A new study reported in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal, actually dug into the physiological responses to people who visit social networking sites.

Measurements of physical and psychological responses such as breathing rate, brain activation, and pupil dilation, designed to assess a person’s psychophysiological state, were collected in a group of individuals participating in either a relaxing or stressful task or being online on their own personal Facebook account. The results revealed a significantly different experience for stress or relaxation exposure compared to the response to Facebook.

The journal featured several articles on such topics as:

Pleasure to Play, Arousal to Stay: The Effect of Player Emotions on Digital Game Preferences and Playing Time

A Review of Internet Pornography Use Research: Methodology and Content from the Past 10 Years

It Is All About Being Popular: The Effects of Need for Popularity on Social Network Site Use

As a result of these events, users have an outlet to let their voice be heard. According to a new study from Topix and Equation Research, the gap that once separated voters and politics is getting smaller and smaller, largely because of the Internet.

Where do you go to get your political information? Let us know.

The companies surveyed 1,000 U.S. voters and found that more voters are going online for political information. In addition, more than a quarter of voters are going to the Web to participate in political discussions and debates.

“People are working these issues out themselves by talking to the people on the Net,” said Chris Tolles, CEO of Topix.

One of the reasons people are going to the Web is because many in the U.S. distrust the media for issues of bias, as the Gallup Poll found last year. Tolles told us that Internet gives users choice and lets them be a part of the political process in a scalable way.

As he explained, voters want to see both sides presented. They’re not just looking for an echo chamber, but they’re looking for an interactive experience that platforms such as Topix, Facebook, and Twitter provide.

TV is still the biggest source that voters rely on for political information, but the Internet isn’t too far behind with those surveyed weighing in at 78 percent and 68 percent respectively. Although the Internet is gaining ground, Tolles does not believe TV will lose its value. Instead, he thinks the two will merge to some degree.

The main difference between the two is the interactivity that the Web offers. Tolles told us that voters want to have a “personal relationship” with news, which interactivity helps to promote.

“The Internet gives you a chance, as an individual, to get [to be] a little bit bigger part of the process,” he said.

He went on to say that the relationship between politics and the Internet would continue to grow and that more voters would look to the Web for political information going forward. Tolles also said that politicians would have to figure out how to embrace the Web more effectively.

How do you see the relationship between politics and the Web evolving over time? We’d love to know.

Consumer Intelligence Research Partners has released a study today that sheds some light on the issue. According to their data, 18% of those who bought the iPhone 4S at its launch in October were switching from other smartphone platforms like BlackBerry and Android. For October, November, and December 2011 combined, that number jumps to 36%.

Additionally, CIRP’s data showed that the iPhone has had a significant impact on the market shares of the major carriers. Three of the four major carriers – AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint – carry the iPhone. The fourth, T-Mobile, does not. CIRP’s data showed that T-Mobile lost market share during the first three months of the iPhone 4S’s availability, while the other three maintained their market share.

Interestingly, the fact that 36% of new iPhone buyers were coming from other platforms seems not to have had much of an impact on those other platforms’ market share. According to an analysis released by StatCounter at the end of 2011, BlackBerry and Android continued fairly steadily in their respective trends throughout the last quarter of 2011. BlackBerry declined steadily throughout 2011, and showed no change in the rate of decline during the three months the iPhone 4S was available. Android, meanwhile, continued its steady climb throughout the year (even surpassing the iPhone in late summer), though it did show a very slight levelling off in October, around the time of the iPhone 4S’s launch.

[Hat tip, AppleInsider]

The survey (PDF) found that iOS devices are the most popular devices on corporate networks. Thirty percent of devices were iOS, while BlackBerry came in a close second at 29%. Android devices were a relatively distant third at 21%, and Windows Mobile and Windows Phone came in at a respectable 18%.

Another interesting finding from the study is that IT professionals saw Anrdoid as the greatest security risk, followed by iOS, then BlackBerry. Also, 64% of respondents said that they had experienced an increase in security threats to their company’s system in the last two years, while 34% said they had seen no change, and 3% saw a decline.

Other interesting findings from the study include: 89% of respondents said that there were mobile devices connecting to their corporate networks; 65% allow employees to use their own devices; 71% said that the proliferation of mobile devices has increased security risks; and 72% said that careless employees present a higher threat to security than hackers.

RIM, the makers of BlackBerry, have just announced the appointment of a new CEO and President, Thorsten Heins. The timing of this report is interesting, in that it shows the kind of hole Heins has to dig RIM – which once held almost undisputed hegemony in the enterprise mobile market – out of in order to make the company more competitive again.

Consoles were the biggest troublemakers overall, accounting for more than 60% of the total questions posted on the website. In fact, of the top 7 problematic products consoles took the first three spots. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was the most troublesome console, with 5,000 more questions reported than Sony’s PlayStation 3, which in turn had over 30,000 more complaints than Nintendo’s Wii. The biggest problem for Xbox 360 users was the dreaded Red Ring of Death, which signals massive failure of the console’s hardware (usually due to overheating), and was responsible for 45% of reported issues.

