Facts and Bias in a Social Media News World

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/20/world/europe/20iht-letter20.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y&_r=0

Spin vs. facts in a Twitter and Facebook era. Yes, electronic media complicates the traditional journalist's, editor's and government roles, but governments have always spun the facts into propaganda when they thought they could and the news media have always held biases. I believe a very important bias is what is chosen NOT to be reported by traditional media, either through deliberate choice or lack of resources. Social media, though often tough to fact-check, allow little to go unreported.

The burden is on us, the consumers of news, often ill-equipped to sort and sift often clouded by our own biases.

Facebook's IPO - What to do?

Will 'irrational exuberance' drive up the price of Facebook shares at its IPO only to fall back soon after? Many rational folks caution this may be the case, but I'm betting many of FB's 900 million users will want a piece of the action on opening day. I'm not one of them.

From The Economist: "Investors who buy shares in the IPO will also have to accept that Mr Zuckerberg will continue to control more than 50% of the voting rights. “One person owning so much of a potential blue-chip company is more or less unheard of,” says Debarshi Nandy, a professor at Brandeis International Business School. Other tech firms, such as Google, have flourished under the tight control of small groups of founders, and Mr Zuckerberg shows every sign of maturing into an exceptional technology leader. But if something were to go badly wrong at Facebook in future, its shareholders will be able to do little more than give him a big thumbs down."

Guess Who?

Guess who said this?

"We hope to change how people relate to their governments and social institutions.
We believe building tools to help people share can bring a more honest and transparent dialogue around government that could lead to more direct empowerment of people, more accountability for officials and better solutions to some of the biggest problems of our time.
By giving people the power to share, we are starting to see people make their voices heard on a different scale from what has historically been possible. These voices will increase in number and volume. They cannot be ignored. Over time, we expect governments will become more responsive to issues and concerns raised directly by all their people rather than through intermediaries controlled by a select few."

Guessed yet? Read more here. Even more here. Will you invest your money? Better read this first.

Be everywhere: Google’s real social strategy | ZDNet

A well-reasoned take on why Google+ will continue to grow and thrive, a view I share. While Facebook may be today's social media leader with ~850 million users, Google has deep penetration in so many key areas that its ecosystem can drive long term adoption and use of Google+. Of course, the battle is really about where people will spend their time online whether from smartphones, tablets or PCs.

I admit to being a Google junkie because I find so much value in the plethora of services offered. While I have accounts on all the major social media sites, I spend far more time 'with Google' than with all the others combined.

"...All of this is not to say that you should abandon Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn for Google+. Google+ is not a Facebook-slayer, at least not in its current iteration. At the same time, however, Google has such a dominant footprint in key distribution channels such as search, browser, email, mobile, TV and video, that it cannot be ignored. For brands and authors, in particular, the incentives are simply too great to pass up."

Google, Look Out Behind You! | TechCrunch

Worth a read to understand one guru's view of the battle royal between Google, Apple and Facebook. (No mention of Microsoft) in light of Apple's 'blow 'em away' earnings reported last quarter. Apple's profit was greater than Google's revenue!

In summary, it's all about mobile and the absolute control that Apple has over its ecosystem of devices and software to control the customer experience. I wonder if that dominance will eventually lead to anti-trust scrutiny as Microsoft faced with it's Internet browser?

"Google is also threatened by the inexorable rise of the social internet. Its admirable roll-out of Google Plus over the recent past is almost entirely related to that threat. And at now 90 million users and growing, Google Plus is definitely off to a good start. The decision to change Google Search into a “Search plus Your World” experience this week is probably a necessary part of the response to Facebook also. The controversy that led Larry Page to reportedly suggest that employees who are hanging onto the old Google to go and work elsewhere is a misplaced loyalty to a model that can no longer be sufficient to ensure Google remains relevant. However, by focusing on the strategic threat posed by Facebook almost exclusively, Google may have waited too long, and have the wrong strategy, to beat a more serious challenger – Apple."