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  • report

    Gun Rights Stir Passions in the Blogosphere

    Civil liberties were the hot topics across social media last week. Bloggers debated the Supreme Court decision on gun ownership and Finland’s law making Internet access a legal right. Twitter drew attention to the discovery of a privacy leak on the website Foursquare. On YouTube, a video purportedly showing oily rain in the Gulf region led to controversy.

  • report

    McChrystal’s Comments Turn the Social Media to Afghanistan

    The controversy surrounding General McChrystal – and especially Obama’s role in the matter – commanded attention on blogs and Twitter last week. Twitter users also shared news of a landmark copyright ruling portrayed as a victory for online freedom. And on YouTube, a clip of a dancing baby led to a vibrant conversation over authenticity.

  • report

    The Flotilla Fallout Leads the Blogosphere Again

    Even as the story died down in the mainstream media last week, bloggers continued to debate the Israeli interdiction of a Turkish supply ship that left nine people dead. On Twitter, the focus on computer giant Apple continued. And on YouTube, a startling car accident drew more than three million hits.

  • short reads

    New Media Diversity

    In only one of 29 weeks studied did blogs, Twitter and YouTube share the same top story — a week in June 2009 focused on the Iranian protests.

  • report

    In Social Media, Technology Drives the News Agenda

    The debate over the popular social networking site Facebook and the issue of privacy rights led a technology-focused week on social media. On Twitter, more than half of the news links were about Apple, a favorite Twitter topic. On YouTube, an ad about immigration featuring a frog puppet received the most views.

  • report

    New Media, Old Media

    The stories and issues that gain traction in social media differ substantially from those that lead in the mainstream press. But they also differ greatly from each other. Across a year-long study of blogs, Twitter and YouTube, the three platforms shared the same top story just once. What are the stories and issues that dominate in theses platforms? And what media outlets tend to provide those stories? A new year-long study by report offers answers.

  • report

    The Blogosphere

    Of the three social media platforms studied, news-oriented blogs share the most similarities with the mainstream press. Bloggers almost always link to legacy outlets for their information, and politics, government and foreign events garnered the greatest traction. There are, however, also some clear differences. While the biggest topic areas overlap, there was considerable divergence in […]