News IndexHow did people use Twitter during Hurricane Sandy?
For millions who lost power but could still access the internet on mobile devices, Twitter served as a critical lifeline throughout the disaster that struck on October 29. At least a few news operations, such as Huffington Post and the aggregator BuzzFeed saw their servers go down and turned to Twitter and other social media to deliver reports. According to Twitter, people sent more than 20 million tweets about the storm from October 27 through November 1. This was more than twice the usage from the two previous days. In New York, usage peaked on October 29 around 9 pm, according to Twitter’s internal data, the same time that a Con Edison substation exploded in Manhattan’s East Village, knocking out power to much of lower Manhattan. What were the main thrusts of the posts? What would an individual searching for posts about Sandy have found in the social network? From the day the storm made landfall on October 29 through Wednesday the 31st, news, information, photos and video made up more than half of all the Twitter conversation, according to a study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, using Crimson Hexagon technology. Hurricane Sandy Conversation on Twitter Percent of assertions Date Range: October 29, 2012 - October 31, 2012 PEJ analysis using Crimson Hexagon technology The largest share of this news and information, fully 34% of the Twitter discourse about the storm, involved news organizations providing content, government sources offering information, people sharing their own eyewitness accounts and still more passing along information posted by others. Some of these were tales of courage and helping out neighbors during and after the storm, such as an Indian news organization’s first-hand account from a reporter on the ground in New York. 
The New York Times shared a state-to-state guide to the hurricane, showing tweets from utilities and reporters in other states and resources for people to use.
But, as can happen in the open and fast-moving environment of social media, some accounts shared by many, including mainstream news organizations, turned out to be false. One of the most-discussed was the claim that the New York Stock Exchange floor had flooded with three feet of water and that the power company, Con Edison, was shutting off power to all of Manhattan. The original tweets, from @ComfortablySmug, were passed along by a number of news organizations, including CNN and New York Magazine. Others on Twitter quickly debunked the rumors. The aggregator BuzzFeed eventually identified @ComfortablySmug as Shashank Tripathi, a hedge fund manager and campaign manager for Republican congressional candidate, Christopher R. Wight. In another post about false Twitter accounts, BuzzFeed wrote: “In response to thousands of retweets of erroneous Weather Channel and CNN reports that the New York Stock Exchange had been flooded with ‘three feet’ of water, Twitter users, some reporters and many not, were relentless: Photos of the outside of the building, flood-free, were posted. Knowledgeable parties weighed in.” Tripathi resigned from his campaign position on Tuesday. In the days following the storm, news organizations and others continued to share news via Twitter.
The second largest share of Twitter conversation about the hurricane over these three days, fully 25%, involved people sharing photos and videos, speaking to the degree to which visuals have become a more common element of this realm. These images included everything from pictures and video of the storm, post-storm destruction, falsified pictures about the disaster and self portraits of people during the storm. 
There was interplay, too, between news and eyewitness content with news organizations retweeting or sharing citizen images. WTOP, a news radio station in Washington, D.C., shared an image of a sculpture in Maryland, underwater, taken by a citizen.
How much of the imagery on Twitter was fake was hard to know, and that in itself became a topic of discussion. An Atlantic article explaining which photos were real and which were fake, was often shared over social media. Beyond news and information, some turned to humor: 14% of the conversation about the storm involved jokes.
And the humorous Twitter feed @ElBloombito, which makes fun of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Spanish, offered several posts which were shared by many. 
As the level of destruction set in, though, the jokes became less common, declining by roughly half from the first day to the third, according to the PEJ analysis.
Others in the media noticed the decline as well. “For most of Monday, people on Twitter were watching an endless loop of hurricane coverage on television and having some fun with it, which is the same thing that happens when the Grammys or the Super Bowl is on,” wrote David Carr for The New York Times, “But as the storm bore down, Twitter got busy and very, very serious.” Prayers and well wishes were also a large part of the conversation, 13% of the Sandy discussion. This also included people urging their followers to donate to organizations that provide aid to those affected by the hurricane. Many of these tweets came from people unaffected by the storm, who weighed in with their concern.
Other popular topics of discussion on Twitter about Sandy included political comments (8%), many of which were critical of one of the two major presidential candidates. Still others (6%) were excited that the hurricane was coming, mainly voicing their pleasure that school would be canceled.
For the week of June 11-15, the number one story on blogs was about Apple and updates to its products, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. Unlike many topics, where bloggers largely use social media to opine, this story was driven by tech bloggers who reported on the event, even liveblogging it to their readers with up-to-the-minute details straight from the conference floor. The annual conference is always popular among Apple fans and is widely reported through blogs as well as traditional media. Apple Worldwide Developers Conference The June 11 WWDC event started with a keynote address from Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. The company then announced a next generation MacBook Pro with an upgraded Retina display, new operating systems and processor upgrades, among other developments. While social media speculation about some of these improvements pre-dated the announcement, rumors about the promise of a new Apple TV proved unfounded. Apple also announced upgrades to Siri, the popular "virtual personal assistant," including steering wheel integration for several car companies, connectivity with other applications like Yelp and ability to use it on the new iPad. At least one tech blogger was skeptical about Siri's in-car integration. "I could not believe automakers would actually put dedicated buttons just for Siri in their cars," wrote Wayne Cunningham for CNET, "You see, there is a little conversation going on among automakers, the Department of Transportation, and the general public about distracted driving. If an automaker were to open up all the capabilities of an iPhone, social networking, texting, what have you, through Siri, those same automakers would likely be included in lawsuits brought by victims in distracted driving accidents." Others were pleased about the changes to Siri. "One of the biggest new additions is that Siri can now launch apps when asked," wrote Chris Velazco for Tech Crunch. "That lack of that functionality from day one seemed like a serious shortcoming especially considering how Apple was trying to position her (or him, depending on your locale) as a smart new way of interacting with the iPhone." Apple also announced that it would be releasing its own Maps app, a direct competitor to Google Maps, which has dominated that market for years. "Google, of course, is a gigantic company that will be able to withstand this blow from Apple," wrote Chris Barth for Forbes, "More threatened are companies like Garmin and TomTom, which have made their name producing high-quality GPS navigation and communications systems for cars." Another change to the new operating system involved including gay and lesbian couple icons into the emoji menu. Emojis are popular emoticons or pictures, smiley faces, figures or other little images that can be used when texting. One tech blogger was pleased with the addition, but suggested a few more. "Since utilizing emoji in my own texts as a guilty pleasure I indulge myself in daily, I've included a few emoticons below that Apple missed as part of iOS6," wrote Ray Basile for iPhone Savior, "The emo emoji kid, hipster and "doh! guy" icons are essential, but more importantly Apple should have added an ample variety of ninjas into the mix. The Pacman Ninja and Mutant Ninja Turtles emoticons are must-haves in my book."* Apple also decided to kill its relatively unpopular social network for music, Ping. Bloggers did not mourn Ping's departure. "Unlike Apple's hardware and software products, most of which have been tremendously successful in the last couple of years, the company's social network has been poorly received from the very beginning," wrote Stan Schroeder for Mashable, "Besides the fact it was available only to a limited subset of iTunes users, it also had issues with spam and a serious lack of artist profiles...It makes sense that Apple is no longer interested in maintaining Ping." "Ping [is] an embarrassment for a company that is the unquestioned leader in selling smartphones, tablets, and songs," wrote Ryan Tate for Wired, "Shutting down Ping would put the failure behind Apple, but would also be a public acknowledgement that Apple is out of its element when it comes to bringing people together in social networks...That could change. If it learns the right lessons from the Ping defeat, Apple could yet go on to launch useful, innovative social products." Other Top News Stories in Blogs
While Apple dominated the conversation, the No. 2 subject on blogs last week was a story from Danny Goodwin In Goodwin's lengthy piece, the author compares results from different search engines. "Not having Google as the entire foundation of your online business marketing strategy lessens the risk that your site will sink into quicksand next time Google lets out a black and white animal from its zoo," wrote Goodwin, "Always remember: Google traffic is a bonus, not a guarantee." At No. 3 was a story about the House Oversight Committee's scheduled vote on whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for not turning over documents subpoenaed in October 2011 dealing with the Fast and Furious program that resulted in U.S. guns ending up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. On June 20, the Committee voted to hold him in contempt, making him the first Obama administration official to be held in contempt by a congressional panel. The fourth-biggest subject was research about the economy. Jared Bernstein, the former Chief Economist and Economic Adviser to Vice President Joe Biden and current senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, broke down the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances on his blog and Democracy Corps, a liberal-leaning research firm, provided qualitative research on the economic narrative. The No. 5 topic was other news about Apple, unrelated to the WWDC conference, including a discussion of back-to-school deals offered by Apple.
