Not content to merely challenge Internet carriers in the mobile phone world, Google is now challenging them in the fiber world as well.
Google Wednesday announced on its blog that is constructing an experimental fiber network that the company says will "deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections."
10 great Google Apps add-ons for the enterprise
Google says the network will have three main goals: to foster the development of next-generation applications, to explore new ways of deploying fiber networks and to provide a model for an open access network governed by network neutrality rules. Google says that it will offer access to the network in "a small number of trial locations" and that it will serve from 50,000 to 500,000 people.
Google's fiber network proposal is somewhat similar to its decision in 2007 to launch its own mobile operating system, in that both initiatives reflect Google's willingness to use its clout to change how carriers operate. When Google unveiled the Android platform to the rest of the world, it was the company's way of pushing the mobile phone industry toward more openness and of fostering great application development. Because Android is an open source platform, it can be adopted by device manufacturers for free and can provide a no-cost platform for application development.
Similarly, Google's decision to release its own Nexus One smartphone was its way of trying to divorce mobile devices from specific carriers. So if AT&T were to begin offering the Nexus One, for instance, users could switch from their T-Mobile accounts to an AT&T account without purchasing a new device. Google hopes that this will lead to more carrier-agnostic devices in the future that will allow users to switch carriers without ditching their favorite mobile phones.
And now, with the construction of its experimental fiber network, Google is trying to push its vision for how the Internet as a whole should operate. With typical broadband speeds lagging behind those in countries such as South Korea and Japan, Google is seemingly trying to give U.S. carriers a kick in the pants by saying, "If we can build a network this fast that serves large numbers of people, so can you."
And what's more, the Google network will be open access, meaning third-party service providers will be able to use it to deliver Internet to their customers. In this way, Google is trying to bring back discarded open-access rules that used to require incumbent telecom companies such as Verizon and AT&T to allow ISPs such as Earthlink to buy space on their DSL broadband networks at discount prices. Before the Federal Communications Commission tossed out these open-access rules in 2005, incumbent carriers would typically wholesale access to their networks to other ISPs that would compete with each other to sell Internet services to consumers and businesses.
But while Google may intend for its network to serve as a model for other carriers, there is no guarantee that it will lead the incumbent carriers to follow suit. After all, the success of the open source Android operating system hasn't made proprietary operating systems such as the iPhone OS or BlackBerry any less popular or profitable. What remains to be seen, then, will be whether the Google network will lead to a revolution or will remain just a pretty model.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Billionaires Kill America's Cup Sailing Tournament
Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaires Larry Ellison and Ernesto Bertarelli have turned an America’s Cup boom into bust.
A 30-month wrangle over rules canceled a 19-team qualifying event, scared off sponsors like Banco Santander SA, UBS AG and Nestle SA and shrank the organizing budget to 8 million euros ($11.1 million) from a record 230 million euros in 2007, organizers said.
The wait continued today. The start of the best-of-three sailing regatta in Valencia, Spain, was postponed for two days because of a lack of regular wind speed today, race officials said. The event is sandwiched between the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. International interest has declined so much that organizers gave away the television rights, officials of Bertarelli’s Alinghi team said.
“This is not going to be a windfall for anyone,” Gary Jobson, the president of U.S. Sailing and the cup-winning navigator in 1977, said in an interview. “It’s going to cost them both a lot of money.”
The economic impact of the 159-year-old event, sailing’s oldest competition, is less than 10 percent of the $7 billion last time, according to Tom Cannon, a sports business professor at the U.K.’s Liverpool University. There are no infrastructure benefits and most of the about-$500 million spent will be on the two competing boats, Cannon said.
Switzerland’s Bertarelli, 44, said his team has struggled to get sponsors to replace UBS and Nestle, which used the last event to promote its Nespresso brand. The 65-year-old Ellison’s BMW-Oracle retained Bayerische Motoren Werke AG while losing backers including insurer Allianz AG.
95% Legal
“It’s a difficult sell,” Alinghi captain Brad Butterworth, 50, said in an interview. This America’s Cup is “95 percent legal, 5 percent sport.”
