The day after the Berkman Center convened news thinkers to talk truthiness and Alan Rusbridger spoke of the impact of open journalism, KONY 2012 broke all records for viral video. All the right ingredients for the perfect social case study of discerning “truth” after the narrative spreads like wildfire. The Guardian asks “What’s the real …
Rusbridger on open journalism
How can we harness this digital revolution we’re living through to provide a better account of the world around us? Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian speaking last night on open journalism at the 2012 Goldsmith Awards. See also their contemporary take on the Three Little Pigs…
Understanding Truthiness in Digital Media
Yesterday the Berkman Center hosted a conference focused on defining and dissecting the ways propaganda and (mis)information spread online. As usual, the stellar participants contributed along with the presenters to deliver a thoughtful and provocative event. There are already several liveblogs, and Storifies, and a whole host of tweets tagged #truthicon from people able to …
Content & design practices from HBO Go
AllThingsD interviewed Allison Moore, SVP digital platforms at HBO. HBO Go is one of my favorite apps, and provides, just as she describes “an incredible digital experience for our customers…just like they have with our content…wherever consumers expect us to be.” The “wherever they expect us to be” part is pretty impressive, with existing or …
Google+ today: From sausage fest to ghost town
Throughout 2011, it was clear that Google+ was mostly a male bastion. Mashable reported that if you were to throw a dart at Google+, it would be more than twice as likely to land on a man’s profile as a woman’s profile. Ensue hue and cry. This week, the Wall Street Journal puts Google+ on ghost …
Everything is a remix
We live in an age with daunting problems. We need the best ideas possible, we need them now, we need them to spread fast. The common good is a meme that was overwhelmed by intellectual property. It needs to spread again. If the meme prospers, our laws, our norms, our society, they all transform. That’s …
Brand democracy is not brand anarchy.
Just read The Role of Brand in the Nonprofit Sector which pointed to the emerging acceptance of brand as strategic asset that goes beyond tactical fundraising tool. There’s an interesting tension between the rise of individual voices through social media, and a dated perception that messaging hierarchies mandate institutional lockstep. This is definitely a top FAQ: “why …
Welcome to the age of big data
It’s a revolution,” says Gary King, director of Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science. “We’re really just getting under way. But the march of quantification, made possible by enormous new sources of data, will sweep through academia, business and government. There is no area that is going to be untouched. – New York Times on big data
What new leadership looks like
Last week I was lucky to hear two fascinating talks: from Bill George, HBS prof and author of True North, and Wael Ghonim, the Google employee and internet activist who energized pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt just over a year ago. The theme that emerged for me was distributed leadership. George spoke about IBM’s collaborative organizational structure and shifting definition of …
From SOPA to Susan G. Komen to Superbowl
Hard to believe that in fewer than three weeks, social media has been front and center on three major news headlines: the SOPA defeat, the Susan G. Komen (apparent) reversal on Planned Parenthood, and tonight’s Superbowl. The first two events mark social’s expanding role in leading and shaping public opinion; the Superbowl stands out as the moment …