Healthcare and Social Media, Hand in Hand? Not always.

October 06, 2009 Author Kristy Wen Category Media

As the reign of social media grows every day and extends into previously uncharted territories, more and more people are becoming solely reliant on such tools for many aspects of their lives. For example, even healthcare has begun branching out into the hip social media arena – Obama hosts virtual town halls regarding his healthcare plans and health information websites are popping up all over the place.

According to this article, social media is “revolutionizing your doctor visits.” I won’t argue that websites haven’t made our lives easier in terms of finding out if you have symptoms of H1N1 or researching which specialized hospitals are best for what. However, there is still a long way to go until healthcare becomes “revolutionized” vis-a-vis social media. It seems that a significant number of people are expecting to find great doctors in the same manner we find nomnom-licious restaurants on Yelp. This isn’t going to happen anytime soon. Why? While the crowd who scours the internet looking for the best underground cafes and undiscovered treasures certainly can contribute to the social media-lizing of healthcare, there is a significant chunk of people, people who are the majority players in the healthcare community, who don’t.

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Walk On You Bears

September 23, 2009 Author Kristy Wen Category Media, School

Here we are, on the eve of the grand UC Faculty Walkout that will be taking place across all the UC campuses tomorrow. I have to admit, when I first learned about the walkout I thought, “What’s the point?” Sure, once upon a time Berkeley was the epicenter of student action and protests, circa the Free Speech Movement era. However, all that has remained is the FSM cafe, where static black and white photographs of Mario Salvio and the rest of the fighters look down upon us from the walls. Every year, we have protestors at some point – UC service workers, etc.- but honestly, no one really pays them any mind. Some may object to this observation, but come on, we know it’s true.

As the countdown to the walkout gets shorter and shorter, I realized that this time things may actually be different. Instead of the normal grumbling from students about the “suckiness of the UC system,” we have a solidarity among students, faculty, and alumni alike that hasn’t been seen in years. There has been a series of faculty lectures on the walkout and budget cuts throughout the system. In particular, this video of Professor Ananya Roy is definitely worth watching:.

There’s more information about the Berkeley walkout over here. But now, it’s time for me to get some shut-eye for optimal Sproul-crowding performance tomorrow, of course.

UC Berkeley Walkout Poster

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AT&T a la China… But Worse.

July 26, 2009 Author Kristy Wen Category Media

About, oh, 1000x worse. Okay, so we’re used to China and their constant censorship of US darlings like Google Apps, Youtube, whatnot and what have you. By now, it’s actually alarming if one of our social media sites isn’t being censored by the Great Firewall (let’s call that the GFW from now on, a la the lovely Twitter hashtag #FuckGFW).

Apparently, AT&T has decided to block 4chan. 4chan. Let’s say that again – 4chan. Of all the sites they could have censored, 4chan? Really? Really? Did they not see what 4chan did with TIME’s 100 Most Influential People list? And TIME didn’t even do anything to them. AT&T’s got some real cajones if they’re willing to take on the wrath of 4chan, which of course, comes bundled with the army of anon. You just don’t mess with 4chan, unless you want your homepage to start displaying 2girls1cup or meatspin- and that’s only the start of it.

As per TechCrunch:

AT&T has just opened perhaps the most vindictive, messy can of worms it could have possibly found. Blocking any site seems like a breach of user trust, but the decision to block 4chan in particular just seems stupid. Expect the web equivalent of rioting if this doesn’t change soon. – Jason Kincaid

The troops have already begun rallying here and on Encyclopedia Dramatica. I don’t know about you, but I’m stocking up on my popcorn. Unless 4chan decides to blow up AT&T’s servers, in which I will be /wrist, because sadly, my service provider is AT&T.

From Encyclopaedia Dramatica:

This isn’t like going to war with Anontalk, or Scientology, or some website, it’s AT& fucking T. There will be no lulz in this war.
This time the internet IS serious business.

4chan God Help Us If They Ever Assemble

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Great Firewall of China 2.0

June 25, 2009 Author Kristy Wen Category Media

It never fails to amuse me when I check my comments and find foblish spam- the one asking me to join a prostitution site was a real gem.

Anyways, I was talking to my dear, esteemed friend Robert last night, and he bugged me about not updating my blog. “Why don’t you have an Asia 3.0 or North Korea lulz post yet, hmmmm?” Well, coincidentally enough, here you go!

China’s internet po po were at it again- apparently the majority of Google’s services were blocked in China, including Gmail, Gtalk, Google Apps, Google Books, Google Images, and of course, Google.com, too. It seems like this is the latest in a string of the blocking-happy measures, not including the mass blockage of pretty much all social media and search engines (like Bing) near the Tiananmen anniversary.

But really, Google? C’mon China, we all know no one should touch Google, since it’s going to take over the world and all in the near future. Okay, jokes aside, what does China really aim to achieve with all this Great Firewalling? I assume the main purpose is to keep all the Liberal Capitalist Rubbish (yes, capitalized and all) out of the minds and sight of young, revolutionary-able Chinese netizens, but history has taught us that the 300 million strong band of netizens will always find a way to either circumvent the GFW with the ease of VPNs, or at least manage to unleash frustration and “WTF?!”s onto various unblocked BBS. Or mass post to Twitter with the oh-so-affectionate #fuckgfw hashtags.

Additionally, the international media always makes a big fuss and throws a couple of a frowns in China’s direction when things like this happen. Granted, I know China’s sitting across the Pacific laughing at us fools in this recession, so our approval hardly has the same impact as in the past (not that I’m saying America- or any other country- should have a deciding say in anything that goes in with China in a flamboyantly cowboy diplomacy way; but that’s a discussions for some other time). Still, this is remarkably attention grabbing in a way that China probablyyy doesn’t want.

Some services have been unblocked, but the damage is still done. What next, China? I’m waiting for the day they block MSN/Windows Live services- that’s when all hell will break loose on the net.

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Asia 2.0

May 15, 2009 Author Kristy Wen Category Media

Well, to start off, I really fail at consistently blogging. So, in the midst of finals week and in between writing two consecutive final papers, I figure, hey what a perfect time to blog! </procrastinate>

I ran across this article the other day about how social networks, at least those born and raised on good ol’ American soil, need to adapt to Asian culture if they ever want to succeed in the Asian region. This is critical to the success of any social website that wants to succeed- and not only do they have to adopt local characteristics and tastes, but also compete against the already established local networks. When we were conducting interviews earlier this semester for UMA’s creative committee, this was actually the case question we asked the prospys. It seems that so many companies are ready to jump head first into China without considering the culture and end up getting owned in the face by local establishments. It’ll be interesting to see if the big names like Facebook will make changes that cater specifically to target areas in Asia.

And speaking of Asia Web 2.0, the Geeks on a Plane tour is now official. While a nine-day foray into the world of Asian internet startups and companies won’t be comprehensive at all, it’d still be a hell of a lot more informative than what we can only access on the intarwebz. I like the fact that they’re attending events that are hosted by companies started and based in Beijing/Shanghai/Tokyo, rather than companies abroad that have been Asianified. The events in Shanghai look especially attractive- the Barcamp Shanghai un-conference hosted by Tudou and a Geeks & Glamour after party at the shiny M1NT lounge? *dies*

And before I go, I’d like to throw a shout out to my homedizzle Robert, all the way out thurr in Las Vegas. :] Happy?

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