Daniel Triplow's Web Journal

Analysis Of Our Website - From Dream to Reality...

2008-04-18T03:33:00.000-07:00

Individual Role/Problems/Anything else

In the first few weeks of the project, me and John took a step back, sat down and planned our website thoroughly as opposed to jumping straight in and getting on with it.

We began by analysing what we already had to work with or in other words, what the original site gave us to work with. And unfortunately, for the transformation that we were looking to achieve, this was not a lot.

So we started the research and planning of the project by looking at three supporters club’s websites that were already out there in order to get an idea of what we looking to achieve. Immediately it became clear that most supporters club’s sites were basic and rarely updated. However those that were did not have half the features that we were planning on installing, so whilst we used these sites for ideas, most notably a personalised Google search bar, it was pretty much a case of going at it alone and breaking the conventions of the current websites for supporters clubs up and down the country.

By week 2 we had brainstormed numerous ideas individually and we sat down and analysed each others ideas. We combined the two lists and then produced a basic page by page plan, which was eventually re-drafted on numerous occasions throughout the project, but it gave us a good foundation to work with.

One idea that we decided to knock on the head was our 50/50 focus on news from the supporters club and Gillingham Football Club. Our research showed that there was plenty of sites out there that gave club news. And after all, the supporter’s club site is where members would go to look for supporter’s club news – not the other way round. In the end we decided to install a simple RSS feed for club news and
by week 3 we had finished planning all the pages, we had gone off individually and created draft banners and chosen the best one and had come up with fresh ideas for our homepage.

It was now time to get down to the nitty gritty.

This module was titled ‘Web Design and Creation’. Therefore we wanted to go out, buy some software and start from scratch as we felt that this would definitely be the most rewarding approach. We would become familiar with every last aspect of creating a website including all the features and html code, whilst the experience also meant that we had both grasped a good knowledge of using the software, Microsoft Front Page.

However immediately we had problems getting hold of the software. At one point we were going to change our minds and opt for Dreamweaver, but through my own experiences, had found it more difficult to use and get to grips with.
The problem we faced was that in the latest Microsoft Office Packages, FrontPage does not come as standard and in the 2003 edition it only comes on a second disc - something that took us a while to realise. We didn’t really want to use software from 2000 although at one point it was looking like we might have to.

Once we were all sorted, John went off and created the layout for the homepage and News page whilst I did the Away Travel and GISC pages.

As we installed a toolbar down the side, something that the previous site did not have, it meant that immediately the whole site was easier to navigate around. However through my planning, I decided that if we also installed a second toolbar along the top in the GISC and Away Travel pages, it would make navigation even easier, something that I am sure you will agree with now that the project is finished.

John then went off and did the same with the Links and Contact Us pages and it left me with the Blog, Media and Shop pages, which all in all were pretty basic pages to design.

We had reached a stage by the Easter break where we had the majority of our pages designed but it was just a case of filling in the gaps. So we deemed it necessary to meet up over the holiday to discuss how to take the site forward. By the time we went our separate ways, we had all the pages designed but I felt that we were still lacking features and most importantly of all, good news stories.

When I went back to the site to finish it off, I decided that I wasn't that keen on its look. The layout was fine but the use of colour seemed a little basic and I took the decision (as group editor) to change all that myself.

First things first I put all the text on a dark blue layer on top of the theme, experimenting with the colour blue, the traditional colour of the football club.

I then installed a title for every page, using a simple white font on a black background but this stands out and appears incredibly effective.

Next was when a good project became a website. We were lacking conventional website features and I again deemed it necessary to stand up as editor of the project and install some of these functions which are so essential to the modern website and also to the success of the project.

Firstly I installed a poll on the home page allowing for user interaction and a personalised Google Search Bar allowing users to find archived news articles easily and giving them the option to conduct a full Google search quickly and efficiently.

The RSS Feed on the News page allows users to access club news and supporter’s club news in the same place.

From the start we also wanted to install the Google Checkout function, allowing the club's members to join/renew online and ultimately modernising the website.

Next was the introduction of Google Maps. We thought that this would be a good facility, not necessarily for those getting the coach to the game, but certainly for those making their own way by car. It allows users to get directions and view the area and its surrounding amenities.

One of the major successes of the project is allowing the club's members to view the newsletter online for the first time. Members have previously requested for copies of archived material and this solves that problem. In the future, I would hope to build up an archive dating back 15/20 issues but this will be addressed at a later date.

The Shop page was originally going to advertise programmes and GISC merchandise, but we soon realised that Google would take around 8% of everything we sold and after deliberating with other members of the committee, we deemed it necessary to opt for a different approach. By simply advertising the price of programmes we have seen a rise in sales and more recently, a bunch of old programmes were advertised on EBay, so I linked the page to the auctions, again seeing an unexpected profit.

From the start, user interaction was deemed as an important aspect of our project and the installation of the message board should provide that. More so, the blogs page has seen a fan offer to blog for us on a weekly basis and there has been more interest in this from other members. I shall also blog myself at the start of the next campaign and feel that given time, this could well be a very effective and popular part of the site.

Finally we needed good stories for our homepage and after I dragged John along to a committee meeting, we went out to the opening of a new social club where we took pictures for the site; we then got together and wrote stories about the Legends Night and Player of the Year Voting and also the club’s quiz night. There were also one or two smaller stories such as the recruitment of a treasurer and the advertising of the away games against Leeds and Bristol Rovers that I did personally. I also interviewed the chairman of the GISC, which can be found in the media page.

