This just in: Google is the Word of the Decade. Tweet was the word of 2009. “Every year throws up new words and phrases that seemingly emerge from nowhere to become part of our everyday language,” says Tech.Blorge (note: though Blorge sounds like it was thrown up, it’s still not a word-of-the-year candidate). The American Dialect Society put tweet ahead of fail, public option, H1N1, death panel, and sexting. Interesting that both tweet and Google are proprietary names, says The English Blog. Those were just two of the neologisms that zeitgeisted out of the Dialect Society’s latest tribunal, which insider Ben Zimmer at the Word Routes blog says was “a standing-room-only affair.” According to You Don’t Say, which also had a reporter present, other lean memes that received honors were: “Sea kittens, an inane substitute for fish proposed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, was voted ‘Most Unnecessary’ winner.”
What else did the Web throw up this week? The Rumpus posted an interview with an anonymous Facebook employee that has some users frantic and others not so much. The FB worker said, among other stuff, that FB insiders once had a master password to access any account, but it’s been deactivated–and “replaced by a pretty cool tool ” that does something similar. Gawker says this illustrates “why you shouldn’t trust Facebook with your data.” (Umm, too late!). All Facebook says Facebook’s PR team is dismissing this interview as a bunk sandwich filled with inaccuracies and misrepresentations. Gizmodo says it’s still unsettling: “Employees still have access to all sorts of info about any user, including what profiles you view and any information you have since deleted. Acceptable business practices or privacy disaster?”
Ah, maybe someday future Web workers will be able to track your twibbons to see how you joined Team Conan on Twitter or connected to I’m with COCO on Facebook. What? American Dialect Society Alert: Code Orange! As the late night comedy wars flared up again, Mashable reported that “Facebookers are showing their support for [Conan O'Brien] by changing their pictures to the COCO image.” TMZ says people who work (worked?) for The Tonight Show and NBC have joined the movement. “So you want to be on Team Conan? Along with the whole Internet, apparently!,” says Pop Watch, which also has the lowdown on the twibbons and a link to the requisite subtitled video mashup, “Hitler learns Leno is moving back to late night.” Meanwhile some are just adding Conan’s hair to their own photos.
Back in the real world (not really!), the New York Times has produced a fascinating (up to a point) interactive tool that maps 2009′s most popular Netflix rentals by zip code in 10 cities. “Great job, NYT. I think I just spent a good hour browsing this one. How’s that for engaging data?” says Flowing Data. FD and NewTeeVee are both all over the data with screen grabs of the most salient demographic trends, like a comparison of the popularity of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in Atlanta vs. Boston.
Bringing closure to another Web meme of 2009, the TV show Tosh.0 opened its new season by giving YouTube sensation David, that kid in the car whose father videotaped him loopy on dental drugs, a bit of revenge. “Comedian Daniel Tosh tracked down a David off the meds and helped him get back at his dad,” says hip parenting blog StrollerDerby. That including giving dad some knockout gas and some payback.
Yeah, the Web knows how to laugh at itself, but it can get serious quickly too. Blogs and social networks around the globe stepped up quickly to try helping Haiti after this week’s catastrophic earthquake. Everyone from conservative blogger Michelle Malkin to The Daily Beast to British left-wing blog Liberal Conspiracy is listing ways to go online or off and help. Popeater looks at Haitian native Wyclef Jean’s efforts to mobilize help, including his trip to Haiti and his tweeting soliciting donations. Search Engine Watch details how searches on “Haiti relief” delivered extremely useful information, especially on Google and Bing. BaltTech reports that an American Red Cross campaign to let people donate money by text message, spread via Facebook and elsewhere, had raised more $800,000. Occasionally Google and tweet are more than just buzzwords.
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