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Broadcasters keep upper hand in TV disputes (AP) : Technet |
- Broadcasters keep upper hand in TV disputes (AP)
- Supreme Court to hear violent video game case (AP)
- 5 Stylish iPhone Alarm Clock Apps to Wake You Up On Time (Mashable)
- Apple sues Motorola, further escalating cellphone wars (Reuters)
- Ivorians flock to polls in landmark election (AFP)
- Alternative Search Engine Blekko Launches to Eliminate Spam in Search (Mashable)
- Finally, a keyboard that really works (Appolicious)
- Boost Your Geek Cred With the Linux Credit Card (Really) (PC World)
- Malaysians win global Internet popularity contest (AFP)
| Broadcasters keep upper hand in TV disputes (AP) Posted: 31 Oct 2010 05:59 PM PDT LOS ANGELES – A recent spate of TV blackouts and the lack of government intervention suggests that broadcasters have the upper hand over TV signal providers when it comes to negotiating fees, at least until Congress decides to act. New York-area cable TV operator Cablevision Systems Corp. tested the limits of government intervention in October, calling early and often for the Federal Communications Commission to step in and force News Corp.'s Fox to keep providing its broadcast signal while it pressed for arbitration in a fee dispute. Fox declined and the FCC did little more than suggest mediation if both parties were willing to participate. When the two sides couldn't reach a deal, Fox blacked out its signals to 3 million Cablevision subscribers for 15 days, through two games of baseball's World Series. On Saturday, Cablevision finally accepted terms it said were "unfair" for the sake of its customers. Ultimately, the FCC said that its hands were tied. "Under the present system, the FCC has very few tools with which to protect consumers' interests," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a letter to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., in a letter Kerry's office released Friday. "Current law does not give the agency the tools necessary to prevent service disruptions." Some analysts said Cablevision's move was mainly intended to draw the government out. Its battle had the support of other cable and satellite TV signal operators through such groups as the American Television Alliance, which counts Dish Network Corp. and DirecTV Inc. among its members. Fox said in a statement Sunday that "this entire dispute was solely about Cablevision's misguided efforts to effect regulatory change to their benefit." Cablevision did not respond to a request for comment. But the distributors are also competing with one another, rather than presenting a united front. Dish Network announced Friday that it had settled its dispute with Fox, two days before Fox broadcast signals could have been blacked out to some of its 14.3 million subscribers. That would have made its service more attractive to Cablevision customers still stuck without Fox, and hurt Cablevision's position as the lone holdout. It gave in just one day later. Battles between TV signal providers and broadcasters have been raging for years and the latest dispute wasn't the longest. In 2005, about 75,000 Cable One Inc. subscribers in Missouri, Louisiana and Texas went without signals from local NBC and ABC affiliate stations owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. for almost the entire year. In March, Cablevision also attempted a high-profile negotiating strategy and its customers lost their ABC station in New York in the hours leading up to the Oscars. Viewers missed the first 15 minutes of the awards show before Cablevision and The Walt Disney Co. reached a tentative deal. The law at the center of the debates is the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992. It allows broadcasters like Fox, ABC, CBS and NBC to choose between forcing a TV signal distributor like Cablevision to carry its local TV station, thus boosting its audience, or bargaining for the best rate it can for so-called "retransmission consent." Because broadcasters bought the rights to such high-demand programming like football, baseball and the Oscars, they have chosen to bargain and have recently been pressing for higher fees. The law heavily favors broadcasters in such negotiations because they have the ability to black out signals and subscribers are hard to win back if they switch TV signal providers. David Bank, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said it was in the best interests of the FCC to keep the balance tipped in broadcasters' favor. The FCC regulates the airwaves and it has authority over what broadcasters can send out over them. There are rules over obscenity and local content that don't apply to pay cable channels, which escape the FCC's grasp. "That's what the FCC really cares about: minority voices on air, localism, childhood early education initiatives, obscenity," Bank said. If the balance of power were shifted to distributors, media giants could pull back from the broadcast model and move to an all-cable channel lineup. TV stations might disappear and the FCC would "lose the ability to regulate all that," Bank