Blogscapes

All is not well in cyberspace.

The suicide of Megan Meier as a result of cyberbullying highlights that cyberspace can be as dangerous and cruel a place as the real world. In fact, it can be even more insidious as you really don’t know who you are dealing with.

We’ve all talked about how one can disguise and masquerade as someone else on the Internet. You can choose to be 5 or 50, male or female, and try out different personas online. We all know about online fraud and the stealing of identities.

This time, it’s the creating of a fake online identity that has led to disastrous consequences.

And while we think that MySpace and Facebook as the stuff and playgrounds of teens, it was 49 year-old Lori Drew, mother of a teenage girl Megan had a falling-out with, who created a fake MySpace account under the name ‘Josh Evans’ to lure, tease and then taunt Megan to her death. Whatever happened to talking to the girl or her parents? In a bid to take revenge on Megan for not being friends with her daughter, Lori Drew worked out an elaborate scheme to hurt Megan.

The case has drawn controversy. There are numerous blog entries on it, and Youtube videos, and there’s even a wikipedia page devoted to it:

A federal grand jury indicted Lori Drew on May 15, 2008, on three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress, and one count of criminal conspiracy. A penalty of up to five years in prison corresponds to each of the four counts that the indictment carries. The case has caused several jurisdictions to consider legislation prohibiting harassment over the internet.

This case certainly highlights the need for better legislation regarding the use and misuse of cyberspace, as well as the need for education on how to handle cyberbullying and online pressure as well, as after all, online actions do effect real-life consequences. 

Interestingly, new media news made it to mainstream news. Last night’s news on Channel 5 featured a video on Youtube that has been getting many viewers lately.

Ghost sighting at Raffles Place   has been getting very popular with Youtube viewers. This and a series of other ‘ghost sightings’ sparked talk about whether ghosts had been spotted at Raffles Place.

Actually, the series is part of an advertising campaign by the GMP group to promote work-life balance and remind workers not to stay too late at the office! ‘No one should work late’, they say.

But of course, that’s not their only message. The group is using the series of videos to promote their job-matching services, which they reveal when they tell the truth behind the Raffles Place ghost  .

Many in PR and advertising have talked about how the marketing mix should consist of both traditional and new media, and GMP has just shown how new media such as free Youtube services can be used to good effect.

I’ve been reading the book by Ted Demopoulos entitled “What no one ever tells you about blogging and podcasting”:

The book is a compilation of blogging and podcasting tips that  he’s compiled based on his interviews with successful bloggers and podcasters. Ted Demopoulos is particularly interested in seeing how blogs and podcasts add to the marketing/businesss mix of companies.

I have picked up some interesting tips such as using stats counters like Blog stats and Sitemeter (which I have since added) to help provide more info on the blog’s readership, as well some useful reminders about the need to include links and blogroll.

He also mentions an important point about the need to ‘listen’ to what’s out there in the blogosphere as well. All too often, bloggers are caught up with blogging and tend to forget to read others’ blogs. You can only join in the conversation in the blogosphere by reading, leaving comments or emailing the bloggers, and inviting them to read your blog and leave comments too. Thus, disabling a ‘comments’ feature is a big no-no, according to the author and the people he interviewed.

You can also read more about Ted Demopoulos’ thoughts and musings on technology, business and their intersection in his blog, The Ted Rap.

In the book, the writer also shares some useful blogs to read, and I’ll share some of the useful links here with you:

 Marcom Blog

InfOpinions

Buzzoodle

BlogWrite for CEOs

Practical Blogging

Copyblogger

Bloglogic - news from the blogosphere

SEObook

Podcast Roundtable

Talkr - Letting blogs speak for themselves

It’ll be worth your while to check out the above links!

A few days ago, I blogged about how blogging could be bad for your health. In a way, I have come to realise how true some of the health risks mentioned about blogging are.

On a few occasions recently, I have been online for a few hours straight, blogging, Facebooking, MySpacing, Youtubing and all, and you know when you are online, some times the time just flies by! And sometimes when that happens, I don’t realise that I’ve been stuck in the same position, and you guessed it, major cramps and backache!