Twitter was once again dominated by pop stars, with perennial Twitter fave Justin Bieber taking top billing. The DJ/producer Diplo discussed his collaboration with the Biebs, saying, "The craziest thing about Justin Bieber is that the kid is really good at everything. He's really good at ping pong, the kid can rap, he has awesome hair, he's super cool and super nice." In addition, a video of fans camping out for Bieber's Today Show concert along with a behind-the-scenes video from the recording of Beiber's song "As Long As You Love Me," pushed the teen singer to the top. The second biggest topic was a Mashable article about The New Yorker's embrace of the web. The magazine has made significant investments online: expanding its web team to 12 full-time employees including a former senior editor at Wired, launching its first issue for the iPad less than six months after the device went on sale in the U.S. and becoming available on the Kindle Fire the day that tablet launched. In third place was a music video teaser from the Korean pop band BoyFriend. The six-member group has released three Korean single albums since its formation in 2011. At No. 4 was news that Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts was diagnosed with a rare disease of the blood and bone marrow called myelodysplastic syndrome. The morning news show mainstay says she beat breast cancer only five years earlier, and is optimistic about her prognosis. "My doctors tell me I'm going to beat this," Roberts said, "And I know it's true." And Demi Levato, the teenage singer-songwriter and X Factor judge, came in fifth place when racy images from her past surfaced. YouTube For the second week in a row, the hottest social media meme, a video mash-up of snippets from speeches by President Obama set to the hit song "Call Me Maybe," drew the most attention on YouTube. Last week's New Media Index reported on how the catchy pop song by Canadian artist Carly Rae Jepsen and speeches from President Obama collided to create a social media sensation. According to the New Media Index, the video generated almost 8 million views on YouTube within five days. Since the report, the number of views has increased to almost 14 million views. The No. 2 video, captured by amateur videographer Rob van der Horst, showed two tourists caught by surprise at the Rotterdam Zoo, in the Netherlands, when polar bear Vicks accidently cracked the glass wall of his swimming enclosure while playing with a large rock. The polar bear was named after the cold and flu medicine company, which adopted him when he was born.
About the New Media Index The New Media Index is a weekly report that captures the news agenda of social media, with a focus on blogs, Twitter and YouTube. These platforms are an important part of today's news information narrative and shape the way Americans interact with the news. The expansion of blogs and other social media sites has allowed news-consumers and others outside the mainstream press to have more of a role in agenda setting, dissemination and interpretation. Through this New Media Index PEJ aims to find out what subjects in the national news the online sites focus on, and how that compares with the narrative in the traditional press. A detailed description of the NMI methodology, which was recently modified in August 2011, is available here. *For the sake of authenticity, PEJ has a policy of not correcting misspellings or grammatical errors that appear in direct quotes from online postings. By Emily Guskin and Sovini Tan, PEJ
A video produced by a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Tennessee mashed together snippets from Obama speeches to make it seem as if he is singing the hit song "Call Me Maybe." In five days' time, it generated almost 8 million views on YouTube-making it the most-watched YouTube news video last week. It was also the week's No. 2 topic on Twitter, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. The video, which lasts less than two minutes, is the latest illustration of the phenomenon of the internet "meme," a message or idea that spreads rapidly via the web and often becomes a popular cultural touchstone. And in this case, it also shows how with improved technology the thread of a meme develops. There are now thousands of different spin-offs of the "Call Me Maybe" dance hit featuring everyone from former Secretary of State Colin Powell to the Harvard baseball team doing their version of the catchy tune. The massive appeal of this meme has even led a number of organizations from Major League Baseball to the Miss USA Pageant to join the "Call Me Maybe" craze as a way to advertise their own products. The Roots of the Obama "Call Me Maybe" Video Fadi Saleh, the 19-year-old creator of the Obama "Call Me Maybe" video, has a YouTube channel called baracksdubs. Prior to the "Call me Maybe" video, Saleh produced and posted three other videos with Obama appearing to sing popular songs. Improvements in bandwidth and the proliferation of sites such as YouTube that maintain videos make it far easier to collect and assemble music and footage from online sources. Saleh was not the first to offer a lip-sync version of this song. "Call Me Maybe," by Canadian artist Carly Rae Jepsen was released in 2011. The song's popularity took off when the meme began in January 2012. Justin Bieber and several of his friends posted a video of themselves lip-syncing the song on an airplane. That week, the video was the third-largest linked-to subject on Twitter, according to PEJ's New Media Index. In February, the meme grew dramatically as Bieber and two other teen celebrities, Selena Gomez and Ashley Tisdale, posted another lip-sync video that was much more professionally produced. That piece generated 39 million YouTube views in three months and sparked thousands of other covers and lip-sync videos. Currently, there are more than 28,000 YouTube search results for the keywords "Call Me Maybe." On June 13, the song became the No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The range of groups that have made their own "Call Me Maybe" videos is extensive. A version made by members of the Harvard baseball team while riding in a van has received more than 12 million views since it was posted in early May. Last week, a version featuring 4 Major League Baseball draft prospects holding up signs displaying their statistics was linked-to by thousands of Twitter users and was used to publicize the MLB draft and the sport's website. The Miss USA Pageant produced a version featuring contestants and the pageant's owner, Donald Trump, to advertise the June 3 broadcast of the event on NBC. Another video featuring the Miami Dolphin cheerleaders was viewed more than 4 million times. A number of people went even further by creating their own rendition of the song. The reporters of National Public Radio, for example, produced a dramatic reading of the lyrics. And a version of the song featuring Jepsen herself along with Jimmy Fallon and the band The Roots playing classroom instruments became a smash hit as well as an advertisement for Fallon's late night talk show on NBC. Even former Secretary of State Colin Powell joined in the fun. Following a June 13 interview on CBS This Morning, Powell and program co-host Gayle King were caught cheerfully singing the chorus after the show went to commercial. CBS News then posted the 20-second clip on its website. While Jepsen's song is copyrighted, it seems clear that she and her record company do not object to this use of it by other people, especially as it likely propelled her career forward. Saleh, who is studying medicine at the University of Tennessee, has become a celebrity himself and says he plans to do future videos with speeches from GOP candidate Mitt Romney. When asked if he had a political motivation to it, Saleh told a local television station in