After the site went online, it was an immediate hit with the club’s members and we saw traffic to the website increase by 33% in the first week alone. After then advertising the site through the club’s Wikipedia page, Google/Yahoo bookmarks, Technorati and Backflip, we have seen the average number of visitors to the site increase to around 200 a day, an 80% increase on its users before we began the re-design.

More recently I attended the Legends Night advertised on the site taking numerous pictures at the event of which many can be found online. I wrote the stories on the event and player of the year and got quotes etc from the chairman.

How did you identify a target market for the project and how did you manage to reach that market?

After analysing the club’s target market through our research and my own experiences from being a member we discovered that the age range that we needed to target was about 25 onwards. The club has very few younger members, but obviously all those who are members are fans of Gillingham Football Club.

What we wanted to do was modernise the site but also keep our target market in mind. For instance if you look at the homepage, it is quite clear and simple. The links are quite large and all the main areas such as away travel, membership and parking are advertised clearly. The introduction of the blog, message board was introduced with those at the bottom end of the age range in mind but everything else is quite broad and appeals to a wider market.

One idea from our research that was scrapped during the project was to have 100% online membership. However with our target age range in mind, we deemed it necessary to continue offering the postal option for renewals/new members.

THE FUTURE
I am going to continue with my role and am committed to increasing the site’s traffic and making it as popular as it used to be a few years ago. A lot of this will depend on the success of the club but with a website as successful as ours has been, it is certainly a good foundation.

THE END!!!!

2008-04-10T03:33:00.000-07:00

Our site is now online at www.gillsisc.co.uk

ENJOY!!!

P.S. An analysis of the site will be posted soon.

Week 10

2008-04-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

So week 10, the final week (well actually we've been given a 10 day extension) and you've guessed it: more bleeding problems!!

Although as reported, the site was up and running for nearly two weeks, we had to take it offline and replace it with the old template due to a host of problems.

Pictures were not appearing, toolbars were not appearing, search bars and polls were not working and at one point, whole pages were not working properly.

Apart from that everything was perfect!

Anyway the site should be back online by Thursday/Friday (a few calls to the server people should do it) as it seems we have got our head around everything but this project certainly becomes more and more stressful by the day. We were doing so well. Traffic was up, the site looked great and then...

Well enough of the past and more of the future. We are going to continue to advertise the site to drive traffic and get everything in store for the end of the week. And then maybe, just maybe you can see it in all its glory. And i can finally sit down, write the conclusion and make everything avaliable for all to see.

I should be so lucky...

Week Eight

2008-03-18T11:25:00.000-07:00

WOW!! Week eight already.

Well the website is finally online after a vast number of problems in recent days. Word of advice: If you are creating a website on Frontpage, check to make sure that the features you are using, dont require Frontpage Extensions and if they do, then brace yoursleves for a bit of a slog.

Anyway back to the site. We have completely finsihed revamping the website and as it seems, our problems are beyond us. We are currently working on a couple of major stories which should be online in the next couple of days but after that, it should literally be a case of keeping tabs on the site until the last week of term.

We have installed the Google search bar, Google maps and Google Checkout. We got a jolly nice fellow called Keith to blog for us, we have installed a poll on the homepage and rewritten and updated every single page on the bloody site and still found time to create a host of new ones. There's the shop, blog and media pages which are all new and bring a lot to the site and the newsletter page, which allows members to read the club's quarterly newsletter online.

But anyway I'll keep you informed of any updates or news. And hopefully no more problems.

Is Social Networking really such a waste of time?

2008-03-05T17:50:00.000-08:00

There has been much fuss of late over the loss of productivity brought on by employees multi-tasking between actual work and social networking. One estimate puts the cost to British industry at £6.5 billion per annum in lost productivity and questionable bandwidth usage. Another survey estimates that Britain’s social media fanatics are spending as much as 12 hours per week on these sites, no doubt eating into valuable work time.

But what is the impact of this collective social network addiction on high school and university students, our bright future? A new survey this week by IT specialists Global Secure Systems, says students are also guilty of sneaking in a fair bit of social networking during the school day.

In their survey of 500 English school children between the ages of 13 and 17, 51 per cent confess to checking their social network profiles during lessons. Over a quarter admit their in-school daily social network fix exceeds over 30 minutes each day.

If this sounds surprising, you haven’t been to school lately. Laptop-toting school kids are the norm these days, as are Wifi-enabled campuses. And when the laptop is in the locker, there are net-enabled smart phones at the ready. Add to the equation the rocket-fast texting ability of a typical 16-year-old and you get an explosion of social networking opportunities at the most unlikely points in the school day.

No educator would knowingly allow such a distraction in their classroom, and yet it appears to be happening right under their noses. It’s hard enough getting the PlayStation generation to focus for even a half-hour on a lecture of, say, King John and the Magna Carta. Try competing with the latest lunchroom gossip being broadcasted to mobiles, Facebook and Twitter. The significance of establishing modern-day democracy pales in comparison.

Before you 'oldies' shake your head and mutter something starting with the phrase “In my day…”, admit it – how many of you have shirked off work on an important business project to tend to a personal email, text or, these days, a Facebook query? How many of you have done it today? How many of you are doing it now?

Many of you might regard tidying up your profile, sending messages to friends or contacts, joining the odd group or participating in a movie knowledge quiz to be a harmless distraction, the kind of thing that keeps you sane during the workday. But us teens are deadly serious about social networks. For us, failing to attend to these duties could end friendships, sink reputations and mean missed opportunities to climb the fickle and precarious social ladder of young adulthood.