Bertarelli got $10 billion in the 2006 sale of family drug company Serono SA, while Ellison, chief executive officer of Oracle Corp. is worth about $22.5 billion, making him the world’s fourth-richest person according to Forbes magazine.
Bertarelli has accused Ellison of turning the event into a spending race to suit his challenge, comparing the U.S. billionaire’s tactics to “corporate raiding.”
“Larry has more money than anyone else, so why would he like a Cup that costs less,” Bertarelli said in an interview last month. “He likes a Cup that costs more.”
Oracle team CEO Russell Coutts, 47, says Alinghi consistently tried to bend the rules in its favor. Ellison didn’t respond to a request for an interview for this story.
No Challengers
“Bertarelli’s new protocol did not make commercial sense,” Coutts said. “Most corporate sponsors want the competition regulations to be stable and provide a fair format and rules for the teams.”
The billionaires’ spat has even touched on which has the better business and sailing credentials. Bertarelli was to have been Alinghi’s helmsman today, while Ellison wasn’t named among 10 sailors on the BMW-Oracle boat, according to team statements. Ellison said early today his participation depends on the weather conditions.
It’s the first time there hasn’t been a qualifying contest since 1988, ostracizing challengers from countries including South Africa, Italy and New Zealand that competed last time. The 2007 event made a profit of 66 million euros shared between 12 teams. For this year, Geneva-based Alinghi ceded management of the commercial rights to Valencia’s city hall and regional government.
“The America’s Cup has lost the sense of national importance,” Cannon said. “From being one of the four or five biggest sports events, it’s become frankly parochial.”
TV Rights
The Spanish authorities are airing the event on the Internet for the first time. The value of the media rights is limited because the event could be over in as little as three days, according to Jerome Pels, general secretary of sailing’s ruling body ISAF, which is based in Southampton, England. The last edition, including a qualifying event sponsored by luxury- goods maker LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, lasted three months. Today, a few hundred spectators were milling around the port zone, where a big screen has been set up to show the racing.
The cup dates back to 1851, when John Cox Stevens, commodore of the New York Yacht Club, challenged U.K. skippers to a race off the Isle of Wight. Cox’s boat, America, won and his club defended the trophy for 132 years until an Australian challenger snapped the streak. Alinghi became the first European winner in 2003 and defended the title successfully four years later. CNN founder Ted Turner and the Aga Khan are among previous team backers.
Legal Tussle
The legal tussle over this year’s race began when the U.S. team challenged Alinghi for naming specially formed Spanish yacht club Club Nautico Espanol de Vela to co-write the rules. BMW-Oracle won the right to become challenger and in May 2009 a judge in New York ordered a resolution with a so-called Deed of Gift match.
To be sure, it’s not the first time there has been a dispute between wealthy America’s Cup team owners. The last Deed of Gift match in 1988 between Michael Fay’s New Zealand challenger and Dennis Conner’s Stars and Stripes also descended into acrimony over boat regulations.
In 1903, U.K. tea trader Thomas Lipton began a 10-year wrangle with the New York Yacht Club over rules, only for World War I to delay the contest until 1920, according to America’s Cup historian Jacques Taglang.
“It was the same type of discussion but with more politeness,” Taglang said. “There was a lot of letter writing and chatting.”
‘Dogzilla’ Boat
The boats for this edition will be the fastest in America’s Cup history, team officials said. Oracle’s “Dogzilla” has sailed at more than 41 knots, or about 46 miles-per-hour, CEO Coutts said. The trimaran, whose 190-foot carbon-fiber foil is bigger than the wing of an Airbus A380 passenger jet, gets its nickname from the D.O.G. moniker for the Deed of Gift match.
The Alinghi catamaran, with a width similar to two tennis courts side-by-side, is more geared towards lighter winds, Coutts said. With the boats too big for most regattas and tricky to transport, Ellison and Bertarelli may not get much mileage on their investment after this week.
