Would-be media mogul Gina Rinehart might need to brush up on the internet, which she thinks is a threat to her life.
Social media
How Facebook makes billions of dollars
Facebook filed its long-awaited initial public offering noting it will seek to raise $5 billion for the float. But the IPO also reveals how Facebook made 3.71 billion in 2011.
Dannii Minogue’s cousin quite the PR star
We receive a lot of press releases. Most are useless, but one popped up overnight from Lauren Jones, an Aussie girl who works for gossip site Perez Hilton, which we thought deserved wider attention. But not exactly for the right reasons…
The People’s Question: dragging question time into the 21st century
An experiment to crowdsource a parliamentary question is under way, which will briefly drag federal parliament into the social media age.
The Boston fishing party and Australians’ rights online
A Melbourne activist is caught up in a remarkable social media fishing expedition by the state of Massachusetts.
Come in Spinner: Protests and social media — old wine in new bottles?
With the first anniversary of the Egyptian revolution approaching, it is interesting to look back, in the context of some new research, on the widespread belief that social media was a decisive factor in the uprising.
Ragging on the boss on Facebook ‘like a chat at the pub’
A truck driver has got away with using Facebook to dump on managers in a case that has left Linfox exposed for failing to educate on social media. Other businesses beware, writes Brad Gardner of Australasian Transport News.
Curation will rule in the kingdom of Social TV
The value of the rapidly emerging platform Social TV will come not from the platform itself but from those who curate content. Quality signifiers will help cut through the echo chamber of friends voices and provide distinct new choices, writes Dan Barrett.
The perils of caging Twitter in governments
In a classic case of confusing the medium with the message, the Victorian Parliament last week launched an inquiry into the use of social media within the gallery, writes Charis Palmer of Technology Spectator.
From ‘lawful’ to ‘massive’: rise and rise of cyber surveillance industry
WikiLeaks has collated material that provides a disturbing insight into the methods of the internet surveillance industry.
Crikey Says: Australian political parties are dying, and fast
Australian political parties are cossetted by compulsory voting, public funding and exemptions in areas such as privacy. But despite those protections, they are dying, and quickly.
On the death of Google +
Google only launched its social network Google + in June, but is it already dead? Forty million people joined, but Google failed to provide a credible alternative to Facebook, argues Farhad Manjoo.
Mexican blogger decapitated by drug cartel
It’s a tough time to be an outspoken blogger or social media user in Mexico, with four murdered in horrific ways recently. The latest, a moderator on a popular social network site, was decapitated for tipping authorities off about cartels.
Simons: to tweet or not to tweet from court…
During the course of yesterday I became aware that The Australian’s Melbourne bureau chief, Chip Le Grand, was applying to the court for an audio recording of the first day’s hearing.
Money and art: should businesspeople run the creative space?
The common message from much of the social sciences is that the arts and culture are more than just industries exchanging goods and services. They are constitutive parts of our everyday life.
Essential: we’re happy to ban social media, indifferent on health reforms
More people support a ban on social media during times of unrest than oppose one — but it depends on usage. And on health … voters seem uninterested in the recent reform package.
Back to the future with Cameron’s digital Riot Act
David Cameron’s promise to crack down on social media travels a path well-worn both this year and in centuries past.
Sorry too hard a word for LinkedIn over privacy faux pas
Supposedly-professional social network LinkedIn has responded to criticism over its privacy faux pas with a blog post. The word “sorry” is nowhere to be seen, and neither is any evidence of real change.
podcast Canberra Calling: The I can’t believe Blackberrys are cool podcast
Crikey’s Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane and Crikey editor Sophie Black talk about the UK riots, the role of social media and the global economy.
Next year’s favourite websites
What’s the next big Twitter or 4Square? Perhaps it’s the program that uses Facebook to study. Or oBaz, the site that brings you together to get a group discount on a product. Check out BizSpark, a program by Microsoft that supports start-ups.
London riots: the good and bad of social media
A Facebook page set up as a tribute turned into a call to action to protest Duggan’s death. Crikey intern Sophie Malcolm tracked the riots, and the public reaction, online…
London riots: the (social) media is to blame, apparently
According to some British media, Twitter was responsible for the London riots. We’ve been here before.
The govt department with a census of humour
Statistics aren’t known for being sexy. Or funny. So how was the 2011 Census Twitter account allowed to be so cheeky? Meet David McHugh, the man behind the account.
Social networking essential link for asylum seekers
Facebook has become a key form of communication for detention detainees, writes freelance journalist Greg Foyster.
How one hospital exec became a social media convert
In North America, hospitals seem to have been quicker than other parts of the health sector to realise the potential of social media. One early adopted in Oz, Dr John Ballard, former CEO of Mercy Health, explains how he was converted to Twitter.
