2007 November

From the monthly archives: November 2007

nanowrimo

on November 19, 2007 · No Comments

Thought you were busy? You might think twice when you check out this thrilling (and kooky) initiative in celebration of National Novel Writing Month. National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30. [...]

Thought you were busy? You might think twice when you check out this thrilling (and kooky) initiative in celebration of National Novel Writing Month.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Oh, and there’s still a call for participants. Also, there is a Grub Street sponsored NaNoWriMo get together this evening (my apologies for the late notice).

When: Tonight, Monday, November 19th at 6:30pm

A crew of Grubbies who are also NaNoWriMo-ers are all getting together at Remington’s bar, (124 Boylston Street), just a few doors down from Grub Street. They’ll be talking novels, sipping beverages, and connecting with one another. If you’ve been slaving away during National Novel Writing Month, now is the time to come talk to some other brave souls who’ve been doing the same (courtesy of the Grub Street Rag).

consumer rights continued

on November 17, 2007 · No Comments

In continuation of yesterday’s post regarding social networks, advertising applications and privacy, David Weinberger offers a great overview of the situation with Facebook in his post entitled, “Facebook’s Privacy Default,” via The Huffington Post. Facebook makes an astounding array of information available to its advertisers so that they can precisely “target” likely suspects. This is [...]

Facebook makes an astounding array of information available to its advertisers so that they can precisely “target” likely suspects. This is great for advertisers, and — given that the ad space is going to be filled up one way or another — it’s arguably better for users to see ads that are relevant than are irrelevant. (The counter-argument is that targeting makes ads more successfully manipulative, not just more relevant.) Facebook is scrupulous, however, about not letting advertisers know the identity of those to whom it’s advertising. So, Blockbuster might buy ads for all men aged 18-24 who have joined the Pauly Shore fan club, but Blockbuster doesn’t know who those people are.

When Facebook talks about preserving user privacy, that’s what they have in mind: They do not let advertisers tie the information about you in a profile (your age, interests, etc.) to the information that identifies you in your profile (your name, email address, etc.). That is the informational view of privacy, and Facebook is likely to continue to get that right, if only because so many governmental agencies are watching them. I also think that the Facebook folks understand and support the value of maintaining privacy in this sense.

what about the consumer

on November 16, 2007 · No Comments

An article published by PC World entitled, “Advocates Ask FTC to Investigate Social Networking Ad Plans” attempts to shed light on the increasing need for consumer protection as social networking giants, Facebook and MySpace, move forward with advertising initiatives that may be exploiting their online participants. Two consumer advocacy groups have asked the FTC to [...]

Two consumer advocacy groups have asked the FTC to investigate whether new MySpace and Facebook advertising programs violate consumer privacy.

Two consumer advocacy groups have asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether new advertising initiatives announced last week by social networking sites MySpace and Facebook adequately protect consumer privacy.

In a Nov. 12 letter to FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras, the Center for Digital Democracy and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group claimed that the “ambitious new targeted advertising schemes” launched by MySpace.com and Facebook Inc. “make clear the advertising industry’s intentions to move full-speed ahead without regard to ensuring consumers are protected.”

Caroline McCarthy also comments on Facebook’s social advertising initiative in her post entitled, “Legally, are Facebook’s social ads kosher?”

Social Ads, which have already begun to appear on the site, are designed to boost Facebook’s lukewarm revenues by targeting ads directly toward the members in question. They allow Facebook members to sign up as “fans” of an advertiser and then have their names and profile photos displayed alongside the marketer’s ads on their friends’ Facebook pages. Problem is, that potentially violates a New York privacy law that protects peoples’ names and likenesses from being used without written permission, according to McGeveran.

Check out the Center for Digital Democracy and the Electronic Frontier Foundation to learn more about free speech, privacy and other issues impacting you on the web.

substance

on November 14, 2007 · No Comments

Is there a real point to social networking? It is a lot of fun, and it can be a useful way to establish contacts. But it’s usually a black hole of time — a lot of chat without a lot of substance. However, there’s at least one new site that’s trying to offer social networking [...]

Is there a real point to social networking? It is a lot of fun, and it can be a useful way to establish contacts. But it’s usually a black hole of time — a lot of chat without a lot of substance. However, there’s at least one new site that’s trying to offer social networking with a social conscience.

And this is what I woke up to this morning – an article from InformationWeek entitled, “Social Networking With A Point.” I couldn’t disagree more with the statement made in the opening paragraph of the article. Social networking is all about substance. It’s not merely about ones ability to connect with others, but rather the engagement that takes shape following that contact.

The site that the article was referencing is called The Point. It’s an interesting website founded on the premise that people come together to solve personal, local and national problems. Sound familiar? Perhaps that’s because it’s not the only site dedicated to reshaping the way people engage in their community and creatively tackle issues (both local and other).

A great example is the level of organizing taking place on Facebook. Granted I have my issues with Facebook from an advertising perspective, but the fact of the matter is that people are coming together to tackle a broad range of social issues. Take the situation in Burma for example and the number of groups as well as campaigns organized around that one item. In addition, “Causes” (a widget that enables users to start and/or join causes) continues to gain traction as a method for folks to raise funds and promote awareness for the cause of his or her choice. Facebook isn’t the only social networking site promoting community engagement. Ning has flourshed thanks in part to a growing desire for micro communities that seek a means of connecting with a more specific subset.

