Described below are four new resources for podcasters including a Podcasting Legal Guide, Bound by Law, Media Slaves and VoiceIndigo.
]]>Described below are four new resources for podcasters including a Podcasting Legal Guide, Bound by Law, Media Slaves and VoiceIndigo.
From Creative Commons, the new Podcaster Legal Guide. As Nicole Simon points out, covers US law only. Perhaps one of the CC officers will take on producing or extending the resource to include international copyright law. Right on, Nicole.
From Duke University Law School, a mashup of Law and Comics, Bound by Law, provides a common language explanation of fair use and rights issues in media creation.
Check out Media Slaves. Now with over 2,000 listeners, Media Slaves is fast becoming an important resource for new media creatives in blogging, podcasting, video and mobile; those wanting to get started; and companies wishing to understand the mediums, tools and techniques along with the mine fields of participating in social media. The discussion is fun, unpredictable and sometimes irreverent.
Make your podcast easily available to mobile listeners with VoiceIndgio. It's a new service which delivers what other mobile solutions haven't: subscriber stats and advertising revenue.
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We're having lots of fun with the podcast already and have plans for more features with guests and other goodies in the future.
Feel free to call us and leave a recorded message at +1 775 599 4008. We'd love to hear your thoughts on show topics, responses to released shows and improvements we could make. Your message might be featured on our next show. Be sure to leave your name and URL in the message, so we can announce it to our listeners.
</shameless self promotion >
]]>If you blog, you're already a mobile publisher.
Mobile Surfing Becoming Mainstream
Globally, just over one-fourth (28%) of mobile phone owners worldwide have browsed the Internet on a wireless handset, up slightly from 25% at the end 2004. Interestingly, growth in this behavior for 2005 was driven by the older users (age 35+), indicating that surfing the Internet on a mobile phone is emerging as a mainstream activity, no longer dominated by the traditional early adopter segment - young males - typical of many new consumer technologies.
If you're keeping score, 28% of the 2.5 Billion mobile phone scribers equals 700 million people. Compare that number to the 1 Billion Internet users.
]]>Derek Powazek posted an open letter to...well..."The Internet," deconstructing the phrase User Generated Content. Powazek is calling for the elimination of the phrase in connection with disintermediated media.
User: One who uses. Like, you know, a junkie.
Generated: Like a generator, engine. Like, you know, a robot.
Content: Something that fills a box. Like, you know, packing peanuts.
So what's user-generated content? Junkies robotically filling boxes with packing peanuts. Lovely.
Not only is this an amusing description, but there's more than a kernel of truth present when you consider the recent flak in the podcasting realm over The PodShow contract.
]]>Derek Powazek posted an open letter to...well..."The Internet," deconstructing the phrase User Generated Content. Powazek is calling for the elimination of the phrase in connection with disintermediated media.
User: One who uses. Like, you know, a junkie.
Generated: Like a generator, engine. Like, you know, a robot.
Content: Something that fills a box. Like, you know, packing peanuts.
So what's user-generated content? Junkies robotically filling boxes with packing peanuts. Lovely.
Not only is this an amusing description, but there's more than a kernel of truth present when you consider the recent flak in the podcasting realm over The PodShow contract. Eric Rice provides the outrage over a contract which states that participation in the network requires that a podcast producer gives over to The Podshow their rights to
Add this to the recent copyright infringement by Mobikyo impacting over 40 mobile bloggers. Does the labeling of the creative works that we produce devalue them in the view of those would offer services related to these efforts? Powazek poses it this way.
Calling the beautiful, amazing, brilliant things people create online "user-generated content" is like sliding up to your lady, putting your arm around her and whispering, "Hey baby, let's have intercourse."
They're words that creepy marketeers use. They imply something to be commodified, harvested, taken advantage of. They're words I used to hear a lot while doing community consulting, and always by people who wanted to make, or save, a buck.
There's also the related issue highlighted in a recent article by Derrick Oien on Yahoo!'s API business. If "we the media," allow Yahoo! to commercially exploit our contributions to their social media products (e.g., 360, blog search, email, egroups) then what's wrong with making use of the data streams from Flickr, del.icio.us or other Yahoo! properties for commercial purposes? A strong ecosystem of independent media has served MySpace, for example, very well. Between YouTube, the various asundry creators of glitter text, and other MySpace widget builders have increased the value of MySpace for everyone in the value chain.
