In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about criminal behavior caught on YouTube and Facebook, as well as the predicted demise of personal e-mail.
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After watching their team win the NBA championship last night, L.A. Lakers fans rioted in the streets of the city until the wee hours of the morning. While rioting is a regrettably common tradition in big cities after major sporting events, the catch this time is that most of the “festivities” were caught on video and uploaded to YouTube’s CitizenTube channel. We have seen looters get arrested after their antics were shared on Flickr. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing happened to the rioters in these YouTube videos.
Facebook COO Predicts End of E-mail
Could you give up e-mail? Someday soon, we may have to – at least according to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. In remarks made at Nielsen’s Consumer 360 conference, Sandberg pointed out research showing that only 11% of teens use e-mail. Sandberg’s logic is that “If you want to know what people like us will do tomorrow you look at what teenagers are doing today.” Without e-mail, what would be the main mode of communication? Presumably, from Sandberg’s point-of-view, Facebook.
Facebook Made $800 Million in 2009
Speaking of Facebook, it turns out that estimates of the company’s 2009 profits were significantly under the company’s actual earnings. According to a Reuters’ report, Facebook made close to $800 million in 2009. Earlier reports placed the amount between $550-$700 million.
Facebook Rebukes Privacy Groups
On Wednesday, a number of privacy groups, including the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Center for Digital Democracy, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, wrote a letter to Facebook imploring the company to make additional changes to its privacy controls. In response, Facebook published its own letter rebuking the criticism and saying that the company has already taken significant steps to protect user privacy.
Kids Break Into Zoo, Post Pictures on Facebook
A group of college-age kids apparently broke into the Albuquerque Bio Park Zoo sometime this week. How we do know? Because they posted pictures of their illegal visit on Facebook. The pictures, which include the kids posing for pictures with giraffes and sea lions, were pointed out to police by an anonymous tip. Police are currently investigating the crime and will likely use the photos to identify the perpetrators.
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[...] we predicted last week Friday, the Los Angeles Police Department has begun wading through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to [...]
[...] we predicted last week Friday, the Los Angeles Police Department has begun wading through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to [...]
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