And I’m sure that doesn’t even come close to what professional bloggers experience, esp the two bloggers, Russell Shaw and Marc Orchant, who died of heart attacks.

There’s good reason for bloggers to take note of blogging hazards and take care.

And that reminds me, time for a vision break and the laptop is starting to cramp my thighs!

I caught the matinee performance of  We Will Rock You  last Saturday at the Singapore Esplanade Theatre, and had a really good time! Yes, the music was loud! The place really rocked and Mig Ayesa really rocked as the lead protaganist, Galileo Figaro.

I recall watching Mig on the reality TV show about INXS looking for a lead singer, and remembered that he had a really good voice and great presence on that show. Thus, it was a real treat to see him in person.

I must admit, though, that initially I wasn’t too taken with his portrayal of a geeky young boy, I mean he’s no 18 year old!  But when he sang, he really sang and he really rocked the house! Even on a Saturday afternoon! Mig was able to reflect the different layers and nuances of his character and that was matched by his ability to flex his voice and manipulate the wonderful sounds he created. No wonder the audience gave a standing ovation. Of course the rest of the cast were great  too.

I guess you can say that I’m a Mig fan now. Wanting to find out more about Mig, I decided to check the Internet. Guess what, instead of official Mig sites or We Will Rock You sites, I found many blogs devoted wholly to him! One of them was called Mig Ayesa, Rock Star Extraordinaire and is a great gateway to other Mig sites. I shall not replicate the links here but it has a pretty extensive blogroll to many other Mig sites, including Mig’s Myspace site. You get to read his blog (well, I’d like to believe that it’s him and not his publicist) and also write to him!

And you know what, I’ve now got Mig on my MySpace network (well, it’s the extended network, but hey, it’s still my network)! And there’s also the Mig music site where you can go to listen to his latest tracks as well as watch his music videos. You can also read about Mig’s experience in Singapore. There’s also Mig’s Youtube channel and you can subscribe to his videos. Mig is also on another community channel, Gather.com.

You know what, this guy is a whiz at using new media!

New media really works as a great marketing tool too. Not that we mind as we get to read and hear more about Mig and his music! Rock on, Mig! 

 While many turn to Youtube for their entertainment needs, there are some who use Youtube for more sinister purposes. And while some upload Youtube videos showing inane, clean fun, there are others who use it to post offensive material such as porn and happy slapping videos.

According to a recent news report, about 10 hours of video footage is uploaded to the Youtube website every minute! Of course, that makes policing Youtube a tough job. And Steve Chen, Youtube’s co-founder has stated that it will not police the videos, as it’s basically impossible to do so. It relies on the Youtube to community to flag offensive materials, which it will then investigate to remove or not. We do recall orders by governments and even the Thai monarchy for Youtube to remove some material from the website before.

In a way, I guess this is really the age of participation and democracy, where the community becomes responsible for what the community watches.

Some other news of Youtube, which goes to show how popular it has become, it’s tied up with Vancouver Film School to have a video/film competiton with the winner offered a scholarship to the film school, and it even has it has its own Youtube video awards! Here’s a treat, the ‘Baby Laughing’, in the Adorable section, and ‘My name is Lisa’, the winning video in the Short Film category.

There’s been much talk about how politicians or those aspiring to political positions have been using new media to reach out to the electorate.

 Case in point would of course be Hillary and Obama. Not only have they posted videos of themselves on Youtube, but their supporters have been using the new media engine to further their cause.

Now, I did not watch Obama or Clinton live, and I also missed the telecast of their speeches on CNN, but thanks to Youtube, I can now follow their campaign trail and not just read, but actually watch them in action making their speeches!

Recently, there’s been much talk about Obama’s ‘We Can’ speech, that many are saying is reminiscent of Martin Luther King’s famous ‘I have a dream’ speech. In case you missed it, ie Obama’s speech, here it is:

Well, somehow, I don’t think that Obama has captured the same fiery and intense quality of King, but all the same, his speech has managed to re-ignite the interest and reverse the apathy of the youths in America in their country’s politics.

