COS 109 Monday December 14
• Housekeeping
– Final exam – January 18 (Monday) at 7:30PM
In class, 3 hour exam
– A review session will be held on January 14 (time and location TBA)
• Today’s class
– Let’s talk about social networks
Opening questions
• Why do you use social networks?
• How much do you use social networks?
• Does it ever get overwhelming?
• What has changed in our society because of social networks?
Text me, ping me…
• http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/style/text-me-ping-mecommunications-overload-in-the-digital-age.html
There was a period last summer when my 25-year-old sister, Willa,
decided to start communicating with me through comments on the
rapper Drake’s Instagram feed.
Sometimes it would just be to say hi; other times to inform me of her plans
for the weekend, or to relay an amusing anecdote. Once or twice, we
carried on full back-and-forth conversations. I didn’t think much of it
at the time. Sure, it seemed a little strange that she wouldn’t just text
me, but I figured it was just some Millennial Thing I didn’t understand.
And then I started to notice that my sister wasn’t the only one using
nonstandard methods to get in touch.
One friend would only communicate by Yo (which basically just lets you
“poke” each other back and forth with one word: Yo). My mom uses
FaceTime; my co-workers, Slack; my paranoid German friend, Paul,
something called Telegram (which I’m told also happens to be the
preferred communication method of ISIS, because it’s encrypted).
In all, on my phone right now, I have at least a dozen apps that allow me
to get in touch with people.
Highlighting some early messages
Mail-from: Arpanet host CMU-10A rcvd at 10-NOV-82 0826-PST
Date: 10 November 1982 1126-EST (Wednesday)
From: James.Morris at CMU-10A
To: csl^ at PARC-MAXC, isl^ at PARC-MAXC, junk^ at PARC-MAXC
Subject: Communications Breakthrough
Because you can't see the person who is sending you electronic
mail you are sometimes uncertain whether they are serious or
joking. Recently, Scott Fahlman at CMU devised a scheme for
annotating one's messages to overcome this problem. If you turn
your head sideways to look at the three characters :-) they look
sort of like a smiling face. Thus, if someone sends you a
message that says "Have you stopped beating your wife?:-)" you
know they are joking. If they say "I need to talk to you :-(",
be prepared for trouble.
Since Scott's original proposal, many further symbols have bee
proposed here:
(:-) for messages dealing with bicycle helmets
@= for messages dealing with nuclear war
<:-) for dumb questions
oo for somebody's head-lights are on messages
o>-<|= for messages of interest to women
~= a candle, to annotate flaming messages
From: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/net.works/dzzAYYz9fYM/m6DZBY5ZpzUJ
But, Nabokov might have been there first
• From an interview with the New York Times in 1969
Q: How do you rank yourself among writers (living) and of
the immediate past?
Nabokov: I often think there should exist a special typographical
sign for a smile – some sort of concave mark, a supine round
bracket, which I would now like to trace in reply to your
question.
Early message about WWW
• Tim Berners-Lee
8/6/91
• WorldWideWeb: Summary
• In article <64...@cernvax.cern.ch> I promised to post a short
summary of the WorldWideWeb project. Mail me with any
queries.
• WorldWideWeb - Executive Summary
The WWW project merges the techniques of information
retrieval and hypertext to make an easy but powerful global
information system.
The project started with the philosophy that much academic
information should be freely available to anyone. It aims to
allow information sharing within internationally dispersed teams,
and the dissemination of information by support groups.
From: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/alt.hypertext/eCTkkOoWTAY/bJGhZyooXzkJ
Facebook (2/12/2004)
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thefacebook.png
Social Networks that I use
• Ones that I use
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Amazon
Ebay
Facebook
FourSquare
Instagram
LinkedIn
Snapchat
TripAdvisor
Twitter
Yelp
YikYak
YouTube
• Others
• Amazon mechanical turk
• Flickr
• Goodreads
• Myspace
• Pinterest
• Tumbler
•
Purposes of Social Networks
• Keeping up with people
–
–
–
–
–
–
Facebook
LinkedIn
Myspace
Snapchat
Twitter
YikYak
• Sharing Experiences
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Flickr
FourSquare
Goodreads
Instagram
Pinterest
Tumbler
YouTube
• Recommendation Systems
•
•
•
•
Amazon
Ebay
TripAdvisor
Yelp
• Crowd Sourcing
• Amazon mechanical turk
Top 50 Social networks
Name
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Sina Weibo
Pinterest
Description/focus
General: photos, videos, blogs,
apps.