Knoxville, "This is entertainment. It's not intentional to have just one opinion. I don't have a political opinion in it." Previous Video Memes The viral meme is not a new online phenomenon. For more than 15 years, internet users have passed along videos that have become cultural reference points. In 1996, for example, an animated video of a dancing baby become one of the first such internet memes and made its way onto a number of television shows including Ally McBeal. In recent years, however, memes have become more common because technological advancements have allowed for more people to participate. At the same time, a number of organizations are now thinking creatively about how to use a popular concept to their advantage. In December 2005, Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell of Saturday Night Live created a comedic song and video named "Lazy Sunday" that featured the two rapping about subjects such as cupcakes and the movie The Chronicles of Narnia. The song first appeared on SNL and became a huge hit on YouTube soon after-receiving more than 7 million views. The rapid success of Lazy Sunday led to significant business moves. In January 2006, Apple announced it would sell some SNL skits through its iTunes store. After YouTube was purchased by Google in 2008 for $1.65 billion, some analysts theorized that the success of "Lazy Sunday" was a significant contributor to the growth of the video-sharing site. (NBC has since pulled the song from YouTube after the popularity peaked, but the clip is available on other sites such as Hulu.) The cultural impact was clear as the song inspired a whole host of responses. A different set of comedians quickly produced Lazy Monday, a West coast answer to the original. Numerous other replies included Lazy Muncie, a defense of Indiana, and Lazy Ramadi, a video made by soldiers stationed in Iraq. These videos contained original lyrics and music. Countless other internet memes and viral videos have followed. In August 2006, a scene from the movie Downfall, which chronicled the last 10 days of Adolf Hitler's life, became an online meme. The original scene details Hitler's enraged reaction to news of a major military setback. Many people created their own versions, changing the subtitles of the four-minute video to make it appear as if Hitler was furious at more trivial matters, such as an inability to access his Twitter account or Kanye West's behavior at the 2009 Video Music Awards.
Many groups have gone to great lengths to contribute to other internet memes. In 2007, there was a video of thousands of prisoners in the Philippines reenacting the complicated choreography from Michael Jackson's Thriller video. Flash mobs from Denver to Dubai have taken the idea and added to it, while a number of college groups have performed their own version of the Thriller dance. A memorable wedding procession from 2009 known as "JK Wedding Entrance Dance" has been viewed more than 75 million times and has spawned numerous other elaborate videos such as wedding proposals and choreographed dances at receptions. The video was even parodied on the NBC sitcom The Office. The Rest of the Week's News on Blogs
The top story on blogs last week was Search Engine Optimization, making it the second week in a row The second story on blogs involved a major leak of passwords from the large professional networking site LinkedIn. A file containing what appeared to be 6.5 million passwords appeared online last week, likely coming from hackers who broke into the site's network. Most of the attention on social media involved the responses from LinkedIn, which included steps the company was taking to help those whose passwords had been compromised. Bloggers were also interested in finding tools to discover if their particular accounts had been affected. News that Apple is going to take its artificial-intelligence system-known as Siri-to iPads was the second biggest topic. Siri has become popular due to its use in iPhones and its easy-to-use voice commands. Multiple acquisitions by Google of other tech companies combined to be the fourth subject. Google bought , a company that makes an office software suite for users of smartphones and tablets, and Meebo, a social media platform that among other things, lets users instant message on a variety of websites. (A week after the purchase, Meebo announced that most of its products would be shut down as their staff switched to focus on improving Google's social media services.) And a parody video on the comedy site Funny or Die was the fifth largest subject. The four-minute clip imagines a musical version of the critically acclaimed TV series The Wire, and stars several members of the original cast. The video pokes fun at the notion of turning The Wire, known for its gritty portrayal of the drug culture in Baltimore, into a light-hearted musical.
The Rest of the Week's News on Twitter Videos featuring the popular boy band One Direction in recent concerts in Mexico were the most linked-to subject on Twitter last week. Two international scandals reported by the British newspaper the Guardian made the list. At No. 3 was an article reporting about uncovered computer files which supposedly show that Mexico's biggest television station had sold favorable news coverage to prominent politicians. And a report that busloads of unemployed people were brought in and made to work without pay as part of the recent diamond jubilee celebrations in London, was No. 4. And the LinkedIn password leak was the fifth largest story. YouTube
About the New Media Index The New Media Index is a weekly report that captures the news agenda of social media, with a focus on blogs, Twitter and YouTube. These platforms are an important part of today's news information narrative and shape the way Americans interact with the news. The expansion of blogs and other social media sites has allowed news-consumers and others outside the mainstream press to have more of a role in agenda setting, dissemination and interpretation. Through this New Media Index PEJ aims to find out what subjects in the national news the online sites focus on, and how that compares with the narrative in the traditional press. A detailed description of the NMI methodology, which was modified in August 2011, is available here. *For the sake of authenticity, PEJ has a policy of not correcting misspellings or grammatical errors that appear in direct quotes from online postings. By Paul Hitlin and Sovini Tan, PEJ
For the week of May 28-June 1, the No. 2 subject on blogs was news about Apple, with some of it focusing on the expected release of the iPhone 5. And on both blogs and Twitter, news of a possible Facebook phone in the offing registered as the No. 3 topic, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. The Facebook speculation was driven by a New York Times story, citing anonymous Facebook employees, suggesting the company hopes to release a smartphone by next year. The news about the iPhone came from an Apple news site that appeared to provide some visual evidence about how the next version would look. Apple Speculation
