Older Adults Adopting Social Media at Rapid Clip
Social media takes a leap among older adults. Is it because they were once young Internet adopters?
It’s Going Too Fast — Can Embargoes Manage the Real-time Web?
Previous experience with information traveling so fast it goes out of control suggests that part of filtering includes managing release points.
Letting The Inmates Run the Asylum: Are Blogging Networks Compatible with Publishing Business Plans?
Open blogging networks may be impossible to commercialize, for a host of reasons.
The RIN Report on Researchers and Web 2.0: If You Build It . . . Well, You Know the Rest
The Research Information Network’s new report on researchers and Web 2.0 offers a similar set of results to previous studies: uptake is relatively low, and the trustworthiness and quality of online resources are suspect. The report offers contrary evidence to common myths about “digital natives” and some useful advice for anyone looking to build social media.
The Pepsi Syndrome: Did ScienceBlogs Sell Out, or Was This Just Business As Usual?
The science blogosphere erupted in a furor this week, when Seed Media’s ScienceBlogs announced a new blog–Food Frontiers, a paid, sponsored blog about nutrition written by employees of PepsiCo. Multiple bloggers either suspended their blogs or quit ScienceBlogs altogether over their concerns that adding this blog undermined the credibility of the platform and their credibility as individual writers. Eventually, ScienceBlogs caved under the pressure and removed Pepsi’s blog. Did ScienceBlogs sell out to commercial interests, or was this just a continuation of what they’ve always done?
Monkeys vs. Robots: The Mysteries of Identity in the Age of Facebook
Facebook continues to try to redefine identity as an addressable single element for its business model. Should we monkeys allow it?
Facebook, Diaspora, Public, Private, and the Fork in the Road
Can Diaspora restore social networking to personal control?
Creating an Incentive: Can Social Media Offer Enough Carrots to Entice Scientists?
Scientists seem uninterested in participating in social media offerings, as the rewards offered are generally of insufficient value to warrant the effort required. Instead of just hoping that scientists will suddenly see the value in your product, why not offer incentives for participation?
Is Facebook Eroding Privacy? Or Does Social Media Require Us to Lower Our Expectations?
Facebook argues that its erosions of privacy reflect changing social norms. But is what it’s doing just plain wrong?
Science Blogging as a Public Outreach Tool — Unfulfilled Potential or Unrealistic Expectation?
A recent study points out that science blogs are failing to provide much in the way of community outreach and education to the non-scientist public. Is this really a failure, or is it an unrealistic expectation?
Follow the Scholarly Kitchen Twitter Feed for More Updates
The Scholarly Kitchen now has an additional Twitter feed. Follow us and enjoy our drive-thru window.
Facebook Patents the News Feed — The “One-Click” Button of Social Media Now Has An Owner
In a moment as important to social networking as Amazon’s one-click patent was for e-commerce, Facebook gets a patent on the news feed. But many questions remain, especially about prior art and what is a “news feed.”
The Internet’s Extended Cultural Memory — Is It Sapping Our Creativity?
One of the great benefits of the Internet is how it has extended our cultural memory. But has this also stolen our freedom of thought, our ability to create original works of art?
Mapping Facebook — How Our Cultures Are Revealed Through Social Networking
How the US appears through Facebook. Do you live in Stayathomia or Socalistan?
Science and Web 2.0: Talking About Science vs. Doing Science
So far, Web 2.0 tools for scientists have failed to gain much traction with researchers. Is this because they’re tools for talking about science rather than tools for doing science?