Top digital stories this week, incl. Wikipedia blackout & MySpace
* Featured, Brass digital roundup — By Brass Team on January 20, 2012 12:33 pmWelcome to our roundup of the digital stories that have caught our collective eye here at Brass this week, including the Wikipedia blackout, MySpace v Google+ and Pinterest. We’re always up for a bit of conversation, so feel free to share your thoughts in the comments box at the bottom of the page!
SOPA… So what?
George Hurrell, Digital Designer
Big story this week and one which has been talked about for a little while now is the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the US. Google and Mozilla have joined many other companies opposing these two acts, claiming that the acts would censor the web in many different ways. They argue, and so do a lot of people, that these acts will eliminate due process and even if websites that are found to be providing copyright material are shut down, they will just change their name and start up again.
Google says: “We know from experience that these powers are on the wish list of oppressive regimes throughout the world … 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.”
Hitting the front page today, Wikipedia has shut down its English site replacing the homepage with a black screen headed ‘ Imagine a world without free knowledge’
I’m not sure how effective this protest is but it has certainly got a lot of exposure. I’m sure all the kids plagiarising content for homework are a bit miffed, but for those willing to make minimal effort you can still sidestep this and enter the site… a bit like these ‘pirate’ sites.
Personally, I’m for the end goal of the legislation, being in the creative industry. Creative ownership and tackling piracy are important issues, but equally important is freedom of speech, so any legislation should be thought out carefully and not rushed through, to ensure that it doesn’t censor information or hinder our access to information.
Google+ is dead, long live… MySpace?
Leah Kayles, Social Media Editor
MySpace is as dead as a dodo, no one uses it any more… right? Well, maybe not quite. Although MySpace certainly has nowhere near the impact or significance it used to have, it surprised me to hear that it still gets more traffic than the much-hyped newcomer to the social media stage: Google+.
According to ComScore, not only does MySpace currently boast more traffic than Google+, people spend more time there (an average of 12 minutes compared with Google+’s 5). This is perhaps due to the nature of MySpace; if someone is looking for a specific music video, they’re likely to spend some time actually watching/listening to it.
Facebook still beats both platforms face down of course, with users spending an average of 394 minutes there when they visit (possibly due in part to constant logins on smart phones). Interestingly, MySpace offers the ability to connect with Facebook, but it’s telling that most of us aren’t bombarded with what our friends are listening to on MySpace every minute of the day; Spotify has that covered. Does MySpace need to become more like Spotify to stage a comeback? Is Google+ a slow burner or a non-starter? What do you think?
Mark Kelly, Digital Solutions Director
I’ve been aware of Pinterest for a while, but what I hadn’t realised before this week was that that it is now a top 10 social network according to Hitwise.
Basically Pinterest is a visual way of saving things you spot on the web which catch your eye, whether that’s a themed collection of favourite photos from any number of sites, or a way of annotating some bucket list ideas. Other people can view and get involved so it’s a social platform.
Pinterest isn’t an overnight sensation but it has done the equivalent of going from playing in small bars for a couple of years to appearing at the O2 Arena in the last couple of months. I think the step change in usage came after a listing in Time Magazine’s top 50 websites in the middle of last year.
The article I picked up on (linked to in this story’s title) reports that Pinterest is pretty much populated by 20 or 30-something women. I don’t think that’s right however, looking at which of my friends has an account and the range of expanded interest / groups now using Pinterest it looks to be gaining traction across both genders.
So, what started life as a ‘niche’ platform (for US based ‘home makers’ ) has quickly grown to be a ‘big’ social network and used by a broad demographic (bad science warning – I am going by visual not hard stats evidence on that). And because of that user base growth and the fact they’ll be looking at a whole range of monetisation options, it should be on marketers’ radars.
Gorilla Glass
Gorilla Glass is the hard-wearing glass used on more than 575 distinct products by 33 manufacturers, covering a total of more than half a billion devices worldwide. It’s used by Apple, HTC, LG and Samsung among others; basically every major modern touchscreen device uses it. It is resistant to normal wear and tear, and is more durable than conventional glass which often breaks when it hits a hard surface.
Corning, the makers of Gorilla Glass, has unveiled the cleverly titled ‘Gorilla Glass 2′ at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this month. Gorilla Glass 2 is 20% thinner but without loss of durability, enabling slimmer and sleeker devices, brighter images, and greater touch sensitivity. This will allow manufacturers to tweak their products in the future by increasing battery size or additional storage capacity in smart phones. It’s interesting to see how small leaps forward in technology such as the glass will have an impact on so many products in the coming few years.
Uberlife
Claire Robinson, Digital Development Director
I’ve always thought that the best thing about the internet is that it enables people who would never normally connect in the real world to ‘bump into’ each other online, enabling collaboration and the sharing of experiences. The new Uberlife app gives a physical location to these digital meetings in a really practical, social way.
In their words, it’s “a simple, spontaneous and serendipitous way to find people to do things with, when you want to do them.”
I joined today, and already suspect this will be an amazing social tool for me. Lots of people in the tech community in my area (Shoreditch, what a surprise!) doing interesting things – some quite simple and organic like impromptu coffees, lunches and drinks after work, but also commercial events like gigs so you can meet up with like-minded folk and go together. Love it.
This is a great tool for people in busy cities, but not so sure it will have the same appeal to the people in the Shires.
At the moment it’s still invite-only, so if you want to check it out, sign in to the site (linked to in this story’s title) with your Twitter or Facebook login, and ask your friends (or me!) to invite you. Let the serendipity begin.
Tags: facebook, google, google plus, gorilla glass, myspace, pinterest, pipa, Social Media, sopa, uberlife, wikipedia blackout
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