Kevin2015 ...

...is cutting edge internet TV and

something along the lines of Google Wave, an
even-more-instant-than-Twitter real-time-service that somehow gets news to
millions in a blink of an eye. That'll actually be it's name:
EvenMoreInstantThanTwitterRealTimeServiceThatImprovesOnTheIdeasOfGoogleWave.
Google Wave users will hate it.

eMatt

Matt D. Wonders what happens when the aggregators have little or nothing left to aggregate.
And he thinks the policy-makers still have a lot of power, even in eDemocracy.

All in all a typical day in TrinblogVoxLand

OK, Lisa is freaking out but in a really really interesting post and she wants an iPhone and intends to contribute to democracy and become part of complete storytelling.

Dan worries that people are blinded by the shining promise of technology without really insisting on the preservation of any humanistic standards to go with it. He is both pessimisatic and strangely hopeful.

And Courtney found this remarkable next-phase of the New York Times and correctly (I think) delved into Creative Commons because she noted the angst in the online world over who owns what as copyright ahd paywalls and the in-out flow of information becopme more pressing issues. The basic CC argument, I think, is: to get more famous, don't charge money. But don't lose ownership. Then, if and when you get famous you can think some more of it. Noted that Lessig (see ignorance post) licenses his book through CC.

Nobody asked me, but I think there's a backlash coming against the free flow of information. Consider the Fairey/AP case.
And then there's Murdoch's block Google movement, which we need to talk about tonight.

You do/don't like the idea of posting leaked material to reddit and then letting the crowd sort it

Jessica raised some interesting questions on whether the (claimed) mission gets accomplished.
So did Allison, although she liked the set-up of reddit.

The rational ignorance argument

So Jessica's blog led me to this lengthy article basically arguing that transparency -- one of the pillars of eGovernance -- has its downsides.
Sheila would call that reporting without context.
Matt D. Would call it the problem of everybody.
Jess cited this response and there was this one on the same site.

Mostly, I think this stuff is not that hard.
If you can get to this file, you can begin asking questions, good questions that need to be asked. And you don't need to be a reporter.

Sally2015

Sally really stepped up on this thought experiment.

Update on what Aldon is thinking about

I didn't know there were two different Epics.

My assignment and thought experiment for you

Watch the scary 2014 video again. Then imagine a similar not-too-distant future. The NY Times, as we know it, is gone. So is the Courant. So are some other old semi-reliable big media models.

What do YOU see in its place?

What are YOUR content consumption habits, at that point?

What role do you see yourself playing, possibly even as a content creator?

(Support your ideas with links whenever possible.)

Things to ponder.

1. the hot new term is mutualization. What does it mean? What role would it play in your vision?
Here Shirky talks about using the same idea to save local book stores. (Even Dan would be in favor of that!) Note his use of the term "third place" to describe a type of environment. One incredible visionary described, earlier this year, how that idea of a space or place could be applied to news.

2. In the eDemocracy model, we almost do without journalists. New tools are added almost every day. You could "know" almost anything you wanted to know, but then what would you do? (I'm asking!)

3. Another option is that linked causes would create the journalism they want. Nonprofits with mutual interests -- maybe even mutual interest not immediately evident -- could band together to create media. But then who consumes the media? What are the other questions that crop up and how do you answer those?

I've signed on as a paid advisor to the yearlong project, which will happen
largely virtually. The idea is that the alternative, progressive nonprofits —
the National Wildlife Federation, National Civic League, Freespeech.tv, Mother
Jones and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy — will assign point
people to work with producers selected by San Francisco State's Renaissance
Journalism Center.

4. Another argument you could make is that journalism of all kinds will take a back seat to PR and advertising, that those sectors have been faster to master. In which case, news platforms like Foursquare might take over and make where you go, what you buy, what you like the main story of interest to you. This guy, for instance, loves FourSquare, but I don't think he's worried about the future of journalism.