The blogosphere often features speculation about new tech products that sometimes turns out to be accurate, and sometimes, not so much. Prior to the release of Apple's highly anticipated iPad in early 2010, tech bloggers dissected every angle of the product-despite having little or no concrete knowledge of the tablet. From the name of the iPad to spec gossip-like two dock connectors, an antenna and more-much of it never materialized. On other occasions, the early guessing has been more accurate. For example, when it was announced in June 2010, the iPhone 4S' camera was upgraded and the phone came in a new color, white, just as many bloggers had predicted in the months before the release. Many of these rumors are spread by tech writers-in outlets like MacRumors, BGR, TechCrunch, 9to5Mac-for whom covering these products is a both full-time pursuit and a profession. These tech writers have created a niche for themselves as their speculation quickly spreads through the blogosphere rumor mill. Last week, the buzz was about new Apple products and the catalyst was 9to5Mac, which shared images of the casing for the supposed new iPhone. The devices in the photo are from a Chinese parts supplier that sold the casing to smartphone and tablet repair company iFixyouri. The pictures show that the new iPhone could have a smaller dock connector, an aluminum alloy plate on the back and is thinner overall. Many bloggers thought the images looked authentic and represented a real clue about the next phone. "These are the first that look legit," wrote Webomatica, "Well, will settle for drooling over photos like these." "Purported iPhone and iPhone component photos are a dime a dozen - and mostly crap. But every now and again a few crop up that are difficult to dismiss. Such is the case with new photos obtained by 9to5Mac.com, which claim to show the rear shell of the iPhone 5," wrote Pocket PC Central. "While the images are somewhat grainy, they look legit enough to warrant our interest, especially since they sport both the longer screen and smaller dock connector of the most reason iPhone 5 rumor. The metal portion of the rear cases also aligns with rumors we've been hearing since last year," wrote Devindra Hardawar at Venture Beat.* "To be honest, the iPhone 5 doesn't seem drastically different from its predecessor, which, in turn, wasn't that different from the iPhone 4," wrote IJSM blog. "If the images are legitimate, I sincerely hope we'll be seeing some close-ups and detailed overviews in the coming days, since I - like, I presume, many of you - cannot wait to see concrete details of what Jony Ive and the gang have been cooking up within their secret lair," wrote Ben Reid at Redmond Pie, referring to the senior vice president of industrial design at Apple. A Facebook Phone? The third-biggest story on both blogs and Twitter last week was another rumor about a smartphone, this time from social media giant Facebook, which had previously tried and failed to release a smartphone. While the rumor has been around for a while, The New York Times story carried a bit more heft for tech bloggers. Most of them, however, asserted that getting into the phone business would be a bad move on Facebook's part. "That rumor's back. The one about Facebook making its own phone. Except this time the New York Times is saying it, complete with reports of former Apple engineers coming aboard to make Zuck mobile," wrote Brian Barrett at Gizmodo, "It seems more certain than ever that Facebook's going to vomit out a handset sometime next year. What a terrible idea." "Here we go again: Facebook is apparently trying for the third time to get its phone project off the ground," wrote Alexia Tsotsis at Tech Crunch, "Does Facebook need a phone? Whatever the answer to that question is, the more important item is that it THINKS it needs a phone, most likely because it's still lacking a clear mobile strategy with regards to revenue." "Mainly, the idea that Facebook needs to do this to ensure that it can run ads more easily ignores the fact that users-who ultimately would make a decision whether to buy a new phone-aren't clamoring for ads from Facebook on their devices," wrote Robert Hof at Forbes, "A design that essentially makes the smartphone safe for Facebook ads seems unlikely to appeal to Facebook users." "Tech world consensus is that it would be a nightmare for Facebook if it got into the mobile hardware game. Surely there are better ways to make money in the mobile space. Wake up call, folks: people don't click ads anymore," wrote Drew Olanoff at The Next Web, "A Facebook phone, which has been rumored for quite some time now, could be one of the only ways for the company to not only control the experience of its mobile users, but properly iterate and hack out a better mobile experience overall." Other News on Blogs The top story on blogs last week was Search Engine Optimization, a topic that has been one of the top stories on blogs for four of the past five weeks. Several tech writers shared tips on how to increase web traffic, a popular subject among small businesses and tech firms. The No. 4 subject was a discussion surrounding the European economic crisis, specifically the bank Lloyd's of London preparing for the collapse of the Euro and how Greece's once-thriving sex industry has been hit hard by the debt crisis. In fifth place was a story concerning Brett Kimberlin, the man convicted of a series of eight trash bin bombs in Speedway, Indiana in 1978. Last month, conservative bloggers started "Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day," claiming that he has been responsible for harassing them.
Twitter The roster of top Twitter topics last week was occupied by teenage crooners. In first place was Twitter mainstay Super Junior, which announced plans to release their sixth studio album before one of its members, Leeteuk, joins the military. Tweeters also shared photos tweeted by Yesung, another member of the group. Another popular boy band, One Direction, came in second place with a tweet announcing their new DVD along with an animated video of the group created by a fan called "The Adventurous Adventures of One Direction." A long video of one of the group members, Liam, on a web camera, but not doing much, was also widely shared on Twitter. In fourth place was tween favorite Justin Bieber and a link to his new single Die in Your Arms on iTunes. The fifth most talked about subject on Twitter for the week was a Google search for the term "the queen of heart." YouTube A gruesome case of cannibalism in Miami drew attention on YouTube last week, accounting for two of the five most popular news-related videos and prompting speculation about drug use and a "zombie attack." On May 26, a naked man was shot dead by Miami Police while eating another man's face on the busy MacArthur Causeway in broad daylight. . The suspected attacker was identified by the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's office as 31-year-old Rudy Eugene. The police union president, Armando Aguilar, said Eugene may have been under the influence of an LSD-like drug known as bath salts. The No. 2 video was footage from The Miami Herald's surveillance camera which caught most of the disturbing attack on tape. And, the No. 4 video was footage from a Miami CBS affiliate report on the incident. In the clip, Aguilar gives details of the attack, shooting and a possible explanation for psychotic behavior. The victim, homeless man Ronald Poppo, who experienced severe head injuries, is still hospitalized.
About the New Media Index The New Media Index is a weekly report that captures the news agenda of social media, with a focus on blogs, Twitter and YouTube. These platforms are an important part of today's news information narrative and shape the way Americans interact with the news. The expansion of blogs and other social media sites has allowed news-consumers and others outside the mainstream press to have more of a role in agenda setting, dissemination and interpretation. Through this New Media Index PEJ aims to find out what subjects in the national news the online sites focus on, and how that compares with the narrative in the traditional press. A detailed description of the NMI methodology, which was modified in August 2011, is available here. *For the sake of authenticity, PEJ has a policy of not correcting misspellings or grammatical errors that appear in direct quotes from online postings. By Emily Guskin and Sovini Tan, PEJ The Project for Excellence in Journalism did not publish a news index report this week; however, the NCI data is available here.
