Facebook Fatigue

Posted on Jul 1, 2010

Today on the list: Teens report Facebook fatigue, Israel’s crackdown on boycotts, and where have all the protest songs gone?

On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies.

The links below open in a new window. Newer ones are on top.

ACLU Reminds Louisiana Cops They Can’t Stop People From Photographing the Oil Spill
Some updates on the incident I reported on last week, in which an off-duty Louisiana sheriff’s deputy working for BP’s private security detail harassed an environmental activist who was neither on BP’s property nor breaking any laws.

Teens Experiencing Facebook Fatigue
Online gaming site Roiworld surveyed 600 teens ages 13 to 17 in late April and found that teens spend two hours per day online on average, 80% of which is spent using a social network. These same teens are, however, showing signs of “Facebook Fatigue.” Nearly one in five (19%) who have an account no longer visit Facebook or are using it less.

Plato’s stave: academic cracks philosopher’s musical code
Historian claims Plato’s manuscripts are mathematically ordered according to 12-note scale.

BP in the Gulf—The Persian Gulf
To frustrated Americans who have begun boycotting BP: Welcome to the club.  It’s great not to be the only member any more!

Where have all the protest songs gone?
The rise-up anthems are out there, minstrels say, but you have to know where to listen.

‘Mozart Effect’ Was Just What We Wanted To Hear
The newest issue of the journal Intelligence has the largest review ever of research on the so-called Mozart Effect, the popular idea that listening to classical music can enhance the intelligence of people in general and babies in particular.

DIGITAL IMAGE FOUNDER SMOOTHS OUT PIXELS
More than 50 years ago, the first digital image was captured. Now the creator of that image wants to smooth out the square pixels that make up most digital images.

So You Think You Can Imam
The U.S. has “American Idol.” Britain has “The X Factor.” Malaysia, one of the world’s more progressive Muslim nations, has something rather different—a televised search for the country’s most eligible young religious leader.

Israel’s anti-boycott belligerence
A bill seeking to outlaw boycotts of Israeli institutions and products—including in settlements—is diplomatically explosive.

More Below the Ad

New and Improved Comments

We are launching a major overhaul of our comments section.

In addition to more robust spam filtering and moderation, new features include the ability to rate other comments, sort how they are displayed and respond directly via e-mail or in a thread.

Unfortunately, commenters will lose their existing Truthdig identities. It's a pain, we know, but on the plus side you will now be able to log in with a plethora of options, including Google, Twitter, Facebook and Disqus accounts.

Before launching this system we spent months in discussion with our top commenters. We listened to the feedback and we hope you like what we've come up with.

Please direct any problems or concerns to us via our contact page.