Two mechanisms are needed which seem to be lagging behind in terms of making the flow of data work for everyone. Whether you are an independent software developer producing tools for mixing or creating derivative works like fd's Flickr Toys, an independent artist who might add value through clever editing, or even a small company wishing to extend the value chain to channels other than the web; the licenses which specify a managable revenue share down to the creator don't really exist. Further, a licensing scheme which makes corporate media products easily accessible to the Long Tail for remixing or extending don't really exist either. A fee collection mechanism which would make it easy to track and manage remittance to independent media creators on the ASCAP model doesn't yet exist. Is this an opportunity?
Some will point to Creative Commons licenses as the solution. In particular the recent case in Danish court, as irony would have it, between Adam Curry of The Podshow and a Dutch gossip magazine, Weekend. In essence, the case dealt with the unauthorized publishing of Curry's photos from Flickr by the magazine. It's ironic that the same guy who is abusing the rights of podcast producers is suing someone else for copyright infringement.
However as Doug Kaye, ITConversations exective producer, points out in Creative Commons Confusion, that a license doesn't increase the protection of rights for independent producers.
As of 1976 (here in the U.S.) anything you write or publish is automatically covered by copyright law. No longer do you have to put that little © symbol on your works, although it does make it clear who the copyright holder is. You don’t need to register your copyighted works unless you want to litigate, and even registration can be deferred until that time. Copyright protects your rights and (supposedly, but no longer very well) the rights of the commons. The latter is an important subject, but not the one I want to address today. For the sake of this discussion, just consider the aspect of copyright that reserves for the copyright holder certain rights.
A license, on the other hand, is a granting to others some of those rights normally reserved for the copyright holder. A license never strengthens your rights to what you’ve created. If anything it weakens those rights by giving something to someone else. The Creative Commons licenses – and there are many varieties – are an attempt to clarify and simplify licensing, particularly in cases where the licensee is anonymous: a person or persons among the commons. A Creative Commons license grants certain rights to individuals or organizations without the copyright holder (the licensor) having a clue as to who those individuals or organizations might be. Creative Commons is a brilliant idea, not only because it allows granting of limited rights to the commons, but because the licenses are generally straightforward and don’t require lawyers or even phone calls to make clear what’s allowed and what isn’t.
Doug Kaye's observation that the legitimacy of a Creative Commons license remains untested by the courts is an important consideration. But even more critical to the continued development of independent media and the tools to support it will be the business and revenue models that provide incentives that are required to support the act of creation. From someone who would know this topic, Marc Canter makes the point that remuneration is important.
2. You can never rely upon volunteer labor. If you want something built - you gotta pay for it. Period.
Certainly the language and labels that we use can result in perceptions which have unintended consequences. I agree with Powazek on this point. (Should Derrick rename his blog?) What term should we use that appropriately allows us to make a distinction between corporate media as represented by music labels, television networks, newspapers, radio, and magazines?
Powazek offers a replacement phrase for User Generated Content.
Authentic media comes to you unfiltered by the global brands and conglomerates that have taken over the mainstream media. Authentic media is the raw, first-person narrative you can find on blogs and homepages. Authentic media is what happens when the mediators get out of the way and give the mic over to the people who actually have something to say.
The best part about this phrase? It paints the rest of the mediascape as inauthentic. I can live with that.
Authentic media doesn't really work for me as what I perceive as the most valuable is the participation in media between corporates and independents. I don't believe it's totally accurate to paint all corporate owned and produced media as inauthentic. Many independent creators would prefer that corporate media become more participatory and we can't gain their cooperation through alienation or demeaning their products by calling them inauthentic.
Yes, User Generated Cotent must die. There are already so many terms floating around the network to express distinctions. There's social media, participatory media, citizen's journalism (hate that one), impulse media, user generated content, slave generated content, user created content, personal media, new media, media 2.0, and etc. The question is a good one. What label creates a distinction between independent and corporate produced media? And if not media, how do you refer to the collection of photos, blogs, podcasts, video, vlogs, video podcasts, music, comics and remixes that are being produced by the masses?
The original article is published here.
]]>Hollaback NYC is a blog dedicated to the fame of men who harass women on the street. The site's tagline says it all, "If you can't Slap 'em, Snap 'em!"