The issue received negligible coverage in the mainstream media last week, reflecting the libertarian leanings and privacy concerns that are often present in social media. For the week of May 21-25, discussion over the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act was the No. 5 topic on blogs, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. Almost all the bloggers who discussed the topic linked to the same report-a May 18 BuzzFeed article that offered details of the bill. While a much smaller part of the conversation, defenders of the bill also came from various segments of the political spectrum. Representatives of a wide range of organizations such as The Heritage Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claimed the opposition to the act was based on misinformation and that the bill would make the workings of the U.S. government more transparent. Domestic Dissemination of Propaganda Sponsored by Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) and Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act would allow Americans to see materials produced by the U.S. government for overseas consumption. The bill would also remove prohibitions which prevented Americans from receiving news from organizations like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe. Supporters also argued that the amendment contained protections so that the U.S. government and the Department of Defense could not use propaganda on its own citizens to improperly influence public opinion. The amendment was attached to the National Defense Authorization Act and was passed with bipartisan support by the House on May 18. However, when the Senate approved their version of the defense appropriations a week later, it did not include the same amendment. (The future of the legislation depends on what happens when the House and Senate versions of the bill are reconciled.) BuzzFeed staffer Michael Hastings posted a story that day entitled "Congressmen Seek to Lift Propaganda Ban." The piece, which quickly drew attention in the blogosphere, cited both supporters and critics of the bill, but focused mostly on the perceived dangers. In it, an unnamed Pentagon official is quoted as saying, "It removes oversight from the people who want to put out this information. There are no checks and balances. No one knows if the information is accurate, partially accurate, or entirely false." (A correction to the story noting that the amendment would not apply to the Department of Defense, but only to the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), did little to quiet the reaction.) Most bloggers had strong negative reactions after reading the BuzzFeed article. "Americans could now be subjected to the hardcore, massively manipulative and disinformation-filled propaganda that is usually reserved for foreign countries such as Iraq," predicted afteramerica at Guerilla Media. "While propaganda in the United States was always somewhat covert and disguised as something else, the new bill apparently seeks to form an actual Orwellian Ministry of Truth, where propaganda is just part of daily business." "This legislation opens the door for the government to legally lie to the American people," added Bill Wilson at Pray the News. "Many would say that the mainstream media is already a propaganda arm of the government. Nevertheless, it will be far more difficult to discern the truth by making propaganda legal." Conservatives charged that the bill was an attempt by the Obama Administration to manipulate public opinion. "The American people are subjected to a steady stream of propaganda-right from the talking heads of the MSM," wrote Matt at Conservative Hideout. "So, I think that the proposed legislation will do nothing more than make official the media bias and disinformation that the American people receive on a regular basis anyway." "Who here still recognizes their country?" wondered Roryann O'Rourke. "Every morning I wake up and I hear the latest coming out of this administration, the most corrupt administration I believe we've ever had...Our representatives want to allow the use of PROPAGANDA?" KrisAnne Hall could not believe that conservative members of congress were supporting the legislation. "Isn't domestic propaganda something that this administration has been engaging since 2008?" she wrote. "We should care, because this crime against the American people is not being perpetrated by a Socialist President through executive order. It is CONGRESS authorizing this manipulation."* Liberals, on the other hand, blamed others for what they viewed as an expansion of government power. "At a time when the American Public's trust in Government is at an all time low, the House wants to make it easier for the Government to lie to us?" asked Richard Jensen at News From the Front. "And also keep in mind that Bush and company was able to get the country into a needless war with Iraq without those powers. How easy do you think it would be for the next guy who uses those tools to bomb somewhere else." "This is the military industrial complex run amok, and it's going to be up to every American citizen to read between the lines of just about everything now," charged Beth at Veracity Stew. "It is truly the age of disinformation, and if this bill passes, it's only going to get worse." The outrage led to a response from the bill's authors who claimed the concerns were a result of misinformation. Rep. Smith defended the amendment on his own website. "The Thornberry-Smith amendment does not authorize any U.S. government agency to develop propaganda for a domestic audience nor is that our intent," he posted. "This amendment is intended to provide greater transparency and to ensure the U.S. government can get factual information out to foreign audiences in a timely manner...It does not and is not in any way intended to ‘legalize the use of propaganda on American audiences.'" A few outside observers supported the bill and offered a very different interpretation than many bloggers. "The House Armed Services Committee clearly acted in the U.S. interest when it voted to modernize the Smith-Mundt Act last week...In the age of the information revolution and the global war of ideas, these prohibitions have become obsolete and worse," declared Helle Dale at the blog for the conservative Heritage Foundation. "Access to programs and materials produced by the State and the BBG will allow Congress and the public a better understanding of what we are funding." "But the outcry in this case seems misguided," agreed Adam Weinstein at the liberal publication Mother Jones. "For starters, the proposed law doesn't permit the spread of any information that isn't already available to the American public. Moreover, the amendment could conceivably bring more of the government's overseas information operations into the sunlight, a good thing." "With only minor tweaks...the Thornberry-Smith Amendment is on balance a very good thing for free speech," determined Gabe Rottman of the ACLU. "From a First Amendment perspective...the ban is both highly paternalistic and a nightmare for government transparency." Rep. Thornberry tried to put the entire episode into a larger context. In an interview with Foreign Policy magazine, Thornberry said, "To me, it's a fascinating case study in how one blogger was pretty sloppy, not understanding the issue and then it got picked up by Politico's Playbook, and you had one level of sloppiness on top of another. And once something sensational gets out there, it just spreads like wildfire." The Rest of the Week's News on Blogs Elsewhere in the blogosphere, technology dominated the week's conversation. Google was the No. 1 subject last week for several stories-some of which portrayed the company in a more positive light than others. Many bloggers linked to news that Google Chrome had overtaken Microsoft's Internet Explorer as the most used browser on the web. Others highlighted a post on Google's blog announcing that the company had purchased Motorola Mobility, a move that will help Google in its efforts to expand its mobile device capabilities. On a less positive note, other bloggers linked to a piece on the Huffington Post blog by Professor Erik K. Clemons of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School which chronicled the "legacy of continued bad behavior at Google." Clemons claimed that Google's large market share has led them to violate privacy rules and spy on customers. The topic of search engine optimization (SEO) was the No. 2 subject. Many people focused on a column on Search Engine Watch that cited cautionary tales of companies who were making mistakes in their efforts to improve their ranking on search engines. A report about the likely next generation iPhone with a larger screen display was No. 3. Speculation and previews of Apple products have drawn significant attention in the blogosphere in recent years, such as the release of the iPad 3 in March. A blog post on Programmable Web about 78 new APIs available on the web was fourth. API, otherwise known as application programming interface, is a component of software that allows interfaces to interact with each other. Programmers can take advantage of these APIs to automate connections between websites. This specific post highlighted new APIs such as a travel booking service and a wallet checkout service.
The Week's News on Twitter
On Twitter, as is often the case, pop singers and entertainment news made up most of the popular topics. One Direction, the British-Irish boy band, was the top subject as tweets and videos from the group's tour received the most links. The launch of the SpaceX cargo ship, the first commercially-bankrolled spacecraft to travel to the International Space Station, was No. 2. SpaceX is a private company, founded in 2002, that holds a $1.6 billion NASA contract to launch at least 12 unmanned cargo missions. A trailer for the movie version of The Great Gatsby (due out in December) starring Leonardo DiCaprio was third.