The Swiss team’s boat, which had to be airlifted over the Alps from its landlocked base by a Russian military helicopter, may be transported back to Lake Geneva to try and set yachting speed records, Butterworth said
“It’s not something that you just give to a yacht club or weekend sailor,” Butterworth said. “It’s pretty quick.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Duff in Valencia at aduff4@bloomberg.net; Aaron Kuriloff in New York at akuriloff@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: February 8, 2010 12:47 EST
A 30-month wrangle over rules canceled a 19-team qualifying event, scared off sponsors like Banco Santander SA, UBS AG and Nestle SA and shrank the organizing budget to 8 million euros ($11.1 million) from a record 230 million euros in 2007, organizers said.
The wait continued today. The start of the best-of-three sailing regatta in Valencia, Spain, was postponed for two days because of a lack of regular wind speed today, race officials said. The event is sandwiched between the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. International interest has declined so much that organizers gave away the television rights, officials of Bertarelli’s Alinghi team said.
“This is not going to be a windfall for anyone,” Gary Jobson, the president of U.S. Sailing and the cup-winning navigator in 1977, said in an interview. “It’s going to cost them both a lot of money.”
The economic impact of the 159-year-old event, sailing’s oldest competition, is less than 10 percent of the $7 billion last time, according to Tom Cannon, a sports business professor at the U.K.’s Liverpool University. There are no infrastructure benefits and most of the about-$500 million spent will be on the two competing boats, Cannon said.
Switzerland’s Bertarelli, 44, said his team has struggled to get sponsors to replace UBS and Nestle, which used the last event to promote its Nespresso brand. The 65-year-old Ellison’s BMW-Oracle retained Bayerische Motoren Werke AG while losing backers including insurer Allianz AG.
95% Legal
“It’s a difficult sell,” Alinghi captain Brad Butterworth, 50, said in an interview. This America’s Cup is “95 percent legal, 5 percent sport.”
Bertarelli got $10 billion in the 2006 sale of family drug company Serono SA, while Ellison, chief executive officer of Oracle Corp. is worth about $22.5 billion, making him the world’s fourth-richest person according to Forbes magazine.
Bertarelli has accused Ellison of turning the event into a spending race to suit his challenge, comparing the U.S. billionaire’s tactics to “corporate raiding.”
“Larry has more money than anyone else, so why would he like a Cup that costs less,” Bertarelli said in an interview last month. “He likes a Cup that costs more.”
Oracle team CEO Russell Coutts, 47, says Alinghi consistently tried to bend the rules in its favor. Ellison didn’t respond to a request for an interview for this story.
No Challengers
“Bertarelli’s new protocol did not make commercial sense,” Coutts said. “Most corporate sponsors want the competition regulations to be stable and provide a fair format and rules for the teams.”
The billionaires’ spat has even touched on which has the better business and sailing credentials. Bertarelli was to have been Alinghi’s helmsman today, while Ellison wasn’t named among 10 sailors on the BMW-Oracle boat, according to team statements. Ellison said early today his participation depends on the weather conditions.
It’s the first time there hasn’t been a qualifying contest since 1988, ostracizing challengers from countries including South Africa, Italy and New Zealand that competed last time. The 2007 event made a profit of 66 million euros shared between 12 teams. For this year, Geneva-based Alinghi ceded management of the commercial rights to Valencia’s city hall and regional government.
“The America’s Cup has lost the sense of national importance,” Cannon said. “From being one of the four or five biggest sports events, it’s become frankly parochial.”
TV Rights
The Spanish authorities are airing the event on the Internet for the first time. The value of the media rights is limited because the event could be over in as little as three days, according to Jerome Pels, general secretary of sailing’s ruling body ISAF, which is based in Southampton, England. The last edition, including a qualifying event sponsored by luxury- goods maker LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, lasted three months. Today, a few hundred spectators were milling around the port zone, where a big screen has been set up to show the racing.
The cup dates back to 1851, when John Cox Stevens, commodore of the New York Yacht Club, challenged U.K. skippers to a race off the Isle of Wight. Cox’s boat, America, won and his club defended the trophy for 132 years until an Australian challenger snapped the streak. Alinghi became the first European winner in 2003 and defended the title successfully four years later. CNN founder Ted Turner and the Aga Khan are among previous team backers.