said. The American Cable Association, a grouping of smaller cable operators representing 7.6 million subscribers, argued Sunday that the fight to change an 18-year-old law wasn't over and it said it remains within the FCC's powers to adopt regulations to prevent signal blackouts now. "Despite these deals being done, retransmission consent needs to change," its president Matthew Polka, said Sunday. Both Genachowski and Sen. Kerry called for reforms of the current system. Genachowski, an appointee of President Barack Obama, said in his letter that "the current system relegates television viewers to pawns between companies battling over retransmission fees." Sen. Kerry called the existing regime "broken." "Media interests have every right to play hardball," Sen. Kerry said in a statement Sunday. "But I believe it's incumbent upon those of us in public policy to see if there's a way to help protect consumers and avoid the now regularly scheduled, frequent games of high-stakes chicken that leave consumers in the crossfire." |
| Supreme Court to hear violent video game case (AP) Posted: 31 Oct 2010 07:23 AM PDT LONG BEACH, Calif. – Before picking up any Wii games or downloading apps on her iPhone for her two daughters, Lillian Quintero does her homework. She'll first read reviews online and in magazines, then try them out for herself. If she thinks the games are engaging and educational enough, 4-year-old Isabella and 2-year-old Sophia are free to play. "I know there's going to be a point where they get these things on their own," said the 35-year-old mother from Long Beach, Calif. "We're not going to be there to monitor everything. That's why the most important thing is communication, instilling morals and values in them and helping them to understand certain boundaries. There's only so much you can do." Quintero and her husband, Jorge, are some of the parents who support a California law that seeks to ban the sale and rental of violent games to children. The law, which has bounced around the legal system like a game of "Pong" since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger first signed it in 2005, was declared unconstitutional last year by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday about the federal court's decision to throw out California's ban on violent games, marking the first time a case involving the interactive medium itself has gone before the Supreme Court. It's another sign that the $20 billion-a-year industry, long considered to be just child's play, is now all grown up. California's measure would have regulated games more like pornography than movies, prohibiting the sale or rental of games that give players the option of "killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being" to anyone under the age of 18. Only retailers would be punished with fines of up to $1,000 for each infraction. The federal court said the law violated minors' constitutional rights under the First and Fourteenth amendments and the state lacked enough evidence to prove violent games cause physical and psychological harm to minors. Courts in six other states, including Michigan and Illinois, have reached similar conclusions, striking down parallel violent game bans. Under California's law, only adults would be able to purchase games like "Postal 2," the first-person shooter by developer Running With Scissors that features the ability to light unarmed bystanders on fire, and "Grand Theft Auto IV," the popular third-person shoot-'em-up from Rockstar Games that allows gamers to portray carjacking, gun-toting gangsters. The Quinteros, like most supporters, believe the law will protect children from buying such violent titles, while gamers and free speech advocates think California's ban could lead to strict federal regulation on the content of games and other media. All agree, however, that the graphically rich medium has come a long way from 8-bit tennis matches. The average age of gamers is 34, according to the Entertainment Software Association, and many are paying close attention to the Supreme Court case. The Entertainment Consumers Association, which lobbies on behalf of gamers, is organizing a rally outside the Supreme Court building Tuesday as "a way of sending a strong message and uniting gamers." "It's not so much a video game case as a First Amendment case," said George Rose, chief public policy officer at Activision Blizzard Inc., the Santa Monica, Calif.