Anonymous hate has taken hold on the Internet, and as homophobia has become rampant in online gaming, it has given rise to outspoken gaymers (gay gamers).Anonymous hate has taken hold on the Internet, and as homophobia has become rampant in... more
An interesting article on how Japanese social customs are reflected in the country's online scene.
"Welcome to Japan’s online social scene, where you’re unlikely to meet anyone you don’t know already. The early promises of a new, open social frontier, akin to the identity-centric world of Facebook and MySpace in the U.S., have been replaced by a realm where people stay safely within their circles of friends and few reveal themselves to strangers.
Indeed, the Japanese virtual world has turned out just like the real one.
People rarely give their first names to those they don’t know well. Spontaneous exchanges are uncommon even on the tightly packed trains and streets of Tokyo. TV news shows often blur the faces of those caught in background footage and photos to protect their privacy.
The penchant for invisibility has made it hard for Western social networks to establish themselves. Belated forays into the Japanese market by Facebook Inc and News Corp’s MySpace, for instance, have failed to generate much of a buzz.
Google Inc, which operates YouTube, has tried to convince the Japanese to loosen up, running events in Tokyo in which girls in miniskirts roam the streets with giant picture frames and video cameras, soliciting pedestrians to frame themselves and record a clip for the site.
But it has since eased back on such efforts. YouTube’s latest campaign in Japan involves people uploading pictures of their pets.
“We can’t change the mindset of Japanese people,” says Tomoe Makino, in charge of partner development at YouTube’s Japan site. “It’s the uniqueness of Japanese culture—anonymous works in Japan.” An interesting article on how Japanese social customs are reflected in the country's... more
Let’s face it, conversations that used to be conducted through private e-mail exchanges are now posted for all to see on social networking walls. Let’s face it, conversations that used to be conducted through private e-mail... more
Yea Big and Kid Static's first music video got 250,000 hits in 2 days. Along with the hits came some nasty comments about the mixed race duo. In this pod, vc2 producer Noah Banks hears from the duo about the offensive comments and their decision to delete said comments and learns more from Northwestern University Professor Clark Caywood about the rise in comment abuse due to internet anonymity.Yea Big and Kid Static's first music video got 250,000 hits in 2 days. Along with the... more
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