General. Micro-blogging, RSS,
updates
Business and professional
networking
Social microblogging site in
mainland China.
Online pinboard for organizing
and sharing things you love
Start
Registered user
Year
s
2004
1,280,000,000[86]
2006
645,750,000[308]
2003
200,000,000[182]
2009
300,000,000[260]
2011
Registration
Open to people 13
and older
GlobalAlexa[1]page
ranking
2[87]
Open to all ages [309] 8[310]
Open to people 18
and older
12[183]
Open
28[261]
Open
38[235]
Open
38[317]
General, including music upload,
VK
listening and search. Popular in
Russia and former Soviet
2006
249,409,900[316]
2010
300,000,000[160]
2007
226,950,000[306]
republics.
Instagram
Tumblr
A photo and video sharing site.
Microblogging platform and social
networking website.
Photo sharing, commenting,
Flickr
photography related networking,
worldwide
Open to anyone 13
or older
Open
41
41[307]
Open to people 13
2004
32,000,000[98]
and older
(Yahoo! Login)
48[99]
Top 50 Social Networks
• Keeping up with people
–
–
–
–
–
–
Facebook
LinkedIn
Myspace
Snapchat
Twitter
YikYak
• Sharing Experiences
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Flickr
FourSquare
Goodreads
Instagram
Pinterest
Tumbler
YouTube
• Recommendation Systems
•
•
•
•
Amazon
Ebay
TripAdvisor
Yelp
• Crowd Sourcing
• Amazon mechanical turk
Penetration level of social networks
From http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/
Frequency of use
Methods of choice
Demographics of interaction
Social Media in the news lately
• Politicians and even some technologists say Silicon Valley’s efforts to
crack down on the use of social media and other technologies like
encryption by terrorists have been toothless.
SAN FRANCISCO — In the hours after 14 people were killed in San Bernardino, Calif., a
familiar voice celebrated the attacks on Twitter: “California, we have already arrived with
our soldiers. Decide how to be your end, with knife or bomb.
That comment was posted from the 335th Twitter account of a pro-Islamic State group
that calls itself Asawitiri Media. Twitter has repeatedly tried to cut off the authors of
the account, most recently known to its thousands of followers as @TurMedia335,
@TurMedia334 and @TurMedia333.
As soon as Twitter suspends one account, a new one is created. After the group’s 99th
account was suspended, it taunted Twitter by creating @IslamicState100, posting images
of birthday candles, cake, trophies and fireworks.
U.S. Visa Process Missed San Bernardino Wife’s
Zealotry on Social Media
WASHINGTON — Tashfeen Malik, who with her husband carried out the
massacre in San Bernardino, Calif., passed three background checks by
American immigration officials as she moved to the United States from
Pakistan. None uncovered what Ms. Malik had made little effort to hide —
that she talked openly on social media about her views on violent jihad.
She said she supported it. And she said she wanted to be a part of it.
American law enforcement officials said they recently discovered those old —
and previously unreported — postings as they pieced together the lives of
Ms. Malik and her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, trying to understand how
they pulled off the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil since Sept.
11, 2001.
Had the authorities found the posts years ago, they might have kept her out of
the country. But immigration officials do not routinely review social media as
part of their background checks, and there is a debate inside the
Department of Homeland Security over whether it is even appropriate to do
so.
