The Feed is Digiday’s Web-culture corner. Check The Feed everyday for Web-culture news roundups, infographics, essays and more. Follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day on Twitter @digiday.
From Tahrir Square to Wall Street: Occupy Wall Streeters are getting some help from an experienced revolutionary: Ahmed Maher, one of the co-founders of the online activist group April 6 Youth and a prominent figure in the Egyptian revolution against the Mubarak regime. Maher has been chatting online (mostly via Facebook) with Occupy Wall Street organizers and giving them valuable advice on the logistics of orchestrating non-violent protests and how to deal with police. However, for the first time, this past Tuesday Maher met in person with an Occupy Wall Street offshoot group, Occupy D.C., in D.C.’s McPherson Square. Maher’s main message to Occupy Wall Street protesters is for them to keep their eyes on the big picture, on one main message that they can all get behind. The Occupy Wall Street Movement has been getting a lot of criticism for its lack of a clear mission statement, so maybe it’s about time they take the advice of a seasoned social activist and revolutionary leader and actually buckle down and choose a main message that would unify the movement and give it a clear purpose. Wired
Secure Your Online Legacy: Surely you’ve considered establishing your online legacy through a top level domain name of your own, right? If not, you better get to it, because according to dotFamilyName, a new service that helps you “carry your name forward in the digital era” by purchasing your own top level domain name, there are only 1,000 TLDs available. So if you have the money and technological skills to get through the “expensive and complex acquisition process,” dotFamilyName will ensure that you “secure your place in this inner sanctum” of the elite few people with money to burn and egos to feed. To get a full sense of the exclusivity and elitist card that dotFamilyName’s marketing is banking on, check out its description of the product it is offering:
Discover your newest domain — the most exclusive real estate in the digital world. An address so prestigious and technologically advanced, that it places you and your family at the very apex of the digital landscape. Now, as well as .com and .net, there will also be .coke and .nike, and even .familynames. These new top level domain addresses will enable an elite few to represent themselves and their families at the right side of the dot.
What about just some good old monogrammed shirts or something? dotFamilyName
This is Your Brain on Facebook: We are always talking about the negative side effects of Facebook, whether it’s cyberbullying, oversharing, social media addiction and so on; but for once here is a positive note: Scientists at University College London found a direct link between the number Facebook friends one has and the size of certain brain regions that play a role in memory, emotional responses and social interactions. While the findings only suggest a correlation, it is still a pretty interesting and important relationship to consider: how much is Facebook really changing our brains and how we interact? Reuters
Viral Trend of the Day: Who knew that the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles’ heads were modeled after the human nose? BuzzFeed
Video of the Day: The Real Housewives of South Boston. I’d watch that Bravo. The Daily What
Ad position: web_incontent_pos1
More in Media
NewFronts Briefing: Samsung, Condé Nast, Roku focus presentations on new ad formats and category-specific inventory
Day two of IAB’s NewFronts featured presentations from Samsung, Condé Nast and Roku, highlighting new partnerships, ad formats and inventory, as well as new AI capabilities.
The Athletic to raise ad prices as it paces to hit 3 million newsletter subscribers
The New York Times’ sports site The Athletic is about to hit 3 million total newsletter subscribers. It plans to raise ad prices as as a result of this nearly 20% year over year increase.
NewFronts Briefing: Google, Vizio and news publishers pitch marketers with new ad offerings and range of content categories
Day one of the 2024 IAB NewFronts featured presentations from Google and Vizio, as well as a spotlight on news publishers.
Ad position: web_bfu