India’s web culture is all about Facebook, social networking

ComScore, has just released some interesting data on how India’s digital citizens are spending time online. The report states that  social networking accounted for 25.2 percent of all time spent online in June. The biggest beneficiary of the social networking boom in India is, of course, Facebook.

The report also states that Indians spend nearly 1 out 4 minutes online indulging in social networking, amounting to a significant 25.2 percent of total time spent online.

Other content that occupies a significant amount of time for Indians is

• Entertainment sites – accounting for 10 percent of minutes (up 1.2 percentage points from the previous year).

• Portals accounted for 8.8 percent of total minutes.

• Time spent on Retail sites grew 0.5 points in the past year to a total of 2.0 percent of total minutes.

So which are the top used sites by Indians?

Google and other sites run by the search-engine ranked as the top destination in June 2012 reaching nearly 95 percent of the online population, or roughly 57.8 million people aged 15 and older

Facebook came in second followed with 50.9 million visitors (83.4 percent reach),

Yahoo! Sites (65.5 percent reach) and Microsoft Sites (48.1 percent reach) are next on the list.

So what does this web survey reveal about India?

The first is the tremendous rise of social networking among Indians. The second is of course the rise of Facebook. All of this is particularly noteworthy data, coming as it does at a time when the government is blaming social media aiding in the spread of rumours against North-eastern people, which led to a mass exodus of these people from various South Indian cities.

The government has alleged that Facebook, YouTube, etc were used to upload inflammatory content that led to the mass hysteria. The latest exodus is also being used by the government to bolster its argument that social networking sites ought to pre-screen content before it is uploaded.

Facebook and YouTube have added that the content was uploaded from Pakistan and have admitted that it was indeed incendiary in nature.

There’s no doubt that censorship of the web will now become a hotly contested issue with the government using the North-east as a classic example of how social media was misused.

But the larger question is that whether Indians who are evidently addicted to social networking would be okay with their online rights being curbed. Most would be uncomfortable with any sort of censorship. As far as users are concerned, the government seems to be displaying a blithe ignorance of how effective and useful social media can be.

In case of bomb attacks and accidents,  people very often turn to social media such as Twitter or Facebook,  to get more information or even reach out to those who have been affected. In July 2011 in Mumbai for instance, the Indian Twitter community took it upon themselves to offer rides and other assistance to those stranded as a result of a series of bomb explosions in the city.

Social media has also become a very effective tool of criticising the government.

For India’s online citizens, who are only over a  100 million or so in number, the battles are going to get tougher with the government arguing for more control. There’s no doubt that as far as social media concerned nobody is willing to budge an inch, neither the users nor the government.

Source-Firstpost

80 Internet Sites including Facebook, Google and Twitter accounts to be banned for inflammatory content

The Government has reportedly ordered 80 or more Internet pages and user-accounts on social networking sites including Facebook, Google and Twitter to be banned to avoid panic among people of the North-Eastern region living across India.

All these sites were found hosting inflammatory and hateful content, spreading rumours and inciting violence targeting the people from the North-East, government sources said.

Yesterday, the government had issued instructions to block 76 Internet sites, which included web-pages and some websites, and had said that bulk of the rumours that triggered panic among people of North-eastern states in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra were sourced from Pakistan.

Facebook Helping Police to Check Crime

HUBLI: A social networking site is helping Haveri police track down criminals and streamline traffic.

Police had a tough time getting public support to control crime but are now getting it through their Facebook account. The site is also helping police discipline some errant police personnel and keeping a tab on them.

Superintendent of police Chetansingh Rathod mooted the plan to use the site and opened an account in the name of 'SP Haveri' ten months ago. The efforts to get information and assistance from members of the public have paid off.

The account has 3,500 followers and most help the SP improve the law and order situation in Haveri by posting their complaints, grievances and giving tips about crimes in their areas. Based on these, police are taking action and improving the system. Rathod told STOI, "We targeted educated youths and students and received a good response. With the help of tips and complaints posted online, we disciplined errant constables who were harassing people, particularly motorists, to cough up bribes and those who were not handling traffic at crowded places efficiently. Many are giving tips about errant police personnel, traffic problems in city and other crimes."

He said "We cracked a racket which involved duping people, gambling, and other cases after getting tip-offs. When we got an alert about traffic snarls, we fixed them." Police also cracked a money-doubling racket in Guttal village after an alert on the site. Source-TOI

Basavaraj F Kattimani, TNN | Aug 19, 2012, 07.49AM IST

Facebook, Twitter to be shut in India? North-East exodus

Aug 17: It seems that the central and state governments' appeal to North East people not to leave Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and other cities fell on deaf ears. The exodus of North Eastern people continue to leave for their home states, despite assurances. Amid the grave situation, many have started demanding to shutdown social networking sites in the country for some time to prevent the spreading of such rumours.

Joining Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil, a Samajwadi Party MP, Ramgopal Yadav also stated in Rajya Sabha that social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter should be closed for a few days to prevent the spreading of rumours that are prompting thousands of Northeastern students and people to flee to their home.