-based publisher of the popular "Call of Duty" and "Guitar Hero" gaming franchises. The gamemaker filed a friend-of-the-court brief opposing California's ban, which was never enforced. Other allies in the fight include Xbox manufacturer Microsoft Corp., "Star Wars" publisher LucasArts, The Recording Academy, Motion Picture Association of America, as well as the Entertainment Merchants Association and Entertainment Software Association, which sued to block California's ban, calling it "unnecessary, unwarranted and unconstitutional." Opponents of the ban have called the measure unnecessary because virtually all major game publishers and retailers employ a universal voluntary rating system, much like movie studios and theaters, that assigns one of eight age-specific ratings to games, then blocks the sale of games that are rated M for "mature" and AO for "adults only" to children. The gaming industry has actually done a better job of preventing minors from buying entertainment not intended for their age group than the music and film industries, according to the Federal Trade Commission. In a report released last year, the FTC found that 20 percent of minors were able to buy M-rated games, down from 42 percent three years earlier. In contrast, 72 percent of minors were able buy music CDs with explicit content warnings, 50 percent were sold R-rated and unrated DVDs and 28 percent purchased tickets to R-rated movies. The FTC noted there were gaps in enforcement of age-based sales restrictions, specifically with the use of gift cards in online purchases and unrestricted mobile games. The Parents Television Council, which supports California's ban on violent games, conducted its own secret shopper campaign this year with children between the ages of 12 and 16 attempting to buy M-rated games at 109 stores in 14 states. The group found 21 instances of retailers, including Target, Kmart, Sears and Best Buy, selling M-rated games to minors. Leland Yee, the Democratic state senator and child psychologist who originally authored the law, contends the gaming industry's rating system is not effective because of the sweeping scope of games, which are longer and more intricate than movies. Yee said he believes violent games are more harmful to children because of the medium's interactive nature. "This isn't an attack on the First Amendment," said Yee. "I'm a supporter of the First Amendment. This is about not making ultra violent video games available to children. Within the bill, the definition of a violent video game is so narrowly tailored because of my respect for the First Amendment. This isn't to stop the creation of violent video games." Yee's position hasn't stopped the Entertainment Software Association's Video Game Voters Network from targeting him. The group has asked gamers to write "I believe in the First Amendment" on old or broken controllers and send them to Yee. When asked about the joystick campaign, the senator scoffed and said that any gifts he received would be returned. The Quinteros, who practice yoga poses in their living room during rounds of "Wii Fit," won't be sending their Wii Balance Board to Yee. While they believe it's ultimately up to parents to police what games their children play, Lillian and Jorge agree that they would feel more comfortable if violent games were legally off limits from being sold to kids. "It's one less way for children to have access to it," said Jorge, a 35-year-old middle school teacher who recently bought an iPad. "It's common sense. You don't pick a weenie off the grill with your hands because you know your hand will get burned. We shouldn't let children buy something violent that they don't think will affect them." ___ AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay in New York contributed to this report. ___ Online: |
| 5 Stylish iPhone Alarm Clock Apps to Wake You Up On Time (Mashable) Posted: 31 Oct 2010 02:37 PM PDT Although the iPhone's alarm clock is functional, it has limited features. If you use your phone to wake up in the morning instead of a standalone device, then you'll want to get the most out of it. There are a large number of alarm clock apps available in the App Store, but, almost unbelievably, not all of them work, and some of them are downright duds. We've tried and tested five great alarm clocks apps for the iPhone and iPod touch that can't make getting out of bed any easier, but at least you'll be woken in a way of your own choosing.
1. Radio AlarmRadio Alarm may be at the higher end of the pricing scale, but it's a good looking creation that packs in a lot of functionality -- you really do get what you pay for (and then some!) with this app. As far as looks go, you've got a great retro design with a flip calendar, analogue clock and two "dials," one for volume, which can be controlled in-app and -- essential for a bedside alarm clock -- a brightness control. There are three knobs that represent the three main functions: the alarm clock, the radio and the sleep options. The "radio" can be listened to as a standalone Internet radio option and offers more than 30,000 stations from SHOUTcast Radio that be be browsed via genre, country or search, although you can manually add your personal fave Internet radio stations via their URL. Alarm functionality is superb -- you can choose to wake to a variety of what we'd call standard alarm sounds, your own music stored on your iDevice, one of the many Internet radio stations, one of the sleep sounds (more on that later), and there's even the fab option to record your own sound or message to wake up to. Alarm options include some nice touches such as vibration, the ability to "fix" the volume so you can't turn it down accidentally, different snooze durations, and the option to have the sound "fade in" so you don't wake with a start.
