AMBER VERNETTI WRITES – Abu Dhabi University’s status was updated to “feeling social” last week after Facebook data revealed that the institution accounts for 80% of all social media involvement among other universities in the surrounding area. In respect to this extensive usage, the 2013 Arab Social Media Report recognized Arabic as social…
Tag: Twitter
TAIWAN: Plurk – or Tweet?!
BRIAN CANAVE WRITES — Taiwanese netizens are obsessed with social media and social media giants, Facebook and Twitter, do not fail to recognize this. This is in lieu to Facebook and Twitters announcements to further tap into the potential of Taiwanese markets. But why are these companies so eager to have…
AFGHANISTAN: Social Media Summit Praises Positive Impact
VITTO BANEZ WRITES – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Vine are all social apps used to connect with friends, but Afghanistan says they’re more than that. The country aimed to promote these sites as democratizing tools through a recent summit. “Paiwand,” which translated to English means “connection,” was held on September…
HONG KONG: Elephant Alibaba Roars at Hong Kong Exchange
LAUREN CHEN WRITES – A co-founder of Chinese Internet giant Alibaba took to the blogosphere September 26 to criticize Hong Kong regulators. His complaint? The region’s market regulations are too restricting for the biggest IPO since Facebook. At issue are complex rules about the corporate ownership structure of a firm…
INDIA: Elections Go Online, But Will It Matter?
AUSTIN SZABO WRITES – If you live in India, expect a “friend request” from your local representative. The upcoming 2014 election will see an explosion of social media campaigning, according to The Times of India. India’s Bharatiya Janata and Congress parties are scrambling to woo internet users. From local politicians getting in touch directly…
PHILIPPINES: Social Media Slaps Sticky Fingers in ‘Pork Barrel Scam’
LAUREN CHEN WRITES – Gone are the days of handing out flyers or haranguing your friends on the phone to support a worthy cause. Now all it takes to turn out a mega-march is a juicy scandal and populist call to arms on Facebook and Twitter. Filipinos gathered August 26…
TAIWAN: Does Taiwan Media Need Reform?
BRIAN CANAVE WRITES – Taipei Times highlights the lack of a more diverse and critical media system. But wait, isn’t it one of the biggest newspapers in Taiwan? Recently, Taipei Times has published two articles stressing the media’s important role on uncovering news the government may have covered up, as…
JAPAN: Who Needs Real “Likes” When You Have Cash?
JEREMIAH FAJARDO WRITES – Can you call yourself popular when most of your fans are fake? As more businesses and politicians are seeking attention via social media, services selling Facebook “Likes” and Twitter followers are appearing. The Yomiuri Shimbun, one of Japan’s leading dailies, interviewed one purveyor of Internet fame,…
JAPAN: ‘Retweets’ Herald Surge in LDP Influence
JEREMIAH FAJARDO WRITES- Political tension in Japan is high with the upcoming Upper House elections, but has the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) already won over the Twittersphere? The LDP and Japanese Communist Party (JCP) currently have the most influence from a social media standpoint, according to researcher Ryosuke Nishida of…
JAPAN: The Dangers of Distasteful Tweeting
JEREMIAH FAJARDO WRITES – Government use of social media to engage with citizens has boomed. Japan is a great example, with many bureaucrats and politicians tweeting about their views or upcoming campaigns. Disappointingly, Yasuhisa Mizuno, a 45-year-old official, managed to tweet his way out of a job. According to the…
PHILIPPINES: Bright Future with Broadened Media Freedom
LAUREN CHEN WRITES – Gone is the fear of being imprisoned for liking an offensive photo on Facebook. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is revising the currently suspended 2012 Cybercrime Law and in the process has dropped the provision penalizing online libel. According to Geronimo Sy, head of the DOJ…
JAPAN: Japanese Politics Welcomes Modernity …. a Little, Bit, Anyway
After years of restrictions, the use of the Internet will likely be liberalized for use in election campaigns. According to the Daily Yomiuri, one of Japan’s leading dailies, the nation’s major political parties have jointly agreed to allow the use of services, like Twitter, during future campaigns. Drafted by the…
KUWAIT: Imprisoned for Tweeting
Freedom of speech continues to be challenged in the Middle East, as two Kuwaiti males, Ayyad al-Harbi and Rashed al-Enezi, were recently arrested for insulting the Amir of the country, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, on Twitter. Harbi, who has created a name for himself in Kuwait, was given his sentence…
MALAYSIA: No Ban of Homosexual Portrayals?
It’s official: There is no ban against portraying homosexual or effeminate characters on Malaysian television or radio. Following the Information Department’s Facebook post, which supposedly said they banned the screening of homosexual or effeminate characters in Malaysian media, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim cleared the air. Datuk…
JAPAN: Trading Punches Via Media, Old and New
A powerful mayor and a powerful media mogul are at each other’s throats. On March 18th, Toru Hashimoto, mayor of Osaka, labeled Tsuneo Watanabe, chairman of the giant Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper group, a “despot.” This remark came in response to the influential chairman’s description of Hashimoto’s mayoral term in the…
SINGAPORE: Citizen Journalists Get Their Facts Right
Thanks to the advent of social media sites, so-called “citizen journalism” is on the rise. Myra Martin of The Straits Times, Singapore’s largest and most influential daily, reports that a recent survey found a majority of these casual writers are between the ages of 15 to 24. Conducted by students…