Monday, November 8, 2010

Facebook is now a 'reality interface' - but The Social Network doesn't get it

In the early 90s, before Google (founded 1998) and Facebook (2004), the Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland popularised a term that described the post-baby boom generation: Generation X. But kids today aren't slackers, they're geeks, and it's clear that new terminology is needed for a new generation

More here

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/nov/07/facebook-social-network-interface-zuckerberg

Monday, November 1, 2010

Twitter used to organise protest in UK

On Wednesday morning, after a few days' planning, I met a few friends and 60-odd strangers outside the Ritz hotel in London, listened to a quick briefing and then made the short walk up to Oxford Street where together we occupied and shut down Vodafone's flagship store. Only later would it become clear that we had sparked some of the first tangible signs of nationwide outrage at the spending cuts.




This summer, the new government let Vodafone off nearly all of an outstanding tax bill of £6bn. The original Private Eye exposé on the decision reports that one senior figure at the HMRC called it "an unbelievable cave in". As George Osborne cheerfully sets about slashing welfare and public services for the very poorest, the Vodafone case gives lie to his claim that "we are all in this together".


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/nov/01/vodafone-protest-social-media