Message from Michael -- Internet Trust -- July 26, 2010

Message From Michael                                 

                                                                                                                        July 26, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

      WHERE IS THE TRUST?

      LOOKING FOR TRUST IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES

      FIFTY WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER

      IMAGINE SHARING ALL THE WORLD

      COCKTAIL CHATTER  --  BANNED BOOKS, LIBRARIES AND BACHELORETTES

 

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      WHERE IS THE TRUST?  Although more Americans than ever are going online, more Americans than ever distrust the Internet.  That’s one of the key findings from the University of Southern California’s just-released annual report on the Digital Future.  Although the report headlines are about the decline in newspaper use and the growth in online buying along with the reluctance of Americans to pay for Internet use, it’s the issue of trust that I think is most interesting.  More than four out of five Americans (82%) use the Internet.  The average time spent online has doubled since the report was first started in 2000 – from 9.4 hours a week then to 19 hours a week now.  Yet nearly two thirds (61%) say that half or less of the information online is reliable.  The authors say that’s a new low for the ten years the study has been underway.  One in seven respondents (14%) say none, or very little, of the information online is reliable.  That’s a new high.  Even websites that people visit regularly are scoring low on the ‘trust meter.’  More than one in five say half or less of the information is reliable… and that’s the sites they use regularly.  Search engines (which the report says have been the ‘traditional stalwarts of online credibility’) still score well with half (53%) saying most of the information is reliable and accurate, but that is well down from the nearly two thirds (64%) who said that four years ago.  As a point of consideration, I would note that the survey was done well before the recent Breitbart-Sherod incident which has raised new questions about Internet reliability.  The authors raise the question whether the concerns about reliability, security and trust “represent the tip of an iceberg that includes deeper concerns among users about the role of online technology in their lives” and whether users are going into “online overload.”

Apparently though, not for young people.  Back to the more traditional findings in the study:  The report notes that Internet use increases as age decreases.  No surprise there until you look at the exact numbers.  Everyone (100%) of those under age 24 go online.  One in five (19%) of people aged 46 to 55 are ‘non-users’ while nearly as many (15%) in the younger group (36 to 45) are also ‘non-users.’  Those same young people make greater use of ‘new media’, but as a whole, there is a low adoption rate for new media.  Half of those surveyed (50%) never IM; Four out of five (79%) never work on a blog; Four out of five (80%) never participate in chat rooms; and more than four out of five (85%) never make or receive phone calls using new media technology.

The traditional media – aka newspapers – don’t do any better.  Fewer people than before cite newspapers as important sources of information – down to 56% last year from 60% the year before.  That’s below the Internet which – despite the trust issue – is still cited by four out of five (78%) as an important source of information, well ahead of television (68%).  Even fewer (29%) consider newspapers important sources of entertainment.      

But the headline of the news release from the University’s center was the fact that while Millions of Americans use Twitter, none – repeat none – of them want to pay for it.  The study found that half (49%) of Internet users have used free micro-blogs such as Twitter, but when asked if they would be willing to pay for it – “zero percent” said yes.  A fact which the authors called “an extreme finding.”

      LOOKING FOR TRUST IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES:  On a very much related note, a group calling itself the Internet Content Syndication Council is looking at creating a set of guidelines to prevent the spread of ‘poorly written, plagiarized or inaccurate content.’  There has been a proliferation of so-called ‘content providers’ which basically will provide various kinds of content for you to use to beef up your website.  I know.  I looked at them for my various websites.  The newly named executive director of the group says that the content is generated specifically to be linked, so that they score high on search engines.  The result, says Tim Duncan, is that the Internet becomes less valuable because the search engines are “junking up.”  Admittedly it sounds like some weird little group, in part because you’ve probably never heard of them before… I know I hadn’t.  But it’s made up of some heavy hitters – All the major networks, Associated Press and Reuters, NATPE and Nielsen, Brightcove and Canoe, and the real big one – Procter and Gamble.  Three of the top content providers are Examiner.com, AssociatedContent.com and DemandMedia.com.  And these are the ‘high end’ providers.  Associated Content, for example, is part of Yahoo, which by the way, is not part of the Council, although Google is.  Do a search for ‘free content’ and you will find some pretty ‘low end’ providers as well.  Anyway, we’ll have more on this in future messages.                

