I am pleased with the site in all other areas. Their site hosts video and audio, provides their audience with polls to take poart in , and generally are quite a well organised and manufactured site.

In addition to this, it is possible to get Twitter Feeds or Tweets from the site direct to your computer or mobile.

All in all, I find the site quite satisfying, apart from the lack of international news.

Although the rules of grammar and punctuation remain constant throughout our lifetime, our vocabulary incessantly expands. As well as incorporating slang into our everyday speak, we must try to comprehend new words we encounter. Currently, there is one word baffling me…twitter.

It seems that the concept of twitter is infectious. Everywhere I turn, a little blue bird appears. Thus, to end my curiosity, I decided to investigate their website, in order to find out more about this melodious blue bird.

Upon arrival, their principle idea is presented to you in plain black and white; “Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?” Apart from this, their page is quit simplistic; when you are ready to twitter, simply press the green button and get started. Although this web gadget may seem rather juvenile, in the same fashion that a text message did, twitter is making a difference throughout the world.

In 2008, Guardian journalist Charles Arthur wrote an article entitled ‘Making the Most of Twitter.’ In it, he describes to his readers several different scenarios in which twitter has saved the day. Arthur goes on to explain that in the past year, the social network has grow ‘eightfold’. In addition to this, Arthur confides that Twitter currently holds the edge over other social networks, such as Bebo and Myspace, due to the fact that Twitter “has broken free of the web; its text message-length “tweets” can be received on a mobile phone or other device.”

At present, many of the reputable online newspapers, such as the Guardian.co.uk. provide its readers wit ‘Tweets’ or text message sized messages. This phenomenon however, is sure to take flight.

Whilst researching my segment of our final presentation, I stumbled across this article which identified two distinct newsroom models; the fortress newsroom and the transparent newsroom.

Entitled “A Newsroom’s Fortress Walls Collapse”, journalist Steven Smith recognises that tradtionally, newsrooms are a place of privacy, where news collecting and article construction is done behind closed doors. However, as the article progresses, he acknowledges the new phenomenon of the transparent newsroom sweeping newsrooms across the globe.

According to research conducted by the American Society of Newspaper Editors (A.S.N.E.), “one of the key findings suggested that newspapers could slowly rebuild citizen trust by better explaining news values and decision-making and by engaging in conversations with readers about journalism”- trust that was lost through the ‘erection’ of those ‘fortess walls’.

Towards the end of the article, Smith explains the measures that himself and his newsroom have undertaken, in a bid to become more transparent. The Spokesman-Review from Spokane, Washington have made several changes to their daily routine, including ‘(having) daily news meetings open to the public‘, ‘hir(ing) a local journalism professor with no connections to the paper to independently critique our work and respond to citizen complaints once or twice a month’, and ‘ (having) five citizen bloggers representing a cross-section of political and social views critique the paper daily in an online feature called “News Is a Conversation.” ‘

Although the verdict is still out on whether transparency in newsrooms will catch on, readers of the Spokesman-Review are certainly supportive of this innovation, as readership intensity has increased over the last three years.

This has created great animosity within France and beyond. On one side are the industry professionals, with which illegal filesharing is directly affecting. On the other side are those who are strongly opposed to the policing and subsequent expulsion of repeat offenders from the Internet. They believe that it is an infringement on their rights to freedom of information.

I mean, who here can say that they haven’t dabbled in illegal filesharing in one form or another. Limewire for example? Online aside, piracy has always been a part of the music and film industry. To a lesser extent, taping songs from the radio may be classed as piracy. Piracy will continue to be a part of life, it will just continue to change media.

To the surprise of many, the hugely controversial ‘Hadopi‘ or ‘Three Strikes‘ bill was defeated in parliament on April 9th, by a vote of 15 in favour and 21 opposed. However, six days on, the popular digital media site Digital Media Wire reported that President Sarkozy was breathing life into his lifeless legislation, preparing for round two.

According to John Hopewell of Variety.com, “most experts think that the bill will eventually reach the statute books.” Entitled “Sarkozy to revive anti-piracy bill”, the article explains that party leader along with Bernard Accoyer, President of the National Assembly, France’s lower house of Parliament will meet in the near future to reschedule the resubmission of this bill.

Although many believe that Sarkozy’s actions should be mimicked rather than criticised, the Guardian Online published an article in February 2008, stating that any attempt for UK Internet Srvice Providers (ISPs) to “police the internet by clamping down on illegal sharing of copyrighted music and movies would be technologically unworkable and (would) create a legal minefield.”

While I was seaching for media coverage on the issue of Hadopi or general public opinion, I cam across this rather dramatic video, courtesy of Youtube.com, which concisely explains what Hadopi could mean to the people of France, but possibly all of us one day.

Our seas were recently made safe again, following the capture of Somalian pirates off the Gulf of Aden. However, our respite was short lived, as it seems there is a new band of buccaneers on the horizon; net pirates to be exact!

Whilst taking a gander at the Irish Independent’s Technology articles, there was one in particular that caught my eye. Entitled “Net Pirates face ban as Sarkozy declares crackdown”, this article explains the new sanctions that French President Nicholas Sarkozy hopes to implement, following the approval of a rather controversial law.

The law, informally known as ‘the three strikes law’ hopes to ban repeat offenders illegally downloading music or movies from the Internet for an entire year.

