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(via Stephen Wolfram Blog : Data Science of the Facebook...

Sun, 05 May 2013 21:30:00 -0400

(via Stephen Wolfram Blog : Data Science of the Facebook World)

All of this post is very interesting, but this visualization of the author’s 15-year-old daughter’s Facebook network and the ones that follow caught my attention the most. It illustrates, to some extent, where the source of her connections on the medium come from. The analysis that follows is worth a look.

It’s of course logical that we have different clusters of friends on social networks, probably particularly so in the case of Facebook. It’s neat here, however, that data may suggest there’s a most typical number of clusters that make up the majority of an individual’s network: three.

Years ago, I also went to one-time events like summer camps, and I am still friends with most of those folks on Facebook. I’ve probably neglected the size of those resulting clusters in my own network. But odds are that years later — after a handful of schools, jobs and one-time events like conferences — the show choir camp I attended in high school doesn’t make up one of my major three clusters. But I’m willing to bet a cluster I don’t think about or engage with in real life all the time definitely does.

(And who knows, maybe it actually is that show choir group. For someone who is involved pretty heavily in journalism, I do see a lot of news in my stream that deals not with great free tools for online storytelling, but instead, something like who won grand champions at a random competition in Iowa.)

It’s interesting, in general, to think about what those three(ish) clusters may be for every individual user on the platform. There is some level of filter bubble and we do see content from people similar to us in a place like Facebook. But perhaps it’s worth opening up and examining which “people like us” we see most. Or, at the very least, determining the ones that have a shot, sticking around and gaining influence in our network because of their sheer size.

"The new ads for Facebook Home are propaganda clips. Transforming vice into virtue, they’re social..."

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:02:10 -0400

“The new ads for Facebook Home are propaganda clips. Transforming vice into virtue, they’re...

"Social media are an important part of the lives of hundreds of millions of users around the world...."

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 11:52:00 -0400

“Social media are an important part of the lives of hundreds of millions of users around the...

Startup Sherpa Bets Its Predictive Smartphone Assistant Can Best Google Now | MIT Technology Review

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 09:23:00 -0400

Startup Sherpa Bets Its Predictive Smartphone Assistant Can Best Google Now | MIT Technology Review:...

"If you don’t regularly exercise your ability to connect face to face, you’ll eventually find..."

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:53:00 -0400

“If you don’t regularly exercise your ability to connect face to face, you’ll eventually find...

(via Friends and Family – Important Drivers of News | State of...

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:40:00 -0400

(via Friends and Family – Important Drivers of News | State of the Media)

Word-of-mouth still motivates a large amount of news discovery. Seventy-two percent who get news from friends or family received that information via spoken word-of-mouth (in person or phone). Of those who learn of news this way, nearly two-thirds “often” or “very often” seek out news stories online later.

The breakdowns vary a little bit by age, as to be expected: 23 percent of those age 18 to 29-years-old get news from family or friends via social media. Seventy percent in this bracket still say word-of-mouth, however.

This of course doesn’t mean that those who get news via word-of-mouth don’t also read engage news elsewhere on their own. But it does make you think about 1) what inspires people to share something IRL, and 2) the importance of SEO and other search functionality.

The stats are at least worth a look, as is the rest of this year’s Pew Excellence in Journalism State of the News Media report.

(via Twitter users forming tribes with own language, tweet...

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 11:55:36 -0400

(via Twitter users forming tribes with own language, tweet analysis shows | News | guardian.co.uk)

Very intriguing way of grouping Twitter users based on word usage. Researchers think new ways of engaging communities can come out of this sort of breakdown. Worth a look at how the groups are split up. Data sheet embedded in article, also available for download.

Vinepeek | Watch the world in realtime

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 20:54:08 -0400

Vinepeek | Watch the world in realtime: Want to know who is really using Vine, and what for?...

"When you’re going about your day, in the checkout line, stepping into elevators, whatever, it’s nice..."

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 10:12:33 -0400

“When you’re going about your day, in the checkout line, stepping into elevators, whatever,...

(via Photo by todayshow • Instagram) A bit different, kind of...

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:55:00 -0400

(via Photo by todayshow • Instagram)

A bit different, kind of like the Obama inaugurations. EDIT: But since this started circling, we’ve also learned that it’s not quite a fair comparison: the top image appears to be from John Paul II’s funeral procession, not the announcement of a new pope.

A compelling storyline about tech’s growing pervasiveness, but a little too apples and oranges. Moods of events — not just years — also affect human behavior with tech. (That said, some people have recently livetweeted funerals.)

(In any case,the person in the bottom right corner of the photo of the 2005 image still reminds me of this).