But surely we should be embracing social media and every other Web 2.0 application out there. Yes, posting photos of you and your semi-clad friends boozing it up late at night could sink your chances with a prospective employer, who will no doubt be snooping around for this very type of incriminating evidence. But the good far outweighs the bad. All this facebooking is helping even if you don't realise it. I know people who have built and promoted projects on fighting poverty and eradicating hunger, organising music gigs, art and photo exhibitions, plus coordinating meet-ups for political rallies.

Being at university myself, I admire the growing number of young students who dedicate hours to designing complicated widgets and applications too. Yes, they’re probably neglecting their history paper to complete it, but the end product is a far more valuable lesson learned in creativity, courage and computer coding. When I look at all the creativity, the collaboration and the activism being generated in these networks, I am hopeful for the future. Perhaps one day lesson five on a Monday will no longer be R.E or Citizenship, it will be facebooking...

Week 5...

2008-02-25T04:17:00.000-08:00

Progress has been steady over the past two weeks. We had numerous problems obtaining the software we wanted so this took us slightly off schedule. However we have probably completed about 40% of the website's pages, including the News, GISC and Contact sections...

We have installed an RSS feed in the News page, which comes from Gillsconnect.com, a supporters website with an excellent reputation. This basically means that we are able to offer both Supporters Club news and that of the football club.

If any of you are unsure of how to install RSS feed check out:
http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_do_i_subscribe_to_an_rss_feed

We have chosen the colour scheme, a theme for a page and used a toolbar down the side of the page to allow easier navigation.

Apart from that nothing too spectacular though, so roll on next week.

Week Three

2008-02-11T04:08:00.000-08:00

The first three weeks have seen me and my partner extensively plan our website as opposed to jumping straight in. We have produced a detailed page by page plan which has come about after analysing websites of other supporters clubs and the features that we deemed necessary to add in our site.

These include:

RSS Feed for news/blog page
A personalised Google Search Bar
A poll
Message Board
Posting the club’s newsletter online
Getting the site’s users to blog on the site
Setting up a Google Checkout function, allowing the club’s members to renew/join online.
Installing Google Maps
Interviews/podcasts/vodcasts on media page

We are literally going for a complete overhaul of the website and I will keep you updated with the progress, as we begin its development.

A different focus...

2008-02-06T09:01:00.000-08:00

Now that I have begun phase two of my Web Design Course at University in which you guessed it, I am designing a website, I have decided to opt for a different approach to this blog. Whilst I will continue to post work of my own and other other journalists on the Facebook phonomenom, I would like to use this as a place where i not only promote my website, but give weekly updates on its progress.

The site's url is: http://www.gillsisc.co.uk/

Facebook 'sees decline in users'

2008-02-04T09:35:00.000-08:00

Social networking site Facebook has seen its first drop in UK users in January, new industry data indicates.

Users fell 5% to 8.5 million in January from 8.9 million in December, according to data from Nielsen Online.

This was the first drop in user numbers since July 2006 when Nielsen began compiling data on the site.

Nic Howell, deputy editor of industry magazine New Media Age, said the site was no longer as popular among its core audience of young people.

"Social networking is as much about who isn't on the site as who is - when Tory MPs and major corporations start profiles on Facebook, its brand is devalued, driving its core user base into the arms of newer and more credible alternatives," he said.

Facebook, along with its main rivals Bebo and MySpace, lets users set up personal web pages and communicate with each other.

Alex Burmaster, European internet analyst at Nielsen Online, said that it was inevitable that the site's early growth rates could not be sustained and user numbers were likely to plateau.

Nielsen's figures showed that there are 712% more Facebook users than a year ago.

"Just as one swallow doesn't make a summer, so one month of falling audiences doesn't spell the decline of Facebook or social networking," Mr Burmaster said.

"However, real growth potential lies in the niche networks - those based on a particular lifestyle or interest, such as travel, music, wealth or business," he added.

The data showed that MySpace users had fallen by 5% in January, while Bebo's audience had fallen 2%.

Less popular social networking sites such as Windows Live Space, BBC Communities and Friends Reunited saw a rise in users in January, Mr Burmaster said.

What do parents think of Facebook?

2008-01-22T13:42:00.000-08:00

Research has shown that more than a quarter of eight to 11-year-olds who are online in the UK have a profile on a social network site.

With none of the websites actively enforcing a minimum age limit, the watchdog Ofcom says parents need to keep an eye on what their children do online. So what do parents think? I set off to find out.

ROGER, 37 from Kent
I have worked in the internet for the past 15 years but I resigned as the director of a company that set up a social networking site in 2003. The company wanted a network aimed at young teenagers and I felt this was unacceptable.

I was told by ex-colleagues that it took 24 hours for them to find their first paedophile had registered and was trying to groom kids. It ended up with the police getting involved.

My daughter uses Facebook and despite using a profile with anonymous settings ticked and not using her real name, I was able to show her how I was able to find her school, name, form, where she lived and view her profile all without even having to register on Facebook.

I think the only way to protect your kids is to have an honest relationship and speak to them about the issues.

The danger is when you overreact then they will become secretive and actually blocking them would be to cut down on their social life, an important part of growing up.

Every month I ask my daughter for a list of all the people she has connected to and I say to her who is this ? Do you know who this person is ?