]]>Hollaback NYC is a blog dedicated to the fame of men who harass women on the street. The site's tagline says it all, "If you can't Slap 'em, Snap 'em!"
Holla Back NYC empowers New Yorkers to Holla Back at street harassers. Whether you're commuting, lunching, partying, dancing, walking, chilling, drinking, or sunning, you have the right to feel safe, confident, and sexy, without being the object of some turd's fantasy. So stop walkin' on and Holla Back: Send us pics of street harassers!
The blog is complete with cameraphone snaps of the offenders who catcall as women walk past.
In India, street harassment is called "Eve Teasing." It's a horrible euphemism for catcalling, grabbing or groping women on the streets or in public transportation. The Blank Noise Project called for a blogburst hoping that women sharing their humiliation and anger via blogs would provide visibility to the distrubing practice.
Blank- that which is not allowed meaning, form or articulation. Noise- that which heightens, builds itself. Eve Teasing as the name suggests,is considered a joke, a prank.Eve Teasing is street sexual harassment. The project seeks to recognize eve teasing as a sexual crime and establish the issue as something that may be normal, but is unacceptable. The Blank Noise project works both online and on the streets of Bangalore, Mumbai , Delhi. We invite you to come along!
This is a great example of how anger plus social media can turn into action. Fed up? Then shout out - or snap 'em!
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There are so many announcements, new initiatives and discussions about mobility kicking off in 2006 that it well could be called "the year of the mobile." Most exciting are all the applications, devices and network services that enable media creation and sharing from the edge of the network - that's you and me. The list below includes new launches and announcements in 2006, only.
Everyone is getting into the game of enabling mobile creation and consumption of personal and/or social media. The Mobhappy crew included the growth of blogging and mo' pho' blogging in their predictions for 2006, but that prediction may be understated.
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There are so many announcements, new initiatives and discussions about mobility kicking off in 2006 that it well could be called "the year of the mobile." Most exciting are all the applications, devices and network services that enable media creation and sharing from the edge of the network - that's you and me. The list below includes new launches and announcements in 2006, only.
Everyone is getting into the game of enabling mobile creation and consumption of personal and/or social media. The Mobhappy crew included the growth of blogging and mo' pho' blogging in their predictions for 2006, but that prediction may be understated.
Handset Moves
Sony Ericsson announces inclusion of Google's Blogger on their new "CyberShot" cameraphones to be released in the second quarter of 2006.
Nokia releases the updated version of LifeBlog 2.0 for their N Series multimedia phones at Cebit last week.
Applications & Services
Rabble, a social networking and media sharing community, first launched on Verizon Wireless is now available to Cingular's customers too. Combined that's over 100 million subscribers who have access to a mobile personal and social media tool set.
The cat escaped early and before Six Apart could make the announcement themselves their acquistion of Splash Blog makers of a blogging service for mobile phones hit the blogosphere. This is great news for users of MT, Typepad and Live Journal.
MySpace makes mobile SMS alerts available through Cingular.
Mobile video blogging goes real time and professional at Fromdistance.
Fromdistance's mobile video blogging (MVB) solution is an end-to-end platform for media companies and content aggregators. It enables production and publishing of text, image and video content for Internet and TV with just a single mobile device.
Mobile Operators
UK mobile operator, 3, reports that 4 million mobile user created videos have been downloaded. Users are encouraged to record video with their phones and upload them to 3s servers and in exchange the creator is paid $.01 for each time their video is viewed. The total compensation for creators has topped $175,000.
Helio, the MVNO JV between SK Telecom and Earthink, announced an exclusive deal with MySpace to enable mobile social networking and blogging.
Sprint launches Picture Groups which allows their subscribers to upload and share cameraphone photos and combines the service with a Cafe Press like service. You'll want to have a multi-megapixel cameraphone for photos that go on mugs, t-shirts and what-not.
And so begins 2006 The Year of Mobile Social Media. So many announcements, applications and services, and it's only the first quarter. If you're a personal or social media evangelist or enthusiast, mobility will enter your vocabulary this year. It's only logical that user created media must be mobile as the events of the world don't take place at your desk.
