Project for Excellence in Journalism

Blogs Not Neutral on Google

August 19, 2010

A plan by two tech giants to regulate broadband topped the online conversation last week as bloggers roundly criticized Google for seemingly softening its support of network neutrality -- the concept of treating all internet traffic equally across a network.

For the week of Aug. 9-13, 19% of the news links on blogs were about the net-neutrality issue, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. The catalyst was an Aug. 10 op-ed in the Washington Post by Google chief executive Eric Schmidt and Verizon chief executive Ivan Seidenberg in which they endorsed net neutrality with one significant exception. Their proposal would allow service providers to limit uploading and downloading on wireless networks.

Initially bloggers dissected the Post piece to make sense of the nine-point plan. Once they concluded that the two companies would support neutrality for wired broadband but not for wireless networks, bloggers accused Google of selling out and violating the company's informal motto, "don't be evil."

Social media users -- most of whom operate outside of corporate media -- have closely followed the net neutrality debate. The issue first ranked among the most-linked-to news stories in blogs (5th at 6% of the links) the week of April 5-9, 2010, following a federal court ruling that threatened net neutrality. And it heated up on Twitter the week of May 3-7, 2010 (4th at 8%) as users shared news of the FCC's response -- a revised regulation proposal.

The rest of the top five subjects among bloggers last week all dealt with hot button political or cultural issues.

The second-biggest story (18% of news links) was the impassioned controversy surrounding the construction of a mosque in lower Manhattan two blocks from the World Trade Center site. The conversation followed a Washington Post column by Neda Bolourchi -- whose mother died aboard hijacked United Flight 175 on 9/11 -- in which she argued that the mosque should not be built on the site.

Bloggers who oppose the construction of the so-called "Ground Zero mosque" seized on Bolourchi's piece, saying the argument against construction was even more compelling because Bolouchi herself is a Muslim.

And a Los Angeles Times story detailing the strategy Democratic leaders are using for the midterm elections ranked third at 12%. Conservatives in the blogosphere relished the opportunity to poke fun at congressional Democrats for running not on legislative accomplishments, but against the economic policies of former President George W. Bush and the GOP.

Fourth, also at 12% of links, was a Los Angeles Times article which suggested that author Anne Rice's public abandonment of Christianity was evidence of a broader trend -- that of more people giving up on organized religion. Christian bloggers spoke out against the article as evidence of what they say is the mainstream media's institutional opposition to religion.

The Bush tax cuts, set to expire at the end of the year, were once again a top story discussed by bloggers, at 7% of links. (In the previous week, an article about the cuts was the fourth most linked-to story, at 13% of links.) Liberal bloggers jeered a Republican plan to extend the tax cuts detailed in an article by the Washington Post. The Post cited a nonpartisan government analysis which found the plan would add $36 billion to the federal deficit.

On Twitter last week, users mostly shared stories from Mashable on new social networking features and applications. They also helped one non-tech story, a foul ball mishap during an Aug. 9 baseball game between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves, become a viral video hit.

The most popular story on Twitter (with 18% of links) was a Mashable article on the social network's new Tweet Button, an official option embedded into external web pages that allows readers to easily share content with their followers.

Second, at 12% of the links, was another Mashable story detailing Facebook's new photo browsing interface. The changes, available to only some users in testing last week, standardize the sizes of photos in browsing format, and simplify the process of scrolling through photo albums.

One way companies will be able to use their corporate pages on Facebook was the No. 5 topic on Twitter, at 7% of links. Mashable previewed an add-on application called Parature, which allows users to communicate with companies' customer service departments.

Twitterers last week also displayed interest in a new media twist to an old board game -- Social Media Monopoly (No. 3 at 9% of the links). The online version, developed by Crystal Gibson, makes a number of changes including substituting smartphones such as the Droid for the classic game's railroads.

Twitter users delighted in the tongue-in-cheek references employed by Gibson, especially a joke at the expense of a fading social network. Players who run afoul of the authorities are sent to cyber jail, also known MySpace. Hasbro, the maker of the 107-year-old board game, has no involvement with Social Media Monopoly, which is marketed as an unofficial version.

The No. 4 subject, at 8% of links, was an unusual baseball event. Astros third baseman Chris Johnson hit a foul ball that zoomed toward a young couple in the stands. The man, identified only as Bo, sidestepped the incoming ball and his girlfriend Sarah took the impact on her forearm. Since Bo blocked Sarah's view of the foul ball, she never even saw it coming.

The video first appeared on Mashable.com, the website that christened the less-than-chivalrous boyfriend "Bo the Bailer." Mashable co-editor Ben Parr did take pity on the side-stepping fan. "Sure, we feel bad for the dude," Parr wrote. "But you can't abandon your girlfriend on TV and expect to get away with it."

The video, originally on YouTube, was pulled by the site due to a copyright claim by Major League Baseball. But apparently appreciating the value of the embarrassing clip, the league has made it available on MLB's website.

Continue reading the full report at journalism.org.