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Almost two-thirds of online teens have created something online, whether it's a personal Web page or a remixed video, according to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Sites such as Facebook and MySpace have opened the doors, giving them many of the necessary tools.

"Social networking is this fabulous opportunity to share content," said Amanda Lenhart, co-author of report. "You're not just posting it in a vacuum. You're also getting feedback from people."

The report found that 39 percent of online teens have shared their personal art, photos, stories or videos on the Internet, up from 33 percent in 2004. Almost 30 percent have penned their own online journal or blog, up from 19 percent in 2004. And 26 percent, up from 19 percent, have remixed content - often known as mashups - using the content they find online and turning it into their own creations, the study said.

Almost two-thirds of online teens have created something online, whether it's a personal Web page or a remixed video, according to a study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Sites such as Facebook and MySpace have opened the doors, giving them many of the necessary tools.

"Social networking is this fabulous opportunity to share content," said Amanda Lenhart, co-author of report. "You're not just posting it in a vacuum. You're also getting feedback from people."

The report found that 39 percent of online teens have shared their personal art, photos, stories or videos on the Internet, up from 33 percent in 2004. Almost 30 percent have penned their own online journal or blog, up from 19 percent in 2004. And 26 percent, up from 19 percent, have remixed content - often known as mashups - using the content they find online and turning it into their own creations, the study said.

Up to a quarter of the entertainment consumed by people in five years time will have been created, edited and shared within their peer circle rather than coming out of traditional media groups. This phenomenon, dubbed 'Circular Entertainment', has been identified by Nokia as a result of a global study into the future of entertainment.

The study, entitled 'A Glimpse of the Next Episode', carried out by The Future Laboratory, interviewed trend-setting consumers from 17 countries about their digital behaviors and lifestyles signposting emerging entertainment trends. Combining views from industry leading figures with Nokia's own research from its 900 million consumers around the world, Nokia has constructed a global picture of what it believes entertainment will look like over the next five years. ...

Of the 9,000 consumers we surveyed:

- 23% buy movies in digital format
- 35% buy music on MP3 files
- 25% buy music on mobile devices
- 39% watch TV on the internet
- 23% watch TV on mobile devices
- 46% regularly use IM, 37% on a mobile device
- 29% regularly blog
- 28% regularly access social networking sites
- 22% connect using technologies such as Skype
- 17% take part in Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games
- 17% upload to the internet from a mobile device


As part of the research we have identified four key driving trends; Immersive Living; Geek Culture; G Tech and Localism. These trends are currently sitting on the edge, but as these trends become more mainstream, they will have a collaborative, creative effect on the way people consume entertainment and, we predict, will lead to the Circular Entertainment phenomenon.

Immersive Living
Immersive Living is the rise of lifestyles which blur the reality of being on and offline. Entertainment will no longer be segmented; people can access and create it wherever they are.

Geek Culture
This triumph marks a shift as consumers become hungry for more sophisticated entertainment. Geek

Up to a quarter of the entertainment consumed by people in five years time will have been created, edited and shared within their peer circle rather than coming out of traditional media groups. This phenomenon, dubbed 'Circular Entertainment', has been identified by Nokia as a result of a global study into the future of entertainment.

The study, entitled 'A Glimpse of the Next Episode', carried out by The Future Laboratory, interviewed trend-setting consumers from 17 countries about their digital behaviors and lifestyles signposting emerging entertainment trends. Combining views from industry leading figures with Nokia's own research from its 900 million consumers around the world, Nokia has constructed a global picture of what it believes entertainment will look like over the next five years. ...

Of the 9,000 consumers we surveyed:

- 23% buy movies in digital format
- 35% buy music on MP3 files
- 25% buy music on mobile devices
- 39% watch TV on the internet
- 23% watch TV on mobile devices
- 46% regularly use IM, 37% on a mobile device
- 29% regularly blog
- 28% regularly access social networking sites
- 22% connect using technologies such as Skype
- 17% take part in Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games
- 17% upload to the internet from a mobile device


As part of the research we have identified four key driving trends; Immersive Living; Geek Culture; G Tech and Localism. These trends are currently sitting on the edge, but as these trends become more mainstream, they will have a collaborative, creative effect on the way people consume entertainment and, we predict, will lead to the Circular Entertainment phenomenon.

Immersive Living
Immersive Living is the rise of lifestyles which blur the reality of being on and offline. Entertainment will no longer be segmented; people can access and create it wherever they are.

