Facebook a fad? Computer says no Poor BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones. His first foray into the world of Facebook wasn't particularly fruitful. And one question he asks is: "Is it just for the under-25s?".

Well, I say it isn't. I discovered Facebook at 25 - and have recently passed beyond that age (and, somewhat disturbingly, out of Radio 1's target audience). And my overwhelming impression is that Facebook actually gets better the older you are.

When you're a young'un and your network of Facebook friends consists mostly of people you see on a daily basis, where's the fun in that? But when someone you haven't seen for 10 years finds you on Facebook - or vice versa - now that's exciting stuff. And after we've been reunited through the wonders of Web 2.0, my 'status' updates even inform them that their old school buddy is "settling down to watch Midsomer Murders with a nice cup of tea".

And Facebook has its other myriad benefits. For starters, I discovered that my sister had a new boyfriend when she changed her 'relationship status' - a whole 2 days before she texted me to break the monumental news. Now that's progress.

Labels: Facebook, Web 2.0

¶ 12:27 PM 1 comments

Current TV: It's the future Current TV, Al Gore's television channel, has launched in the UK. It's a British version of the American channel, which runs on user generated content - or, as they like to call it, VC2 (viewer created content).

I have to say I was expecting it to be like YouTube on the telly - videos of dogs doing funny things and teenegers miming to Britney songs etc. But it isn't at all like that, and it's actually pretty addictive stuff.

All the 'pods' are bite-size chunks rarely more than 5 minutes long - so you can dip in and out whenever you like. And the mix of stuff is so random that I've found myself watching for ages without getting bored.

In half an hour's viewing I saw a piece following journalists in a war zone, was introduced to the phenomenon of 'bouldering' (climbing rocks and buildings with just your bare hands), and caught a clever and genuinely funny cartoon set in the White House. Eclectic stuff, and well worth a watch.

It's on Sky Digital channel 229 and Virgin Media channel 155.

Labels: TV, Web 2.0

¶ 4:16 PM 1 comments

2008: Elections 2.0? Last year's mid-terms in the States were dubbed the 'YouTube Elections' due to the way candidates targeted younger voters with online videos. So it's not surprising that next year's presidential hopefuls are taking things a step further, as this article from The Politico explains.

John Edwards is on MySpace, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube as well as his main site. Mitt Romney gives you the opportunity to join 'Team Mitt' and invite your friends - and watch 'MittTV' videos. Hillary Clinton is advertising for 'Guest Bloggers'. Dennis Kucinich even has a map on which supporters can pin themselves and interact with each other.

Just a few reasons why this campaign looks set to be the most interesting we've seen in a long time.

Labels: Politics, Web 2.0

¶ 3:17 PM 0 comments

Columnist says "don't email me" Food for thought in this fantastic LA Times column by Joel Stein. He's lashing out at having his email address published at the bottom of all his columns, on the grounds that he just doesn't care what people think. He's more than happy for people to comment online about what he has to say - but he just doesn't want to have to listen to what they have to say and, heaven forbid, have to reply.

And, I have to say, I can see where he's coming from. There's absolutely nothing about this that threatens the principles of Journalism 2.0 - quite the opposite, in fact. Online forums and 'add a comment' features are the way to do things - not just giving people the chance to rant at a writer in private.

That way, those who want to can have a real conversation on the topic - and it's up to the writer whether they get involved. Everyone's a winner.

Labels: Web 2.0

¶ 12:32 PM 0 comments

France 24: C'est Parti! It's the second international news channel to launch in as many months - so someone's really spoiling us news junkies this Christmas. As a big francophile, I was just as excited about France 24 - Chirac's 'CNN a la francaise' - as I was about Al Jazeera English.

The thing that makes this launch most interesting is that it's not really one channel - it's two - yet it's still one. A bit like the Fiat Brava/Fiat Bravo, which was technically the same car, but not. Lost me already? Yes, me too. But the gist is, France 24 has both an English and French feed (Arabic and Spanish will follow) which follow essentially the same running order, but are presented by separate teams.

More ambitious than it sounds - and I think they're doing a pretty good job so far. It does look a bit cheap, and the English service seems to be relying heavily on Global Radio News for its 'foreign correspondents'. But, with its concise, 10-minute bulletins and round-table debates aplenty, it certainly seems to be living up to its promise to do things in a French way.

But, for me, the really exciting stuff is to be found on France 24's website. Navigation is slightly eccentric, but live streams of both the English and French channels are available in decent quality (Al Jazeera English take note) - which is almost enough to win me over by itself.

It gets much better than this, though. It's Television 2.0, as the Brussels Journal puts it. In the word's of France 24's web boss Stanislas Leridon: "every article and every piece of video will be open for comments from readers and viewers." And just to prove the point, there's a tangle of top tags on the homepage that'll be familiar to bloggers, but quite an innovation to users of news channel websites.

Labels: France 24, TV, Web 2.0

¶ 8:32 PM 0 comments