Finally, there's an excellent selection of soothing sleep sounds, including waves, rain on a window, a campfire or the sound of seagulls. You can set the timer to turn the audio off after whatever amount of time suits you, and you can make it fade out quietly. This also works with the radio and your own music too. There's some design thought gone into this app -- when you hit the radio knob a little analogue tuner comes on screen accompanied by tuning noise, and you can opt to shake your iPhone a certain number of times to stop the alarm. It's little touches like this that make you smile. Developer: EnSight Media
2. iFlipClock Plus
There's more retro to be had here with a classic, realistic flip clock design that can be jazzed up with a choice of 65 backgrounds, three colors for the numerals, portrait or landscape display and two different time display formats. That's it as far as the app goes for looks; simplicity is the key word here, and that theme continues with the settings which are bound to only one screen.
We can imagine the one-screen design will be too fiddly for anyone with big fingers, but it works for us -- you can just zip around the screen touching various areas to change the settings. With the ability to set two alarms, you can leave the default alarm noise to wake you or select a song from your device. Features include a snooze button, the ability to dim the screen for use on a bedside table and sound effects for when the time flips over. With simple, but perfectly decent alarm functionality, it's a good-looking app for design lovers. Developer: Exedria
3. Nightstand Central
Another good-looking app, Nightstand Central's design is somewhat reminiscent of HTC phones. With a big, easy-to-read flip clock, the date and the weather for your current location are also displayed. You can choose backgrounds from a selection of beautiful pre-loaded images or ones from your device, either as a static display or slideshow of multiple images. The customization is great -- you can move the clock and change its size by tapping on the screen with two fingers, have it display portrait or landscape, have alarms displayed, and to keep up with the weather, show the temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit or not at all. On the alarm front, you can set as many alarms as you'll ever need with an interface that's very similar to the iPhone's. There's also "background alarms" that can be set up for those who want to be super-sure to get out of bed. You can give alarms names and wake to a range of sounds or music from your library. Snooze times can be changed and you can make the sound fade in so as not to be too abrupt. The sleep timer will see you dropping off to a relaxing soundtrack (though without nearly as wide a selection as Radio Alarm, we must say), or your choice of music, while brightness control is very swanky -- slide your finger on the screen to dim it.
Lastly, Nightstand Central's bonus feature is the "flashlight" (a white screen basically, but adequate illumination in the dead of night), which you can turn on and off by shaking your handset. And if you're not picky about using your own music as an alarm, or want to try before you buy, there's a limited but decent free version of this app available too, although we think $0.99 for the full app is very reasonable. Developer: Thomas Huntington
4. Alarm Clock Pro
There's more great design here with the Alarm Clock Pro, which shares a similar feature set to Nightstand Central, but has a very different, yet equally stylish look. Alarm Clock Pro looks like a classic bedside alarm clock with a digital display. You can change the color of the numerals and what info is actually displayed, but as far as looks go, this app keeps it clock-like and simple.
Behind the scenes you're looking at a very familiar iPhone interface that makes setting alarms easy. The options are similar to those we've seen in other apps -- some pre-loaded alarm sounds, the ability to use your own music, snooze settings, fade-in options, background alarms and the great option to dim the screen with the slide of your finger. Alarm Clock Pro also produces a white screen as a flashlight if you shake it and a sleep timer is promised in a future update, which will be a nice addition to a very competent, no-nonsense alarm clock app. Developer: iHandySoft Inc
5. The Alarm Clock
This alarm clock option doesn't give you any meaningful way to customize the display, so it's just as well the three-dimensional white letters on a blue background look as good as they do. Alarm options are simple to set up and what you'd expect. You can name alarms, set them up to go off regularly on certain days, choose from pre-loaded sounds or use your own (we had a few crashes with this part, but did get there), set snooze times, auto-snooze, and there's a sleep timer too. However, where this app really shines is its ability to tell you the time at a touch of the screen. Hidden away in the app's "Advanced Options" menu are some nifty perks that will let the app speak the time, say how long until the next alarm or speak the next alarm time.