Geek Culture
This triumph marks a shift as consumers become hungry for more sophisticated entertainment. Geek

Think of it as a sort of hybrid between MySpace's MySpaceTV portal and Facebook's new "pages" for companies. It's an "open platform" that can be joined without licensing agreements and charges no fee to content providers, but it's limited to entertainment content like video and music. According to a release from the company, this will offer the social network "thousands of hours of premium entertainment content from major global entertainment brands and emerging media companies."

With Open Media, Bebo members can create 'personal video profiles' in which they organize their favorite music and video content--this is somewhat akin to the playlist-centric model of media-sharing social network Imeem. Media companies, meanwhile, can create 'channel profiles' to make their content easier to find.

Bebo is based in San Francisco and boasts over 40 million members (Facebook currently stands at slightly over 50 million), but has made its greatest inroads among teenagers and young adults in the U.K. Consequently, at launch, Bebo's Open Media will feature content from a variety of U.S. and U.K. outlets: CBS, MTV, ESPN, the BBC, Channel Four, ITN and BSkyB, and online media companies like Next New Networks, Crackle, Ustream and JibJab.

Think of it as a sort of hybrid between MySpace's MySpaceTV portal and Facebook's new "pages" for companies. It's an "open platform" that can be joined without licensing agreements and charges no fee to content providers, but it's limited to entertainment content like video and music. According to a release from the company, this will offer the social network "thousands of hours of premium entertainment content from major global entertainment brands and emerging media companies."

With Open Media, Bebo members can create 'personal video profiles' in which they organize their favorite music and video content--this is somewhat akin to the playlist-centric model of media-sharing social network Imeem. Media companies, meanwhile, can create 'channel profiles' to make their content easier to find.

Bebo is based in San Francisco and boasts over 40 million members (Facebook currently stands at slightly over 50 million), but has made its greatest inroads among teenagers and young adults in the U.K. Consequently, at launch, Bebo's Open Media will feature content from a variety of U.S. and U.K. outlets: CBS, MTV, ESPN, the BBC, Channel Four, ITN and BSkyB, and online media companies like Next New Networks, Crackle, Ustream and JibJab.

But Nokia’s N810 launch is one step in a longer plan. My impression of Vanjoki’s presentation was that this long view is at the core of Nokia’s strategy. And it’s driven by two key assumptions: That the handset will be the world’s Internet platform, and that it will be open.

In North America, we tend to have a distorted view of connectivity. We associate Internet access with desktops. We each (most of us, anyway) have one cell phone, locked to a carrier.

Not so in the rest of the world. Infonetics estimates that 47 percent of all mobile subscribers come from the Asia Pacific region, 36 percent from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and only 9 percent from North America. Nokia alone will ship 400 million handsets this year, and most of those devices can surf the web. Geography, power consumption, and lack of wired infrastructure mean that much of the planet will see its first web page on a portable handset. Not only will Internet handsets be everywhere, they’ll be open.

Any discussion of Internet handsets must include Apple’s (AAPL) equally stunning iPhone. Apple has launched a “features” phone rather than an Internet client platform. The iPhone’s menu is reminiscent of the old Compuserve dashboard, which let subscribers choose a carefully limited number of applications. Only Compuserve could dictate what applications a user could run, which gave it fast growth and good control early on.

But Nokia’s N810 launch is one step in a longer plan. My impression of Vanjoki’s presentation was that this long view is at the core of Nokia’s strategy. And it’s driven by two key assumptions: That the handset will be the world’s Internet platform, and that it will be open.

In North America, we tend to have a distorted view of connectivity. We associate Internet access with desktops. We each (most of us, anyway) have one cell phone, locked to a carrier.

Not so in the rest of the world. Infonetics estimates that 47 percent of all mobile subscribers come from the Asia Pacific region, 36 percent from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and only 9 percent from North America. Nokia alone will ship 400 million handsets this year, and most of those devices can surf the web. Geography, power consumption, and lack of wired infrastructure mean that much of the planet will see its first web page on a portable handset. Not only will Internet handsets be everywhere, they’ll be open.

Any discussion of Internet handsets must include Apple’s (AAPL) equally stunning iPhone. Apple has launched a “features” phone rather than an Internet client platform. The iPhone’s menu is reminiscent of the old Compuserve dashboard, which let subscribers choose a carefully limited number of applications. Only Compuserve could dictate what applications a user could run, which gave it fast growth and good control early on.

Swedish telecoms company Ericsson has signed a global deal with Dutch TV production giant and Big Brother creator Endemol to develop interactive television services for mobiles.

Ericsson's 'Me-on-TV' solution will enable mobile users to upload, publish and share both live and recorded video material. The technology will enable consumers to transmit to websites and participate in TV broadcasts.