YouTube All five of the most viewed news videos on YouTube last week were about events that took place overseas. A backhanded slap from Will Smith to a Ukrainian reporter landed the famous actor in the top spot. The May 18 incident occurred on the red carpet at the Moscow premiere of Smith's new film, "Men in Black 3." In the video, reporter and noted prankster Vitalii Sediuk tries to kiss the celebrity on the lips, prompting Smith to push him away and give him a light slap.
About the New Media Index The New Media Index is a weekly report that captures the news agenda of social media, with a focus on blogs, Twitter and YouTube. These platforms are an important part of today's news information narrative and shape the way Americans interact with the news. The expansion of blogs and other social media sites has allowed news-consumers and others outside the mainstream press to have more of a role in agenda setting, dissemination and interpretation. Through this New Media Index PEJ aims to find out what subjects in the national news the online sites focus on, and how that compares with the narrative in the traditional press. A detailed description of the NMI methodology, which was recently modified in August 2011, is available here. *For the sake of authenticity, PEJ has a policy of not correcting misspellings or grammatical errors that appear in direct quotes from online postings. By Paul Hitlin and Sovini Tan, PEJ The Project for Excellence in Journalism did not publish a news index report this week; however, the NCI data is available here.
For the week of May 14-18, the X Factor was the No. 1 subject on Twitter and the No. 5 story on blogs, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. But there was a difference in some reactions on the two social networks. While Twitter users were overwhelmingly supportive of the stars joining the show, the blog response was somewhat more critical. The X Factor, which is a singing competition, is a British import that has aired on the Fox Network since September 2011. In recent years, musical talent shows have become a staple of reality programming, starting with the decade-old American Idol (also a Fox program) and more recently, NBC’s The Voice, which premiered in April 2011, and ABC’s Duets, which premiered on May 24 of this year. While these shows focus on the competition, the celebrity judges are the real stars of the shows. Pop culture and its stars are frequently among the leading weekly subjects on Twitter, where news about boy bands, Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus is often tweeted. Aside from the X Factor news, a Tweet from Lady Gaga was the No. 2 story on Twitter last week. Celebrities are less likely to show up among the top weekly subjects on blogs, but one exception is the blogosphere’s tendency to celebrate the careers of entertainment stars who have just passed on. And last week, the death of Queen of Disco Donna Summer was the No. 3 story on blogs. X Factor Excitement The X Factor conversation in social media last week helped highlight the different functions of the two platforms. Blogs tend to be longer-form, more debate-focused forums, and in this case, bloggers offered a range of reactions and critiques. On Twitter, a platform primarily for sharing news and instant response, the reaction was more enthusiastic and overwhelmingly positive. “While I applaud their efforts to bring in a younger crowd by selecting the 19-year-old Disney star as a judge, she’s just not the right choice for this position,” wrote Jenni Maier at Crushable, “Demi Lovato’s a safe choice. People like her and people respect her. The former Disney actress turned rehab client turned aspiring non-Disney actress will be fine as a judge. She’ll say nice things to the contestants and make them feel comfortable on the stage. But what fun is that to watch.” “First and foremost, does the ‘Skyscraper’ singer really have the musical experience and knowledge to successfully mentor a quarter of the show’s Season 2 finalists?” asked Michael Slezak at TV Line, “Compared to her cohorts on the panel…Lovato’s résumé is as light as beaten egg whites.” “So did Britney bite off more than she can chew here? We all remember her wild, head-shaving, umbrella-swinging days of a few years back. But lately, Britney’s been living surprisingly under the radar, just quietly cranking out slinky disco-pop tunes and taking care of her kids,” wrote Dave Nemetz at Yahoo’s TV page. Other bloggers were more supportive of the new judges. “I think many people will feel comfortable with Both Demi and Britney as judges. I also think that Choosing younger judges will appeal to the younger crowd,” wrote Debbie on Celebrity Shopping Blog.* “I didn’t watch one episode of X Factor last season, but if Britney Spears AND Demi Lovato will be sitting at the judging table in season 2 of the FOX show I doubt I’ll miss one minute of it!” wrote Jewel Wicker for The Jewel Wicker Show. Most twitter users voiced pleasure with the judge selection and their excitement over the new season, and some addressed their tweets directly to Demi Lovato. “Good luck with X Factor gorgeous, just what you need. People need to see more of your adorable personality, you'll be amazing!@ddlovato” wrote Paulie. “So Proud! Look who is the new Judge on X Factor! @ddlovato” wrote Shari Short. “So excited for Britney on the X Factor!!!!” tweeted Brad Goreski, a stylist who stars in his own Bravo reality show, It’s a Brad, Brad World. “Now that Britney and Demi are gonna be judges on The X Factor, I am totally watching the show from now on,” wrote Megan Behnke. At least one Twitter user was more analytical in his opinion of the show’s judge selections. “X Factor needs Britney. Demi needs X Factor. There is a difference,” tweeted @AMENHOOKER. The Death of Donna Summer As is typically the case for celebrity deaths, the blogosphere obituaries for Donna Summer were full of pleasant nostalgia and memories. Several online publications, including EW and People, even shared playlists of her music. “When people think of mindless disco, what Donna Summer sang wasn’t it. She had a terrific set of pipes that could have succeeded in any genre; she happened to flourish in dance and pop music,” wrote Pam Spaulding at Pam’s House Blend. “R.I.P. Donna Summer, Queen of Disco, and the only other person who could do justice to that wonderful musical mess known as MacArthur Park,” wrote Joey deVilla on his blog. One blogger even wrote a limerick for the departed singer.