• http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/us/san-bernardinoattacks-us-visa-process-tashfeen-maliks-remarks-on-socialmedia-about-jihad-were-missed.html
Social Media in the news lately
• Twitter’s Top Hashtags, Tweets and Users for 2015
Year-end Twitter data released on Monday offered a glimpse of 2015 defined by
global unrest, social justice and, of course, many “face-with-tears-of-joy” emojis.
Since 2010, Twitter has logged popular hashtags, tweets and users, but this year, the
service explored influential discussion topics. Hashtags created months apart after
separate terror attacks in Paris, #JeSuisCharlie and #PrayforParis, gave people
around the world a chance to collectively express their sorrow.
#LoveWins, a hashtag that sprang up after the United States Supreme Court
guaranteed the rights of same-sex couples to marry, cataloged widespread
celebrations.
Another hashtag, #IStandWithAhmed, was created around one the biggest social
stories of the year. A global outcry emerged after 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed was
detained by the police for taking a homemade alarm clock to school in Irving, Tex.
#BlackLivesMatter, a social media movement that developed as people protested the
deaths of black men by police officers, became an avenue for protesters to
congregate both online and in person. (Protests in Ferguson, Mo., were highlighted in
Twitter’s 2014 report.)
Individuals made great strides on the platform. After unveiling her Vanity Fair cover,
Caitlyn Jenner’s Twitter account reached 1 million followers faster than any other.
A web site of the day
• Let’s visit JebBush.com
• From CNBC news
If you check out JebBush.com, you''ll land on a Donald Trump site.
The mix-up happened because Bush's team appeared not to have registered
his name as a domain name, the website Gizmodo reported.
"It's not clear if Jeb ever owned JebBush.com, which is bizarre, since he's
been a high-profile government official for years. According to WHOIS,
the domain was registered in 1997, and updated in October 2015," Gizmodo
said.
Still more Social Media in the news lately
• ‘Unboxing’ Videos a Gift to Marketers
One day last year, Jessica Nelson was surprised to find her toddler, Aiden,
watching videos online in which people opened box after box of new toys,
from Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs with trinkets inside to all manner of
Disney merchandise.
“The next day we saw him watching more and more and more of them,” said
Ms. Nelson, who lives in Toledo, Ohio. “He was pretty obsessed.”
She and her son, who turned 3 on Monday, had entered the world of
“unboxing” videos, an extremely popular genre on YouTube where
enthusiasts take products out of their packaging and examine them in
obsessive detail. This year, according to YouTube, people have watched
videos unveiling items like toys, sneakers and iPhones more than 1.1 billion
times, for a total of 60 million hours.
The videos’ ability to captivate children has led toy makers, retailers and
other companies to provide sponsorships and free toys to some of the most
popular unboxing practitioners, who in turn can make a lucrative living.
Hasbro and Clorox have ads that YouTube places on the videos.
Still more Social Media in the news lately
• ‘Facebook "Most Used Words" App as Privacy Lesson
If you have an account on Facebook, you may have noticed posts featuring a nicely
designed cloud comprised of the words your Facebook friends use most often. It's
powered by an app from a company called Vonvon, and it's been getting a lot of
attention this week from consumer privacy experts.
The reason this app has privacy hawks screeching is simple: it grabs an enormous
amount of personally identifiable information and private details about Facebook
users for way too little in return.
In exchange for a graphically-appealing cloud featuring the names of your children
and/or significant others, pets, the stuff of warm-hearted Aws and Ohs -- and,
let's not forget, potential answers to security questions that might allow a clever
fraudster to execute an account takeover -- the app seems to get virtually
everything there is to know about you.
Think I'm exaggerating? Here's a rundown:
It gets your name, profile picture, age, sex, birthday and other public info, as well
as your entire friend list. It knows everything you've ever liked. It scans anything
you or anyone else has posted in your Timeline. It knows where you went to school.
It sees every photo associated with you, including the ones you're tagged in on other
users' Timelines (yet another reason to review all tags before allowing them to post).
It sees your hometown and current city as well as your IP address and what kind of
device -- even browser -- you use.
