Communications

Case Threatens Viability of an Open Internet

On September 9, 2013 the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals will start hearing oral arguments in Verizon V. FCC, a “net neutrality” case where wireless provider Verizon is challenging the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) order regulating how Internet service providers manage their networks. Verizon seeks to undo some of the regulatory power of the FCC.

A Vine for its Time

I’m addicted to Vine, Twitter’s recently acquired 6-second video service. I Vine my dog-walking, my coffee-making, my cookie-baking, my car-washing. I Vine everything but my wife, and only because she won’t allow it. (If I ever do, I’ll also Vine my time in the doghouse after she finds out.)

It wasn’t too hard to become addicted. I’ve tried many video services before: YouTube, 12seconds, Qwik, and others that came and went even faster. Vine is right for its time. What makes it different?

Scrutiny

Scrutiny and the Rise of New Online Networks

One of the primary questions at the start of a relationship is “Can I trust you?”

The same is true on online relationships and in the process of vetting new connections and networks. Everyone gets invites to join this or that and if you don’t have a previous relationship or personally know the person IRL (in real life) then you might be suspicious of the attempt to connect.

Bad Taste from @TheOnion – Updated

Last night’s Oscars tweet from the satire site The Onion was over the top and demeaning. The tweet, which was deleted from the @TheOnion Twitter feed a hour after it was made was:

“Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a c*nt, right?”

Those words are mean enough but even more so since Quvenzhané is a 9-year-old.

New Media Strategies for Reaching Latino Voters

This election season, voters accessed candidate and proposition information in many more ways than in previous years.

We still received the stack of campaign literature in our mailboxes, were exposed to a barrage of ads on our TVs and received more than our fair share of after dinner phone calls asking for our support, money and time, but there were a few new “touches” added to this year’s election material mix, many on social media and mobile platforms.

Students Activated in Mexico’s Election Rally Around #YoSoy132 Campaign

When Mexican presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto visited Mexico City’s Ibero University he encountered a large group of angry students. Students linked the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate to former Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari also of the same PRI party and called out Peña Nieto on his being governor during a bloody crackdown on students in the state of Atenco.