Legal Tussle
The legal tussle over this year’s race began when the U.S. team challenged Alinghi for naming specially formed Spanish yacht club Club Nautico Espanol de Vela to co-write the rules. BMW-Oracle won the right to become challenger and in May 2009 a judge in New York ordered a resolution with a so-called Deed of Gift match.
To be sure, it’s not the first time there has been a dispute between wealthy America’s Cup team owners. The last Deed of Gift match in 1988 between Michael Fay’s New Zealand challenger and Dennis Conner’s Stars and Stripes also descended into acrimony over boat regulations.
In 1903, U.K. tea trader Thomas Lipton began a 10-year wrangle with the New York Yacht Club over rules, only for World War I to delay the contest until 1920, according to America’s Cup historian Jacques Taglang.
“It was the same type of discussion but with more politeness,” Taglang said. “There was a lot of letter writing and chatting.”
‘Dogzilla’ Boat
The boats for this edition will be the fastest in America’s Cup history, team officials said. Oracle’s “Dogzilla” has sailed at more than 41 knots, or about 46 miles-per-hour, CEO Coutts said. The trimaran, whose 190-foot carbon-fiber foil is bigger than the wing of an Airbus A380 passenger jet, gets its nickname from the D.O.G. moniker for the Deed of Gift match.
The Alinghi catamaran, with a width similar to two tennis courts side-by-side, is more geared towards lighter winds, Coutts said. With the boats too big for most regattas and tricky to transport, Ellison and Bertarelli may not get much mileage on their investment after this week.
The Swiss team’s boat, which had to be airlifted over the Alps from its landlocked base by a Russian military helicopter, may be transported back to Lake Geneva to try and set yachting speed records, Butterworth said
“It’s not something that you just give to a yacht club or weekend sailor,” Butterworth said. “It’s pretty quick.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Alex Duff in Valencia at aduff4@bloomberg.net; Aaron Kuriloff in New York at akuriloff@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: February 8, 2010 12:47 EST
Monday, February 08, 2010
Irbtrax Tweaking to Get Pepsi Interested in Irbtrax SEO
Online PR News – 06-February-2010 – Irbtrax SEO Internet Marketing is offering Pepsi a free promotion for their Social Media Marketing strategy called 'Pepsi Refresh Project'. The 'Refresh Project' has been widely acclaimed as the reason Pepsi didn't run Super Bowl ads this year. As such, it's setting a precedent on many levels that will be closely monitored by all forward thinking companies.
Irbtrax has independently analyzed the 'Pepsi Refresh Project' campaign and found that it's innovative use of Social Media can be enhanced by including one important missing ingredient. This missing ingredient would be the cornerstone of the free promotion offered by Irbtrax and is perfectly aligned with Pepsi's Social Media based 'Refresh Project'.
“We were very impressed with the Pepsi Refresh Project because it's not only a great example of the power of Social Media Marketing it also incorporates Advocacy. This is definitely a worthy and winning combination.”
According to Irbtrax SEO Internet Marketing founder Scott Moir-"We were very impressed with the Pepsi Refresh Project because it's not only a great example of the power of Social Media Marketing it also incorporates Advocacy. This is definitely a worthy and winning combination."
Moir adds that the 'Pepsi Refresh Project' social media marketing plan as presently constructed could significantly benefit from one key missing ingredient which would maximize it's reach and results. Further stating that this ingredient would be presented to Pepsi if someone with the ability to influence their marketing decisions contacted Irbtrax.
It's also understood that Pepsi has already established a budget and marketing course for this project. Which is why the offer is free of cost with no conditions attached. This 'missing ingredient' has tremendous flexibility and is rapidly adaptable to real time market demands.
For information about Irbtrax visit their resource website displayed below the Media section of this release or feel free to contact Irbtrax using their brief and private online feedback form.
About: Irbtrax provides specialized Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Public Relations and Market Research Solutions for businesses seeking a competitive advantage. Including optimizing Web Marketing efforts for Google Caffeine and using traditional methods in non traditional ways.