Can you hear me now? I'm eager to see how and where mobile appears in blogging and web conferences and gatherings. This is going to be a breakout year. See you there.
x-posted at mobilejones.com
]]>I've been experimenting with podcasting using free tools with the intention of launching a podcast that crosses the subject matter of both mobile jones, and the Blogher Blogging and Social Media publication where I've joined as a contributing editor.
Steve Rubel announced his transition from CopperKatz to Edelman (big PR firm) and his plan to launch a Social Media Tour. It seemed like a great opportunity to jump in and give it go. So as a presentation for mobile jones and Blogher's Blogging and Social Media features, the podcast was Steve's first stop on the Tour.
]]>I've been experimenting with podcasting using free tools with the intention of launching a podcast that crosses the subject matter of both mobile jones, and the Blogher Blogging and Social Media publication where I've joined as a contributing editor.
Steve Rubel announced his transition from CopperKatz to Edelman (big PR firm) and his plan to launch a Social Media Tour. It seemed like a great opportunity to jump in and give it go. So as a presentation for mobile jones and Blogher's Blogging and Social Media features, the podcast was Steve's first stop on the Tour.
March 1st, wednesday, evening I was all set up with Gizmo which a VoIP competitor to Skype. I chose Gizmo for it built in recording capability. In addition, I'd installed Audacity for editing and LAME for MP3 encoding. Audacity is amazing as it's open source and has an easy to use interface.
First, let me apologize about the audio quality. I'm learning and it will get better. I'm going to go ahead as talking with Steve was great fun and his perspectives are interesting and given his new role important for the rest of us. Steve's responses are high quality but my attempts at capturing them are a bit crude. I can't wait to have more opportunities to get better at the production side or podcasting and in the mean while, I hope you enjoy this chat on social media, mobile and what's next with Steve Rubel.
The podcast is 50 minutes: Social Media Tour - Steve Rubel in MP3
We discuss:
Steve if you're listening. What sort of strategies or tools can marketing and PR pros use to gain insight into mobile communities like UPOC, SMS.ac, Text America, Moblog UK, or even mobile operator owned social media communities? The blog search engines have no visibility into those galaxies either. Perhaps, we can take up the topic in a future podcast.
cross posted at mobile jones
]]>When low cost production meets creativity and talent plus social networking, syndication, indy media along with video podcasting and shared audioblogging, what do you get? Four Eyed Monsters.
]]>When low cost production meets creativity and talent plus social networking, syndication, indy media along with video podcasting and shared audioblogging, what do you get? Four Eyed Monsters.
Susan Buice and Arin Crumley, the team behind the Four Eyed Monsters video podcast chronicles their relationship in the context of making, promoting and premiering their indy film at Slamdance and beyond. What's special about FEM and of particular interest to anyone following social media from the prosumer (producer + consumer) perspective is the use of community and sharing tools to enable creative works distribution directly to consumers. (Other forms of social media or the use of the term focus on business use of blogging, podcasting, etc. to connect to customers.)
Susan and Arin use multiple profiles and a blog on MySpace to connect with fans, distribute video podcasts (also available on iTunes) and promote their films. I found out about Susan and Arin through several recommendation calls in the podcast service Buzz o Phone.
Buzz o Phone is described as a consumer talk back service, but as usual some clever folks have begun to use the service in ways that were unforseen by it's creator. The podcast includes individual complaints, recommendations and promotions phoned into an 800 number. Several callers recommended FEM and finally the site owner added his own recommendation stating, "Four Eyed Monsters is unlike anything I've seen on the web." I agree and it worked, because I immediately Googled the phrase, found the site and watched the first episode. Now, I'm hooked and can't wait for future episodes.
I'm not really clear on what the distinction is between video podcasts and video blogs. Maybe someone will consider taking the time to explain why the different labels and how they differ technically, functionally or otherwise.
Susan and Arin have also included a great tutorial resource at their main web site on creating, editing and distributing video podcasts. Just in case others want to give it go.
Each video podcast is about 5 minutes in length which is in a safe zone for mobile consumption. It would be great to see mobile device distribution of this amazing series.