President Sarkozy has the support of both music and movie corporations alike, with U2′s manager Paul Mc Guinness calling the law “equitable and balanced.”

However, this law has left a bitter taste in the mouth of many, including the likes of French actresses Catherine Deneuve and Victoria Abril, who felt that passionate followers of film should oppose a law that is “demagogic, inapplicable and stupidly ignorant of new ways of downloading.”

Although it is common knowledge that illegal downloading of movies and music occurs, the most worrying thing about this impending law is the effect it may have on both French freelance and citizen journalists alike. If these journalists have no access to the Internet, how will they email their stories to editors, post to their blogs or even reserch stories?  I know if push came to shove, it could be done, yet it would be two steps back rather than one step forward towards the convergence of media and journalism, not to mention the imposition of ” a social death sentence“.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/5170170/Pirate-Bay-four-jailed-for-breaking-copyright-in-Swedish-file-sharing-trial.html

In a previous post, I examined the popular citizen journalism site, OhMyNews.com in order to fully absorb this new facet of modern journalism. Ever since this, however, I have worried that my argument is quite subjective since I chose to focus on one site. Thus, in order to put this problem to bed, I’ve decided to devote this post to the analysis of another popular citizen journalism site,  IndyMedia.com.

My first impressions of the site were quite positive indeed. The user is first greeted by a simple, yet user friendly homepage, with four principle categories encompassing all of the site’s content. The first one, known as “Top of the World” is a list of  top headlines from around the world. Once you click on the link, you are directed to an interactive map, which allows you to pick the region of the world you are most interested in.

Following this, the user encounters “Editorial Writers“. Here, the user is provided with a myriad of information on the world’s most renowned editorialists, from Bill O’Reilly, the host of his popular program, the O’Reilly Factor, as well as everyone’s favourite “teacher”, Ben Stein.

The third category, entitled “Movies/Gossip” provides the user with information of some of the most well-known gossip writers and film critics in the business. The final category, “Vintage Arcade” basically does what it says on the tin. After scrolling through the day’s events around the world, sampling some of the world’s most successful and renowned editorialists, as well as tapping into gossip’s grapevine, why not unwind by reliving some of the most addictive games ever created. From the infamous Pac-man to Tetris, this area has something for all tastes.

In conclusion, Indymedia.com is a very user friendly site that provides a good balance of traditional news and opinion to satisfy the every whim of their diverse audience.

Whilst browsing through the popular citizen journalism site, OhMyNews.com, I came across an article written by Kon Yeonghui highlighting the lack of knowledge that Korean teenagers have about the Korean War.

Entitled “How Many Teenagers Know About the Korean War?” the article explains that a staggering 50% of Korean teenagers had no inclination of when the Korean War erupted or who started it.

Yeonghui continued by divulging information on his early education and upbringing in South Korea. He mentioned how anti-Communist ideas were instilled in children from an early age and how the North were considered the enemy, rather than fellow citizens.

He concludes his article by quoting figures regarding this historical ignorance among teenagers as well as emphasising the progress that has been made between the two Koreas in recent years.

As informative as this article may be, hyperlinks are inextricably absent. The survey’s findings are merely stated, rather than any effort being made to link to the original source. Moreover,  Wikipedia hosts a page on the Korean War, which also would have been an adequate source of information for Yeonghui’s readers, particularly those who weren’t certain on the conflict’s general overview.

In conclusion, if citizen journalism sites such as this one wish to be considered in the same breadth as offiicial news sites, it would be advised to reconsider the issue of hyperlinking. By including links to information sourced, it eliminates doubt that the information is biased or fabricated and will undoubtedly strengthen the public persona of the citizen journalist.

* This image was created by Samantha Vickers, using Google Images and blogspot.com

Addiction is undoubtedly a scourge of the human condition. Society has witnessed colossal increases in cases of addiction and misuse. For instance, in Ireland, the findings of the Health Research Board‘s most recent survey indicated that problem alcohol cases increased by almost 1,500 in a twelve month period, from 5,876 in 2006 to 7,312 in 2007.

Although many of society’s most renowned addictions such as alcoholism and drug abuse are widely accepted as valid addictions, several addictions have emerged in recent years that conjure a great deal of doubt within society. Examples of these addictions vary from an addiction to Mc Vitie’s Jaffa Cakes to an addiction to eBay bidding. However, it was an addiction to the social networking site, Facebook that caught my eye.

As asinine as this new addiction may sound, the social networking site takes this affliction quite seriously. A 20 item questionnaire known as the Facebook Addiction Test (F.A.T) is located on Facebook’s Causes page, whose primary objective is to “measure mild, moderate, and severe levels of Facebook Addiction.”

The social networking site maintains that if an individual scores above 80 on the quiz then they must recognise their problem and seek professional help “promptly to prevent disruption to normal activities of daily living.” In fact, Facebook urges its users to join a non-profit organisation known as the Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation Inc.

Whether an addiction to Facebook is logically plausible is not for me to decide. It is the responsibility of the individual to determine whether this revelation is fact or F.A.D!

* This illustation was created by Samantha Vickers, using a combination of Google Images and the Facebook Logo.

]]> http://sj87.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/facebook-addiction-disorder-is-it-just-a-fad/feed/ 4 sj87 The Face of F.A.D