The new service will offered by Ericsson to broadcasters, websites and network operators. Endemol will act as a distributor - the company has already used the technology in the Dutch version of Big Brother.

"This global partnership flags Ericsson's commitment to establish a leading position in multimedia," said Jan Wäreby, head of Ericsson's multimedia operations.

Swedish telecoms company Ericsson has signed a global deal with Dutch TV production giant and Big Brother creator Endemol to develop interactive television services for mobiles.

Ericsson's 'Me-on-TV' solution will enable mobile users to upload, publish and share both live and recorded video material. The technology will enable consumers to transmit to websites and participate in TV broadcasts.

The new service will offered by Ericsson to broadcasters, websites and network operators. Endemol will act as a distributor - the company has already used the technology in the Dutch version of Big Brother.

"This global partnership flags Ericsson's commitment to establish a leading position in multimedia," said Jan Wäreby, head of Ericsson's multimedia operations.

We also found that a few users posted the most popular content. Depending on the site, just 3 to 6 percent of the membership added 75 percent of the videos available for download, and videos from just 2 percent of the member base accounted for more than half of all videos viewed. (As the “long-tail” effect would suggest, half of the videos posted accounted for only 10 percent of all downloads.) These figures resemble those reported in studies of other kinds of participatory media, including wikis, bulletin boards, and photo-sharing sites, where 5 to 10 percent of the users contribute half to all of the content...

These findings, consistent with our experience of participatory media in business settings, suggest that executives pursuing such projects should start by identifying and nurturing the small percentage of users who post quality content. At one cable company we studied, for example, more than half of the installers who contributed to an internal wiki said that social factors such as reputation building, team spirit, and community identification were the main factors motivating them to contribute. Only 20 percent cited the possibility of a financial bonus as their main driver.

To encourage well-connected employees to post ideas to the wiki, managers at the company examined its internal e-mail system to identify key staffers with wide social networks within it. They then encouraged these employees to post suggestions about improving the company’s processes.

We also found that a few users posted the most popular content. Depending on the site, just 3 to 6 percent of the membership added 75 percent of the videos available for download, and videos from just 2 percent of the member base accounted for more than half of all videos viewed. (As the “long-tail” effect would suggest, half of the videos posted accounted for only 10 percent of all downloads.) These figures resemble those reported in studies of other kinds of participatory media, including wikis, bulletin boards, and photo-sharing sites, where 5 to 10 percent of the users contribute half to all of the content...

These findings, consistent with our experience of participatory media in business settings, suggest that executives pursuing such projects should start by identifying and nurturing the small percentage of users who post quality content. At one cable company we studied, for example, more than half of the installers who contributed to an internal wiki said that social factors such as reputation building, team spirit, and community identification were the main factors motivating them to contribute. Only 20 percent cited the possibility of a financial bonus as their main driver.

To encourage well-connected employees to post ideas to the wiki, managers at the company examined its internal e-mail system to identify key staffers with wide social networks within it. They then encouraged these employees to post suggestions about improving the company’s processes.

MineKey is a startup that makes adding personalization to any website simple through their embeddable widget. The widget looks like a mini RSS reader that displays relevant links for selected feeds. Recommendations are based on links from any number of RSS feeds you choose and can run across multiple properties. It comes in three different flavors: plain gray, colorful, or with a fully customizable skin.

The widget uses four sources to determine what links to display: the content’s context, individual surfing behavior, group surfing behavior, and your affinity for personalization. First, their algorithms generate content based on the content of the page. Then it compiles recommended content based on your surfing behavior and that of all the site’s visitors (tracked via cookie). Finally, based on your previous choices, the algorithm determines whether you prefer content targeted to your general personal interests or that of the website’s visitors at large.

MineKey says that they can track how a users interests evolve, differentiating between short-term and long-term user interests. This could potentially avoid the problem surfing history poses to behavior based customization.

MineKey is a startup that makes adding personalization to any website simple through their embeddable widget. The widget looks like a mini RSS reader that displays relevant links for selected feeds. Recommendations are based on links from any number of RSS feeds you choose and can run across multiple properties. It comes in three different flavors: plain gray, colorful, or with a fully customizable skin.

The widget uses four sources to determine what links to display: the content’s context, individual surfing behavior, group surfing behavior, and your affinity for personalization. First, their algorithms generate content based on the content of the page. Then it compiles recommended content based on your surfing behavior and that of all the site’s visitors (tracked via cookie). Finally, based on your previous choices, the algorithm determines whether you prefer content targeted to your general personal interests or that of the website’s visitors at large.

MineKey says that they can track how a users interests evolve, differentiating between short-term and long-term user interests. This could potentially avoid the problem surfing history poses to behavior based customization.

