social media

Adoptees searching for their birth parents....on Facebook

Steve Carmody — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:40:00 +0000

There is a growing trend on Facebook of people setting up pages devoted to finding their birth parents.

It’s helped some adoptees. But some long time advocates worry that such a public search could create barriers to a reunion.

Dave Crispin has known since he was about eleven years old that he was adopted.

“It’s like the big unanswered question in my life,” Crispin says at the dinner table of his Springport, Michigan home, “I don’t know where I’m from.”

How social media closed down more than 100 Michigan schools

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:16:13 +0000

You might have heard how Genesee and Lapeer counties closed down all their schools today and tomorrow due to rumors spreading across Facebook, Twitter, and texts.

But how could a rumor close so many schools?

Below is a Storify narrative of how one text message prompted a social media wildfire in southeast Michigan.

You can click on any of the linked text or images to follow the story further.

UM's social media director busted by social media, resigns

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:03:38 +0000

Update 12:03 p.m.

The anonymous Reddit user who posted the information was Jordan Miller's ex-husband, Dan. You can read the entire, sad story on the original Reddit post here.

Tuesday, December 12, 4:36 p.m.

The University of Michigan's social media director, Jordan Miller, resigned yesterday.

That news came three days after an anonymous user on the social media information site Reddit posted allegations that she had lied about her credentials while applying for the position.

From the Reddit post "UM Social Media Director Jordan Miller lies on resume about bachelors degree, keeps job":

I don't like seeing my tax and your tuition money going toward paying someone ~ $100k/yr in earnings obtained through fraud, so I'm posting a little FOIA dump you all may be interested in.

The University's choice to hire Miller as their first social media director made headlines early this year when she was selected from dozens of applicants. AnnArbor.com reported that the position came with a $90,000 to $100,000 salary.

The anonymous Reddit user posted a link to documents they said they had received from the University in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Twitter CEO will return to Ann Arbor this Friday

Mark Brush — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:29:05 +0000

I still get the question from relatives, "what do you use Twitter for?"

Twitter is no Facebook, so the value of a 140 character "tweet" just doesn't appeal to them as much as status updates, "likes," and photo albums from friends and loved ones.

But while not as meteoric as Facebook (more than 1 billion users worldwide), Twitter's base of users continues to grow - there are now more than 500 million Twitter users worldwide.

In its most recent report, the Pew Research Center found that 15 percent of online adults user Twitter:

...the proportion of online adults who use Twitter on a typical day has doubled since May 2011 and has quadrupled since late 2010.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo (or @dickc) is a University of Michigan graduate (#goblue). He will return to campus this Friday to talk about his business (Nov. 16).

How to survive social media during this election season

Jennifer White and Mercedes Mejia — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 21:38:25 +0000

If you haven’t figured it out by now, not everybody in your virtual circle of friends shares the same political beliefs as you.

Jennifer White talks with Cliff Lampe, Assistant Professor in the School of Information at the University of Michigan. He gives some tips on how to survive social media, especially Facebook during this election season.

Take a vacation from social media

“If for instance, you were ever thinking about trying out Pinterest, now might be the time because there you’ll see a lot of pictures of cupcakes and dresses, and very few political campaign messages. Or if you were thinking about trying out Instagram and sharing your photos with people. So, this might be a great time to try another site and explore that for a little bit,” Lampe said.

Hide posts if you must, but try to embrace political differences

Candidate reunites 'West Wing' cast, but will going viral help campaign?

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 19:33:33 +0000

Why would a political campaign want to release an online video that’s part of a genre best known for piano-playing cats?

Why would it risk handing over control of its message to the unruly masses of YouTube and Facebook commenters?

Well, this very article is one reason.

The campaign viral video relies on big names, controversy, or just downright strange content (see Carly Fiorina's "Demon Sheep") to garner the attention of social media users. If all goes well, media outlets will pick up the story.

Protecting your social media privacy (from your boss)

Steve Carmody — Tue, 29 May 2012 17:42:55 +0000

State lawmakers are discussing whether to limit employers' ability to demand passwords to social media sites.

A bill would bar companies from asking employees or job applicants to hand over passwords to their Twitter, Facebook or other accounts.

New anti-bullying book

The Associated Press — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 18:56:20 +0000

Students at Michigan State University have published a book about bullying in the age of social media. The book is a project of an advanced undergraduate journalism course on the East Lansing campus.

Artpod: Discotech = technology you can dance to

Jennifer Guerra — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:02:43 +0000

Urban neighborhood libraries are on the decline.

Detroit, Flint, Dearborn and other cities have recently had to close some of their library branches in order to save money, which means access to free computers and computer training is becoming more limited.

On today's Artpod, we'll visit a group that's working to close the digital divide.

"Discotech" uses technology to foster community

Jennifer Guerra — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Urban neighborhood libraries are on the decline.

But in Detroit, there’s a group working to close the digital divide.

Discothèque vs. Discotech

This story takes place at a "discotech."

Not the kind of discotheque where you flaunt your best dance moves in platform shoes, but the kind of discotech where Google, Twitter and Facebook are center stage.

Here, discotech stands for DISCOvering TECHnology.

It's a traveling technology workshop that looks a lot like a pop-up science fair, with laptops, poster boards, wires and circuits all around the room.

Diana Nucera, one of the Discotech organizers, says the event is about "showing the possibility of technology to make our personal connections stronger."

Troy Mayor Facebook FAIL

Jack Lessenberry — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:29:02 +0000

One of the things I do is help get undergraduate students ready for the job market. Since we became an e-mail society, I’ve had to repeatedly advise students to make sure they use appropriate e-mail names, especially for professional use.

Politics of Language (Part 3)

Jennifer White and Mercedes Mejia — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 21:32:42 +0000

This week we are talking about the politics of language. In the third part of our series we examine how internet technology is being used to disseminate those political catch phrases and messages we all hear and quickly repeat.

Cliff Lampe is assistant professor in the School of Information at the University of Michigan. He says politicians are using social media to their advantage.

Top 10 categories for time spent online

Mark Brush — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 21:03:04 +0000

My colleague Michigan Radio reporter Steve Carmody passed along this study from the Nielsen Company:

State of the Media: The Social Media Report (Q3 2011)

So how are we spending our time online? (hint: you "like" it). From the report:

Americans spend more time on Facebook than they do any other U.S. website.

Here's the top ten:

22.5 percent of our online time is spent on social networks and blogs
9.8 percent online games
7.6 percent e-mail
4.5 percent "portals"
4.4 percent videos/movies
4.0 percent search
3.3 percent instant messaging
3.2 percent software manufacturing
2.9 percent classifieds/auctions
2.6 percent on current events and global news

Nielsen reports that Tumblr is an emerging social network nearly tripling its unique U.S. audience over the last year.

Does the Tumblr design look somewhat familiar to you?

U of M Press to publish serialized books online

Jennifer Guerra — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:06:33 +0000

A Michigan book publisher is using social media to update a popular 19^th century publishing method made famous by Charles Dickens.

The University of Michigan Press will serialize two new novels using Facebook, beginning July 18.

Universities work toward effective social media strategies

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:52:39 +0000

Many colleges and universities are still trying to develop their social media strategy. A study by Noel-Levitz Higher Education Consultants shows one in four potential students drops a school from their prospective list after a bad experience on the university’s website.