Steve, 46 from Medway
A number of children in my son's primary school set up a hate page on Facebook about him.

When I complained to Bebo the response I got was: "If you don't like the page don't look at it." They couldn't have been less helpful.

I complained to the police and a brilliant community policeman went round to the houses of the children who had set up the page and it was pulled.

But until the police got involved they did not remove a single person who set up or contributed to this page, despite being informed that they were all aged 10 or 11.

Alex, 36 from Sittingbourne
I have a 13-year-old son and a 10-year-old daughter and the trick is to stay one step ahead.
I am not from an age where I knew what Facebook and Bebo were. So I made an effort to find out for myself and I made sure I was active on Facebook before my children wanted accounts for themselves.

When they wanted to go on Facebook I helped them and made sure the privacy settings were adequate.

We are now Facebook friends, and I monitor activity every day. I do check who their friends are and make sure they don't change their privacy settings.

I think social networking sites are perfectly safe as long as parents stay one step ahead. As a parent you have to keep up with the times and not let your children become social outcasts because you do not allow them to use these sites.

MATTHEW, 56 from Bobbing nr Sittingbourne
I am a Scout leader and last year a 12-year-old girl in my Scout group registered on a lesser-heard-of social networking site and spontaneously put her MSN messenger address in.

Within hours someone had added her and was sexually harassing her online. When I heard about this it was reported to the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.
It is clear that this incident is not isolated.

Particularly since then, but also a little before, I have made educating young people about sort of 'dos and don'ts' online something I really care about and take quite seriously.
I use Facebook myself to some extent, the difference is that I am aware of how to safely do this.

'Voices of Medway Podcast'

2008-01-17T08:01:00.000-08:00

I recently had a go at creating my first podcast. The breif that I was assigned to find some interesting and colourful shops and interview the people who run them. And Rochester in Kent, a wonderful blend of ancient and modern in the heart of the "garden of England", seemed like the perfect place to visit.

It is a city steeped in history, dominated by a fine Norman Castle and Cathedral, bounded by the maritime traditions and spirit of past British naval dominance on the River Medway. And whats more, it has a unique blend of independent shops and some very nice shopkeepers too...

Click below to listen to the podcast:

Facing the Future Facebook Style

2008-01-10T07:42:00.000-08:00

Independent journalist Bill Thompson ruminates on the inevitability of Facebook being in the news in 2008...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7178954.stm

The coming year is not going to be a comfortable one for Facebook.

It might just manage to avoid upsetting its users with new services such as Beacon, the misjudged advertising feature that told your friends about your purchases.

It might spot fake profiles of famous people, like the two Bilawal Bhutto entries that fooled both Facebook and some newspapers, and remove them before they get noticed.

And it could even avoid falling victim to one of the frauds that are likely to be perpetrated against users of all social network sites.

But even if Facebook is lucky it will still get a lot of coverage.

Because during 2007 it became the social site of choice for journalists, politicians, bloggers and others who see MySpace as for the kids and LinkedIn as too business-oriented for friends.
Face off with blogger

The spat has helped highlight the issue of data ownership and data portability, and may even lead to more careful consideration of who can do what with the information found around the internet.

Bill ThompsonThat means it will be the focus of attention in any story about the impact and evolution of online activity simply because it is the site that MPs and columnists know about.
It also means that when Facebook is directly involved in a story then it will be bigger than it may otherwise have been.

We saw this recently in the fuss over the site's treatment of Robert Scoble, one of the more significant technology bloggers and a former Microsoft employee and evangelist.
Scoble, who has complained that Facebook limits him to 'only' 5,000 online friends, used a program to read each name, e-mail address and date of birth and import them into another social service, Plaxo Pulse.

When you sign up for Facebook "you agree not to use the Service or the Site to harvest or collect e-mail addresses or other contact information of other users from the Service or the Site by electronic or other means for the purposes of sending unsolicited emails or other unsolicited communications".

Since Scoble was using an automated script to harvest addresses he was clearly breaking this condition, so Facebook suspended his account just as it would for any other user.

However Scoble is an A-list blogger so when he wrote about his suspension it generated a storm of comment.

At first people were broadly on his side, criticising Facebook for acting as if it owned his network of contacts.

Others then weighed in, pointing out that the birth dates and e-mail addresses Scoble had taken didn't belong to him but to his Facebook friends, many of whom might not want to be imported into Plaxo without their consent.

Company and blogger have now made up, with Scoble having achieved his goal of enhancing his notoriety and outsider status by standing up for users right to have access to 'their' data - even when that data is personal information about other people.

And Facebook has backed away from another PR embarrassment, although not without some loss of face since it is unlikely that an unknown accountant from Basingstoke would have been allowed to return after such an egregious breach of the site's rules.

The spat has helped highlight the issue of data ownership and data portability, and may even lead to more careful consideration of who can do what with the information found around the internet.

But it also shows how important Facebook has become as the focal point for any discussion of this type. It is our lightning conductor for many of the issues which are emerging as important in the new, online world, and that will ensure that it will be dragged into stories to make a point, even when it is not directly involved.

Of course the chances are that the site will also merit some coverage because of the way it grows.

In his list of technology predictions for 2008 noted computer scientist Ed Felten includes 'a Facebook application will cause a big privacy to-do', and he's not alone in this belief.

One reason for this is that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg comes from the generation that grew up with the network in their lives, for whom the boundaries between offline and online relationships have always been indeterminate and to some extent irrelevant.

