LAWRENCE, Kansas — In the wake of several suicides involving gay teens ranging in age from 13 to 19, “cyberbullying” has quickly become the buzzword du jour.

These events are a stark reminder of what those of us in the gay community already know: being gay isn’t easy. But while the issue of anti-gay bullying is very real, cyberbullying is not simply limited to straight people targeting gays.

Since the early days of chat rooms, message boards and instant messaging, there has been an opportunity for people to attack others with little or no consequence.

Filed under:
College, Opinion/Editorial, Social Media, Technology by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kansas – In a demonstration of trigger-happy media and bloggers, a slew of folks jumped all over the story that Duke senior Jon Scheyer had tweeted his cell phone number following his team’s National Championship victory Monday night. He didn’t.

Filed under:
College, Social Media, Technology by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. – I don’t typically take requests for what I whine about. But there are always room for exceptions.

Apparently, my mate Ben Smith (he’s English), who–according to a recent Twitpic–is in charge of Major Accounts and the Social Media Manager for The World Company, wanted my opinion on Twitter development.

I’m still not sure why he would ask me. After all, his “Twitter Grade” is 99.7 out of 100. That’s higher than the ever-popular @shitmydadsays or the absurdly underused @Oprah and only .18 less than @drdrew and @jimmyfallon. My score is a mediocre 94.

But he asked, and he shall receive.

I read Ben’s tweet on Sunday afternoon.

Filed under:
Opinion/Editorial, Social Media, Technology by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. – By now, it’s hard to have totally avoided the news of the video taken through a peephole that shows ESPN reporter Erin Andrews walking around a hotel room nude. The blog post that surfaced in the media late last week is getting all kinds of reactions–from outraged to obscene.

ESPN attorneys took immediate action, sending a cease and desist letter to the blog’s owner. Andrews’ own attorney subsequently released a statement confirming what had previously only been suspicion of the identity of the “Hot naked blonde.” Deadspin, which has been covering developments in the story since it broke, has reported that the video had actually been online for months before widespread news of it broke.

Filed under:
Opinion/Editorial, Social Media, Sports TV, Technology, Television by Scott A. Winer

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Some people are fast learners. Others are not. As the number of Baby Boomers engaging in social media rises, I’m finding more and more how little my parents’ generation understands the new interpretations of some classic technologies. My generation, particularly the twenty-and-thirtysomethings, seem to understand it better. But even among people my age, not everyone gets the newest incarnations of social media like “microblogs,” a term that barely does it justice, most notably Twitter.

The most import thing to understand with a thing like Twitter, unlike with e-mail or even a cell phone, is that it functions much like the news cycle. Part of the appeal of Twitter is that it’s an instantaneous, steady flow of information. It is, in effect, one huge group conversation. And, as with any conversation, timing is everything. If you wait too long to comment on something someone has said, then it will be too late. The moment will have passed. If you limit yourself to talking only with a small group, you’ll never meet anyone new.

Filed under:
Opinion/Editorial, Social Media, Technology by Scott A. Winer