Our experience with this roundup suggests that Facebook as a development platform has a long way to go before fulfilling the grand visions some have had for it.

It is unclear whether the disappointing state of third-party applications on Facebook is the fault of the platform or its developers. The relative newness of the platform could simply be the reason for its lack of exciting applications. Regardless, developers may want to take note of these picks (and the most popular apps listed on Facebook) and see if they can’t best them. Hopefully, in a year or so we will be able to pick ten other Facebook applications that actually make a substantial difference in our lives.

Our experience with this roundup suggests that Facebook as a development platform has a long way to go before fulfilling the grand visions some have had for it.

It is unclear whether the disappointing state of third-party applications on Facebook is the fault of the platform or its developers. The relative newness of the platform could simply be the reason for its lack of exciting applications. Regardless, developers may want to take note of these picks (and the most popular apps listed on Facebook) and see if they can’t best them. Hopefully, in a year or so we will be able to pick ten other Facebook applications that actually make a substantial difference in our lives.

Nästa steg: Jaiku eller Twitter, som bygger på samma princip som sms:andet. Med 140 tecken per meddelande berättar man vad man sysslar med för tillfället, antingen genom att skriva direkt på datorn eller skicka in texten via mobilen.

Sedan kan man ta del av vad alla ens registrerade vänner sysslar med samtidigt, vilket nästan garanterat är något som är roligare, eftersom man bara kan läsa meddelandena när man sitter vid datorn.

Och så Facebook. Som en internetbaserad mina vänner-bok, där man lägger upp en bild på sig själv, fyller i fakta om intressen, favoritfilm och utbildning och sedan kopplar ihop sig med alla man känner. Bland deras vänner kan man sedan hitta gemensamma bekanta, som gamla högstadie- eller gymnasiekompisar, fotbollslagkamrater eller snyggingen från sommarlägret.

Och så fort någon ändrar en detalj på sin sida eller hittar en ny kompis, får man ett meddelande om detta. Kameraövervakning börjar kännas som en bagatell i sammanhanget.

Nästa steg: Jaiku eller Twitter, som bygger på samma princip som sms:andet. Med 140 tecken per meddelande berättar man vad man sysslar med för tillfället, antingen genom att skriva direkt på datorn eller skicka in texten via mobilen.

Sedan kan man ta del av vad alla ens registrerade vänner sysslar med samtidigt, vilket nästan garanterat är något som är roligare, eftersom man bara kan läsa meddelandena när man sitter vid datorn.

Och så Facebook. Som en internetbaserad mina vänner-bok, där man lägger upp en bild på sig själv, fyller i fakta om intressen, favoritfilm och utbildning och sedan kopplar ihop sig med alla man känner. Bland deras vänner kan man sedan hitta gemensamma bekanta, som gamla högstadie- eller gymnasiekompisar, fotbollslagkamrater eller snyggingen från sommarlägret.

Och så fort någon ändrar en detalj på sin sida eller hittar en ny kompis, får man ett meddelande om detta. Kameraövervakning börjar kännas som en bagatell i sammanhanget.

I Businessweek er der en overskuelig tabel over deltagelse i forskellige sociale aktiviteter på nettet. Tabellen er opdelt efter alder og har opdelt brugerne udfra forskellige sociale aktiviteter som creators, critics, collectors, joiners, spectators og inactives. Graden af deltagelse falder med alderen og er størst i gruppen youth (18 - 21 år), og den sociale aktivitet, der er mest brugt er joiners, der dækker over sociale netværkstjenester som myspace og facebook.

I Businessweek er der en overskuelig tabel over deltagelse i forskellige sociale aktiviteter på nettet. Tabellen er opdelt efter alder og har opdelt brugerne udfra forskellige sociale aktiviteter som creators, critics, collectors, joiners, spectators og inactives. Graden af deltagelse falder med alderen og er størst i gruppen youth (18 - 21 år), og den sociale aktivitet, der er mest brugt er joiners, der dækker over sociale netværkstjenester som myspace og facebook.

Already all the activity has helped Facebook grow to 27 million active users from 24 million before the platform launch, with more than half using at least one of the new services, Facebook says.

Facebook's success has attracted the attention of News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch. When asked in a recent interview whether newspaper readers are migrating to MySpace, he responded, "I wish they were. They're all going to Facebook at the moment." According to Web-tracking firm comScore Inc., 105 million people visited MySpace in April and 38.8 million visited Facebook.