You can set these up to work with one, two or three taps of the screen, and the robo-voice will speak up -- a really nice feature for when you're half-asleep fumbling with your iPhone to try and work out how much longer you've got in bed. Developer: Kirk Andrews
BONUS: Nightstand - The Professional Alarm Clock
This app gets an honorable mention as it offers some nice functionality. In addition to being a fully featured alarm clock with radio, there's weather data and a "news and Internet" section that you can set up to display all your favorite sites from one page, so you can quickly get your dose of morning news from within your alarm clock. Developer: hubapps.com
More iPhone Resources from Mashable:- 10 Mobile Apps for Movie Addicts - 3 Innovative iPad Games That Use the iPhone as a Controller - 10 iPhone Apps for the Global Foodie - 10 Useful iPhone Shortcuts, Tips and Tricks - 10 Useful iPhone Keyboard Shortcuts, Tips and Tricks |
| Apple sues Motorola, further escalating cellphone wars (Reuters) Posted: 31 Oct 2010 10:34 AM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) – Apple Inc sued rival Motorola Inc, claiming the Droid smartphone maker infringes on three iPhone patents. Cupertino, California-based Apple says Motorola is purposefully using its touchscreen software, as well as other display technologies. "Motorola's infringing activities have caused and will continue to cause Apple irreparable harm, for which it has no adequate remedy at law, unless Motorola's infringing activities are enjoined," Apple said in a nine-page filing on Friday with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. Schaumburg, Illinois-based Motorola said it has not yet reviewed Apple's filing, but that it intends to "pursue our litigation to halt Apple's continued infringement." "Motorola has a leading intellectual property portfolio, one of the strongest in the industry, and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves in this matter," the company said in a statement to Reuters. The case is Apple Inc vs. Motorola Inc, 10-CV-662. The suit comes after Motorola sued Apple in Delaware court earlier this month, asking a judge to declare it is not infringing on certain Apple software patents. (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Jan Paschal) |
| Ivorians flock to polls in landmark election (AFP) Posted: 31 Oct 2010 04:48 PM PDT ABIDJAN (AFP) – Ivorians flocked to the polls in the country's first presidential election in a decade on Sunday, aiming to end years of political turmoil in the divided former West African powerhouse. Long lines of voters snaked around polling stations even before they opened in the main city Abidjan and in Bouake, the northern stronghold of former rebel forces, as people openly relished the opportunity to vote. In some areas in Abidjan, the country's biggest city and home to a third of the nearly six million electorate, polling stations were late in opening and voters complained about a lack of transport but the mood remained buoyant. Polls closed about 5:00 pm (1700 GMT). Sunday's was the first election in a decade in the world's top cocoa-producing country, where incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, 65, leads a field of 14 candidates. "There has not been an election since 2000 and we really have to have a change because Ivorians are suffering, especially the young," said student Mylene Kouassi, 22. Gbagbo and his main rivals, ex-president Henri Konan Bedie, 76, and former prime minister Alassane Ouattara, 68, pronounced themselves pleased with the voting. All three believe they will win, raising fears of unrest when the results come through next week. "Africans are used to post-election tensions. We are making a first step but we have to cross our fingers for the results to arrive and that everyone accepts the verdict," said Gbagbo supporter Georges Etranny, a well-known author and songwriter. Gbagbo said in a midday press conference: "I am happy today that this vote is going well." But he warned "the only institution equipped to provide a provisional result is the Independent Electoral Commission." The Independent Electoral Commission has three days to announce provisional results but aims to do so on Monday, an official told AFP. Gbagbo, insisting that he would win the poll, told the French newspaper Journal du Dimanche that if there was any violence, it would come from his opponents. "The violence will come from those who lose. And ... I am not going to lose." Ouattara said he, for one, would accept the results. "Peace is what this country needs most, on election day as in the days following the elections." Bedie said the vote was a "relief after the long wait since 2005," the date of the last election. Bedie is seeking a comeback after being overthrown in a military coup in 1999 that triggered years of turbulence in the former French colony once hailed as an example of stability and an economic miracle. Gbagbo came to power in a 2000 election from which Bedie and Ouattara were excluded, and survived a coup attempt two years later that escalated into a full-scale civil war in which thousands were killed. The civil war split the country in two between Gbagbo's government-controlled south and the north held by former New Forces rebels, with UN and French peacekeepers patrolling a buffer zone between them. In Bouake, the northern 'capital' from which the rebels ruled the northern half of the country since their 2002 revolt, thousands of people lined up outside schoolhouses from early morning to vote. Azita Bamba, a shopkeeper who brought her six children along to the polling station, hoped the election will bring change. "Here in Bouake we have suffered too much, we live in insecurity, we don't eat well and our brothers aren't able to find work," she said. Despite occasional outbreaks of deadly violence, a March 2007 peace accord has held and a disarmament programme has meant that areas of the north have gradually returned to government control. Gbagbo postponed presidential elections six times since the end of his term in 2005 amid rows over rebel disarmament and voter registration. Thousands of government troops, former rebel fighters, police and UN peacekeepers are deployed to secure the poll.
