451 Press is relaunching today with an online magazine format, as opposed to the blog network format it held for several years. We still feel very strongly about building a site that shares a wide range of content topics with an authentic voice, but from a management perspective we’re hoping this format will be easier to manage and assure high-quality content. We are still testing out the reins of the new format and will surely be making changes around the site for the next few weeks. When we feel like the dust has settled and the hinges are all oiled, we’ll have an official launch announcement. For now? Please feel free to poke around and enjoy the content we’re trying to put together while testing out the new design. Please use the “Contact” link along the top of the page to send us a message if you find something broken or wonky.
Global Twitter Restrictions
Reply
Twitter changed the restrictions on some tweets in some countries yesterday. Before, the general policy was that a tweet would be removed on a global level by Twitter if a government requested that. Yesterday, however, the policy was adjusted.
Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country — while keeping it available in the rest of the world. We have also built in a way to communicate transparently to users when content is withheld, and why.
While this is – of course – running into criticism as it relates to free speech, many do think that Twitter chose the best option available to them.
Twitter would be banned outright in many countries if it did not agree to restrict Tweets, said Cynthia Wong of the Center for Technology & Democracy.
“The question is: What’s best for freedom of speech?” Wong said. “If Twitter was completely blocked from certain countries, is that really better? It looks like Twitter has done a good job in thinking through how to mitigate the human rights harm in complying with local law.”
Considering how big of a role Twitter has played in past civic uprisings globally, it seems obvious they’re still try to be a tool for the people and a voice to those silenced when they can. We’ll see how well it plays out when it’s first put to use.
New High-Resolution Satellite Image of Earth
Source: Flickr
This new high-resolution photo of earth was taken by NASA’s new satellite: Suomi NPP.
A ‘Blue Marble’ image of the Earth taken from the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA’s most recently launched Earth-observing satellite – Suomi NPP. This composite image uses a number of swaths of the Earth’s surface taken on January 4, 2012. The NPP satellite was renamed ‘Suomi NPP’ on January 24, 2012 to honor the late Verner E. Suomi of the University of Wisconsin.
Just take a moment an pan across the high-res image and see the exquisite detail the image renders.
Apple’s Success Divides Tablet Market
Apple’s iPad number are out reflecting the increase in sales over the Christmas season as compared to the quarter before the holidays. Looking at just the sales of the iPad, Apple sold 15 million units up from the 11 million in the previous quarter. This is an excellent jump but Apple also saw the sales of 37 million iPhones and 140 million downloads…on Christmas day. In other words? An excellent quarter that went above and beyond what analysts predicted.
So what does this mean for the rest of the tablet market?
According to this Op-Ed it looks like the market may be dividing in half with iPad taking the majority of the “higher end” tablet sales and the Kindle Fire taking the majority in the “lower end” of the market.
The obvious conclusion, which many have predicted: The tablet market is splitting in two. The iPad continues to be the gold standard, backed by iOS and its 170,000 tablet-specific apps. But the Kindle Fire points users directly to Amazon’s popular content platforms, and many owners see its smaller size and focus on media as advantages — especially when you consider it’s $300 cheaper than the least-expensive iPad.
The real story will also be how these tablet sales reflect on associated sales for both companies. How does the sell of an iPad affect the sales of iTunes or Apps? How does the sale of the Kindle Fire affect the sales of eBooks and movies? Either way – it does seem to all point to a split market for the time being.
Privacy Changes At Google
Google has decided to change privacy across all of their properties without giving users the ability to opt out of any of the changes. The idea is that by monitoring user actions across all Google properties (Google Search, Gmail, YouTube) and retaining that data as it associates with individual users, then Google will be able to create more user-specific ads on all platforms. For example, “If someone watches an NBA clip online and lives in Washington, the firm could advertise Washington Wizards tickets in that person’s Gmail account.”
Google also claims that the retention and analysis of this data will help the platforms deliver the proper information to the user. “When someone is searching for the word “jaguar,” Google would have a better idea of whether the person was interested in the animal or the car.”
This type of connection between web sites is what may concern many users. People who many not want the information in their emails to be connected to themselves as a user on properties such as YouTube.
“Google’s new privacy announcement is frustrating and a little frightening,” said Common Sense Media chief executive James Steyer. “Even if the company believes that tracking users across all platforms improves their services, consumers should still have the option to opt out — especially the kids and teens who are avid users of YouTube, Gmail and Google Search.”
This is all supposed to go into effect on March 1st. We’ll see if any adjustments are made to the changes before then.
Timeline Rolls Out To All Facebook Accounts
Facebook has announced that they will be rolling out the Timeline profile format to all users in the next few weeks. Facebook is offering the same 7-day “trial” period to the users that get the Timeline rollout so that they can go back and edit their Facebook histories before the Timeline profile is revealed on their public account. That “trial” period has been given to all users that have opted in early to the new profile display in the last few months. This gives a user 7 days to hide old statuses and links and pictures they don’t necessarily want easily found in your past Facebook use.