“Alas we have lost Donna Summer The Rest of the Week’s News on Blogs
The top story in blogs Meanwhile, the No. 2 story on blogs was Twitter, which announced it would be sending a weekly email digest summarizing the most relevant tweets and stories shared by people you’re connected to on Twitter. It also implemented a no-tracking privacy option and offered more tailored suggestions of who to follow on Twitter. Tech bloggers were generally pleased with the changes and many compared Twitter’s moves to Facebook. “While privacy seems like a concept lost on Facebook, Twitter is showing that it understands its users’ need for security by supporting Mozilla Firefox’s ‘Do Not Track’ feature, a day before Facebook is set to raise billions in its IPO,” wrote Devindra Hardawar at Venture Beat. “[T]his is the social network’s first big move that shows it following in the footsteps of Facebook, as the more personal info they collect on your interests and activity on their platform, the more info there is to feed targeted advertising and tweets,” wrote Rip Empson at Tech Crunch. The fourth-biggest story on blogs was also tech-related, a discussion of new web applications to build software. Programmable Web’s directory of Application Programming Interfaces grew by 71 APIs. The Rest of the Week’s News On Twitter
The No. 3 story on Twitter l In fourth place was an article focusing on NBA superstars Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett in two of Wednesday’s NBA playoff games. Bryant and the Lakers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 77-75 as Bryant missed a potential game-winning shot in the final seconds. That was just hours after the Boston Celtics’ Garnett wrapped up a dominant performance with 27 points and 13 rebounds to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 107-91. And the No. 5 topic was an ode to a famous inventor by The Oatmeal, a popular web writer and illustrator. Written as a comic, Why Nikola Tesla Was the Greatest Geek Who Ever Lived, The Oatmeal defends Tesla and is critical of Thomas Edison. Tesla (1856-1943), a Serbian who later became an American citizen, invented several devices including the magnifying transmitter, the alternating current motor and the Tesla coil. Despite all of his inventions, he died almost penniless and as a recluse. The Oatmeal argues in his comic that Thomas Edison took credit for many of Tesla’s inventions. The Tesla piece got significant pick-up on Twitter, where tweeters displayed a real devotion for the inventor. “The @Oatmeal knocked it clean out of the park with this one about Nikola Tesla,” wrote @seanparsons. “This great Oatmeal comic describes some of the reasons why Nikola Tesla is one of my favorite people in all of history,” wrote Shay Pierce. “The Oatmeal outdoes itself with this Nikola Tesla feature. Just. Epic,” wrote Andy Croll. YouTube For the second week in a row, the 2012 Mexican presidential election drew the most attention on YouTube, with a clip featuring Mexican presidential frontrunner Enrique Peña Nieto registering as the most-watched news video. In the video, Industrial Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Nieto is being heckled and eventually chased out of the university by students during a visit to Mexico City’s Universidad Iberoamericana on May 11. Students blamed him for a violent crackdown on protesters in the town of Atenco in 2006. Following the protest, some PRI members accused the hecklers of not being students at all, further angering Iberoamericana students who launched a YouTube video called “131 Ibero Students Respond” in which they were seen holding up their student IDs. Nieto still holds a big lead in the polls ahead of the July 1 election.
About the New Media Index The New Media Index is a weekly report that captures the news agenda of social media, with a focus on blogs, Twitter and YouTube. These platforms are an important part of today's news information narrative and shape the way Americans interact with the news. The expansion of blogs and other social media sites has allowed news-consumers and others outside the mainstream press to have more of a role in agenda setting, dissemination and interpretation. Through this New Media Index PEJ aims to find out what subjects in the national news the online sites focus on, and how that compares with the narrative in the traditional press. A detailed description of the NMI methodology, which was recently modified in August 2011, is available here. *For the sake of authenticity, PEJ has a policy of not correcting misspellings or grammatical errors that appear in direct quotes from online postings.By Emily Guskin and Sovini Tan, PEJ The Project for Excellence in Journalism did not publish a news index report this week; however, the NCI data is available here.
For the week of May 7-11, Obama's comment on May 9 in favor of same-sex marriage was the No. 1 topic on blogs and the No. 3 subject on Twitter, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. An examination of the social media conversation reveals that while the president's pronouncement increased the amount of discussion online, it did not appear to alter the overall level of support. To gauge the views of those on social media, PEJ used computer technology from the media monitoring firm Crimson Hexagon to identify the tone of the conversation on both Twitter and blogs. The examination included the period from May 6-the day that Vice President Joseph Biden voiced his support on Meet the Press-to May 13, five days after North Carolina voted down gay marriage and four days after Obama's statement. The study was not focused solely on Obama's interview, but rather the views related to gay marriage overall. On blogs, 40% of the conversation featured positive views of same-sex marriage, compared to 14% that was opposed and 45% that was neutral. The Twitter numbers were very similar-41% was positive, 16% was negative and 43% was neutral. The conversation in the blogosphere about same sex marriage grew by more than 60% following Obama's statement. In the three days prior to the interview, there was an average of around 2,500 statements a day regarding the issue. From May 9-13, that number jumped to more than 4,200 statements a day. However, the levels of support did not change much at all. Prior to Obama's interview, 40% of the statements were in favor compared to 16% opposed and 44% neutral. In the later period, those numbers were virtually identical-40% in favor, 14% opposed, and 46% neutral. On Twitter, the increase in discussion was far greater after Obama's statement, although the tone also remained constant. From May 6-8, there was an average of roughly 120,000 statements on Twitter compared to more than 315,000 from May 9 to 13. In both periods, however, the breakdown of that conversation was identical-41% in favor, 16% opposed and 43% neutral. Same-sex marriage is a hot-button cultural topic that has sparked conversations on social media numerous times over the past few years. Since PEJ began monitoring social media at the beginning of 2009, there have been nine previous weeks when the subject was among the most discussed on blogs or Twitter. In the past, the online debate has generally been fueled by an event or court ruling, such as the August 2010 decision by a California judge that Proposition 8, a ban on same-sex marriages in California, was unconstitutional. For the most part, supporters of same-sex marriage have outnumbered foes, although there was an exception in April 2009, when Miss USA contestant Carrie Prejean received significant support for her public statements against same-sex marriage. One likely reason for the level of online support is the younger demographics of social media users. For example, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 60% of adults using Twitter are 35 years old or younger. At the same time, an April 2012 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life shows that younger people are more likely than any other age group to support gay marriage. Millennials, people born in 1981 or later, are the generation most likely to support same-sex marriage as 63% are in favor. Before Obama's Announcement Several events brought same-sex marriage to the fore in social media even before Obama's announcement. One was the May 6 statement by Biden that he was "comfortable" with the idea of people of the same gender marrying each other. That was followed the next day by a television appearance by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who indicated he also favored legalization of same-sex marriage. Another was a May 8 vote in North Carolina on Amendment One, a law to amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage, civil unions and partnerships. (The measure passed by a 61%-39% margin.) Supporters of same-sex marriage were cheered by Biden's remarks and voiced their opposition to the North Carolina amendment. "Vice President supports gay marriage? Good for him for making that statement and backing it up, I am very proud of him!" tweeted Jason Evans. "I also disagree with the notion that recognizing or legalizing same-sex marriages takes away from the validity of my marriage or threatens it in anyway," shared Emily, a North Carolinian blogger at Beware the Kudzu. "I will be voting against Amendment One this Tuesday."