Zuckerberg's instincts are those of the children who flock to MySpace, Bebo and YouTube, not those of the older users who are now using the tools his company has developed.

This culture clash is an interesting reversal of the old order, in which teenagers would grow into a world defined by their parents and have to learn how to assert their own desires and demands.

Adults going online for the first time are entering a world that has been shaped by the interests, desires and concerns of the younger generation, a world that does not operate according to the rules they have followed in real life.

It is hardly surprising that there are differences of opinion, or that the practices of the various social sites sometimes cause concern for parents, politicians or teachers.

It will be interesting to see whether some compromise can be achieved in the coming months and years, or whether the rapid rate of network development means that even Mark Zuckerberg will end the year complaining that the youngsters are just not behaving responsibly online.

Facebook Challenged by ad-free Rival

2007-12-24T07:42:00.000-08:00

Badoo, a social networking website which offers users the chance to pay to be popular while banning all advertising, is set to launch into an increasingly crowded UK market.

At the moment, Badoo is a relatively unknown web brand. However, Google recently rated it number two on its "fastest rising" list - behind the iPhone and ahead of Facebook - in its annual report based on the most popular web searches.

The fledgling company positions itself as a "natural evolution of existing social network and blogging sites".

Badoo's unusual business model works against the received wisdom of the primarily advertising-led efforts of established firms such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo.

"We wanted to be advertising free in order to have a 'clean' site so our users weren't subject to adverts which we know can be a turnoff," said Neil Bryant, the managing director of Badoo.

Revenue is derived by technology named Rise Up. For $1 in the US, €1 in Europe's eurozone and £1 in the UK, users can choose to have their profile moved to the top of a rolling list of profiles - in a blend of Digg and a Reuters ticker - that all users can see.

"With Badoo users don't have to add friends - they have immediate access to get their profile in front of the site's entire online community," said Bryant.

For security, users can block any "undesirable" or annoying profiles from seeing, or appearing, on their web page as well as keep information such as birth dates secret.

Asked whether this Rise Up function can provide enough revenue, Bryant said that 20% of Badoo's 12.5 million users access the function once a month

Thus far, Badoo has developed a strong following in Latin American countries, as well as France, Spain and Italy.

Next year, cracking the UK is a top priority. However, until Badoo has significantly more customers than the current UK user base of around 100,000, the Rise Up function will remain free.

Badoo is also trying to carve a niche in the celebrity market, just as MySpace has in music and Bebo has with youth.

The website aims to approach celebrities to get them to build official profile pages - bogus profiles will be deleted.

"Badoo users love sharing information about themselves, their friends and celebrity so Badoo has decided that the quickest way to get the message out about the site is to get celebrities to spread and demonstrate the word," said Bryant.

A PR-led push, fronted by as an as-yet-unnamed celebrity, is due to launch in February.

Written by Mark Sweney: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/dec/24/web20.digitalmedia

Facehooked!

2007-11-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

Facebook seemed to come from nowhere to everywhere in 2007.

One person in eight in the UK has become a registered member.

Why has Facebook been so successful against stiff competition from other social network sites?

And as the company tries to turn its popularity into profits, will its millions of members stay faithful?

The site was launched by student Mark Zuckerberg with two friends in their dorm room at Harvard University in February 2004.

It was initially intended to let his fellow students check each other out and make friends online.

By December 2004 it had grown to have nearly a million users among students at top American colleges.

It arrived in the UK in 2006 and by March 2007 was making headlines as more than a million people had joined up.

Now seven million people in the UK are on Facebook and there are more than 50 million worldwide members.

Full article can be read here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7151690.stm

Murdoch: "Facebook and Myspace can co-exist"

2007-11-02T02:20:00.000-07:00

Rupert Murdoch managed to utter the 'F" word as he delivered News Corporation's quarterly profit results - Facebook.

The social network site owned and run by Harvard graduate, Mark Zuckerberg, has exploded in use since it opened membership to the general public, boasting an audience of more than 50 million in its pitch to advertisers.

In July 2005, Mr Murdoch paid $US580 million for Facebook rival and market leader MySpace, and was keen to spruik its advantages.

"Obviously MySpace's most talked about competitor is Facebook," Mr Murdoch conceded.

"While it has grown rapidly over the past several months, it is still only 45 per cent of MySpace in terms of unique users," he said.

But While the two sites battle it out for popularity, Mr Murdoch spoke of their ability to co-exist.

"The two platforms are very different in the user experience," he said.

"MySpace pages become a home on the internet, it's where they discover people, content and culture.

"Facebook, on the other hand, tends to be a web utility, similar to a phone.

Recent research conducted by 'Nielsen' has shown that 74 per cent of Facebook users are also Myspace users.

IMPORTANT!!! PLEASE READ!!!

2007-10-29T04:59:00.000-07:00

NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINE PUBLISHING IN THE U.K

Editors’ Code of Practice

This is the newspaper and periodical industry’s Code of Practice. It is framed and revised by the Editors’ Code Committee made up of independent editors of national, regional and local newspapers and magazines. The Press Complaints Commission, which has a majority of lay members, is charged with enforcing the Code, using it to adjudicate complaints. It was ratified by the PCC on the 1 August 2007. Clauses marked* are covered by exceptions relating to the public interest.

The Code

All members of the press have a duty to maintain the highest professional standards. The Code, which includes this preamble and the public interest exceptions below, sets the benchmark for those ethical standards, protecting both the rights of the individual and the public's right to know. It is the cornerstone of the system of self regulation to which the industry has made a binding commitment.