A few web sites of the day
• Searching Google for a long time ago in a galaxy far far away
• Umberto Eco on Macintosh vs. DOS
• Hello MD
One morning in September, I logged on to the website of HelloMD, a
medical start-up that promises to connect patients with doctors instantly
over the Internet. I filled out my personal details, explained my ailment —
I often get heartburn — and entered in my credit card number to cover the
$50 consultation fee.
Within 10 minutes, a pediatrician based near Washington who is licensed to
practice medicine in my home state of California popped up on my screen.
She appeared to be sitting in her home — there were a few teddy bears
and ceramic figurines on a cabinet behind her — and she wore a red shirt,
not a white coat.
The doctor asked about my medical history, current symptoms and
familiarity with certain medicines. The interview lasted about three
minutes, after which she announced what everyone who visits HelloMD
expects to hear: According to her diagnosis, my heartburn made me a
candidate for medical marijuana, which has been legal in California since
1996.
Have we gone too far?
From: http://www.vice.com/read/why-are-so-many-social-media-manag
Web site of the day
• A little bit of everything
Using social media in political campaigns
• Social media used in presidential campaigns
– Dean 2004, which pioneered the use of websites like MeetUp.Com to
organize supporters and raise funds;
– Obama 2008, which leveraged Web 2.0 to increase dialogue and improve
message dissemination (including more direct messaging between the
candidate and voters and directly addressing opposition arguments)
– Obama 2012, which pioneered the use of Big Data.
• On to Seth Moulton
– His home page
– His facebook page
– NationBuilder used for twitter
Technologies used by Moulton
• 1) LinkedIn’s Search Tool: the campaign used LinkedIn’s search
function to classify potential donors by location, profession, and
shared relationships (institutional and personal) with Moulton
• 2) Facebook Promotion and Targeting: the campaign developed and
promoted Facebook posts that were likely to be meaningful to
specific demographics.
• 3) BuzzFeed: the campaign posted a redline markup of a Tierney
press release and generated thousands of responses.
• 4) Fanatical: the campaign used Fanatical to disseminate to more
than one million people a video of Moulton speaking to kids about
the importance of Congress. (NB fanatical.al domain is registered
in Albania)
• 5) Google Advertisements: the campaign paid for Google to place
advertisements on the web pages of people in the district (or
select areas therein) who search for relevant key words (e.g.,
Seth Moulton AND veterans).
Mixing traditional campaign techniques and social
media
• the argument made by some scholars that the Obama campaign’s
digital and social media effort succeeded because it dovetailed
with a fantastic ground game
• the claim that digital and social media can harm candidates, as
was the case when the “Dean Scream” went viral. The implication
is that campaigns cannot emphasize digital and social media at
the expense of other techniques and (above all) at the expense
of the candidate.
Implications of social media for democracy
•
•
•
•
Access to Power: One question surrounding digital and social media is whether
they are an equalizing force. On the one hand, any person can use them. On the
other, it requires technical expertise to master them. Thus, the campaign relies
on highly educated and successful digital and social media gurus to maximize the
impact of these platforms. Are there barriers to entry here?
Donor Privacy: Another issue connected to the Internet and democracy is privacy.
In particular, some depict the Internet as a threat to privacy because so much
sensitive information is readily available. Is this a concern?
Dialogue: Another issue connected to the Internet and democracy is political
dialogue. Some suggest that the Internet enhances dialogue because it makes it
easier for different stakeholders to interact with one another—a phenomenon
that is foundational to the democratic process. Others, such as Cass Sunstein
argue that information technology creates conversations among people who already
agree with one another and therefore results in “echo chambers;”
Journalism: A fourth dimension of the implications of digital and social media for
democracy is interaction with journalists. The campaign’s use of BuzzFeed to
rebut the Tierney campaign’s press release decreased the need to respond to
Tierney’s attack through traditional journalists. The campaign often tried to
promote journalists’ articles, with hopes that they would continue to promote the
campaign’s progress. Does this change the balance between modern and traditional
journalism in politics?
Digital government more broadly
• The white house
• Open data policy