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| Alternative Search Engine Blekko Launches to Eliminate Spam in Search (Mashable) Posted: 31 Oct 2010 12:54 PM PDT Blekko's alternative search engine -- a $24 million venture-backed project that's been three years in the making -- is today launching its public beta. With the official rollout, Blekko is also releasing several new features designed for both mainstream and the site's super users. As you may recall, Blekko is designed to eliminate spam search results, allowing users to search just a subset of the web through its proprietary slashtag technology. The most significant upgrade to Blekko's search engine is the addition of slashtags that auto-fire for queries that fall into one seven categories: health, colleges, autos, personal finance, lyrics, recipes and hotels. Every time a Blekko user's query is determined to be in one of these categories, Blekko will automatically append the associated slashtag to the query and limit results to just the subset of URLs that fall under that slashtag. The auto-fire functionality is designed with passive searchers in mind, and aims to eliminate friction for first time users. The technology that powers these auto-slashtags was developed through an extensive research and development phase that involved analyzing the relationship between queries and the type of spam results they typically generate. Blekko plans to introduce auto-slashing for additional categories moving forward, but selected to launch with ones that represent a high volume of search traffic and are typically laden with spammy results. Health, lyric and financial queries on Google or Bing, for instance, will return results dominated by poor quality content farms or malware-hosting sites. Those same searches on Blekko yield results only from high quality sites. Blekko's slashtag formula works because of passionate users who take the time to add and edit URLs for category slashtags. As such, the company has released new features to enable users to apply to be editors for slashtags as well as share their comments and feedback on individual slashtags. Think of this as the Wikipedia formula but applied to search, so a small percentage of users will work together to build out slashtags for the majority of Blekko searchers. Blekko has been testing its solution to search with roughly 8,000 beta testers who have created more than 3,000 different slashtags. Blekko tells us that 11% of its existing user base come back to the site on a weekly basis. CEO Rich Skrenta and Founder Mike Markson have modest projections for the immediate future, but believe that once the site hits one to two million queries per day, it can be profitable. Blekko is currently available on the web or as a mobile-optimized site, but mobile applications are also said to be in the works. Image courtesy of Flickr, Robert Scoble |
| Finally, a keyboard that really works (Appolicious) Posted: 29 Oct 2010 01:55 PM PDT |
| Boost Your Geek Cred With the Linux Credit Card (Really) (PC World) Posted: 31 Oct 2010 10:00 AM PDT What is the coolest thing for a Linux fan to carry in their pocket? Why, the new Linux Tux credit card! The Linux Foundation teamed up with UMB Bank and CardPartner Inc. to create the Linux-branded Visa card. It's pretty much your typical credit card, except that, by applying for the card, you are also helping to promote Linux. For every card that gets activated, Linux gets $50 and percentage of every transaction made on it, which goes straight into their innovation program. That means doing things such as providing travel grants for open source community members and funding Linux's technical events. Anyone who gets the card--which you can get Linux events as well as online--has two different designs and Tux posings to choose from, as well as a bonus-points reward scheme for stuff like free airline tickets. So, get a cool looking credit card and help out an operating system company; win-win right? Unfortunately, the card is only available if you live in the US. And thanks to a lack of partnerships in other countries, that won't be changing anytime soon either--a mega shame for Linux. But for you US citizens, have fun getting that credit while geeks in the rest of the world look on in envy. [The Linux Foundation, via Download Squad] Like this? You might also enjoy...