      FIFTY WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER:  Add two more to Paul Simon’s list – Facebook, and Texting.  Apparently, breaking up is not very hard to do, for young men, according to a survey by Lightspeed Research for Oxygen Media.  Nearly a quarter of men surveyed (24%) said they have or would break up with someone using Facebook while a third (31%) said they would text message their lover about the breakup.  Women are less than half as likely (9%) to break up using Facebook or by texting (14%).  Women are also less likely than men to say it’s okay to date someone they met on Facebook, but it’s still a whopping half (50%) compared to two thirds (65%) for men.  Women are also less likely (6%) than men (20%) to use it to “hook up.” Women though are more likely (49%) than men (42)% to say it’s okay to keep tabs on their lover by accessing their account.  But in all that, here’s the contradiction that should keep future anthropologists scratching their heads for years to come.  Going back to our lead story about “Trust”, more than half (54%) of women 18-24 say they do not trust Facebook with their private information and an even larger percentage (89%) say you shouldn’t put something on Facebook that ‘you wouldn’t want your parents to see.’  Sounds good so far, right?  Well, four out of five are fine with photos showing them kissing.  Okay, that’s relatively benign.  But, nearly a third (32%) think it’s okay to post photos of themselves or others making obscene gestures; And nearly half (42%) say it’s okay to post photos of themselves “visibly intoxicated.”  Now, readers who keep up with social media trends will know this study is relatively ‘old’ as Message material goes, having come out earlier this month.  But that’s because I have yet to find the original research, and I don’t like to ‘report’ on such studies using second hand sources.  Material for this came from a variety of sources including Mashable.com, HuffingtonPost.com and SocialMediaAtWork.com.  

      IMAGINE SHARING ALL THE WORLD:  On Monday, July 24, 2010, John Lennon’s dream may have become a reality.  On that day, people from around the world were to record a day in their life as part of what is being called “a historic global experiment to create the world’s largest user-generated feature film.”  The  various submissions will be put together by director Kevin MacDonald and producer Ridley Scott into a film that will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January of next year.  So far the YouTube based website has attracted nearly 18 Million channel views, 6 Million upload views, although it ‘only’ has just under 83,000 subscribers.  And while I’m on the subject of YouTube, the site has launched a new channel, leanback, which – as the name implies --  is supposed to make web browsing, video viewing easier, by creating a feed specifically tailored to your interests using your previous search results.  Sort of like Amazon recommending books based on your previous searches.  It’s specifically geared to people who have connected their computers to their HDTV’s.   

      COCKTAIL CHATTER:  A series of young adult novels that has made the New York Times best seller list has also made the American Library Association’s list of “most frequently challenged books” (as in – banned).  The series is written completely in IM-ese and is even titled that way – TTYL (Talk To You Later), TTFN (Tigger fans will know this one – Ta Ta For Now), L8R G8R (I assume I don’t have to translate this one for you.)  The books which I admit I had never even heard of (that’s what happens when your kids get older) are about three girls in the 10^th to 12^th grades and is very realistic… or explicit, depending on your point of view.  Other books on the library association list for 2009 To Catch A Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye and The Color Purple.  But THE most banned book of 2009, as well as the most challenged book of 2006, 2007 and 2008 is And Tango Makes Three, which is based on the true story about two male Chinstrap Penguins given an egg to raise.  The ALA has also released a list of the top 100 libraries in America.  Topping the list is… what else… the Library of Congress with 32,818,014 volumes.  As you would expect the list is dominated by University library systems, including Harvard (#3), Yale (5), and Columbia (8), with the University of Georgia coming in at 42.  But three public libraries made the top ten:  Boston (#2 with 23,595,895), New York (#4, with 15,428,327) and (here’s the surprise) the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (#10 with 9,261,529).

This next cocktail chatter item is one that cries for some commentary, but I will resist.  The ABC program The Bachelorette is not only one of the highest rated broadcast programs, it is also one of the highest viewed streaming programs and one of the highest rated network programs on the Internet.  The show wins all four half hours of the two hours it’s on with an ‘above-average’ 6.5 rating and an 11 share.  It also scored with 796,000 unique viewers, just behind The Gates, and 14.4 Million video streams, just ahead of The Young and the Restless. 

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