1. It’s a geolocation service that you use on your Smart Phone (I use it on my
iPhone and on my Droid). It competes with a raft of services like Britekite,
Google Latitude, Gowalla, and others.2. It’s a game. You check in where you are
and it gives you points and prizes.3. It enhances your experience in each
location. Check in at the Half Moon Bay Ritz and you’ll see tons of “tips” that
people have left for you. Francine Hardaway, for instance, tells you where the
best dog beach is. I tell you how to save $40 on smores. Other people tell you
that Tres Amigos is the best Mexican place nearby, etc.4. It’s an advertising
platform that enables local businesses to give you offers based on where you
check in. Check in at the San Francisco Apple Store, for instance, and the
Marriott across the street could offer you $5 off of a cocktail to get you to
cross the street and come over.

Oh, wait, maybe he does care. I love this post, where he says the little things make you smarter. And he argues that the little things are left out of a thing like memeorandum, which I admit to using pretty addictively. Ah, mememorandum. We never did get to discuss that. Note how other journalists now use it as a way to measure how widespread a meme is.

A Revolution?

Right around the time our class is ending, there will be a flurry of activity in this movement exploring this idea that coalitions of programmers, developers, activists and citizen journalists could run around the outside of lobbyists. elected bigshots and the entrenched professional press.
So you've got a Hackathon.

And the Other Future of News. (#ofon)

A kind of convergence

So, this week Wikileaks -- an interesting concept in its own right -- released an incredible dump of 9/11-related messages .
It's of course way too much for any small group to humans to sort through.
So one of the places it went is to a special reddit thread where the act of user-voting would theoretically flush significant material toward the top.
Reddit itself is worth a look.

Depth, of a sort

One argument you could make is that what the web needs is not "the next new thing" but a chance to kind of catch its breath. It's a situation in which the amount of content vastly outstrips our ability to consume, store or even sort.
One reason I like the very old-fashioned Metafilter is that it's one of the places that guides you past some of the superficial stuff that so annoys Dan.
I mean, come on, somebody making Kant fun?

"The Road"

Getting warmed up.
I'm pretty sure I taught this video in 2005, my first class about the internet. Weidly enough, as Aldon Hynes will say, some its predictions have already come true but a lot of its implicit questions have not really been figured out even now.

Another question for next Monday:
Is there a safe way to manage your web identity?

Much more to come.

I still don't know jack

I think one of the keys to Twitter is the slight impression of anonymity. It's less binding-to-you than Facebook.
Twitter is about content and conversation -- and the blurring of the two.
The "following" feature is kind of interesting. In a way it's a lot more invasive than Facebook.
Oh, I give up.
You guys are going to have to figure this out.

Scoble

Doing Twitter wrong?

Teach me about Twitter

Some basics: Cortney C. has some useful guides and hints.
And Kasey found a very cool way of telling the story of T.

Following:
This, via Corutney A.

Sally: "Like a small, easy Web."
How Courtney C. came to like Twitter (better than blogging, anyway).
Sheila, on why she likes it.
Greg on why he likes it -- a very McLuhanian take.
Courtney A. just doesn't frackin' like it. And you know she tried. And I know what she means, too. Twitter almost isn't enough of a place. She also found this response to unflattering Twitter theories.
Jess really tried too. But it seemed hollow.
I like this (via Lisa) about the political uses of Twitter. And this which calls it a totally alien form of communcation

uses:
Matt D. "Real time story telling."
And poetry!
Matt Fitz on hashtags.
Kasey: Cultivate an audience and watch the news go by.
Searching. (Kasey found that and said this. We should try an in-class experiment.) I like the idea that you can get unbranded information, but so far in my experiments, I didn't find much,. Wrong search topics?
David says when you post a question, someone answers.

Greg likes the geostamping., but Allison doesn't.
Courtney C likes this, instead of Tweedeck.

Making us stupid?

Kind of what we have been talking about all year.

More ...

Kevin on Twitter Apps.