(via Twitter Conversation Statistics - Power of Replies and...

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 08:50:00 -0500

(via Twitter Conversation Statistics - Power of Replies and Retweets)

Twitterers don’t @reply much, according to data from Sysomos, and they respond to responses even less.

Let’s talk through the numbers. Of the 1.2 billion tweets Sysomos examined from the past two months, only 23 percent got an @reply. Of those, 85 percent got only one @reply (and as such, no response from the original tweeter, or I suppose anyone else). Looking at what’s left, 10.7 percent of @replied tweets got a reply to a reply (the response going two levels deep). Three levels deep was just 1.53 percent (yes, of that original 23 percent). Any @replies deeper than that was really, really rare.

If this data holds accurate, just 15 percent of 23 percent of 1.2 billion tweets involved any real back and forth on Twitter. Someone check my math, but I’m pretty sure that means only 3.45 percent of tweets sparked a level of engagement that can be deemed a conversation.

Starting an @reply conversation isn’t the only way to engage on Twitter by any means. RTs and mentions are nice, and conversation can and does continue on other platforms that tweets link out to. But this number still seemed very low to me, and for “social” media, kind of sad.

Why do so few people respond to people who respond do them? What do you think?

Strange aspect of digital life. When your gchat list is filled with green-lit names of people you...

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 18:39:00 -0500

Strange aspect of digital life. When your gchat list is filled with green-lit names of people you...

(via Felipe Luchi for Go Outside Magazine - Jailhouses) I first...

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:37:00 -0500

(via Felipe Luchi for Go Outside Magazine - Jailhouses)

I first saw this image in a passionate op-ed for Gizmodo called “The Perfect Definition of This Goddamn Digital Life” (please excuse God’s name in vain).

That piece in general is worth a read. Even if you don’t agree, you’re going to walk away knowing how the author, Jesus Diaz, feels.

”Instead of using our phones and tables as tools of empowerment, we are increasingly turning them into prisons that consume our time and attention. Through them we have access to vasts islands of information, but that information is trapped in oceans of mud. We choose to dive in, and then we find it hard to get out. These devices allow us to create a permanent nexus between ourselves and our family, friends, and lovers. That’s good—in a way. The dark side is that we place too much importance on the digital bond, increasingly choosing to ignore the real world around us.”

(via Twitter / BuzzFeedAndrew: Definitive proof that technology...

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 21:31:00 -0500

(via Twitter / BuzzFeedAndrew: Definitive proof that technology …)

These habits are really everywhere.

“What if the prospect of finding an ever-more-compatible mate...

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 07:18:00 -0500

“What if the prospect of finding an ever-more-compatible mate with the click of a mouse means a future of relationship instability?” (via The Online Dating Game — The Atlantic)

This link has a series of essays on the topic of online dating and its effect on committed relationships. For other related links, see my mini-mini-project “Us IRL” (and check out why I think tech + relationship research is important).

(via Tender Nuggets: Phone-Shaped Hole)A funny look at a day in...

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 16:38:49 -0500

(via Tender Nuggets: Phone-Shaped Hole)

A funny look at a day in this writer’s life, all told through the perspective of their smartphone. An entertaining read that’s probably relatable to an increasing number of people with smartphones as limbs.

h/t @vaguity

"These applications are the opposite of groomed; they practically require imperfection, a sloppiness..."

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 23:13:14 -0500

“These applications are the opposite of groomed; they practically require imperfection, a...

"We’ve surrendered a massive amount of mental and emotional energy without making the explicit choice..."

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 21:21:00 -0500

“We’ve surrendered a massive amount of mental and emotional energy without making the explicit...

Inside Breaking News: Mobile is about solving problems

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 22:01:04 -0500

Inside Breaking News: Mobile is about solving problems: breakingblog: In the journalism world,...

(via Your Cell Phone and You | Pew Internet & American Life...

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 17:38:00 -0500

(via Your Cell Phone and You | Pew Internet & American Life Project)

There are a lot of people who check their phone in absence of any notification (buzzing or ringing) that would prompt them to do so. It looks especially bad among young folk. FOMO, much?

While 67 percent of all U.S. cell owners “find themselves checking their phone for messages, alerts, or calls — even when they don’t notice their phone ringing or vibrating,” it’s a whopping 81 percent in the 18 - 24 bracket. And if you look at this chart, the distributions are a pretty even slope downward as people get older. As such, I can’t (and don’t want to) imagine the percentage of cell phone owners younger than 18 who reach for their for phones for connection without any reason to do so.

Read the rest of the report about “the best and worst” of mobile connectivity among U.S. cell phone owners.