This release was SEO, SoMed, and Google Caffeine enhanced by Irbtrax in cooperation with www.Onlineprnews.com
Irbtrax has independently analyzed the 'Pepsi Refresh Project' campaign and found that it's innovative use of Social Media can be enhanced by including one important missing ingredient. This missing ingredient would be the cornerstone of the free promotion offered by Irbtrax and is perfectly aligned with Pepsi's Social Media based 'Refresh Project'.
“We were very impressed with the Pepsi Refresh Project because it's not only a great example of the power of Social Media Marketing it also incorporates Advocacy. This is definitely a worthy and winning combination.”
According to Irbtrax SEO Internet Marketing founder Scott Moir-"We were very impressed with the Pepsi Refresh Project because it's not only a great example of the power of Social Media Marketing it also incorporates Advocacy. This is definitely a worthy and winning combination."
Moir adds that the 'Pepsi Refresh Project' social media marketing plan as presently constructed could significantly benefit from one key missing ingredient which would maximize it's reach and results. Further stating that this ingredient would be presented to Pepsi if someone with the ability to influence their marketing decisions contacted Irbtrax.
It's also understood that Pepsi has already established a budget and marketing course for this project. Which is why the offer is free of cost with no conditions attached. This 'missing ingredient' has tremendous flexibility and is rapidly adaptable to real time market demands.
For information about Irbtrax visit their resource website displayed below the Media section of this release or feel free to contact Irbtrax using their brief and private online feedback form.
About: Irbtrax provides specialized Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Public Relations and Market Research Solutions for businesses seeking a competitive advantage. Including optimizing Web Marketing efforts for Google Caffeine and using traditional methods in non traditional ways.
This release was SEO, SoMed, and Google Caffeine enhanced by Irbtrax in cooperation with www.Onlineprnews.com
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Bruce Sets the Record Straight
Friday, February 5, 2010 at 02:17 PM
On Thursday, the famed rocker Bruce Springsteen demanded that a court remove his name from a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against a bar in Midtown Manhattan.
Filed on Wednesday in Manhattan Federal Court, the suit alleged that Connolly's Pub and Restaurant on W 45 Street cashed in on cover charges from customers who came to hear a Bruce Springsteen cover band, the New York Daily News reports.
The plaintiffs, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, demanded that the bar pay a licensing fee for playing the copyrighted songs, and reportedly named Springsteen as a claimant without his permission.
"Bruce Springsteen had no knowledge of this lawsuit, was not asked if he would participate as a named plaintiff and would not have agreed to do so if he had been asked," the singer's publicity firm, Shore Fire Media, said in a statement.
The ASCAP requires that an annual $2,700 fee be paid by bands or venues that wish to play songs for which it owns the rights.
According to MyFox New York, the ASCAP alleged that Connolly's had been playing copyrighted music without permission for more than two years and had ignored about 20 warnings of alleged misconduct.
On Thursday, the famed rocker Bruce Springsteen demanded that a court remove his name from a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against a bar in Midtown Manhattan.
Filed on Wednesday in Manhattan Federal Court, the suit alleged that Connolly's Pub and Restaurant on W 45 Street cashed in on cover charges from customers who came to hear a Bruce Springsteen cover band, the New York Daily News reports.
The plaintiffs, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, demanded that the bar pay a licensing fee for playing the copyrighted songs, and reportedly named Springsteen as a claimant without his permission.
"Bruce Springsteen had no knowledge of this lawsuit, was not asked if he would participate as a named plaintiff and would not have agreed to do so if he had been asked," the singer's publicity firm, Shore Fire Media, said in a statement.
The ASCAP requires that an annual $2,700 fee be paid by bands or venues that wish to play songs for which it owns the rights.
According to MyFox New York, the ASCAP alleged that Connolly's had been playing copyrighted music without permission for more than two years and had ignored about 20 warnings of alleged misconduct.
Saturday, February 06, 2010
New Face for New Star Coming Out in Vegas
Get ready to say hello to Heidi Montag’s new face… and neck… and ears… and breasts… waist… and buttocks.