As someone who regularly uses Twitter (yet doesn't actually tweet all that
much), some may find it odd that I rarely, if ever, actually visit Twitter.com.
While I have nothing against Twitter's website per say, I do find that user an
application for my Twitter viewing is much better. I've tried many (and given
them a fair shake) desktop apps ranging from Tweetie to twhirl to Twitterrific to TweetDeck and on the iPhone, I've
tried TweetDeck and TwitterFon.By far, my favorite, on both platforms, is
TweetDeck. The layout is simple and user-friendly. It's a full featured app that
is powerful yet accessible. It's easy to navigate, easy to pick up yet easy to
utilize to its full potential.I do find it interesting that there is such a
proliferation of Twitter Apps readily available for free use. Unlike the other
major social networks, such as Facebook or MySpace, Twitter Apps have thrived to
the point that I'm not sure I know of any of my friends who actually utilize
Twitter by going to the service's actual website. The app experience allows your
feed to be open all the time, running in the background, allowing quick access
for checking Twitter whenever you want without having to visit the site. I guess
I've become the de-facto app guy for the class so it probably doesn't come as a
surprise that I support and use an app for this but in this case, the app
geniunely makes a Twitter experience easier and more effective.

And on differences with FB

Just as a start to my week's posts (I'm a Twitter believer), I think the
easiest way to look at the difference between the Facebook Status Update Feed
vs. Twitter's feed is that Facebook's is designed to keep track of people you
know. The beauty of Twitter lies in it's ability to follow people you don't. As
a result, where Facebook is a way to keep tabs on your friends and their
activities, Twitter is much more a true news feed from around the world. It is
entirely user-generated and operated.Some people were complaining last night
that they didn't have enough people to follow to make Twitter worthwhile. I'm
not sure Twitter is meant to just check in on friends. It is easy, however, for
people you want to hear more from (sports figures/writers, movie/music critics,
industry leaders, stars) to broadcast their thoughts. I don't necessarily "know"
or need to know ESPN's Adam Schefter but I "know" the Twitter Adam Schefter, who
has the best breaking news on the NFL around.

Kevin Knows Twitter

Here are his fave five.

Here's my list of 5 potential uses of Twitter:1. Crowd-Sourcing: A quick
search for a hashtag or trending topic will give one a pretty good idea as to
what the masses are saying about it. This was initially more difficult without
the use of a client desktop application but since Twitter has implemented a
viable search on their own site, this is a quick and easy process. Let's say I
wanted to see what Eagles fans thought about Sunday Night Football. Search for "Iggles" and there you go.2.
News Source: One can get breaking news information quicker on Twitter than any
place else on the 'net. Whether you choose to follow news organizations such as
the NY Times or rely strictly on the
idea of citizen journalism, a Twitter user can get to the point info fast and
easy.3. Blogging Platform: Tired of writing longer blog entries? Twitter
alleviates that with it's 140 character restriction. When a Twitter user is
efficient and up to date (Adam
Schefter), you can get the information you want without having to sift
through a longer blog entry. Twitter forces the user to boil down his/her post
to the bare minimum, a blast of information without the (sometimes) needless
opinion.4. Keeping up with Friends: An offshoot of #3 and an intrusion on
Facebook's (which has essentially adopted Twitter's format for their news feed)
territory, one could use Twitter for what doubters hate Twitter for. If you want
to tweet that you're sitting watching TV while eating Cheetos, have at it. Just
don't expect anyone other than your friends to follow you.5. Meeting New People:
While Facebook is designed for keeping track of people you know, Twitter is much
easier to find people with similar interests and seeing what they have to say.
Utilize the excellent WeFollow and you can
find Twitterers for just about any topic you want to learn about.

#here

Interesting use of hashtags.
People use them to create a kind of parallel same-time reality.

Or as organizing tools.

Coupla things

Sheila has the cool idea of creating a #Trinblogwar hashtag.

And then there's this.