Meanwhile, the iPhone topped the list of troublesome smartphones by a wide margin. There were nearly 100,000 complaints about the iPhone, compared to just shy of 40,000 for the second place Samsung Galaxy S. Forty percent of the iPhone complaints dealt with battery life, while a further 15% were concerned with dropped calls.

Apple fared far better in the tablet department, however. The iPad WiFi was at the bottom of the list of tablets, and had less than a third the complaints of the leader, the Coby Kyros. The iPad also got fewer complants than the Samsung Galaxy and the Amazon Kindle, again by a considerable margin.

Did you have any of these problems over the holiday break? Let us know in the comments.

[Source: FixYa]

WebProNews spoke with Alec Milton, the CEO of Oasys, who told us that 92 percent of employees spend up to one hour per day searching for email. In addition, another 64 percent of those surveyed said that they were forced to delete important emails because their inbox was too full.

Milton went on to say that these issues would likely get worse since the amount of email that employees receive will increase going forward. A report from The Radicati Group predicts that the number of worldwide email accounts will increase from 3.1 billion in 2011 to nearly 4.1 billion by the end of 2015. From this number, the technology market research firm expects a large portion of this growth to be from corporate email accounts. The report stated:

“Over the next four years, however, we expect corporate email accounts to increase at a faster pace than consumer email accounts. This will be particularly due to the growth of affordable cloud-based email services. Many organizations are using cloud-based email services as a way to extend email services to kiosk workers who may not have had access to email in the past.”

Milton told us that email management problems needed to be taken seriously, especially as email becomes a primary mode of communication. Well-known investment firm Piper Jaffray is not even exempt from these issues. The company was fined $700K by Finra for failure to retain emails.

“It’s the business communication of choice, but people don’t treat it with the same care that they did with their paper documents in the past,” he said.

In terms of advice, Milton suggested that employees file their important emails in the same way that they would file paper documents in folders. He also recommends that companies use software services, such as Oasys, to protect themselves from legal turmoil.

Are you taking the proper precautions to make sure your business’s email system is effective? Let us know.

Retrovo’s data reflects this in a number of ways. First is TV selling price. While certain “name brands” like Sony or Samsung used to command a significantly higher price than “off brands” like Vizio, that is no longer the case. This study shows that the selling price for Sony’s TVs is now roughly comparable to Vizio’s:

Second, and perhaps more telling, is user ratings. The study compares user ratings across major HDTV brands, and finds very little difference. While Samsung is the closest thing to a clear leader the data shows, Samsung TVs are only rated 3% higher than Vizio and LG, which are tied for second place. The lowest rated brand is Sony, but Sony TVs are only rated 2% lower than the next lowest brand, Panasonic, and only 6% lower than the “leader,” Samsung.

More and more, the study says, TV makers are turning to connectivity as a way to differentiate their products. Nearly half of all TVs above 37 inches included internet connectivity of some kind – usually to video services like Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon instant video, or audio services like Pandora. This, however, may not be enough according to the study. As the focus on internet connectivity in the TV market intensifies, the study predicts that software makers like Google, Apple, and Microsoft are well positioned to become major players in the television market. The study specifically cites recent rumors of Apple’s iTV, which may or may not be headed for a late 2012 release. With software makers treating the HDTV the way they’ve been treating the mobile phone – as a platform for software development – they stand to revolutionize the HDTV industry, and leave more traditional TVs in the dust.

What do you think? Are we on the brink of a TV revolution? Sound off in the comments.

[Source: Retrovo Blog]

Word processors were the most popular software, with 76% of students ranking them as the most important software tool they used. Eighty-one precent rated the laptop as their most important device, followed by the printer at 73%. The study also showed a sharp divide between students and their instructors: only 67% of instructors used laptops. While 33% of students use a smartphone, only 17% of instructors do. More importantly, students are aware of the gap. Forty percent said their instructors did not use technology effectively, and only 59% said that their institution as a whole uses technology well. Wifi was one of the most important pieces of technology for students: 75% said that wifi access improved their grads, 90% said it was as essential to education as a classroom or computer, and 60% said they would not go to a school they knew did not offer free wifi. The study also estimated that wifi will be present on 99% of college campuses by 2013.

The full infographic is below. Take a look, and let us know what you think in the comments.

The results were surprising, especially when you read about how more and more people are getting their news from social media recommendations. Nevertheless, Outbrain’s findings were clear: Social media sucks at driving web traffic.

Or does it?