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Malaysians win global Internet popularity contest (AFP) Posted: 31 Oct 2010 04:35 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Malaysians are the most popular people on the Internet, while Japanese are the least, according to a global survey which shows how national cultures are reflected in online behaviour. Malaysians won the Internet popularity contest with an average of 233 friends in their social network, compared to 68 in China and just 29 in Japan, according to the Digital Life study by global research firm TNS. The findings are no surprise in a gregarious, multicultural nation which has a tradition of "open house" parties where the doors are literally thrown open to all, and where new acquaintances are eagerly made. "The Malaysian way is just to invite everyone you know," said Chacko Vadaketh, a Malaysian actor and writer with an impressive 1,010 friends on his Facebook account. "And people who you would know and consider your friends is a much broader concept than in other communities," he said, reminiscing over family weddings with 1,000-strong invitation lists. Malaysia also has a large diaspora of professionals who have sought opportunities abroad, in a "brain drain" that has made social networking sites invaluable for maintaining links among far-flung friends. Vadaketh, who has Indian and Syrian ancestry, studied in Britain, has family and friends on several continents, and is now living in the United States, is not untypical of Malaysia's wired generation. "I resisted Facebook for a while but I felt I had no choice because it's overtaken email in some ways," he said. "I wanted to keep in track with events or get invited to parties, and a lot of it was only going out on Facebook." Mark Higginson, director of digital insights with Nielsen's Online Division, said that each country's embrace of social media is dictated by its own national characteristics. So the outgoing Southeast Asian nations of Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia have reacted differently to the more conservative East Asian cultures of China, Japan and South Korea. "Japanese are big users of social media, they're just not highly adoptive of Facebook and a platform like Twitter is only just starting to take off," he said, adding that blogs are also enormously popular in Japan. "A blog is very much a self-editorialised viewpoint so it's a statement and not a discussion... I think that fits in with the Japanese culture in that sense, the concept of face and of a very organised profile." Koreans prefer the more free-wheeling discussion forums on leading homegrown portals, while in China social gaming or other activity-based concepts are most popular, he said. "Social media is so diverse and one of the big things we learned looking at different countries in Asia Pacific is that the differences are really quite amazing," Higginson said, adding that this had big implications for business. "One size does not fit all in a region like Asia Pacific. You can imagine it's a little easier to have a social media strategy across Europe, but here, knowing the local landscape is so critical." James Fergusson from TNS said that the firm's study showed each country has "a unique digital DNA". "Malaysians like many Asian cultures are very open to establishing friendships online whereas in Japan people tend to be more selective in choosing their online friends," he said. "Social networkers in Japan tend to shy away from revealing personal details, instead relying on avatars and aliases." In some Asian countries, lack of media freedom has also driven the rise of blogs and social networking sites where information can be freely exchanged. In Malaysia, where the mainstream media is mostly government-controlled, there has been a blossoming of independent news portals, political blogs and prolific Twitter feeds on current affairs. And Malaysians are also not shy about using such sites as a marketing and networking tool for small business. Daniel Zain, a Kuala Lumpur-based photographer whose social network is nudging 2,000, estimates he knows just 10 percent of those "friends" but the list has grown as he has steadily added clients and their contacts. Malaysians care little for privacy and "are generally a very curious lot", happy to make online contact with friends-of-friends who they have never met, he said. "We love to meet up with people, we love open houses," he said, referring to the free-for-all parties held to mark festivals including Christmas, Deepavali, and the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. "We've taken the concept of open house and put it online. Anyone is invited to your house, and anyone is invited to your Facebook page." |
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