]]>Technorati reported on the "State of the Blogosphere" starting last week and continuing this week. The company points to the size of the blogosphere and it's growth rate. Claiming 27.7 million blogs tracked and the doubling of the blogosphere measured in months with 75,000 new blogs added daily are impressive signs of growth as stated by Technorati. But what if I told you there's a part of the blogosphere that claims 56 million members, 2 1/2 times the traffic of Google and adds 1 million new bloggers per week? Technorati does not track this part of the blogosphere. If Technorati added feeds from this group of bloggers, their current "blogosphere" would be a mere 1/3rd of the total.
]]>Technorati reported on the "State of the Blogosphere" starting last week and continuing this week. The company points to the size of the blogosphere and it's growth rate. Claiming 27.7 million blogs tracked and the doubling of the blogosphere measured in months with 75,000 new blogs added daily are impressive signs of growth as stated by Technorati. But what if I told you there's a part of the blogosphere that claims 56 million members, 2 1/2 times the traffic of Google and adds 1 million new bloggers per week? Technorati does not track this part of the blogosphere. If Technorati added feeds from this group of bloggers, their current "blogosphere" would be a mere 1/3rd of the total.
The separate blogosphere that MySpace represents, 56 million members, receives very little coverage or even acknowledgement from the blogging intelligentsia. As Derrick points out, the addition of RSS feeds and Podcasting support to MySpace blogs went completely unnoticed by Technorati's A-list and RSS evangelist, Dave Winer. One might argue that Technorati's claiming that only those blogs which ping Technorati make up the blogosphere is an questionable claim. Who has more "authority" on current trends in music or even the US youth market? Technorati's blogosphere or MySpace?
Today another important announcement on the MySpace blogosphere came from the new mobile network operator, Helio, a joint venture between SK Telecom and Earthlink, which will offer MySpace Mobile.
The mobile service will offer a look, feel and overall customer experience that are true to the online MySpace environment while optimizing it for mobile including:
- Mailbox: Ability to read and write MySpace email on Helio devices.
- Bulletin: Send messages to all your friends anytime, anywhere from your Helio device.
- Blogs: Read and write blogs on-the-go without a PC.
- Photos: View photos from your friend's profiles optimized for the Helio screen.
- Profiles: View profiles and add new friends as you meet them directly from your Helio device.
"MySpace Mobile on Helio will allow our members to share their lives as they happen and evolve the MySpace experience from being about what you did last night to about what you are doing right now...."
Recall that News Corp. purchased MySpace last year for $580 mil in cash. Recently, MySpace is beginning to show signs of acting more like a corporate powerhouse than a web 2.0 community. Between issuing C&Ds to the members of the ecosystem of sites that helped MySpace members personalized their pages, and blocking other media sharing sites like YouTube. While MySpace restored the links added from YouTube to it's member profiles, many cried censorship and pointed to MySpace readying it's own video service as the motive.
Some members remain concerned about corporate imperatives overriding the desires and needs of the community.
While many consider MySpace to be a teen site, Business Week's recent article on the rise of MySpace, "MySpace rises as new online star," states that the site has a quarter of it's members (14 million) registered as minors. Of course, the distinction of "registered as minors" is due to the lack of age verification and it is likely that some teen members add years to engage with older members of the opposite sex. If one were to grant doubling the number of minors on MySpace, that would result in a number nearly equal to size of Technorati's blogosphere (28 million). Of course, it would also mean that 28 million are not teens.
The age demographic of MySpace will be an important factor in the success of their mobile initiative. Mobile research firm M:metrics has reported that most minors with cell phone service are on family plans with their bills paid by parents.
M:Metrics data shows that overall, about 41.4 percent of subscribers who used network services to download content or send messages participate in family plans. In terms of age, 51.9 percent of survey respondents aged 13-24 - the most attractive segment being targeted by games publishers, ringtone companies and other content providers - belong to family plans.
This makes the switch to a new service provider like Helio to gain access to MySpace Mobile less likely.
MySpace continues to expand adding media sharing capabilities building upon their success bringing together the youth audience and the music industry by adding video, independent filmmakers and now making blogging and social media a mobile activity for their members. These are all accomplishments thusfar outside the reach of technology focused web 2.0 companies. While Technorati's blogosphere focuses on politics, corporate news bloggers, and web 2.0 as the ultimate media destination, the promises of community, mobility and the long tail are being realized at a site twice the size of the so called source of authority. If you're watching the blogosphere for what's next in social media, you're probably going to miss it or be late to the party.
x-posted on mobilejones
]]>Rather than a blog recommendation on blogging while mobile, this article presents a nicely done tool for moving pics from a cameraphone to the web for sharing. Let me know if you find it helpful. Also, feel free to ask questions or recommend blogs, tools, etc. that should be featured here.
