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Sandra is a techno-geek who is generally excited by anything with buttons, touch screens or flashing lights. Currently, she is a contract lecturer at both the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Pietermaritzburg) and Varsity College, specialising in social media, journalism and ethics, while simultaneously trying to grapple with a PhD that deals with newspaper cartoons and a socially responsible press in South Africa. As a wannabe academic, she has presented research on social media at several communication conferences, both locally and internationally, and published two academic journal articles and a book chapter in the past three years. She is also in the process of converting her Masters dissertation, which dealt with YouTube and copyright issues in the South African context, into a book.
Last week, All Amber hosted the third Mobile Web East Africa conference in Nairobi. The event, which allows key industry players to share ideas, addressed various issues ranging from the mobile film industry, the work of NGOs in Africa, to startup developers demonstrating their wares.This helped provide greater insight into the mobile market both in East Africa and the rest of the continent; proving that Africa should be considered as one of the most important up-and-coming players in ...
Hands up if you’re surprised that the Mayans were wrong; better yet, hands up if, like me, you took their prediction as an excuse to spend way too much on wine to ‘prepare’ for the imminent apocalypse. But then again, the day’s not over so we might still face zombies, Horsemen or the Second Coming, wine in hand. Either way, 2012 is on its way out, and while we wait for whatever may happen, we can reminisce over the year that’s ...
Could Myspace’s new re-brand finally give it the competitive edge needed to really challenge the dominance of Facebook?If the new design, launched by new owners Joseph Mark (and backed by Justin Timberlake) is anything to go by, it seems a likely assumption. By giving users a unique opportunity to enter a social network that caters to a specific niche demographic -- musicians, filmmakers, photographers, and their fans -- it deviates from the clutter that litters Facebook, and the ...
In the wake of the Arab spring, and the fall of a number of government regimes, many writers and social commentators have highlighted the power that social media gives the ordinary citizen.This sentiment seems true if we consider that students from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa used Facebook to help unpaid staff members to finally be heard and renumerated. The Facebook group ‘UKZN Student Action’, rallied together recently in protest, after it was reported that ...
By now, most Facebook users have made the transition to the new Timeline profile page, and it’s only inevitable that the resistant few will be forced to follow, as Facebook make the changes permanent in the next week or so. The change has been advertised as a way in which to “rediscover the things you shared”, but more importantly, as a way to map personal milestones that occurred in the days pre-social media. As with all Facebook updates, user response ...
There is no doubt that social media has changed the way in which people interact with organisational brands, and yet many companies still lag behind when it comes to developing a coherent strategy in regard to social technologies. In a recent report, Forrester, an independent research company, highlighted that one in five businesses do not use social technologies at all, and a third of all companies are still getting off the ground.Organisations can, however, change this trend and reach ...
We all know that Google recently updated its terms, conditions and privacy policies. The company argued that the change would ensure that all Google services would be consolidated under one, simple to understand, universal set of conditions, rather than expecting users to navigate a multitude of separate policies for each of their services.Few analysts have been convinced, with many citing that Google is more concerned with turning a profit than protecting user privacy; either way, Google has gone ahead with ...
YouTube abounds with information, some useful, some completely useless, and some that defies all reason to exist. You can find videos on how to pour beer, shower and tie your shoes in the correct way. Who knew that you’d been doing it wrong all this time? There are also hints on how to take apart an ATM, cheat on a test and stalk your ex-girlfriend. None of which is advisable, but you can still learn how to do ...
Sky News has come under immense criticism after it was reported that it had banned all employees re-tweeting information provided by rival journalists and the general public. In an email issued to all employees on Tuesday, the news organisation stated that in order to maintain its credibility, new social media guidelines had been put into place.In the policy, journalists are no longer permitted to re-tweet stories which originate outside the organisation, nor are they allowed to comment ...
When one mentions gaming, your mind is generally flooded with images of washed-out nerdy white guys, sitting in a darkened room, hunched over their computers for days on end. But if recent research is anything to go by, the stereotype is changing, as more and more female gamers enter the fray.A recent study conducted by PopCap Games (most famous for Plants vs Zombies and Bejeweled) found that women were the most active gamers on social networking sites, making ...
Stuart Thomas: Senior reporter 
Michelle Atagana: Managing Ed. 
Lauren Granger: Staff Reporter 