It is essential that an agreed code be honoured not only to the letter but in the full spirit. It should not be interpreted so narrowly as to compromise its commitment to respect the rights of the individual, nor so broadly that it constitutes an unnecessary interference with freedom of expression or prevents publication in the public interest.

It is the responsibility of editors and publishers to apply the Code to editorial material in both printed and online versions of publications. They should take care to ensure it is observed rigorously by all editorial staff and external contributors, including non-journalists.

Editors should co-operate swiftly with the PCC in the resolution of complaints. Any publication judged to have breached the Code must print the adjudication in full and with due prominence, including headline reference to the PCC.

1. Accuracy

* The press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures.

* A significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distortion once recognised must be corrected, promptly and with due prominence, and - where appropriate - an apology published.

* The press, whilst free to be partisan, must distinguish clearly between comment, conjecture and fact.

* A publication must report fairly and accurately the outcome of an action for defamation to which it has been a party, unless an agreed settlement states otherwise, or an agreed statement is published.

2. Opportunity to reply

*A fair opportunity for reply to inaccuracies must be given when reasonably called for.

3. Privacy

* Everyone is entitled to respect for his or her private and family life, home, health and correspondence, including digital communications. Editors will be expected to justify intrusions into any individual's private life without consent.

* It is unacceptable to photograph individuals in a private place without their consent.
Note: Private places are public or private property where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.

4. Harassment Privacy

* Journalists must not engage in intimidation, harassment or persistent pursuit.

* They must not persist in questioning, telephoning, pursuing or photographing individuals once asked to desist; nor remain on their property when asked to leave and must not follow them.

* Editors must ensure these principles are observed by those working for them and take care not to use non-compliant material from other sources.

5. Intrusion into grief or shock

* In cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries and approaches must be made with sympathy and discretion and publication handled sensitively. This should not restrict the right to report legal proceedings, such as inquests.

* When reporting suicide, care should be taken to avoid excessive detail about the method used.

6. Children

* Young people should be free to complete their time at school without unnecessary intrusion.

* A child under 16 must not be interviewed or photographed on issues involving their own or another child’s welfare unless a custodial parent or similarly responsible adult consents.

* Pupils must not be approached or photographed at school without the permission of the school authorities.

* Minors must not be paid for material involving children’s welfare, nor parents or guardians for material about their children or wards, unless it is clearly in the child's interest.

* Editors must not use the fame, notoriety or position of a parent or guardian as sole justification for publishing details of a child’s private life.

7. Children in sex cases

* The press must not, even if legally free to do so, identify children under 16 who are victims or witnesses in cases involving sex offences.

* In any press report of a case involving a sexual offence against a child:
i) The child must not be identified.
ii) The adult may be identified.
iii) The word "incest" must not be used where a child victim might be identified.
iv) Care must be taken that nothing in the report implies the relationship between the accused and the child.

8. Hospitals

* Journalists must identify themselves and obtain permission from a responsible executive before entering non-public areas of hospitals or similar institutions to pursue enquiries.

* The restrictions on intruding into privacy are particularly relevant to enquiries about individuals in hospitals or similar institutions.

9. Reporting of Crime

* Relatives or friends of persons convicted or accused of crime should not generally be identified without their consent, unless they are genuinely relevant to the story.

* Particular regard should be paid to the potentially vulnerable position of children who witness, or are victims of, crime. This should not restrict the right to report legal proceedings.

10. Clandestine devices and subterfuge

* The press must not seek to obtain or publish material acquired by using hidden cameras or clandestine listening devices; or by intercepting private or mobile telephone calls, messages or emails; or by the unauthorised removal of documents, or photographs; or by accessing digitally-held private information without consent.

* Engaging in misrepresentation or subterfuge, including by agents or intermediaries, can generally be justified only in the public interest and then only when the material cannot be obtained by other means.

11. Victims of sexual assault

* The press must not identify victims of sexual assault or publish material likely to contribute to such identification unless there is adequate justification and they are legally free to do so.

12 Discrimination

* The press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to an individual's race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or to any physical or mental illness or disability.

* Details of an individual's race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental illness or disability must be avoided unless genuinely relevant to the story.

13. Financial journalism

* Even where the law does not prohibit it, journalists must not use for their own profit financial information they receive in advance of its general publication, nor should they pass such information to others.

* They must not write about shares or securities in whose performance they know that they or their close families have a significant financial interest without disclosing the interest to the editor or financial editor.

* They must not buy or sell, either directly or through nominees or agents, shares or securities about which they have written recently or about which they intend to write in the near future.

14. Confidential sources

*Journalists have a moral obligation to protect confidential sources of information.

15. Witness payments in criminal trials

* No payment or offer of payment to a witness - or any person who may reasonably be expected to be called as a witness - should be made in any case once proceedings are active as defined by the Contempt of Court Act 1981.

* This prohibition lasts until the suspect has been freed unconditionally by police without charge or bail or the proceedings are otherwise discontinued; or has entered a guilty plea to the court; or, in the event of a not guilty plea, the court has announced its verdict.

* Where proceedings are not yet active but are likely and foreseeable, editors must not make or offer payment to any person who may reasonably be expected to be called as a witness, unless the information concerned ought demonstrably to be published in the public interest and there is an over-riding need to make or promise payment for this to be done; and all reasonable steps have been taken to ensure no financial dealings influence the evidence those witnesses give. In no circumstances should such payment be conditional on the outcome of a trial.

