Higher Education is Stuck in the Middle Ages: In this article Don Tapscott, youth guru and author of Growing Up Digital, outlines the clash between the model of learning offered by big universities and the natural way that young people who have grown up digital learn. The entire U.S. education system is woefully behind when it comes to using social media (and mobile devices) in the classroom. [AlterNet]
The Hidden Problem with Twitter: Speaking of the Middle Ages, this article stirs the pot by asking if the texting and Twitter habits are "hurting" the English language. Perhaps we need to take a cue from our Aussie friends and look for a way to use social and mobile media to help educate the Net Generation. [HigherEdMorning.com] [University of Melbourne]
More on Television 2.0: Is the TV business dying or does it have a second act? Television networks are actively looking for ways to hold onto Gen Y by interjecting more social media and even 3D television features into their programming.
In an attempt to hold on to younger viewers, MTV is launching It's On with Alexa Chung, while the BBC is placing its bets on a new interactive TV studio. Or will 'traditional' TV networks be replaced by young upstarts like Halogen TV which is featuring both webisodes and traditional distribution outlets for its content?
Virtual Worlds Booming: Market research firm Strategy Analytics released its forecast for growth within the virtual worlds sector and said it sees the global population of virtual world users
growing from 186 million today to almost 640 million by 2015 -- that's
almost one hundred million new players a year, a nearly 25 percent
compounded annual growth rate. [Virtual Worlds News]
Boomers Crashing the Social Media Party: According to iStrategy Labs, Facebook's seen
its 35-54 demo membership blow up by 276.4 percent between June 2008
and January 2009. The 55-and over contingent grew 194.3 percent in the
same amount of time. In comparison, that ever-so-sought 18-24 group
bounced just 20.6 percent.
The total number of Facebook users aged
35-plus in October 2007 totaled just fewer than 845,000, while as of
this past January, their combined might totals just less than 8 million
- 18.9 percent of the total Facebook pie. [MediaPost]
Young Obama Official Helped Keep Twitter on in Iran: According to The New York Times,
there's a steady flow of information on Twitter largely thanks to the
efforts of a 27-year-old State Department official named Jared Cohen,
whose job is to advise the department on how to use social media to
promote U.S. interests in the Middle East. [MTV News]
One More Thing: According to experts social gaming is the next big thing, use Backtweets to see which tweets link to your site, mobileYouth has a list of youth marketing & trend Twits on Twitter (thanks Graham!), get a sneak peak of Josh Shipp's new tv show--"Jump Shipp", tweet to add appointments to your Google Calendar, more on Millennials and Twitter and an Iranian Gen Y writes about Revolution 2.0!
Also, thanks to all of you who took part in Operation 55 Zebra! Go David Go!
