“…Islamo-Fascism does not define people. Islamo-Fascism shares ideology. You either share that ideology or you reject that ideology. If you reject that ideology, covering for them, complaining about use of that term to describe people who use Islam as a way to, you know, to rally people, to help take on Western world is not in your interest. Your interest is being precise and saying, you know, who you are and who they are and differentiating. And they don’t differentiate, and when they don’t differentiate, it leads to the belief that many Americans have is, you know, they’re all in this together. They may not be violent but you know what? They protect their own before they’re willing to be differentiating between their own. And that’s a problem. And you point it out very, very well.”

— straight from the Ass’ mouth (Ricky) —

There has been a huge effort to protest this movement on Facebook. Penn State even has its own group that is against the movement. This just goes to show how useful Facebook can been to rally and organize people.

For the video sharing site analysis assignment I chose three sites that I visited weekly and had a long history of using. I picked the classic political parody JibJab and the adult humor sites Break.com and CollogeHumor.com. All three of these sites are meant to bring entertainment and humor to the viewers. Break.com has especially been targeted to employees of companies. CollegeHumor.com is marketed towards college and high school students. JibJab originally started out as a strictly politically themed sharing site, but has since broadened its categories.

JibJab.com

The JibJab offers four main channels: Sendables, Starring You, Originals, and JokeBox. Sendables has a variety of multimedia, usually animated videos, which users can edit and add content to. JibJab allows users to upload pictures of themselves or people or change the content of the sendable to personalize it in some way. After users create the sendable, they can send by email to a friend. JibJab sendables are supposed to be more hip than eCards. To use this service of the site, users must be registered and have a certain enough of JibJab’s online currency to purchase the sendable. The Starring You channel includes more multimedia that users can customize and personalize. Most of the time, users can upload photos to put in the videos. Afterwards, they can post and share their videos on the site. The Originals channel features the classic political animations that JibJab become so popular to back in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. The JokeBox is the part of the website where members of JibJab can upload and comment on videos. JibJab also offers a blog that keeps members posted on what the JibJab team is up too. All of JibJab’s videos are run on a Flash player. JibJab makes it very easy to post these videos to other platforms such as Facebook, MySpace, and many other booking marking services. It even offers the embedded code for its videos. There are no advertisements on the site ; however, there is box on the main page that states CNN as JibJab’s partner. This is how I assume they keep a steady income. The social networking aspect of the site is limited to an avatar, brief description, and statistics on uploading and commenting. There is only one type of membership. This lack of a networking functionality probably keeps the relationship between users distanced. Comments on particular videos are the closest you get to communicating with other members. There is a very detailed privacy policy protects the users from information disclosure by JibJab. JibJab has also copyrighted all of its own content, and anything that is uploaded to the site becomes the property of JibJab Media Inc.

Here is one of JibJab’s classics:

Break.com
Break.com has three main categories: Videos, Games, and Pictures. The Videos main page is broken down into even smaller sections: Latest Video Pick, Daily Buzz, Just Submitted, and Most Viewed. The differences between these videos is popularity or chronological. The Games section has many online games for the user’s pleasure. The Pictures main page has the latest funny pictures. Its sections break down into: All Photos, Girls, Not Safe For Work (NSFW). The category names are pretty much self explanatory. Break.com uses the Adobe Flash player for its videos Break.com have advertisements on every page. This is how they keep their operation going. Break.com have more of a social network like profile page. On their profiles, Members can upload avatars, post information about themselves, post bulletins, and of see the videos and pictures that they have uploaded. Other members of break can also post comments on this profile page. There is also a blogging feature. Members profile s on Break.com encourages networking and communication inside of the Break.com community. There is only one type of members. Members are responsible for any uploaded material. That means members are liable for copyrighted material.

