone’s Design on the Mobile Phones
Sometimes pictures speak louder than words. It was not that long ago that you could walk into a “cellphone” store and find some hundred varieties of phones that all looked completely different. Flip phones, slide out phones, long keyboards, no keyboards and so on. Apple has already disrupted the computer industry, the music industry, mobile industry and perhaps soon the TV industry, but in doing so, they have also become a leader in design. Mobile phone designs are becoming homogeneous because every phone needs to be able to accomodate whatever features Apple popularized on their own phones and tablets (touchscreen, sliding gestures, on screen keyboards, web browsing etc). See for yourself. Check out these images circulating around the internet.
Influence of iPad’s Design on Tablets
What is your opinion? Is it legitimate to say Apple is the leading designer in these categories?
So people have been asking. This Pinterest thing seems to be the newest fad and Pinterest growing pretty fast. How can I get an invite so I can try it out or at least figure out if it is something worthwhile?
Pinterest is a “virtual pinboard” used to share images from around the web. Many businesses are now using it as a way of attracting visitors to their sites. Pinterest is already growing to be a big traffic driver for a lot of retailers as people “pin” up products they like or things they find artsy or beautiful.
Ok enough talk, so how can I get an invite!
Two Ways to get an Pinterest Invite
1. Ask around for an Invite!
It’s cool. It’s not like begging for an invite to a party you aren’t invited to. You’ll be surprised how many of your friends are already on Pinterest and pinning away. Just ask people on Facebook, Twitter and see if one of your friends already have an account. Then when they offer, first accept the invite, open your account then say “Why didn’t you invite me earlier! You hid this from me! You are not my friend!” JK.
2. Ask Clean Cut Media for an invite!
We are happy to give away a few invites, but we’d like to give it to our most engaged readers so here is what you can do to secure an invite from us. It’s easy. See below!
Securing an Invite from Clean Cut Media
Please do both #1 & #2 and the Invite will come your way quicker than you can say Pinterest!
1) Leave a comment below telling us how you plan to use the account! (valid email so we can invite!)
2) Follow Us on Facebook & Twitter – and send us a note via one of these accounts asking for the Pinterest invite!
Twitter has announced through it’s blog that it could “reactively withhold content from users in a specific country”. Basically, twitter is saying it has the right to remove content if it is against the laws of a particular country or if needed by special request.
This created a bit of controversy.
Is upholding Freedom of Speech important enough to break local laws?
Twitter Controversy – Freedom of Speech > Local Laws?
Freedom of information advocacy groups criticized the decision, afraid that it curbs the freedom of information and expression. Their concern is that it opens a dangerous precedent. Twitter’s response is that as they enter countries “that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression,” that they need to comply to such laws. One example is France and Germany banning pro-Nazi content. Of course, there are more controversial bans such as China’s famous suppression of information regarding Tienanmen Square, and more recently the killing sites discussing human rights issues during the Beijing games.
Twitter has said that they have not used this ability yet, but if they do, they said “we will attempt to let the user know, and we will clearly mark when the content has been withheld”. They also admitted that some country’s views on this issue is so divergent that they won’t be able to exist there at all. China is one such country where twitter has been banned altogether due to being a source of news the government does not look kindly on.
Questions to Ponder about Twitter
Is Freedom of Speech being violated considering this Local Laws of other countries may differ?
Should we demand Twitter to uphold Freedom of Speech, if it means ignoring Local Laws if other countries?
Is Freedom of Speech a right that goes beyond Laws, a higher right that everyone deserves?
Pinterest is a clever social media bookmarketing site where users can “pin up” pictures and snippets of interest from all around the web. Users create pin boards in different categories and share with all their friends who then can repin your pin ups to further spread the fun. Pin board categories can be anything from Humor, Weddings, Photography, Art, Gadgets or anything else the user desires.
Pinterest is Rising in the Social Media Ranks
Pinterest has been growing rapidly, increasing 400% just in the last quarter. In December Pinterest had 7.51 million unique visitors. Many retailers are also showing Pinterest as a top 5 referrer.
Pinterest on Clean Cut Media
Clean Cut Media has also felt it’s impact as we have been seeing a stream of visitors from many of our Chalk Art pictures being pinned up on various pin boards. Pinterest has lodged itself as a top 5 referrer here as well!
Clean Cut Media also has a pinterest where we will do our best to post some of the great examples of clean creativity and art across the web.
Pinterest Infographic
Have you tried Pinterest? How do you like it?
Do you feel Pinterest is a fad, or an idea that will continue to grow?
How do I get a Pinterest Invite?
Dying to try it out but don’t know how to get an Pinterest invite?
We are happy to give our readers an invite, but since it’s limited, we want to give to our best readers.
