social network – Stilgherrian

07 February 2015

Talking Twitter’s business on ABC Radio’s The World Today

On Friday I was interviewed about Twitter’s latest quarterly results by ABC Radio’s lunchtime national current affairs program, The World Today — and in particular the potential future impact of bullying and trolling. And here’s the result.

“Twitter CEO admits cyber bullying poses threat to revenue growth,” was the story’s headline, and this is how presenter Peter Lloyd introduced it:

“The social media giant Twitter is being been forced to confront a serious threat to its profitability – cyber bullying. In internal emails leaked to a news website, the Twitter’s CEO says he ashamed of his company’s handling of bullies. Dick Costolo says harassed users are abandoning the service and as part of the quarterly financial results announcement overnight, Twitter reported disappointing user growth in the final three months of last year.”

The reporter was Pat McGrath.

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13 October 201414 October 2014

Weekly Wrap 227: No snow, no productivity

I am not impressed with my week of Monday 6 to Sunday 12 October 2014. While I did produce a podcast, and also caught up with a friend and visited a part of Sydney that I hadn’t previously explored, it was still less productive that I’d hoped.

There are reasons. I’ll tell you about them another time. Soon.

For completely unrelated reasons, I’ve decided to run an old photo, not a new one. Exactly two years and one day ago, it was snowing at Wentworth Falls. One year and a week ago, the place was under threat from bushfires. Welcome to Australia. It’s a stupid place.

Podcasts

“The 9pm Mental Health Awareness Week”, being The 9pm Edict episode 30, 7 October 2014. It’s not actually about mental health or, indeed, awareness.

Articles

Can Ello get by on a manifesto and a smiley?, ZDNet Australia, 7 October 2014.

Media Appearances

None.

Corporate Largesse

None.

The Week Ahead

There’s only one firm fixture in my week so far.

On Wednesday I’ll be in Sydney to host Data Retention: the European experience, a conversation with Privacy International’s legal director Carly Nyst. The event is being presented by Electronic Frontiers Australia in conjunction with the Australian Privacy Foundation and Privacy International. Book here.

Other than that, I have a column or two to write for ZDNet Australia, and I’ll be producing an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast, but the exact order of play is yet to be determined. Like you care.

[Photo: Waratah in the snow, photographed at Bunjaree Cottages two years ago on 12 October 2012.]

06 October 201406 October 2014

“Politics of Social” panel at Social Media Week Sydney

Last month I took part in the discussion panel Politics of Social at Social Media Week Sydney — and here’s a video, finally.

Yes, I’m dealing with my backlog of posts.

What was this discussion all about?

Trust, authority and credibility are arguably more crucial in politics than anywhere else. Social media is now an essential part of the political process for MPs, citizens, and lobbyists, but how does that change public perception, the end results, and their impact on society? Our political experts will dissect past and present political activity to determine what the evolution of social media has achieved in political realm, and how political communications is likely to continue evolving.

Joining moderator Kate Carruthers, co-founder of Social Innovation Sydney, on 24 September 2014 were (left to right): Alex Greenwich, independent Member for Sydney in the Parliament of NSW; political sociologist Ariadne Vromen, associate professor at the University of Sydney; myself; and Steph Harmon, managing editor of Junkee at The Sound Alliance.

It was a lively discussion, and the video is over the fold, immediately below. Enjoy.

Continue reading ““Politics of Social” panel at Social Media Week Sydney”

05 October 2014

Talking Ello on ABC Gold Coast

This new social network Ello has been getting so much attention it’s… annoying. I was originally going to ignore it, but I got roped into this spot for ABC Gold Coast, and then Download This Show, so I decided to write about it for ZDNet Australia — that piece will appear on Tuesday.

But… This recording is the ABC radio spot, which aired on Tuesday morning with presenter Rebecca McLaren. I think I was in a bit of a cynical mood.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (8.1MB)

05 October 2014

Talking Ello and ASIO on ABC Download This Show

On this week’s Download This Show on ABC Radio National, CNet news editor Claire Reilly and I joined Marc Fennell to discuss the new social network Ello and Australia’s latest national security laws.

The rise and rise of Call of Duty: It’s bigger than Harry Potter, bigger than James Bond: It’s the warfare video game Call of Duty. We step inside one of the studios responsible for building the biggest game on the planet to take the temperature of where blockbuster gaming is headed. And could the rising social network Ello be a viable alternative for the Facebook-weary? The four-thousand people signing up every hour apparently believe so. But are they being swindled? Plus #HeyASIO is perhaps the most popular Twitter hashtag in Australia. So just what do our new counter-terrorism laws really mean? We separate hyperbole from fact.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:30 — 12.6MB)

As usual, one of the segments was also made into a video, and that’s over the fold, immediately below.

Continue reading “Talking Ello and ASIO on ABC Download This Show”

15 April 201415 April 2014

Talking smartphone privacy on ABC Radio’s “Life Matters”

A few weeks back, I had a conversation on Twitter with Natasha Mitchell, presenter of ABC Radio National’s Life Matters, about smartphones and just how much data they’re handing on to, well, all manner of organisations. This morning we came back to that conversation live on national radio.

Do you know what data you’re really sharing, and with whom, when you download and use smart phone apps? Companies are collecting as much as they can get away with, says Stilgherrian.

We spoke for 20 minutes and covered a lot of territory.

If you want to know more, then you can listen to my guest lecture at University of Technology Sydney (UTS), and then follow the links to more than 30 references.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (9.5MB)