Month: September 2010

McAfee Global Report: Web 2.0 in Business

web2dot0
Photo credit: McAfee

My Facebook & Twitter pals might have seen my mentions of a big mystery project I was working on at the end of the summer. Well, the big mystery project has been released, and now I can tell you about it: It was preparing a global report for McAfee Co. I worked with my Purdue and CERIAS colleague, Dr. Lorraine Kisselburgh to analyze data from a global survey McAfee conducted, enrich it with expert interviews, and weave it into a story which became the report – Web 2.0: A Complex Balancing Act.

You can download the report at the link above, and you can read highlights in the news release.

Social media to the rescue: YouTube project to help bullied gay teenagers

An Indiana teenage boy committed suicide earlier this month, after being bullied in school for being gay. Sad, sad, sad, sad.

I will refrain from comments, opinions, and things I think we should do. I’m writing this post to draw attention to this YouTube project – an effort to reach out to kids in rural parts of the country who may not have access to in-person support: the It Gets Better Project. Gay adults can post videos telling teenagers that… it gets better.

Although I can’t claim to be able to relate to the experience (I grew up in Romania, where bullying wasn’t the norm, as far as I know; I’m not gay) – if I can help, let me know. I live in Indiana – if you’re a teenager happening upon this post, and if you need help or just companionship – send me an email. I’d feel privileged to be your friend.

And for those who are wondering about the relevance of this post to the mission of the blog (well, you know what, it’s my blog, I can post whatever I want) – this is an interesting case study about social media being used to help people.

Note: Don’t even bother to post homophobic comments, I’m telling you upfront that I won’t publish them.