Here is a video from their site:

a very clever beer ad - Watch more free videos

CollegeHumor.com
CollegeHumor offers videos, pictures, articles, CHTV, and of course girls. The Video page is all of the user uploaded content. It is broken down into Recent, Popular, and Hall of Fame. Pictures follow the same format. Articles are contributed by staff members of CollegeHumor or other members from the site. CHTV (CollegeHumor TV) are CollegeHumor’s original videos. CollegeHumor also offers a “Girls” section where cute “college girl’s of the day” are displayed. CollegeHumor.com uses Adobe Flash Player for its videos. There are advertisements on the top banner of the site and also embedded in the site. Along with these advertisements, CollegeHumor has many partners. Registered members can have profile pages, but they only display a brief description, uploaded videos and pictures, posted articles, and statistics about comments. There are three types of members: regular members, staff members, and contributors. All material on CollegeHumor.com is the sole property of their owners (Connected Ventures Technology). All user added content remains under their possession.

Here is a clip from their video section:

All three of the sites have some type of user created or edited video content. Break.com and CollegeHumor.com also have pictures. JibJab focuses more on animated videoed. Of all three, Break.com has the most in-depth and closest functionality to a social network. Intellectual Property rights are pretty much the same across the board on long the lines of posting copy –rights material, but CollegeHumor.com is the only one of the three that allows users to keep ownership rights over posted content. Break.com is the only sharing site that has games that visitors can play. All three of these sites depend on the user community to continuously add new content to the site. This is what makes them so popular.

Freeskier, a popular independant skiing magazine, has recently “2.0ed” their website.

The site already featured articles written by Freeskier staff or personal entries by Pros. Registered users on their site can post their own videos and photos and have their own profiles. There is are two new section for reviews of all things related to skiing and daily podcasts. Freeskier’s website interface makes it easy to find popular and recently added videos and photos for visitors to look at. Member profiles are cited in the picture or video so it is easy to backtrack and find out more information about the author. There are four kind of memberships: Companies, Pros, Resorts, and Members. By giving members labels, Freeskier has effectively categorized its members into classifications. Pros (and Freeskier employees) are the most active member of the site. They create most of the content on the site. Resorts and Companies can get a lot of publicity by utilizing their membership profiles to promote their brand. Regular site members still have all of the same features as the Pros, Resorts, and Companies, but just not status advantage of the label.

The Freeskier website has some of the same characteristics as a blog and social network, but doesn’t neatly fit in under either of the two:

Tagging
User Profiles
Comments
Posting
Avatars
RSS feeds

Communication between members on their profiles; however, is somewhat limited. The interface for viewing posts lacks in functionality as well. Freeskier places high emphasis on the featured articles by their staff writers and high-profile members. The only way to view a complete list of member posts is on the Stories page. The Featured articles and posts take up about three-quarters of the page. Freeskier doesn’t all of the other posts in any system beyond tagging and chronological order on the Stories page.

And now some of the good stuff:

http://freeskier.com

I strongly urge everyone to go to the IST Halloween Madness Social on Oct. 29. It’s from 7pm to 9pm in the Warning Commons study lounge.

FOOD!
MUSIC!
FUN!
PUMPKINS!
PIE YOUR PROF!

Check out the SRA club website for other cool events!

Right now, I have that feeling little kids get on Christmas morning. I just bought Team Fortress 2 on Steam for $30. Yes, I know that I could gotten a better deal if I bought the Orange box before the official release of TF2, but I didn’t have enough money at the time. Yes, I could have still bought the Orange box for an additional $20 that would include the Half-Life 2 bundle. It would not be worth it to me. I would never have found the time to play Half-Life 2 and I could better use that $20 to go towards coffee.

For those of you that are confused right now and don’t know what Team Fortress 2 is:

I pull up my Steam window. 67% downloaded @ 2.2 MB/s.

I love the IST building’s network where I can be free from Rescom’s bandwidth restrictions.

It’s now 80% completed @ 2.5MB/s.

Anticipation and excitement are seriously starting to build up. I really hope the game meets my high expectations. Team Fortress Classic was one of my favorites when Valve released Half-Life. TF2 has been in development for such a long time now. I’m just happy that it is finally here.

Done.

Here is a video of my favorite character (Valve really did a great job with his personality):

I have decided to look at the three social network sites that our IST 110 class has been following. They also happen to be the three largest in terms of market share. Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo must be doing something to keep a grip on their share of users in the social networking market.