Facebook is actually borrowing a tactic pioneered by Microsoft: Rather than building every piece of technology yourself, let others build on your "platform," much the way Adobe Systems Inc., Intuit Inc. and others built software for Microsoft's Windows operating system in the 1980s. Using this strategy, Facebook can nurture an ecosystem of developers who can create services far faster than Facebook could build them on its own.

It's also a profitable move for Facebook. The company expects close to $30 million in profit on revenue of $150 million this year, mostly from ads, say people familiar with the matter. By drawing more members and tracking which services members are using, Facebook can command higher Web-advertising rates, says Facebook Chief Operating Officer Owen Van Natta.

Already all the activity has helped Facebook grow to 27 million active users from 24 million before the platform launch, with more than half using at least one of the new services, Facebook says.

Facebook's success has attracted the attention of News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch. When asked in a recent interview whether newspaper readers are migrating to MySpace, he responded, "I wish they were. They're all going to Facebook at the moment." According to Web-tracking firm comScore Inc., 105 million people visited MySpace in April and 38.8 million visited Facebook.

Facebook is actually borrowing a tactic pioneered by Microsoft: Rather than building every piece of technology yourself, let others build on your "platform," much the way Adobe Systems Inc., Intuit Inc. and others built software for Microsoft's Windows operating system in the 1980s. Using this strategy, Facebook can nurture an ecosystem of developers who can create services far faster than Facebook could build them on its own.

It's also a profitable move for Facebook. The company expects close to $30 million in profit on revenue of $150 million this year, mostly from ads, say people familiar with the matter. By drawing more members and tracking which services members are using, Facebook can command higher Web-advertising rates, says Facebook Chief Operating Officer Owen Van Natta.

A week ago, I started thinking that there was a key problem with Facebook. This problem is directly linked to the absolute strategic brilliance of the Facebook folks around the launch of the Facebook platform. This problem is clearly articulated in in the post "I have 250,000 users, now what?”

Be patient - you get to hear the problem in two paragraphs. Last week, I started saying to people “Facebook is a substitute for television.” I don’t think I made this up (I’m sure someone else said it first), but for the last decade many people involved in the Internet have been searching for the pure substitute for TV – what will you spend your online time playing with instead of sitting and passively watching TV. Facebook finally seems to be the tipping point for this.

Granted – Facebook is active, not passive, so it’s theoretically better for the human brain. However, in my interaction with Facebook, I’m still in “complete playing around mode” – I haven’t been able to derive any real discernible value from any of the hundreds of ancillary applications that are appearing. Some are just plain silly (but often clever) time wasters; others are just republishing of content or reorganizing capability that I have through some other application. None of this is the “problem” – but it’s the root cause of it.

The Problem: As of today, Facebook is deriving massive benefit in all the application development that they’ve enabled. They’ve brilliantly created an open community that allows developers to quickly create applications that can rapidly acquire hundreds of thousands of users. This dramatically extends the functionality of Facebook by offloading the R&D and feature development to the apps developers. (How about all of them there adverbs – I sound like a press release.) However, as far as I can tell, none of these Facebook apps developers are deriving any real benefits (if you are a Facebook apps developer and ARE deriving a tangible benefit, other than custome

A week ago, I started thinking that there was a key problem with Facebook. This problem is directly linked to the absolute strategic brilliance of the Facebook folks around the launch of the Facebook platform. This problem is clearly articulated in in the post "I have 250,000 users, now what?”

Be patient - you get to hear the problem in two paragraphs. Last week, I started saying to people “Facebook is a substitute for television.” I don’t think I made this up (I’m sure someone else said it first), but for the last decade many people involved in the Internet have been searching for the pure substitute for TV – what will you spend your online time playing with instead of sitting and passively watching TV. Facebook finally seems to be the tipping point for this.

Granted – Facebook is active, not passive, so it’s theoretically better for the human brain. However, in my interaction with Facebook, I’m still in “complete playing around mode” – I haven’t been able to derive any real discernible value from any of the hundreds of ancillary applications that are appearing. Some are just plain silly (but often clever) time wasters; others are just republishing of content or reorganizing capability that I have through some other application. None of this is the “problem” – but it’s the root cause of it.

The Problem: As of today, Facebook is deriving massive benefit in all the application development that they’ve enabled. They’ve brilliantly created an open community that allows developers to quickly create applications that can rapidly acquire hundreds of thousands of users. This dramatically extends the functionality of Facebook by offloading the R&D and feature development to the apps developers. (How about all of them there adverbs – I sound like a press release.) However, as far as I can tell, none of these Facebook apps developers are deriving any real benefits (if you are a Facebook apps developer and ARE derivin

Mogulus: This one offers probably the best tools. It allows for mixing multiple video sources, collaboration between users on a single channel and built in graphics and effects. If you’re actually thinking about starting a live network on the cheap, and not just chatting with friends, this is where you want to be. (See our initial coverage.)

