Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Contrary to the mainstream media focus on the Sotomayor confirmation hearings last week, social media reflected a very different news agenda. On blogs, Sarah Palin’s political future and views on energy policy dominated. On Twitter, Iran led the conversation for a fifth week in a row. And on YouTube, a controversy over a photo of President Obama was resolved.
For the first week all year, health care was the leading topic of conversation among bloggers. And it was an often contentious conversation as liberals and conservatives accused each other of spreading untruths—and sometimes worse. On Twitter, technology-focused stories led the agenda as Iran dropped out of the top story list for the first time since the disputed June 12 elections.
For social media, it was a week of pick your platform. Twitter remained intensely focused on the situation in Iran. YouTube was overwhelmingly devoted to Michael Jackson’s passing. And the blogosphere was more divided overall but led with Sarah Palin’s surprise announcement.
Hispanics in the United States have several options when it comes to describing their identity. They can use an ethnic label such as “Hispanic” or “Latino”; they can use their family’s country of origin; or they can call themselves “American.” The National Survey of Latinos finds that most have used all of these descriptors at […]
Many seek a “just-in-time someone-like-me” but few post their own stories. E-patients are using the internet to compare their options, just as they do with other major decisions,[7.numoffset=”7″ Lee Rainie, Leigh Estabrook, and Evans Witt, “Information Searches That Solve Problems.” (Pew Internet Project: December 30, 2007) See: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/Reports/2007/Information-Searches-That-Solve-Problems.aspx] and to find the “just-in-time someone-like-me” who […]
The conversation in the blogosphere last week focused on two stories that challenged conventional wisdom about healthy food. On Twitter, the protests in Iran dominated at a level not seen since the unrest began in mid-June. And the most-viewed news video featured some on-air cable flirting.
While the mainstream press focused on the health care battle last week, the online conversation centered on sobering survey results for President Obama. Bloggers also jumped into the racially charged “Skip” Gates case. Iran was again the hot Twitter topic and a confrontation between David Beckham and angry soccer fans led on YouTube.
More than half a century ago, the United Nations affirmed the principle of religious freedom in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, defining it as “the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.” For just as long, journalists and human rights groups have reported on persecution of minority faiths, outbreaks of sectarian violence […]