Earlier, we received an email from Outbrain and their findings have been adjusted to such a degree, the “sucks” descriptor in relation to social media is not as accurate as it once was. First, Outbrain’s findings:

Top 20 Traffic Sources to Content Pages

1 Google
2 Yahoo
3 AOL/Huffington Post
4 Facebook
5 MSN*
6 Drudge Report
7 CNN
8 Outbrain
9 StumbleUpon
10 Twitter
11 FoxNews.com
12 reddit
13 MediaTakeOut
14 Fark
15 Slate
16 Comcast
17 NewsNow.co.uk
18 Wikipedia
19 Digg
20 Real Clear Politics

*Includes Bing and Live.com

In the previous report, Facebook was out of the top ten as a traffic source, and in the new findings, Facebook is now in the top five. That’s much more congruent with the realization many web users get their news, or at least recommendations for news, from Facebook.

Oddly enough, however, is Twitter’s fall. In the previous report, Twitter was ranked in the top seven, and in the new data, Twitter has fallen to the tenth spot. Considering the increase of Twitter use, that may be surprising, but previous studies have shown Twitter is good at driving traffic to blogs and other social media outlets, but not so good when it comes to driving traffic to retail sites.

Another area of surprise, or at least, perhaps mirth is Outbrain’s insistence on sticking themselves in these rankings. Again, the company responsible for the study is ranked eighth, which represents a drop of two places from the previous study. It should be noted that Outbrain makes content widgets, like the following:

And these appear on a number of large news sites, including USAToday and The Chicago Tribune. This would help explain Outbrain’s traffic-driving prowess considerably.

Then there’s the matter of Reddit.com. Considering Reddit’s explosive growth, which, oddly enough, coincides with Digg’s update failure, it’s surprising it ranks so low on Outbrain’s findings, new or previous. Reddit’s traffic driving prowess, according to Outbrain, ranked around the one percent mark. Google’s, on the other hand, ranks in the 32 percentile. Does this mean that all those Reddit members aren’t clicking links, or, much like the Twitter findings, is Reddit only good at driving traffic to certain kinds of sites?

In the case of Reddit, the enthusiastic users have helped make Imgur a viable image bank, although, it’s doubtful they would do much in the way of having an impact on the traffic going to FoxNews.com, for instance.

Do these new findings change your thoughts about using Facebook and Twitter for promotional content or do will you still shy away from them, choosing, instead, to focus on Google and Yahoo’s properties?

Let us know what you think.

The research, which polled 3000 adults, revealed that while the average adult freely divulges a string of personal details on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, most would not give friends or colleagues their PIN number.

Despite 86 per cent of adults saying they would never hand over their PIN to someone they know, one in twenty people have their home address visible on a social networking sites.

Similarly, whilst only five per cent of people would let their best mate have access to their PIN number, 50 per cent of respondents have their relationship status visible online. 28 per cent also have their partner’s name visible and 20 per cent have the name of their employer visible online.

Unbelievably nearly two thirds of people also have their date of birth on networking sites which is always a security question when telephoning banks or building societies.

Speaking on the findings Paul Wooding, Head of UK Public Sector for NetApp comments: “It’s ironic that so many people are cautious with friends and family when it comes to security details, yet include really personal data on social networking sites.”

“It’s really alarming that people have so much confidential information like a home address available on their Facebook profile. As soon as you update your profile saying you are off on holiday all your hundreds of friends and now potentially anyone searching on Google, will know your home is empty for the next few weeks.”

The poll also revealed that a blasé seven per cent of people said that the whole point of social networking sites was so people can keep track of you and know what you’re up to.

Although a quarter of people did admit that the amount of information they had freely available on the World Wide Web did sometimes worry them.

But when it comes to our nearest and dearest it’s a different story, with less than half of people trusting their partner with their PIN number for their main cash card.

But it’s not just our friends who we don’t trust – three quarters of people said they do not trust the government with their personal data and more than two thirds also said that they feel that the government acts like Big Brother, and knows far too much about them.

For more than half of Brits (52 per cent) the biggest bone of contention is the government having access to our medical details.

The next big issue for respondents was data records on salaries, which 20 per cent objected to being held by the powers that be. One in twenty British adults were also sensitive about the government holding information on the amount of benefits we receive.

These issues were reflected in the concern around the security of government data shown by the poll. 78 per cent of those polled advised that incidents of public sector workers losing laptops containing personal data on members of the public worried them, with medical information and then salary information being the items they are most worried about being leaked.

A spokesman for NetApp added: “The risks of the government data being leaked or lost is minimal to the risks of security lapses on social networking sites. People need to look after themselves and really think about the information they make visible.”

“Technology today means that organisations are well equipped to be able to store and manage data effectively. The fear is perhaps heightened because of high profile cases of data breaches but in reality many of us are sharing very personal and sometimes sensitive information with the whole world without giving it much thought.”

INFORMATION PEOPLE DIVULGE ON NETWORKING SITES
 
Full name: 92 per cent
Hometown: 62 per cent
Date of Birth: 59 per cent
Relationship status: 49 per cent
Secondary school: 40 per cent
Marital status: 33 per cent
University/College: 30 per cent
Partners name: 28 per cent
Employer: 20 per cent
Job title: 18 per cent
Parental status: 17 per cent
Primary school: 16 per cent
Children’s names: 9 per cent
Full address: 5 per cent

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