Mogulus: This one offers probably the best tools. It allows for mixing multiple video sources, collaboration between users on a single channel and built in graphics and effects. If you’re actually thinking about starting a live network on the cheap, and not just chatting with friends, this is where you want to be. (See our initial coverage.)

Reactee takes the interaction to another level by harnessing the power of text messaging, creating t-shirts that "text back".

How it works? A customer picks a personal slogan and a unique keyword, which Reactee prints on an American Apparel t-shirt. The user gets the t-shirt and flaunts it. Anyone interested in knowing more about the slogan or its wearer can text the keyword to 41411, and will get an immediate response as set by the wearer, who also receives a copy of the message including the sender's cellphone number. The response can be updated as often as the user likes, either at reactee.com or on the fly by cellphone. The shirts cost USD 20-27 depending on size and colour, and texting only works with US phones.

Reactee users include individuals who want to connect others to a cause they're passionate about, or who simply want to ignite a response from potential admirers ("Am I hot?"). On a broader scale, organizations like the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas and YouthNoise are using the t-shirts to connect to supporters, as does MC Hammer (who's working on a comeback).

Related, but more one-way: Italian Shyno, which launched two years ago and sells customized t-shirts (EUR 38) with a code that others can SMS to get in touch with the wearer: "All it takes is a simple t-shirt to find out, in complete anonymity, what others think of you."

Reactee takes the interaction to another level by harnessing the power of text messaging, creating t-shirts that "text back".

How it works? A customer picks a personal slogan and a unique keyword, which Reactee prints on an American Apparel t-shirt. The user gets the t-shirt and flaunts it. Anyone interested in knowing more about the slogan or its wearer can text the keyword to 41411, and will get an immediate response as set by the wearer, who also receives a copy of the message including the sender's cellphone number. The response can be updated as often as the user likes, either at reactee.com or on the fly by cellphone. The shirts cost USD 20-27 depending on size and colour, and texting only works with US phones.

Reactee users include individuals who want to connect others to a cause they're passionate about, or who simply want to ignite a response from potential admirers ("Am I hot?"). On a broader scale, organizations like the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas and YouthNoise are using the t-shirts to connect to supporters, as does MC Hammer (who's working on a comeback).

Related, but more one-way: Italian Shyno, which launched two years ago and sells customized t-shirts (EUR 38) with a code that others can SMS to get in touch with the wearer: "All it takes is a simple t-shirt to find out, in complete anonymity, what others think of you."

Sharing , rating and connecting are on their way to becoming key components in a slew of mobile apps ranging from mobile search (Yahoo’s oneSearch will tap into users to develop more refined results) to music (MyStrands looks at how users arrange and listen to music to learn the best tracks to suggest to users). Now personal navigation services are opening up to user input, allowing them to rate restaurants and flag points of interest. TeleNav – which provides a GPS navigation solution for mobile phones—has added precisely this functionality to its latest release, El Reg reports. Just launched in the U.S., this version lets users search for and rate local businesses. (They can rate them directly from a mobile phone.) Users can also text a message containing their location.

In related news, In-Stat reports that the advance of handset-based mapping and navigation applications could “cause a major change in the overall navigation market,” which is currently dominated by relatively expensive standalone devices. Its global forecast sets the total number of users with mapping and navigation apps on their mobile phones at more than 70 million by 2012. But it’s not just a numbers game; the research firm’s survey of U.S. consumers (no numbers, unfortunately) found navigation applications have a “strong ability to draw subscribers from other operators and keep them loyal.”

Sharing , rating and connecting are on their way to becoming key components in a slew of mobile apps ranging from mobile search (Yahoo’s oneSearch will tap into users to develop more refined results) to music (MyStrands looks at how users arrange and listen to music to learn the best tracks to suggest to users). Now personal navigation services are opening up to user input, allowing them to rate restaurants and flag points of interest. TeleNav – which provides a GPS navigation solution for mobile phones—has added precisely this functionality to its latest release, El Reg reports. Just launched in the U.S., this version lets users search for and rate local businesses. (They can rate them directly from a mobile phone.) Users can also text a message containing their location.

In related news, In-Stat reports that the advance of handset-based mapping and navigation applications could “cause a major change in the overall navigation market,” which is currently dominated by relatively expensive standalone devices. Its global forecast sets the total number of users with mapping and navigation apps on their mobile phones at more than 70 million by 2012. But it’s not just a numbers game; the research firm’s survey of U.S. consumers (no numbers, unfortunately) found navigation applications have a “strong ability to draw subscribers from other operators and keep them loyal.”

