Facebook’s “Circles”: How to create and use the Friend List feature

When Google+ launched two months ago, people went on and on about how amazing the Circles feature was, as if it was the coolest feature since sliced bread. Meanwhile, I grumbled (to myself and on Twitter and probably to anyone who was willing to listen to my grumbling) about the fact that Facebook had, in [...]

Using technology to get answers to your questions: better or just quicker?

In my opinion, one of the most wonderful things about the Internet is the sheer glut of information available. Of course, you (nearly) always have to take a “buyer beware” approach to information you find online, especially when moving beyond organizational websites (and sometimes even when you are on those sites). What makes all of [...]

Update on stuff and junk

It is time to revive this blog. Yes, I realize my last post, dated more than 15 months ago, stated that I was going to blog more. However, I am now entering the third year of my PhD program, which means a few things: (1) my class-load has significantly decreased, and (2) I have a [...]

New blog name and plan of attack

My first year as a PhD student is quickly wrapping up…a little too quickly considering the workload I have left. But I thought I’d write a brief post to let people know (1) I’m still alive after somehow surviving my first Michigan winter, and (2) I plan to revive this blog to early 2008 levels [...]

Too bad “pluggies” never caught on … maybe the yuppies ate them

So I just came across a chapter in the book Culture in an age of money: The legacy of the 1980s in America, which refers to pluggies, “those who are plugged in but tuned out” (p. 84). Basically, it is referring to the rise of “me” technology in the 80s that allowed people to lock [...]

Is social media making me meaner?

I was chatting with a colleague earlier today and he asked for my input on something he had recently heard. Basically, he suggested that social media is making the population snarkier. The reasoning goes a little like this: (1) If we assume that the reason most people post status updates, comments, Tweets, etc. is to [...]

Is our attention spread too thin?

A Wired post today brought my attention to a new book coming out this fall, Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age, by journalist Maggie Jackson. The book focuses on the Web 2.0 world, where the pressure of an infinite number of technologies has forced us to be at all places at [...]

Meaningful Play @ MSU

Just a quick note for anyone in the East Lansing area who’s interested in video games: MSU is hosting a conference through Saturday titled Meaningful Play. I’ll be speaking today (Friday) at 2:30pm, offering a synopsis of Pew Internet’s recent report on teens’ gaming habits. So come out and let’s talk about who has the [...]

Happy birthday Google!

Consider this: Google has officially turned 10 years old. Ten! It’s not even a teenager yet! But can you imagine your daily life without Google, or everything it has impacted in the development of Internet search? I can’t. I was trying to remember my search engine of choice back in the day and can’t clearly [...]

New Pew Internet report looks at teen gaming and civic effects

During my last six months in DC, I worked almost exclusively on the Pew Internet Project’s most recent report, Teens, Video Games and Civics, which was released Tuesday. This report looks at the gaming activities of 12-17 year-olds in the U.S.: the types of games they play, how they play them, and the social aspect [...]