Lest I be accused of being partial, here’s something by Clinton:

Now, one very successful aspiring politician is Jeff Ooi, one of Malaysia’s known bloggers who took part in the Malaysian polls yesterday as a member of the opposition party, the Democratic opposition party. He was able to raise US$32 000 via an online fundraising campaign, and has managed to garner much support from his blog and other online activities that he’s won himself a seat in the Malaysian polls.

I wonder how much more support King would have gotten if he had new media in his day!

In previous posts, I’ve talked about different people achieving fame (or infamy), via new media, and the most common method of doing this is to put videos of themselves or their work on Youtube.

We’ve heard about actors and singers getting ‘discovered’ on Youtube, and writers being talent-spotted on their blogs.

One recent case is that of NUS undergrad Donovan Lee. The former NJC student was so disappointed that his 4As and 2 S papers were not enough to get him into an Ivy League, that he decided to record videos of himself in a series called Gaussian Math and post them on Youtube.

In his series of videos, he takes viewers through complex Mathematical concepts such as Vector Integral Calculus and Kepler’s Laws in a direct and engaging way. He’s hoping that the videos can add to his repertoir and achievements and help him get into a top school, very much like how writing a book, or making a documentary would help (and hey, we live in an age of new media, right, so why not Youtube your way to success?)

Interestingly, the videos are recorded in his bedroom in Bishan and he uses a whiteboard as a teaching aid. Donovan has acquired a fan base that stretches overseas.

Curious, I decided to take a look at some of the videos. Watching his video, you can see how his videos have been getting so many hits each day. The undergrad speaks clearly and in an engaging way and seems pretty personable. Educational and entertaining, not a bad combination to have. Well, even if he doesn’t get his spot in a top school, it’s likely that he’ll get a spot in showbiz as a presenter! Afterall, he’s already a guest speaker in his alma mater. 

In my previous blog posting, I talked about how the Queen has switched to using new media to connect with the people. Not too long after, the Japanese PM was also announced to have used Youtube to give his new year message.

It certainly looks like many politicians and public figures are turning to new forms of media to reach to the masses, especially the younger ones. You can read more about this in the following blog: http://paperstapler.livejournal.com/

In my previous posting, I also talked about new ’IT’ or ‘new media’ words being included into the dictionary, thus legitimising their usage as mainstream words in everyday vocabulary. Now, the Collins English Dictionary has said that it would include ‘Facebook’ in its list of words. ‘Facebook’ will be indicated as a trademarked noun to mean “a popular social networking website” as well as a verb to mean “to search on a person’s profile on the Facebook website” such as in the sentence “I thought he would make the perfect boyfriend until I facebooked him”. 

So, it looks like we will have many people ‘facebooking’ each other and getting ‘facebooked’ in return!

A happy new year to one and all! May 2008 be a blessed and fruitful year.

Well, apologies for the brief hiatus. For the past one and half weeks, I was cut off from Internet connection. I didn’t plan on being cut off, but I’m between broadband plans right now and in fact, still don’t have Internet connection.

While the one and half weeks devoid of all online digital contact felt much longer, going cold turkey didn’t seem all that bad after all. I survived. Of course, I was very much preoccupied by other non-virtual pursuits, which I think can be pretty healthy.

Anyway, a lot has happened in the world of new media. In fact, the old have come to embrace new media. Queen Elizabeth gave her annual Christmas message on Youtube, and there’s even a Royal Channel on Youtube to reach out to the digital-literate masses.

And new words have been added and recognised. For instance, the word ‘wiki’. Based on the vocab portal, Workdsmith, “wiki (wiki) noun is a collaborative Web site that can be edited by anyone”…

[From Hawaiian wiki (quick). First citation of the word in English is
from 1995, when programmer Ward Cunningham used it in naming his new
software WikiWikiWeb.] -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

I’m sure the word “Wii” will soonmake it to our daily vocab as well. I wii-ed yesterday and it was fun! I can’t wait to wii again. Pass me the wii-mote!

So here’s to new beginnings!