Richer Segmentation: Three Trends
To advance industry thinking about how new forms of analytics and intelligence can improve the usefulness of customer segmentation, our study took a two-phase approach. In the first phase, we used ethnographic studies involving in-home interviews and a review of entertainment diaries kept by household members over the course of several weeks. This research enabled us to test and confirm three hypotheses about consumer behaviors in the digital age.

1. From Individuals to Households and Social Networks
Based on findings from our research, the global communications environment—including mobile and fixed communications, television, new consumer electronics devices and, especially, the Internet—has made the understanding of "household" behavior much more complex than it was previously thought to be. Until fairly recently, influences on a social network tended to be primarily local. Today, influences on purchasing decisions may come from almost anywhere in the world, via Internet chat rooms, blogs and other means.

2. From Content Consumers to Content Creators
The effectiveness of traditional marketing channels is changing as the impact of the Internet extends into more aspects of living. Traditional approaches for reaching mass markets—such as TV, radio and print media—must be supplemented (or in some cases replaced) by new channels such as content aggregation portals (YouTube is one well-known example), podcasts and blogs. Each of these channels is built upon the active participation of consumers in the creation and sharing of their own digital content. These customers are especially attractive to communications companies because their high levels of digital activity correlate with higher levels of purchasing, as well.

3. From Individual and Centralized Decision Making to Collective and Decentralized Decision Making
Our research has underscored the complex dynamics within households and social networks when it comes to buyin

Richer Segmentation: Three Trends
To advance industry thinking about how new forms of analytics and intelligence can improve the usefulness of customer segmentation, our study took a two-phase approach. In the first phase, we used ethnographic studies involving in-home interviews and a review of entertainment diaries kept by household members over the course of several weeks. This research enabled us to test and confirm three hypotheses about consumer behaviors in the digital age.

1. From Individuals to Households and Social Networks
Based on findings from our research, the global communications environment—including mobile and fixed communications, television, new consumer electronics devices and, especially, the Internet—has made the understanding of "household" behavior much more complex than it was previously thought to be. Until fairly recently, influences on a social network tended to be primarily local. Today, influences on purchasing decisions may come from almost anywhere in the world, via Internet chat rooms, blogs and other means.

2. From Content Consumers to Content Creators
The effectiveness of traditional marketing channels is changing as the impact of the Internet extends into more aspects of living. Traditional approaches for reaching mass markets—such as TV, radio and print media—must be supplemented (or in some cases replaced) by new channels such as content aggregation portals (YouTube is one well-known example), podcasts and blogs. Each of these channels is built upon the active participation of consumers in the creation and sharing of their own digital content. These customers are especially attractive to communications companies because their high levels of digital activity correlate with higher levels of purchasing, as well.

3. From Individual and Centralized Decision Making to Collective and Decentralized Decision Making
Our research has underscored the complex dynamics within households and social networks when it comes

(Heinz) is holding a big YouTube contest to get people to create video advertisements for its ketchup. But the entries are almost universally crappy, the contest is generating ill-will among some in the target audience, and the company is actually spending more than it would have if it had just hired an ad agency to put together a campaign.

Turns out, that's par for the course. The companies that have jumped onto the user-generated-ad bandwagon "have found that inviting consumers to create their advertising is often more stressful, costly and time-consuming than just rolling up their sleeves and doing the work themselves. Many entries are mediocre, if not downright bad, and sifting through them requires full-time attention.

(Heinz) is holding a big YouTube contest to get people to create video advertisements for its ketchup. But the entries are almost universally crappy, the contest is generating ill-will among some in the target audience, and the company is actually spending more than it would have if it had just hired an ad agency to put together a campaign.

Turns out, that's par for the course. The companies that have jumped onto the user-generated-ad bandwagon "have found that inviting consumers to create their advertising is often more stressful, costly and time-consuming than just rolling up their sleeves and doing the work themselves. Many entries are mediocre, if not downright bad, and sifting through them requires full-time attention.

Montibello, the marketing manager at a Newton-based consulting firm, was screening job candidates last year when an application came in from a recent college graduate. As she prepared to set up an interview with the applicant, one of her younger co - workers asked a fateful question: "Did you check out her MySpace page?"

Montibello did so, and there on the applicant's public profile she found what she calls "all kinds of compromising photos," including one of her applicant Jell-O -wrestling. Still, that "wasn't necessarily an issue" to Montibello or her boss. "The real issue came when my boss was interviewing her and mentioned it, and the person was like 'Oh, yeah, it was so funny,' and was so cavalier about it, instead of being responsible," she says.