Although Facebook does not have nearly as large a base as MySpace, the format and functionality of their interface is gaining a lot of users and notice among the media. Facebook sorts users into different networks. These networks can be high schools, colleges, employers, cities, and countries. Users in the same network can usually see more information about other users, events, and groups in the same network. Users profiles on Facebook are designed to be easily modified. Sections can be dragged and dropped to suit aesthetics of the individual user. The profile displays information about the user’s tastes that includes but is not restricted to music, movies, books, TV shows, and quotes. Photos can be uploaded to be used as an avatar or put in photo albums to be displayed on the profile. Members can “tag” other members in the same photo. This tagged photo is then automatically loaded onto to the tagged user’s profile. Every user’s profile has a “Wall.” On the wall, friends of the users (depending on the level of privacy) can post comments. This is the method of public communication between members. Users can also message each other. Messages are private. Walls and Photo tagging are the main source of engagement between members.

Facebook users can also create and join groups and events. Events are planned activities by members that can be used to notify and inform people of parties, dinners, dances, or any other imaginable gathering that people can do together. Groups are made to bring users with similar interests together. Along with these basic functions of Facebook, there are others applications such as iLike (music interests), Video (video upload), etc. Third-parties continue to make this widgets and Facebook only becomes denser in data. Some users of Facebook have so many applications installed on their profiles to the point where one can become confused just by scrolling down their profile page.

On the social networking site, MySpace, many of the same features in Facebook are present. The same profile of information about users is posted along with an avatar and pictures. There is no method of “tagging” users in photos on MySpace. A big social attraction on MySpace is the popular music artists, celebrities, athletes, and other people of interest. Regular MySpace users can become friends with these famous members and follow their lives more intimately. Music artists can also post some of their songs for promotion. MySpace services also include a blogging pages, were members can post blog entries. MySpace users can subscribe to these blogs. MySpace also does its own version of groups and events.

Bebo is the third largest social network site in terms of traffic. It also the very same basic functions as Facebook and MySpace. Bebo’s profile page for its users allows them to add their own widgets, add videos, pictures, quizzes, and polls. Similar to MySpace’s blogging portion, Bebo incorporates blogging right on their members profile pages. Bebo also includes a white board where users can draw images using paint. Members can do searches for each other pretty easily. Bebo has music artist’s profiles, but most of them are small and unheard of.

Facebook Receives New York Subpoena Over Safety, Security

This article concerning mostly Facebook covers a recent development in security and privacy in the Facebook community. The New York Attorney General has subpoenaed documents related to Facebook’s sercurity and privacy over complaints of sexual solicitations.

Facebook spokeswoman Brandee Barker said the company will work closely with all the state attorneys general to “maintain a trusted environment for Facebook users and to demonstrate the efficacy of these efforts.”
“We strive to uphold our high standards for privacy on Facebook and are constantly working on processes and technologies that will further improve safety and user control on the site,” she said.

After setting up fake accounts of young females, the NY Attorney General’s office found that appropriate action from Facebook is slow if not non-existent. The subpoena also requires Facebook to submit their policies on user safety and claims made to consumers about the safety of the site.

Social network traffic up 11.5 percent; MySpace still dominates
A report from Hitwise, the US market share of internet traffic to social networking websites is on the rise (11.5% from last yea). Facebook is still the “Heavyweght” with 80% market share. Facebook has only 10%. While it may seem that MySpace has no chance of losing its crown, don’t forget Friendster a social site that was very dominate before MySpace came out. The market can change very rapidly over a quick period of time.

These two articles show the comparison between user growth and the activity of the US legal system. In the WSJ article we can see the American legal system in action as they gain traction in the grey-shaded area of information security law. MySpace has been in the spotlight because of online predator cases and been the main focus in the media. Now that other social networking sites has grown, such as Facebook (doubled in users in the past year), they are coming under closer scrutiny.

It is certain that the law and social network policy will surely meet many times in the future. The spike in user growth of these sites only increases the amount of attention that they will receive.