* A few supporters were hoping that Obama would soon announce that he, too, would support same-sex marriage even though he had publicly opposed the concept. "Thank you Arne Duncan for your support of Gay Marriage. Please President Obama we need your support," tweeted Chef Art Smith. "How refreshing would it be to see President Obama set aside political calculation and support gay marriage?" wondered Harvey Freedenberg. "I'm not holding my breath." But while marriage supporters were in the majority, the opponents spoke out as well. "I support the [North Carolina] amendment," pronounced Sam Nnadi. "God's definition of marriage in very clear. Any attempt to redefine marriage is a sin." "In a world where seeking marriage is seeking a community-endorsed way to have sex and bear children, the idea of same-sex marriage is like the idea of a square circle," explained Stephen J. Heaney at The Witherspoon Institute. A number of Obama's critics focused more on his political positions than the issue itself, and claimed that his stance on the issue was a sign of weakness. Some highlighted a May 7 article from the Daily Caller, reprinted on the Fox News site, entitled "Obama campaign hits Romney on gay marriage-even though both are against it." Others pointed to an editorial by Philip Klein in The Washington Examiner, also from May 7, called "Obama's marriage cowardice hurts case against Mitt." After Obama's May 9 Announcement Although the levels of support for gay marriage did not change after Obama's endorsement of it, the volume of the conversation grew significantly. Most in the online community cheered the news. "I'm for gay marriage. If you love somebody you should be allowed to marry them straight, gay whatever :)" tweeted Ayy Dayzers. "The President made a bold-and I think brilliant move-in coming out in support of gay marriage today," added Lenora Houseworth. "I have to say I'm really proud of how far my parents & other relatives have come in their tolerance of same-sex marriage," admitted @kissmydaisy. "For the life of me, I'll never understand why people are so adamantly against Gay marriage. Or why they care. Or why people are so threatened by the very idea of it," declared The World's Beefiest Blog. "The laws of the United States are adjustable exactly because our founders had the foresight to know that times change. They knew that the people writing the laws were human, and could not possibly be expected to be exactly just at all times. They created avenues for course correction." "So I support gay marriage," wrote a blogger at MoonScape. "And if one 60+ year old woman, brought up in a conservative small town, in a traditional marriage for 40+ years, can come to the conclusion that gay marriage poses no threat to her or to any other straight people who are married, or want to get married....how then can some still be foaming at the mouth?" Many of those opposing same-sex marriage focused on Obama's motives in changing his position. "Obama campaigns on gay marriage change, because of there is no hope left for his failed economic change," tweeted Dan Spencer. "The bottom line on #Obama's flipflop? 1 in every 6 top donors to his campaign ($500K+) are #gay," read the Twitter feed from the National Organization for Marriage. "Do you really believe his ‘evolving opinion' on the subject was changed because he sat down and thought about it?" asked American Glob. "If you do, I have a bridge to sell you. Obama changed his mind and spoke about it publicly because his base was losing patience with him on the issue and campaign contributions from gay donors were drying up." Others reasserted their reasons for their opposition. "I refuse to buck 4000 years of civilization that says marriage is between a man and woman. And now I'm the one who's arrogant?" tweeted Trevin Wax. "In the Bible homosexuality is unquestionably called sin," noted GuitarWarp. "Seven passages in both the Old and New Testaments label it so and forbid it in any form...Homosexuality is something a loving God forbids. How can this be? He sees the danger even when we can't."
The Rest of the Week's News on Blogs Elsewhere on blogs last week, two tech stories, an academic controversy and an actor in trouble were the most popular subjects. The second-biggest story involved new products from Google, a very popular theme on blogs. Last week, Google announced Hangouts on Air for Google+, a way for friends to broadcast their group online conversations. Google also announced improvements for Google+ on mobile devices, and Business Insider reported that Google will clone a key feature of the iPhone for their Android devices that will allow users to connect with others while playing games. Advice for business owners regarding search engine optimization was the third-biggest topic. At No. 4 was a blog post by Naomi Schaefer Riley appearing in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The piece included criticisms of dissertations from various black studies programs, saying they were "a collection of left-wing victimization claptrap." Following a strong backlash to the post, Riley was fired because The Chronicle determined the post did not meet their journalistic standards. And sexual harassment allegations leveled against actor John Travolta were the No. 5 story.
The Rest of the Week's News on Twitter On Twitter, the week's news was led by pop stars and a lapse of Twitter security. Two all-male singing groups, Super Junior and One Direction, tied for first last week as videos and tweets from each band drew significant interest. News that that 55,000 Twitter usernames and passwords were stolen by anonymous hackers was the fourth topic. And a video promo for the season finale of the television show The Simpsons featuring an appearance by singer Lady Gaga was No. 5. YouTube International political news dominated YouTube last week with the 2012 Mexican presidential election drawing the most attention. Unfortunately for the candidates, it was a former Playboy model working as a production assistant who stole the show during Mexico's first televised presidential debate on May 6. At the beginning of the debate, Julia Orayen, who posed for a 2008 Mexican edition of Playboy, appeared on stage in a revealing white dress to hand out cards to the four candidates which determined their order of speaking. Her appearance lasted less than 20 seconds, yet ignited social media interest. The conversation grew so rapidly that the word "Orayen" became a trending topic on Twitter. The Associated Press reported that her name "jockeyed for third and fourth place throughout the day under Twitter's Mexico City trends." Alfredo Figueroa, director of the Federal Electoral Institute, which was responsible for organizing the debate, issued an apology to the citizens of Mexico and the candidates.
About the New Media Index To see the new methodology for how PEJ arrives at the list of most discussed stories in social media, click here. This special edition of PEJ's New Media Index utilizes computer technology from the media monitoring firm Crimson Hexagon. Based on an examination of more than 61,000 blog posts and 3.9 million tweets, this report goes beyond the normal methodology of PEJ's index to look at the tone of conversation related to same-sex marriage. Crimson Hexagon is a software platform that identifies statistical patterns in words used in online texts. Researchers enter key terms using Boolean search logic so the software can identify relevant material to analyze. PEJ draws its analysis samples from several million blogs. Then a researcher trains the software to classify documents using examples from those collected posts. Finally, the software classifies the rest of the online content according to the patterns derived during the training. According to Crimson Hexagon: "Our technology analyzes the entire social internet (blog posts, forum messages, Tweets, etc.) by identifying statistical patterns in the words used to express opinions on different topics." Information on the tool itself can be found at http://www.crimsonhexagon.com/ and the in depth methodologies can be found here http://www.crimsonhexagon.com/products/whitepapers/. The time frame for the analysis is May 6-13, 2012. PEJ used the keywords "marriage OR gay OR ‘same sex' OR ‘same-sex'" in a Boolean search to narrow the universe to relevant posts. *For the sake of authenticity, PEJ has a policy of not correcting misspellings or grammatical errors that appear in direct quotes from online postings. By Paul Hitlin and Sovini Tan, PEJ |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Home | Numbers | Analysis | News Index | Daily Briefing | State of the News Media | Journalism Resources | About PEJ | Contact Us
 Powered by: Phase2 Technology
|
Last week's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC)-where the company previewed soon-to-be released products and upgrades to existing devices-triggered a major response in the blogosphere.
of Search Engine Watch 
that it was No. 1, and marking the fifth time in the past six weeks it has been among the top five stories in blogs. Bloggers linked to a 
Both sides argued the bill was an overreach of government power, warning it would enable public officials and the military to disseminate propaganda to the American public. But they disagreed over who was responsible. Liberals feared the military and Republicans were trying to expand their influence while conservatives warned that President Obama would employ that power for political means.
for the week was a series of rumors about a 
ast week was news about the Trayvon Martin shooting. 
efore in social media.