The MP along with many other officials believe that social networking sites were being misused to spread rumours on ethnic clashes between the Bodos and Muslims in Assam.

Earlier, Mr Patil was quoted as saying, "We are requesting the central government in helping shut down social networking sites found involved in spreading rumours."

"I have asked police to set aside routine work if need be and concentrate on providing security to people from North East who live in Maharashtra," added Mr Patil.

According to rumours, some unidentified group allegedly circulated some SMSs and emails threatening North-East people to leave the cities before Ramazan. They allegedly have been threatened of attack in metro cities.

Here arises a question for the government and other officials who have been urging to shutdown the social networking sites in the country - can such move really assure the safety of people from North-East who have so far been neglected in their own country?

Mass exodus continued for the second straight day on Friday with three more packed trains leaving for Guwahati. There was a commotion in the Bangalore railway stations with police trying hard to pacify the North Eastern citizens.

Similar kind of hullabaloo was seen in Hyderabad, Chennai and Mysore as well. However, assuring about their security, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday stated, "At all cost we will ensure peace and harmony in the country. We would like all state governments to work with local communities to this effect." Source-Oneindia

Nairita  Friday, August 17, 2012, 14:18 [IST  

Internet protocol address not of Pakistan, says Himanshu Roy

MUMBAI: The Cyber Crime Investigating Cell (CCCI) probe into the SMSs and the uploaded morphed pictures circulated among theminority community which led to provocation, has so far not found any internet protocol (IP) to suggest that it had originated from Pakistan.

"Most of the clippings are morphed and so far investigations we have found that it has been generated from within India itself. We have not come to conclusion to pinpoint any links with any foreign country though our investigations are still going on,'' said Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of police (crime).

The police were probing how these morphed pictures showing atrocities on minorities were uploaded on the facebook and youtube which police believes instigated the mobs to protest at Azad Maidan on Saturday.

Facebook user arrested over hacking threat

Hong Kong police said on Sunday they had arrested a 21-year-old man after he reportedly said on social networking site Facebook that he would hack several government websites.

Police said the man, who was later released on bail, was held on suspicion of "access to a computer with criminal or dishonest intent" after he allegedly threatened to hack seven government websites between June and August this year.

"The Internet is not a virtual world of lawlessness," a police spokesman said, adding that the man was required to report back to the police in October.

The unidentified man was arrested on Friday before being released on bail, the spokesman told AFP.

He faces up to five years imprisonment if found guilty.

Facebook needs a new CEO

By John C Abell July 26, 2012

Facebook has now gone through its first trial by fire as a public company, slightly exceeding revenue expectations (with $1.18 billion) but showing a big loss in its first reported quarter ($157 million). Facebook shares were pummeled in after-hours trading; the company’s market cap has been slashed in half in just 10 weeks.
This is a bad, bad situation for Facebook’s early shareholders, 97% of whom are individual, retail investors – unlike those at the other big tech titans, which are majority-held by institutions: Google (68%) and Apple (67%). That Facebook’s percentage is so high suggests that Facebook is a stock for the masses. The masses need a hero.

Eminem's new record: More than 60 million Facebook 'Likes'

               Eminem is the first person in the world to receive more than 60 million Facebook Likes.
Eminem has more Facebook fans than any other living person, and this week he set a new record: 60 million Facebook Likes. The 39-year-old rapper from Detroit is currently gaining some 24,000 Likes on average per day. The runner-up for the position is Rihanna, who is gaining 26,000 Likes daily.
Putting aside the totals for a second, the growth rates alone are astonishing. One has to wonder how many of these Facebook Likes are being made by fake accounts.

If Rihanna overtakes Eminem, she'll be avenging Lady Gaga, whom Eminem passed earlier last year. That's right: it's been a very slow race. I hinted Rihanna may pass Eminem back in February 2011, and it still hasn't happened.
At the time of writing, here are the top 10 Facebook Pages, courtesy of App Data (via All Facebook):

1. Facebook for Every Phone with 116.82 million Likes.
2. Facebook with 70.21 million Likes.
3. Texas HoldEm Poker with 63.80 million Likes.
4. YouTube with 61.22 million Likes.
5. Eminem with 60.08 million Likes.
6. Rihanna with 59.37 million Likes.
7. The Simpsons with 53.76 million Likes.
8. Shakira with 53.35 million Likes.
9. Lady Gaga with 53.00 million Likes.
10. Michael Jackson with 51.16 million Likes.

I'm always amused when reminded that the official Facebook for Every Phone Facebook Page is the most popular Facebook Page of all, even more popular than the official Facebook Page for Facebook itself. Sorry, that was quite a thoughtful.
Anyway, back to Marshall Mathers. The rapper probably doesn't realize he made social networking history this week. Then again, that might be a good thing. His street cred would probably take a hit if he took a second to acknowledge his Facebook popularity. Source-CNET

by Emil Protalinski

July 31, 2012 1:02 AM PDT