Shozu is a Symbian application which does one thing, but it does that one thing exceptionally well. Textamerica, Flickr and Webshots users can use Shozu to upload images from their cameraphones to the web. What's special about Shozu? Look at these two images.
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Rather than a blog recommendation on blogging while mobile, this article presents a nicely done tool for moving pics from a cameraphone to the web for sharing. Let me know if you find it helpful. Also, feel free to ask questions or recommend blogs, tools, etc. that should be featured here.
Shozu is a Symbian application which does one thing, but it does that one thing exceptionally well. Textamerica, Flickr and Webshots users can use Shozu to upload images from their cameraphones to the web. What's special about Shozu? Look at these two images.
Shozu has no unique UI. That's right. Shozu displays my Gallery of images as it exists on my Series 60 phone. The display of folders and navigation is simple because I am already familiar with the Gallery on my phone.
Not imposing a new UI on users isn't the only "considerate" intention of Shozu. Those who travel or live on an international border know how easy it is to find yourself roaming without realizing it. Data charges while roaming are brutal. I recently tried to upload some photos through Flickr and received an SMS from Shozu informing me that my transfer had been suspended, because I was roaming off my home network. Instructions for an override were provided or the option to do nothing, and the application would complete the transfer on my behalf when I was no longer roaming. Next, I received an SMS informing me that the transfer had been completed as I was no longer roaming. Now, that's a pretty considerate thing to do, especially the part about managing this situation for me. True simplicity.
It might be unfortunate for Shozu that their application doesn't work on more devices as a J2ME application might. However, the tight phone integration strategy means that Shozu can do more for me as user. Adding the option of immediately saving to Flickr for any image that I capture is so frictionless that it's almost always the choice I make. When it's easy, it's easy. That's good news for Cingular who benifits from my increased MMS traffic. In addition, other developers seem to be making the tight integration choice over the widely available and less capable decision. For example, Yahoo!'s new Go service is also a Symbian app. Does anyone remember the lessons of Microsoft and integration? Can you say WordPerfect? Anyway, it's an interesting strategy for which to wait and watch.
This is the kind of feature that more mobile apps and services need to emulate. Mobile operators, mobile application and services providers spend a great deal of ink and breath communicating the expenses and complications they face in building out mobility, and yet, the only services on the phone which have true value to the end user are voice and SMS.
After all this time and the billions spent, one might expect that mobile providers and enablers would understand that "always on" or background applications succeed in shocking numbers. Blackberry email like voice and SMS provide a service of notification and actionable options to the user. These services behave like services. This is the same line of thought that Marc Davis alluded to in his next phase of development for mobile devices as sensors. More about this in my next post.
Back to Shozu. The only complaints that I have for Shozu, and no doubt items on their to do list, are
1. Please remove the Shozu user as poster of my photos on Flickr (afterall, I'm the one doing the posting)
2. Add a per photo tagging capability, rather than, a tag list for all photos from Shozu.
Nicely done, Shozu.
]]>I've been publishing on the Internet for 10 years, first on a Web site covering Internet news and in the last three years, I've been updating 3 blogs related to cell phones; Textually.org covers the different applications of text messaging, picturephoning.com follows the many issues surrounding camera and video enabled cell phones, (privacy issues, the emergence of citizen reporters, content...). Ringtonia.com covers the many new ways music is being played on cell phones.
I'm not a technical person at all. I'm interested in the way people are using mobile phones and how it's affecting the world around them.
You may recall that Rudy's Women in Mobile interview series was also featured on the previous home of Blogher in "...credit where credit is due" by Elisa Camahort.
]]>Anina's story isn't unique. Many employers are concerned about their employees blogging, and as a result, some people blog anonymously.
The concerns of the modeling agency aren't clear, but it does raise what is likely to continue to be a tough choice for employees. When an employer dictates your activities outside of work, what recourse do you have?
Read the comments on Anina's post. Also, she has included a short audio recording of a discussion with 2 friends on handling the situation.
Do employers have the right to insist that employees don't blog? Can your employer dictate which passions you may or may not persue?
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