The Huffington Post established a list of ‘50 people in politics you should follow on Facebook’. Even thought I need to point out that this list is mostly white, male and American dominated before recommending it, it seems definitely worth a look and contains great suggestions!
The Pew Internet and American Life Project recently published a report about user behaviour on social networking sites (SNS) with regards to politics. It showed that users with similar political opinions do not always regroup on these sites, or rather that people are frequently friends with others holding different opinions.
“Among the SNS users whose friends post political content, 25% always agree or mostly agree with their friends’ political postings; 73% of these SNS users “only sometimes” agree or never agree with their friends’ political postings. When they disagree with others’ posts, 66% of these SNS users say they usually ignore the posts; 28% said they usually respond with comments or posts of their own; and 5% said it depends on the circumstances,” the report argues.
On the other hand, roughly 18% of the users are said to have blocked, unfriended or hidden someone because of their posting activities with regards to politics.
Reporters without borders declared 12 March world day against cyber-censorship in 2008. Today, the organisation amended last year’s report on the Internet’s recent developments and features a list of the ‘enemies of the internet’, meaning countries that restrict Internet the most.
The reports argues that social media tools help fighting the restriction of information. Thus, mobile phone and Internet shut-downs become increasingly popular with those aiming at doing so. Also, technical service providers are often pressured into filtering content or removing it. Surveillance and cyber attacks become increasingly effective and propaganda widespread.
On the other hand, international chains of support keep growing and diplomats enter the fore, using the Internet for their purposes.
Have you heard of Jakob Nielsen’s 90-9-1 rule? It states that “in most online communities, 90% of users are lurkers who never contribute, 9% of users contribute a little, and 1% of users account for almost all the action.” Interesting!
The Global Media Journal dedicates its special fall 2012 issue to the use of social media in public diplomacy. It will also feature a graduate section!! Deadline for submissions is 1 May 2012. Please find the complete call for papers on the journal’s website.
