I decided to put my slightly-dormant internet policy research skillz to work to figure this out. It was surprisingly difficult. Most stop PIPA/SOPA websites conflate them-- but they are different. (Note: The best resource was an article I found at Area 51 Technologies.) #1: SOPA's a House bill, PIPA is a Senate bill. SOPA = …
Continue reading What’s the difference between SOPA and PIPA?
This post has been cross-posted from Henry Jenkins' blog. If you don't have time to read this article in full, the easiest way to skim information about this topic is to visit http://americancensorship.org/. In the past year, we've dealt with various novel political moments around the world that have been enabled or augmented with networked …
Continue reading Internet Blackout: SOPA, Reddit, and Networked (Political) Publics
Over the last couple of years, I've laid awake at night asking myself uncomfortable questions about bullying and teen suicide. I don't have answers to most of the questions that I have, but I'm choosing to voice my questions, fears, and doubts because I'm not confident that our war on bullying is taking us down …
Continue reading Four Difficult Questions Regarding Bullying and Youth Suicide
The scholarly publishing industry used to offer a service. It used to be about making sure that knowledge was shared as broadly as possible to those who would find it valuable using the available means of distribution: packaged paper objects shipped through mail to libraries and individuals. It made a profit off of serving an …
Continue reading Save Scholarly Ideas, Not the Publishing Industry (a rant)
(or, A Decade into "Always-On" Internet.) [This is a cross-post from my blog multicast. --CS] We're in a paradoxical situation. broadband Internet networks keep getting better, but service provider limits on them keep getting worse. As of this fall AT&T U-Verse has joined my cable Internet provider, Comcast, in imposing bandwidth caps of 250 GB …
There is no doubt that technology has made my life much easier. I rarely share the romantic view that things were better when human beings used to do the boring tasks that machines now do. For example, I do not think there is much to gain by bringing back the old telephone operators. However, there …
I didn’t know him personally, but I was saddened to read about Ilya Zhitomirskiy’s recent suicide. I have no personal insight into his situation, the sources of his stress, or what brought him to take his life. It’s tragic, full stop. As I was reading Gawker’s story on his death, I was struck by its implicit …
Continue reading Accepting Inefficiencies and Different Scales of Change in Networked Environments
Facebook has, as usual, been riling feathers with its latest round of change. Dave Winer argued Facebook is now scaring him, and the LA Times questioned whether they have finally gone too far. At issue (this week) is “frictionless sharing” in which things people read, listen to, or otherwise engage online are sent from partner …
Today was perhaps the first time a head of state makes reference to an Internet meme in a speech. This is both funny and potentially really interesting. Mexican President Felipe Calderón during a speech given to the national delegation participating in the Panamerican Games made reference to a popular Internet meme known as El Fua. …
(or: Is Online Gossip a Question of Locale or Scale?) [This is a cross-post from my blog multicast. -CS] I'm quoted in this morning's New York Times Story, In Small Towns, Gossip Moves to the Web, and Turns Vicious. This came about because I've done some recent research on social media and rural communities (citations below), including a long-term ethnographic study …
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