The Hills star and her hubby, Spencer Pratt, will be hosting Pure Nightclub on February 13 for some pre-Valentine’s Day festivities. It will be the couple’s first public appearance since Heidi’s reported 10 cosmetic “procedures” (not “surgeries,” the blonde has clarified), which included liposuction in some places (neck, waist, hips, thighs) and fat injections in others (buttocks, cheeks, lips) as well as a smattering of Botox and some boob work.
With so much of her body being only a few months old, it begs the question: Will Heidi’s new assets be carded?
The 23-year-old reality TV darling is no stranger to the Caesars hotspot. Montag made an appearance at the nightclub’s New Year’s Eve 2008 celebration – hosted by then-new parents Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson-Wentz. What was her New Year’s resolution? She sweetly said she wanted to learn to cook. Spencer chimed in that he wanted her to make him chicken noodle soup.
Since then she’s starred in The Soup favorite I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here and has recently released a full-length album, titled Superficial. America’s watched her go from half-hearted Betty Crocker wannabe to a life-size Barbie doll and they’ve been glued to the set for every single minute.
Heidi recently told ABC’s Good Morning America that her main message to young girls is “beauty is really within.” That may be true, but when her fans show up in droves at Pure on February 13 they’ll be hoping to catch a glimpse of Heidi’s brand-spanking new exterior, not that there was anything wrong with the original.
The Hills star and her hubby, Spencer Pratt, will be hosting Pure Nightclub on February 13 for some pre-Valentine’s Day festivities. It will be the couple’s first public appearance since Heidi’s reported 10 cosmetic “procedures” (not “surgeries,” the blonde has clarified), which included liposuction in some places (neck, waist, hips, thighs) and fat injections in others (buttocks, cheeks, lips) as well as a smattering of Botox and some boob work.
With so much of her body being only a few months old, it begs the question: Will Heidi’s new assets be carded?
The 23-year-old reality TV darling is no stranger to the Caesars hotspot. Montag made an appearance at the nightclub’s New Year’s Eve 2008 celebration – hosted by then-new parents Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson-Wentz. What was her New Year’s resolution? She sweetly said she wanted to learn to cook. Spencer chimed in that he wanted her to make him chicken noodle soup.
Since then she’s starred in The Soup favorite I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here and has recently released a full-length album, titled Superficial. America’s watched her go from half-hearted Betty Crocker wannabe to a life-size Barbie doll and they’ve been glued to the set for every single minute.
Heidi recently told ABC’s Good Morning America that her main message to young girls is “beauty is really within.” That may be true, but when her fans show up in droves at Pure on February 13 they’ll be hoping to catch a glimpse of Heidi’s brand-spanking new exterior, not that there was anything wrong with the original.
Friday, February 05, 2010
Hovercards Come to Twitter
"Hovercards" aren't quite as exciting as they sound, but they're a cool new feature, nonetheless. Twitter is introducing the feature this week, which lets you get more information about a user simply by hovering over their name in your Twitter timelines.
Doing so will pop up an informational card about the user, including their location and the follower toolbar, which lets you follow, block, report, direct message, or reply to the user, all without leaving your homepage.
Twitter is still in the process of rolling out the feature to all users.
http://www.appscout.com/2010/02/twitter_intros_hovercards.php
Doing so will pop up an informational card about the user, including their location and the follower toolbar, which lets you follow, block, report, direct message, or reply to the user, all without leaving your homepage.
Twitter is still in the process of rolling out the feature to all users.
http://www.appscout.com/2010/02/twitter_intros_hovercards.php
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Young People Prefer Facebook to Blogging
By Mary Brophy Marcus, USA TODAY
A new report paints a picture of how teens and young adults are using social media these days.
Teens are eating up Facebook but are not so keen on Twitter, and they are not blogging as much as they used to, according to the Pew Internet Project's report.
"Out of all the data, we think in some ways it's most surprising to see a decline in blogging," says Pew researcher Amanda Lenhart, who co-wrote the report, "Social Media and Mobile Internet Use Among Teens and Young Adults."