Of course, if Facebook has not rolled this out automatically to a user’s account, they can still get it by going here and clicking “Get Timeline.” They’ll get the same 7-day grace period to edit the Facebook past before that format is used permanently. Either way, every user will be using the Timeline format eventually, adding a bit more consistency to the social platform that has been pretty divided in the recent months.
4 Billion Videos Play Daily On YouTube
YouTube is now playing 4 billion videos per day to users, according to Reuters. Is this just part of the steady increase of users as can be expected on a popular platform, or could the recent redesign be playing a part in the recent growth of the service. There are 12 hours MORE uploaded every minute as compared the the numbers from May, 2011. That brings the current total to 60 hours of uploads a day. Considering the original programming they have on track down the line, these numbers could continue to increase exponentially in the months ahead. All of this growth increases revenue, especially with new ad formatting.
Last week, Google said that its business running graphical “display” ads – many of which are integrated alongside YouTube videos – was generating $5 billion in revenue on an annualized run rate basis.
Tablet/E-Reader Ownership Doubles
Even though ownership of e-readers and tablets stayed stagnant during the latter part of 2011, the numbers jumped through and after Christmas. Of course, this also coincided with the lower prices of the Amazon Fire and Nook Tablet which gave those who couldn’t afford an iPad cheaper options.
The number of Americans owning at least one of these digital reading devices jumped from 18% in December to 29% in January.
Even more specific, if you’re just looking at the table numbers we are now seeing 19% of adults owning tablets. As they become more affordable this number will surely rise as consumers opt to ditch the straight e-readers for the tablets.
Best Time Of Day For Sharing Content
We’ve all seen our twitter stream fill up with links to the same article and we all wish it was an article we had written. While content should be king in terms of quality getting shared, the article may have better luck passing through the statuses and tweets if it’s introduced during the right time of day. Or on the right day of the week.
This article at Social Fresh highlights just those ideas. If you want an article to have a great chance of being based down the digital line of social media, when should you publish it? When should you share it? And it doesn’t look like the data matches up for all times of content goals. If you want the best days for sharing, you need Thursdays and Wednesdays. However, if you’re looking for the best days for pageviews? Mondays and Tuesdays. But if you decide what day is best for you, what about time of day?
27% of all content shares occur between 8am and 12pm EST.
There is a spike at 9am and 10am and then a decline the rest of the day. There are also smaller but significant spikes in sharing at 2pm and 9pm EST. We like to share content in the morning as we catch up with news. We circle back and do the same after lunch as well as after dinner in the late evening.
Of course, this information is useless if you don’t generate content worth sharing. But if you think you have the content that you need, this article proves there’s plenty of information out that suggests to you the best time to share that content to maximize publicity.
A Wide Spectrum SOPA/PIPA Roundup
There has obviously been a lot discussed on the internet today regarding the SOPA/PIPA legislation. One of the funniest things around today seems to be the animated GIF from the comic The Oatmeal. This is especially poignant as he has been dealing with piracy concerning his content for awhile now. Yet he still took the time to create an informative response to the legislation as a protest. And it’s quite funny as well.
Another unintentionally humorous response came from Mark Zuckerberg. Many find this humorous as he sustains his own criticism with how he runs Facebook in terms of security and privacy. But today he stands on the same side as a lot of his detractors with this statement:
The internet is the most powerful tool we have for creating a more open and connected world. We can’t let poorly thought out laws get in the way of the internet’s development. Facebook opposes SOPA and PIPA, and we will continue to oppose any laws that will hurt the internet.
The world today needs political leaders who are pro-internet. We have been working with many of these folks for months on better alternatives to these current proposals. I encourage you to learn more about these issues and tell your congressmen that you want them to be pro-internet.
Source
While most of those detractors tend to take the stance that the writers of this legislation are just clueless, one writer at Mashable has adopted the opposing stance. That maybe the writers understand EXACTLY how content generation on the internet works and are looking to change it all intrinsically.
Yet the language in SOPA is so irrational that I can only assume that the authors and backers wanted nothing more than to fundamentally change the rules of the web: To shut down the open post fields, kill reposting (goodbye, Tumblr), end shared videos (sorry, YouTube), expand the definition of what it means to infringe (sorry, Twitter, no sharing links that aren’t yours).
And finally, the main motivating group behind the legislation (MPAA) speaks out against…the protests.
A so-called “blackout” is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals. It is our hope that the White House and the Congress will call on those who intend to stage this “blackout” to stop the hyperbole and PR stunts and engage in meaningful efforts to combat piracy.
Source
Google’s SOPA Protest
Google is going to protest SOPA tomorrow with the rest of the world. However, it’s not going dark like Wikipedia, nor is it openly lambasting those that do. Instead, Google is going to use the homepage on millions of computers worldwide and put a message of protest there for all to see.
Google confirmed in a statement that it will join Wikipedia, Reddit and other influential tech firms in staging protests of varying kinds against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA), which are backed by big entertainment and media interests.
“Like many businesses, entrepreneurs and web users, we oppose these bills because there are smart, targeted ways to shut down foreign rogue websites without asking American companies to censor the Internet,” a Google spokeswoman said. “So tomorrow we will be joining many other tech companies to highlight this issue on our US home page.”
