Weekly High Five lists the most interesting, compelling, and/or useful links of each week.
This was a tough week to select five stories; there was lots of tech news worthy of mention. In the end, it was three articles about Facebook and two about growing up geeky.
#5: The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by Their 20s
This was fresh take on the “old news” of obsolescence. We all know that each generation grows up under a different paradigm from its previous. What’s changing is the definition of a “technology generation.” We used to think (at least I did) of this as linear – that the gap between us and our parents is about the same as the one between us and our kids. The reality, however, is that this gap is growing and that behavioral differences (as influenced by technology adoption) that used be evident in age differences in the range of 15 to 20 years are now shrinking to as little as 5 to 10 years. This will have profound implications on how businesses adapt their workplace environments and adjust their marketing paradigms.
Link: New York Times
#4: Darpa: U.S. Geek Shortage Is National Security Risk
This story came out before the news of the major, sophisticated cyber attacks against Google, Adobe, and more than thirty other companies this week. Many trade organizations are working to address a shortage of engineers that will provide workforce challenges in the manufacturing and critical infrastructure (water, wastewater, power, gas, etc…) sectors, and now we see concern growing over national security issues due to low enrollment in the computer sciences.
Link: Wired
#3: Facebook’s Zuckerberg Says The Age of Privacy is Over
This story has more moving parts and metaphors than a Rube Golberg contraption. There is the minutia of Facebook’s user interface and the relative difficulty of setting up the privacy settings to one’s liking. There are overarching principals of privacy versus transparency in a Web 2.0 world. And then there is also the business argument of the degree to which Facebook can, should, and will continue to emulate Twitter. My take tis that this sound a little bit like Zuckerberg trying to rationalize that Facebook’s evolving business strategy of transparency (read: search and advertising revenue) is all for the greater good. Meh.
Link: ReadWriteWeb
#2: Twelve Steps To Creating A Bootylicious Facebook Page
John Haydon has a great series going right now on his blog, “Social media and inbound marketing for non-profits ,” but don’t think that the tips are only useful for those audiences. This article, in particular, contains terrific tips any business or individual who wants to improve their Facebook fan page. I’ve definitely learned a few tricks (and been reminded of a couple of outstanding items to be done).
Link: John Haydon dot com
#1: Facebook Releases Their Version Of Retweets As Twitterfication Continues
Normally I detest Facebook’s attempts at “Twitterfication” as this author describes it. I use Facebook and Twitter for two different purposes and the number one difference between them is privacy. When I want to interact with a private, closely-knit network I use Facebook. When I want an open, more transparent relationship I use Twitter. Having said that, this new feature is a long-time coming and doesn’t erode that privacy I’m looking for in Facebook. It does, however, make it easier to discover who the content generators are in your extended network and to find others you may wish to connect with and to spread your ideas more effectively.
Link: All Facebook
Feel free to provide your thoughts and/or contributions…
#3: Banned Xbox 360s Flooding Craigslist, Ebay