* Any payment or offer of payment made to a person later cited to give evidence in proceedings must be disclosed to the prosecution and defence. The witness must be advised of this requirement.

16. Payment to criminals

* Payment or offers of payment for stories, pictures or information, which seek to exploit a particular crime or to glorify or glamorise crime in general, must not be made directly or via agents to convicted or confessed criminals or to their associates – who may include family, friends and colleagues.

* Editors invoking the public interest to justify payment or offers would need to demonstrate that there was good reason to believe the public interest would be served. If, despite payment, no public interest emerged, then the material should not be published.

The public interest

There may be exceptions to the clauses marked in bold where they can be demonstrated to be in the public interest.

1. The public interest includes, but is not confined to:
i) Detecting or exposing crime or serious impropriety.
ii) Protecting public health and safety.
iii) Preventing the public from being misled by an action or statement of an individual or organisation.

2. There is a public interest in freedom of expression itself.

3. Whenever the public interest is invoked, the PCC will require editors to demonstrate fully how the public interest was served.

4. The PCC will consider the extent to which material is already in the public domain, or will become so.

5. In cases involving children under 16, editors must demonstrate an exceptional public interest to over-ride the normally paramount interest of the child.

The PCC Guidance Notes used in this publication, details of how you can contact the Press Complaints Commission and the publication itself can be found here.

Microsoft buys stake in Facebook

2007-10-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has paid $240m (£117m) for a 1.6% stake in Facebook that values the hugely popular social networking site at $15bn (£7.3bn).

Facebook spurned an offer from Microsoft's rival Google, which was also keen to invest the site.

Microsoft will also sell internet ads for Facebook outside the United States as part of the deal that took several weeks of negotiating.

Microsoft already provides banner advertising and links on the US site.

Mark Zuckerberg started the online social networking site in his Harvard University dorm room less than four years ago.

Mr Zuckerberg, 23, has indicated he would like to hold off on an initial public offering for at least two more years.

He rebuffed a $1bn takeover offer from Yahoo last year.

Facebook hopes to become an advertising magnet by substantially increasing its current audience of nearly 50 million active users.

Facebook allows users to set up personal web pages and communicate with each other.

Google and Microsoft have crossed horns before for hot Internet properties.

Google beat Microsoft with a $1.65bn acquisition of online video sharing site YouTube last year.

Facebook expects to make a profit of $30m this year so on conventional valuations a $15bn price tag would look

HTML Tutorial

2007-10-18T02:54:00.000-07:00

As part of my 'Web Creation and Design' course, what could seem more fundamental than learning HTML?

So using the tutorial below, I set out on a mission to become an expert in the space of 12 short minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnBBuIu10NU

And twelve minutes on, I was none the wiser.

Even if you look past the fact that it is a completely unprofessional tutorial and you can't here what the fourteen year old computer geek is saying, then you are still faced with the lad belching mid way through - something deemed rather offputting to most of us. Quite simply its over before it even gets going. Some of the content is ok if you hang around long enough but for the first timer looking to learn about HTML, it may put you off for life.

However there are a number of good tutorials out there. I found that a brief look at http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_intro.asp was far more effective. It allows you to try for yourself and gives you a detailed account into HTML for the beginner.

But I realise that not everyone has bags of time on their hands. However if you can spare just a single minute, then the tutorial below could be what your looking for:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/324492/create_a_webpage_in_just_1_minute/

The title 'Create a Webpage in a single minute' is what drew me to this tutorial and I have to say, I was very impressed. Although it assumes some basic knowledge on behalf of the reader such as the use of Notepad as opposed to Word and the fact that you need to run Firefox, it is incredibly effective. Dont expect to be able to insert pictures and learn fancy layouts, but if its the basics that your after, then you need'nt look any further.

‘Facebook’: A complete waste of time or an invaluable tool for journalists?

2007-10-10T12:38:00.000-07:00

Today I have been sent four drinks, a bunch of flowers and a pair of otters. I’ve discovered that my friend Nick is bored at work, Jenny is counting down the days to her birthday in seven months time and Alice is ill, but happy none the less. All seems a complete waste of time doesn’t it?

But amazingly Facebook has nearly 40 million viewers, it is currently the 7th most visited website in the world and as a nation we are spending 233 million hours scouring the site every month. And it’s not just for the kids anymore. More importantly, the growth of Facebook points to a cultural shift. Today, people of all ages are getting increasingly comfortable with the idea of interacting with each other online; a trend we haven’t really seen before.

But despite the growth and the hype, we have to ask ourselves: What's in it for journalists? And what’s in it for Journalism as an industry?

Facebook has ultimately become a society within a society and within this Internet society are hundreds of stories that we may not hear about in the “real world”. Now it’s true that social networks have been key to journalists forever. I mean what journalist does not have a network of sources? However, what Facebook enables us to do is make it easy to expand this network and to send and receive messages to and from the entire network very quickly.

This social networking can also be an invaluable tool when looking for information for a story. With the site being used by so many, there is a good chance that someone caught up in the news for whatever right or wrong reason, could well have a Facebook page - a place on which they house their personal online identity.