While we’re talking more specifically about the social implications of social networking tools blogs should not be left out of the conversation. Bloggers are leveraging their medium beyond idle banter, but rather to promote conversations about topics of substance. And how can I talk locality of civic engagement without mentioning blogs like that published by Cambridge Community Television (CCTV), which is all about civic engagement and there are many others – check out Placeblogger for more.

If social networking is to be compared to a black hole, then that metaphor should be representative not of the lack of substance, but rather of the infinite potential of engagement, awareness and action that these tools foster.

facebook: rise of the fansumer

on November 11, 2007 · No Comments

Interesting article from the Guardian technology section. Is Facebook becoming more and more like MySpace? Only time, and user response, will tell. Excerpt from Guardian post: Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook’s social advertising system in New York yesterday, and it has nothing to do with banner ads, or text ads. It is, rather, a clever [...]

Interesting article from the Guardian technology section. Is Facebook becoming more and more like MySpace? Only time, and user response, will tell.

Excerpt from Guardian post:

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook’s social advertising system in New York yesterday, and it has nothing to do with banner ads, or text ads. It is, rather, a clever way to capitalise on the rise of fansumers: the sort of people who buy products as a way of making statements about themselves and their aspirations: in other words, it’s the off-the-shelf lifestyle business. (Usually, the “statement” is that they have more money than sense.)

TechCrunch blogged the event, and says:

Facebook is announcing three things: Social Ads (ads targeted based on member profile data and spread virally), Beacon (a way for Facebook members to declare themselves fans of a brand on other sites and send those endorsements to their feeds), and Insight (marketing data that goes deep into social demographics and pyschographics which Facebook will provide to advertisers in an aggregated, anonymous way). These three things together make up Facebook Ads. Here are the press releases for Facebook Ads, Project Beacon, and its launch partners.

candy and pies

on November 8, 2007 · No Comments

I’m currently obsessed with DailyCandy – “a free daily e-mail from the front lines of fashion, food, and fun.” The daily emails enable recipients “to get the scoop on hot new restaurants, designers, secret nooks, and charming diversions in [their] city and beyond.” And it was in receiving my daily email that I learned of [...]

And it was in receiving my daily email that I learned of Pie in the Sky.

Not only are they committed to making tasty pies, but also “are committed to delivering culturally diverse and wholesome meals to 675 critically ill people in and around Greater Boston all year long.”

Pies are made from Boston area chefs, but you won’t know who made your pie until you open your box – an entertaining bonus. So why struggle over baking or dessert centric decisions when you can simply treat your family and friends to a pie on a mission? Oh, and be sure to order your Thanksgiving pies before Nov. 14th.

in the know: pakistan

on November 6, 2007 · No Comments

If you haven’t turned on the radio, flicked on the news or opened the newspaper, then odds are good that you haven’t heard about the declared state of emergency in Pakistan. It’s worth being in the know on this developing situation that is receiving global attention – and will no doubt continue to receive such [...]

On 3rd Nov 2007, the President of Pakistan and Chief of Army Staff Pervez Musharraf declared a state of Emergency in the country. The government issued a Provisional Constitutional Order. Even as the Army stormed the Supreme Court in Islamabad, and detained Chief Justice Iftikar Chaudhry, the seriousness of the issue escalated as private television channels were taken off air, local phones were blocked and access to the Internet was curtailed (courtesy of Global Voices).

In response to the situation, Global Voices has set up a Special Coverage Page where they are aggregating coverage specific to Pakistan – it’s a great resource with a very human and real element.

more on opensocial

on November 5, 2007 · No Comments

I’ve been having a hard time putting my finger on the pulse of what’s been bothering me about Google’s OpenSocial. It seems that it’s easier for folks to articulate the pros. The biggie being that Google is giving Facebook a run for it’s money (perhaps literally). Plus there’s the API overlay. Luckily for me Tom Nixon was able to note Google’s shortcomings via a recent post entitled, “Google opens up social networking, but we’re still not quite there.”

[Excerpt]:

I still think that it’s dangerous for one company, be it Facebook or Google to have so much control over social networking. OpenSocial isn’t really open – Google controls who’s in and who’s out and how the whole thing works. Ultimately Google’s obligations are to their shareholders, not to the Internet population at large, and I doubt that these interests will be aligned much of the time.

The breadth of control Google seems to attain from OpenSocial deviates from what it’s purpose is described as achieving. It’s quite paradoxical really. But there is an unsettling feeling that we’re now faced with Goliath verses Goliath. Where’s David? And perhaps as Tom Nixon notes the answer resides in a “truly open standard for social network interoperability: open source, community owned, and decentralised.“

ma civic engagement summit

on November 4, 2007 · No Comments

There’s still time to attend the first-ever Massachusetts Civic Engagement Summit scheduled for Friday, November 16th in Worcester. Check out the agenda (featuring Governor Deval Patrick) and schedule for more information or if you’re interested in registering, then kudos to you – and with a little rearranging (and luck) I’ll see you there!

There’s still time to attend the first-ever Massachusetts Civic Engagement Summit scheduled for Friday, November 16th in Worcester.

Check out the agenda (featuring Governor Deval Patrick) and schedule for more information or if you’re interested in registering, then kudos to you – and with a little rearranging (and luck) I’ll see you there!