Links to Your Multimedia Stories

Class, I thought you'd like to be able to look at each other's final multimedia stories. Links follow below. Could you also add a link to your published resume packages, in the comment area of this post? Thanks! I hope to have these graded and back to you Friday, when you turn in your final Web site analysis papers. Best, Chris

• Fives Gets the (Alternative) Party Started, by Nancy Chow: http://www.jclass.umd.edu/652352/2009spring/fives/fives.html
  
  
• Buzzworthy, by Kelly Brooks, http://www.jclass.umd.edu/652352/2009spring/umdquiz/quizteam.html
  
  
• Benefit Concert, by Courtney Pomeroy: http://www.jclass.umd.edu/652352/2009spring/benefitconcert/elsalvadorbenefit.html
  
  
• Edmonston's Pumping Station, by Ellie Falaris: http://www.jclass.umd.edu/652352/2009spring/edmonston/falaris_page.html
  
  
• Masterpeace Community Farm, by Allison Frick: http://www.jclass.umd.edu/652352/2009spring/growiteatit/growiteatit.html
  
  
• Gamer Symphony Orchestra, by Nadine Simpson: http://www.jclass.umd.edu/652352/2009spring/gso/gso.html
  
  
• Street Sense, by Andrew Smith, http://www.jclass.umd.edu/652352/2009spring/street_sense/street.html
  
  
• The Birds and the Bees, by Lauren Cohen, http://www.jclass.umd.edu/652352/2009spring/umdprofessors/umdprofessors.html
  
  
• Not Your Average Sorority House Resident, by Brittany Fertig, http://www.jclass.umd.edu/652352/2009spring/housedirector/story.html
  
  
• Life Coaching, by Lacey Cohen: http://www.jclass.umd.edu/652352/2009spring/coaching/default.html
  
  
• Earth, Life, Time's Up, by Michael Jaffe: http://www.jclass.umd.edu/652352/2009spring/elt/eltfeature.html
  
  
• Semester at Sea, by Dayna Ryan, http://www.jclass.umd.edu/652352/2009spring/SeaSemester2/WebPackage.html
  
  

Memo: Social Networking Sites Are Not Appropriate

A Gannett editor issued a memo to the paper's staff that stated that Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites are "not appropriate" and "not a part of the job." The editor admits, "Occasionally it will be necessary for staff members to visit these sites for work purposes." This editor's view on social networking tools seems to conflict with a generally positive reaction to Twitter and Facebook.

Gawker's ValleyWag blog points out that USA Today is one of numerous Gannett-owned papers that encourages their staff to spend more time to use these tools. The blog entry quotes a report that said, "Facebook is a modern day Rolodex." Social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter really has potential to expand a potential pool of sources. I have seen peers request for sources for articles on Facebook, and they have gotten fairly quick responses. I have also heard success stories with Twitter. Should an editor really restrict the amount of time spent on tools that may help generate sources and reveal major news scoops?

Obama and new media

President Obama recognizes that there are now faster ways to reach the public today. For updates on the H1N1 flu outbreak, Obama is utilizing new media Web and social networking tools like MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter via the username WhiteHouse.

White House officials are also looking into expanding to Flickr.com, Vimeo.com, YouTube.com and will also offer videos and podcasts through iTunes.

Obama and his staff hope that by using new media outlets, they will be able to reach the public more immediately and effectively. I think it is fantastic that our government is recognizing new ways that our society is consuming news.

Personally, I own the iPhone and am more likely to check the Associated Press wire service application, Facebook and Twitter right from my phone than I am to watch a newscast from my living room sofa. I can get my daily dose of news and updates on the go which has been a great convenience. I've found that with this capability and no limitation on when I am able to view the news, I've been more knowledgeable when it comes to news in general.

Reporters use student's Wikipedia hoax quote

When French Oscar-winning composer Maurice Jarre died at the end of March, Shane Fitzgerald, a sociology and economics student at University College Dublin, conducted a social experiment, according to a May 6 article on irishtimes.com

The student fabricated a poignant quote, attributed it to Jarre and posted it on Wikipedia. Administrators removed the quote, but Fitzgerald "put it back a few more times until it was finally left up on the site for more than 24 hours," the article reads.

The Guardian, the London Independent, the BBC Music Magazine Web site and Indian and Australian newspapers published the quote, according to the Irish Times.

Here is the Guardian article. The correction is at the bottom.

This ties into what we learned in the beginning of the semester. Wikipedia can be edited by anyone, and it's simply a bad idea to pull a quote directly from that site without tracking down the original source.

Pope praises social networking sites

It's got 15,724 regular subscribers. That particular YouTube channel has been viewed 1,046,646 times. But this YouTube channel isn't dedicated to some pop culture sensation, it's the Vatican channel, which Pope Benedict XVI launched in January.

It's an interesting usage of the media. We always complain about how terrible the media is for us; especially when criticizing its portrayal of women and their bodies. Or, we complain about how useless it is. I love Twitter like anyone else, but I have to admit, it's really not necessary to describe the egg salad sandwich I'm eating for lunch in 140 characters or less. It's also stalker-like and completely invading our privacy - although for social networking sites like facebook, myspace and the like, we're the ones who choose what content we post as well as any security settings (or lack thereof), so it makes me a little frustrated when people refuse to regulate their content and then proceed to feel violated.

Aside from the fact that any messages Pope Benedict XVI sends out are going to be morally sound, it's amazing to think of how far that Vatican has come in the past 2,000 years. It's an institution that's known for being very set in its ways but even the Pope has realized that perhaps the only way to truly connect to Catholics worldwide is to adjust to the modern age. He's on facebook, too - you can log on right now and become a fan of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, along with 42,807 other users.

I'm not Catholic myself, but when I first heard about the YouTube channel back in January, I happened to mention it to a Catholic friend of mine who hadn't heard about it, but was excited to check it out, much more than I expected.

It amazes me how creative people are in discovering new uses for the internet. Pope Benedict XVI can consider the "I like" thumbs up button on his facebook page pushed.

A New Type of Blogging?

www.textsfromlastnight.com has been around since around February of this year. Recently though it has been growing in popularity. The site seems to be inspired by other sites like fmylife.com which is incredibly popular, especially on college campuses. This new website allows users to submit texts message either they received or sent during recent nights. A lot of them can actually be pretty funny.
I just think it's interesting that these new types of blogs are popping up. There is no real way to tell who it is that posted the text messages but they do post the area code of their phone and anyone else involved in the conversation. Also, if you were the one involved in the conversation surely you would be able to tell it's you. There is a new option on the site that allows readers to vote on whether or not the night was a good night or bad night based on a single text or a few correspondences that are posted.
This isn't news blogging, but textsfromlastnight.com is hosted by a blogging site and treated as a blog with users posting their "blogs" or texts and others commenting on them. I was just wondering what everyone thought about all these new types of sites that are coming up?