But is there a danger in using this medium? As journalists, do we sometimes put the story before feelings of insensitivity in approaching potential sources? A number of publications used Facebook to their advantage during the Virginia Tech shootings. In the aftermath of the event, support groups were started by local students and through the site they were contacted to give their input on how the shootings affected them. In a backlash, groups were started by the same students in disgust over this tasteless 'new form of journalism’. A site that appears to be no more than flowers, drinks and otters, was being used as a instrument for covering mass murder.

However with a network spanning the globe, if used in the right ways, this tool could turn out to be invaluable. Any major news topic will have people wanting to voice their opinion. When working on articles, browsing for related Facebook groups may well provide good sources of information; sources that would not have been previously avaliable.

Facebook can also be credited for the way in which it has brought journalists together. The NUJ (National Union of Journalists) group on Facebook has 912 members whilst Journalism.co.uk has 1,202. Additionally, a group titled ‘Journalists and Facebook’ that discusses this so called ‘Facebook Journalism’ has proved immensely popular with those discussing their experiences. What’s more it could also prove to be a very useful tool for writers and editors alike, looking to connect with fellow workers they do not yet know. A quick search on Facebook opens up a world of journalists and editors. A quick look at their friends list opens up an awful lot more.

What Facebook has at the moment is potential; potential to open up a whole new world of online journalism. For most of us it connects us to people we know, re-unites us with people we forgot about and to information we care about. But perhaps the site really is nothing more than this? Surely it doesn’t have to always be journalism and surely it's okay to be selective with the technology and digital tools we use as journalists.

But if we are to report on the world we live in, then we have to fully live in it. And anything we can do to open the doors to our newsrooms, and give people a glimpse inside, is an asset to readers. And with the incredible popularity of Facebook it has become part of our world, thus it becomes impossible to ignore it. At the moment it helps you find sources. Hopefully one day it will also help better sources find you.

Facebook: An Introduction

2007-10-03T02:27:00.000-07:00

What are social networking sites?

They are a way of getting in touch with old friends and keeping in touch with current ones. Facebook allows each user to set up a "profile" of themselves, listing details of their school and university career, as well as allowing them to upload photos and video clips to share. Each person's profile can be viewed by people listed as "friends". Facebook friends can also post comments on each other's "wall" -a kind of instant email service.

MySpace and Bebo work in a similar way, although MySpace has become more known for its association with aspiring bands, who often upload their latest music on to their MySpace page in the hope that it will be spotted by bigwigs in the music industry.

Facebook also allows users to notify their friends of forthcoming events, and groups of common interest can be set up. There are groups covering everything from the state of the chicken nugget to the vagaries of Adam Smith's moral philosophy.

New features seem to appear daily. Members can now hug and high-five each other, and even set up an electronic aquarium or do some pruning in their virtual garden. A new language has stemmed from social networking sites, too, for example "poke" is an electronic greeting between Facebook members. The latest edition of the Collins dictionary included the word "me-media" to describe internet sites like MySpace and Facebook.

Exactly how popular are they?

MySpace, bought by Rupert Murdoch for $580m (£283m) in 2005, remains the most popular in the UK, with about 6.5 million users. But its rivals Facebook and Bebo are hot on its heels, with Facebook growing 19 times faster than MySpace.

Although Facebook started out as a site for US college students, it is relatively more popular with UK internet users. According to the internet market research firm NetRatings, if Bebo and Facebook continue to grow at their current rate, they will be as popular as MySpace by September.

Bebo's success is more limited to the UK, but its users spend more time on it than the other sites. It has had particular success in Ireland, where it claims to be the country's No 1 internet site.

Who is joining Facebook?

At the rate Facebook is growing, the question should really be, who isn't? It claims to have 30 million users around the world, with 150,00 joining each day. Although it used to be open only to undergraduates and graduates from certain universities and colleges, it has recently been opened up for anyone to join, and it is no longer the preserve of the 18 to 24 age group.

A recent survey by analysts at comScore Media Metrix found that the most dramatic growth in the use of social networking sites was occurring among 25- to 34-year-olds, and the number of users aged 35 and older had grown by 98 per cent between May 2006 and May 2007.

Jack Flanagan, the company's executive vice-president, said: "Since the decision to open MySpace registration to everyone, the internet networking site has seen visitors from all age groups flood the site.

"As the overall visitation to Facebook continues to grow, the demographic composition of the site will likely more closely resemble that of the total internet audience."

In other words, we may all soon be signing up.

So should we all be on it?

Several politicians seem to think so. Many have been queuing up to gain the youthful kudos that goes with joining Facebook. All the contenders for Labour's deputy leadership created a Facebook page, with the exception of Jon Cruddas. David Miliband has also signed up. Even Prince William created a profile, before having to take it down after being bombarded with "pokes" and friend requests. Lily Allen's musings on her MySpace page have helped it gather a loyal readership.

Despite the hype, there are downsides to joining the social networking phenomenon. Oxford University's student union urged its members to tighten their Facebook profile privacy settings earlier this month after discovering that dons were trawling the site for evidence of post-exam misbehaviour. And it's not just students who need be concerned. More employers are scouring Facebook to check up on current or prospective employees, meaning that it might not be a good idea to be too revealing online about your private life.

Should we all join Facebook?

Yes...

* It is an easy way of finding old friends and keeping in touch with new ones

* You can organise events and outings without endless phoning around

* Their rate of growth suggests most of us will be logging on to a social networking site soon

No...

* The personal information can be used by identity thieves if you post too much

* Everyone from your past will be able to track you down, whether you want them to or not

* Employers are now using the sites to check up on the behaviour of their staff

By Michael Savage
http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article2802586.ece