Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The outrage over new security measures at the nation’s airports ran rampant among bloggers, Tweeters, and YouTube viewers. Phrases like “security theater,” “money making scam” and even an animated reenactment of full body x-rays and pat-downs pervaded social media.
Conservative bloggers last week expressed outrage over a passage from Bob Woodward’s new book. Tweeters were galvanized by a security flaw on Twitter. And YouTube viewers were interested in some provocative statements a GOP Senate candidate made on television more than a decade ago.
The mainstream media offer the American public a divided view of how information technology influences society, according to a new PEJ study. Messages such as technology making life easier often vie with concerns about privacy and safety. How do the media portray technology? Which companies get the most coverage? Do social media and blogs treat the subject differently than traditional media? A year-long study of technology coverage answers these and other questions.
A survey concluding that non-believers know more about religion than believers sparked an intense and heartfelt conversation among bloggers last week. On Twitter, a disturbing discovery in a loaf of bread was the top story. And on YouTube, a Swiss politician with the giggles became an international video star.
After several weeks of decreasing coverage, the Gulf oil saga spiked upward last week amid news of possible success in stopping the flow. Coverage of a bill to regulate the financial sector, infighting among Democrats, violence and progress in Afghanistan and the death of a baseball mogul rounded out the roster of top stories.
Introduction Over the past two decades, the number of Muslims living in Western Europe has steadily grown, rising from less than 10 million in 1990 to approximately 17 million in 2010.[1. Figures are from a forthcoming Pew Forum report that estimates growth rates among Muslim populations worldwide and provides population projections for 2020 and 2030. […]
The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico became a hot topic in blogs and on Twitter last week, with the discussion focused on a range of storylines. At the same time, two subjects that had generated little attention in recent weeks—the economy and the war in Afghanistan—also drew significant interest. On YouTube, a Congressman’s angry response to being filmed drew almost 2.5 million views.