They ultimately hired someone else. The applicant's blase reaction to questions about her MySpace photos "wasn't the deal - breaker, but it was a factor," says Montibello. "We had another candidate who was equally qualified, and who showed up at the interview and was professional all the way. When you're comparing two or three people, everything matters."

Like it or not -- and many employees emphatically do not -- social-networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook are creating an increasingly murky workplace terrain.

What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but what happens on MySpace can make it into the wider world, whether it is office gossip, racy photographs, or first-person accounts of weekend revelry.

Montibello, the marketing manager at a Newton-based consulting firm, was screening job candidates last year when an application came in from a recent college graduate. As she prepared to set up an interview with the applicant, one of her younger co - workers asked a fateful question: "Did you check out her MySpace page?"

Montibello did so, and there on the applicant's public profile she found what she calls "all kinds of compromising photos," including one of her applicant Jell-O -wrestling. Still, that "wasn't necessarily an issue" to Montibello or her boss. "The real issue came when my boss was interviewing her and mentioned it, and the person was like 'Oh, yeah, it was so funny,' and was so cavalier about it, instead of being responsible," she says.

They ultimately hired someone else. The applicant's blase reaction to questions about her MySpace photos "wasn't the deal - breaker, but it was a factor," says Montibello. "We had another candidate who was equally qualified, and who showed up at the interview and was professional all the way. When you're comparing two or three people, everything matters."

Like it or not -- and many employees emphatically do not -- social-networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook are creating an increasingly murky workplace terrain.

What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but what happens on MySpace can make it into the wider world, whether it is office gossip, racy photographs, or first-person accounts of weekend revelry.

Here’s the thing about user-generated content (other than it being on the face of it one of the dumbest buzzwords ever) — users are people, and people vary wildly in their talent. Heinz may end up with a brilliant commercial that they might not otherwise have discovered, because there are some brilliant people who are aspiring video content producers but who don’t currently work for a big ad agency. Open platforms like YouTube have certainly make talent discovery a more open and “democratic” process, which may indeed reduce the amount of undiscovered talent, which is a great thing. But talent remains rare, and searching for it is hard work.

So while user-generated content may be “free,” sifting through to find GOOD content is not. As such, media companies and marketers can do one of two things with user-generated content:

1. Make a traditional time and resource intensive editorial effort to surface the good stuff
2. Let it run free in all its varied glory (see MySpace), and accept the mountain of bad that comes with the tiny peak of good

Here’s the thing about user-generated content (other than it being on the face of it one of the dumbest buzzwords ever) — users are people, and people vary wildly in their talent. Heinz may end up with a brilliant commercial that they might not otherwise have discovered, because there are some brilliant people who are aspiring video content producers but who don’t currently work for a big ad agency. Open platforms like YouTube have certainly make talent discovery a more open and “democratic” process, which may indeed reduce the amount of undiscovered talent, which is a great thing. But talent remains rare, and searching for it is hard work.

So while user-generated content may be “free,” sifting through to find GOOD content is not. As such, media companies and marketers can do one of two things with user-generated content:

1. Make a traditional time and resource intensive editorial effort to surface the good stuff
2. Let it run free in all its varied glory (see MySpace), and accept the mountain of bad that comes with the tiny peak of good

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority is suing several video sites, including YouTube, for infringing on the copyright of car crash footage recorded on the turnpike, eWEEK has learned.

The footage in question was recorded by a NJTA video camera. The video depicts a car traveling southbound on the New Jersey Turnpike and crashing into the Great Egg Harbor toll plaza on May 10. The driver, a 52-year-old New Jersey resident, was killed. ...

According to the complaint, the offending video has been viewed 19,833 times on YouTube, 189,037 times on LiveLeak.com and 6,933 times on break.com as of May 21. Less than 24 hours later, on May 22, the videos had been viewed 24,346 times, 213,295 times and 16,812 times, respectively.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority is suing several video sites, including YouTube, for infringing on the copyright of car crash footage recorded on the turnpike, eWEEK has learned.

The footage in question was recorded by a NJTA video camera. The video depicts a car traveling southbound on the New Jersey Turnpike and crashing into the Great Egg Harbor toll plaza on May 10. The driver, a 52-year-old New Jersey resident, was killed. ...

According to the complaint, the offending video has been viewed 19,833 times on YouTube, 189,037 times on LiveLeak.com and 6,933 times on break.com as of May 21. Less than 24 hours later, on May 22, the videos had been viewed 24,346 times, 213,295 times and 16,812 times, respectively.