The report highlights data gathered from two telephone surveys in September, one that focused on teens ages 12-17 and a second survey of adults 18 and older.
Lenhart says blogging among teens and young adults has plummeted to half what it was in 2006. In that year, 28% of teens ages 12-17 and adults ages 18-29 were bloggers. By the fall of 2009, the numbers had dropped to 14% of teens and 15% of young adults. During the same period, the percentage of online adults over 30 who were bloggers rose from 7% in 2006 to 11% in 2009.
"What we think is really going on here — why young people aren't doing blogs anymore — is that there's been a move from MySpace, which put blogging front and center, to Facebook, which doesn't have that," Lenhart says.
The report also indicates that wireless connectivity is high among adults under 30, and social networking continues to climb.
But Twitter hasn't gained much ground with teens — only 8% of 12- to 17-year-olds who go online say they ever use it. That's unusual, because teenagers have a history of being early adopters of nearly every online activity, Lenhart says.
Lenhart says researchers asked some teens in focus groups about their Twitter perceptions.
"Most had no idea what it was," Lenhart says. "Some knew it as 'that thing Lance Armstrong and other celebrities do.' "
She says there may be a perception with Twitter that you have to "feed the beast," and that may keep them away, Lenhart says.
"To quote my 15 year-old-son, 'Twitter is lame,'" says Lee Aase, manager of social media at Mayo Clinic. He says Facebook and texting may be satisfying teen chat needs.
"They're so into text-messaging that that niche is already sort of filled for them," he says.
Aase also says some teenagers may grow back into blogging as they hit adulthood: "Blogging has become away to communicate with the world, about more meaningful issues, not just about communicating to friends."
A new report paints a picture of how teens and young adults are using social media these days.
Teens are eating up Facebook but are not so keen on Twitter, and they are not blogging as much as they used to, according to the Pew Internet Project's report.
"Out of all the data, we think in some ways it's most surprising to see a decline in blogging," says Pew researcher Amanda Lenhart, who co-wrote the report, "Social Media and Mobile Internet Use Among Teens and Young Adults."
The report highlights data gathered from two telephone surveys in September, one that focused on teens ages 12-17 and a second survey of adults 18 and older.
Lenhart says blogging among teens and young adults has plummeted to half what it was in 2006. In that year, 28% of teens ages 12-17 and adults ages 18-29 were bloggers. By the fall of 2009, the numbers had dropped to 14% of teens and 15% of young adults. During the same period, the percentage of online adults over 30 who were bloggers rose from 7% in 2006 to 11% in 2009.
"What we think is really going on here — why young people aren't doing blogs anymore — is that there's been a move from MySpace, which put blogging front and center, to Facebook, which doesn't have that," Lenhart says.
The report also indicates that wireless connectivity is high among adults under 30, and social networking continues to climb.
But Twitter hasn't gained much ground with teens — only 8% of 12- to 17-year-olds who go online say they ever use it. That's unusual, because teenagers have a history of being early adopters of nearly every online activity, Lenhart says.
Lenhart says researchers asked some teens in focus groups about their Twitter perceptions.
"Most had no idea what it was," Lenhart says. "Some knew it as 'that thing Lance Armstrong and other celebrities do.' "
She says there may be a perception with Twitter that you have to "feed the beast," and that may keep them away, Lenhart says.
"To quote my 15 year-old-son, 'Twitter is lame,'" says Lee Aase, manager of social media at Mayo Clinic. He says Facebook and texting may be satisfying teen chat needs.
"They're so into text-messaging that that niche is already sort of filled for them," he says.
Aase also says some teenagers may grow back into blogging as they hit adulthood: "Blogging has become away to communicate with the world, about more meaningful issues, not just about communicating to friends."
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Back at Forward Opportunities
We have been gone for a while, but we are back at Forward Opportunities helping people get found on the Internet.
The year is 2010 and if you have information or a product to share with a local group or the world wide Internet, visit us at www.forwardopportunities.com and let's talk.
The year is 2010 and if you have information or a product to share with a local group or the world wide Internet, visit us at www.forwardopportunities.com and let's talk.
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