When I say Tiananmen Square Massacre, what is the first thought or image that comes to your mind? For the vast majority of people it is the image of the young man making a stand in front of the rolling tank.

There are many such images or photographs out there that has forever influenced public perception. One can cry all you want about starving children, but nothing moves a person emotionally until they see a picture of precious young child starving without food.

This is the power of images. Whether an image of news, or the images we see on TV.

The Iran Twitter Revolution

As you may or may not know, everyone has been following the news of the turmoil in Iran through the Internet. As journalists are not allowed (or more like afraid) to officially transmit news out of that country, all the recently events have been followed through YouTube videos and twitter updates. It has been one of the most interesting phenomenons of late.

Hundreds of Thousands of Iranians have been protesting the recent elections between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and 2 other candidates. The crowds are crying fraud due to multiple suspicious figures and the bias way the government conducted the elections. The following demonstrations are now being captured on YouTube videos and being twittered all around the globe. The Tehran’s leaders had taken down telephone systems, took down websites, confiscated tapes from journalists and dispatched police to beat and arrest anyone who dares to protest. The leaders have done everything they could to try to control the news coming out of Iran. Yet they completely underestimated the power of the citizen journalists and the use of social media. Iran, as a highly computer literate country, had citizen hackers working to keep media lines open while the government continually try to shut them down.

One example of Iranian Twittering about the Demonstration: Tehran Bureau

YouTube Videos of Recent Demonstrations

Protest News Coverage from Different Parts of Iran

Power of a Images in Turning Public Opinion

Recently a young woman named Neda Agha-Soltan (Neda means “voice” or “the calling” in Farsi) was shown on video being shot by a sniper’s bullet during a demonstration. As she fell to the ground, she instantly became the face of “freedom”, the symbol of the entire opposition. As this video, which was caught on a cell phone camera, spread quickly around the globe, it has strongly impacted the view of the world’s public opinion.

“[Neda] has become a global symbol of innocence destroyed by evil.” - Times Online

Below is an excerpt about the power of images by Breakpoint
Note: The Book referenced here called “How Now Shall We Live?” is one of my favorite books of all time.

Other photos have moved entire nations. As I wrote in my book, How Now Shall We live?, I’ll never forget the first time I saw the famous 1972 photo of a little Vietnamese girl, Kim Phuc, running away after a bombing, her skin burned by napalm. That photo broke my heart and the hearts of countless others, and as I would later write, it “became an emblem for an entire nation questioning its reason for being in Vietnam.”

Another photograph from Vietnam had a similar effect: the photo of South Vietnamese General Nguyen executing a Viet Cong prisoner in February 1968. The picture has often been cited as the image that “as much as any, turned public opinion against the war”—even though the photographer, Eddie Adams, who saw both sides of the story, had not intended it that way.

Adams later wrote, “The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world.”

Adams was right. For better or for worse, images shape our thinking, our emotions, and our responses to the world around us. Context is always important, for sometimes images can mislead, as Eddie Adams discovered. But sometimes images can show us the truth about ordinary people, people just like us, fighting for the same rights that we so often take for granted.

Could the video of Neda’s lifeblood pouring out on the streets of Tehran be the image that changes everything for her country?

That I don’t know. But I do know this. No matter how hard the Iranian government tries to silence the calls for freedom, Neda has given her fellow Iranians a voice that the world can’t help but hear.

• What is your opinion about the power of images in media?
• What does this tell us about how we should approach the intake of all media such as tv shows and movies?
• What is your reaction to Iran’s Twitter Revolution and the role of social media?

No related posts.

What followed was a wave of online attention never seen before. The spike in traffic was so abnormal that Google thought they were being attacked by a virus or spyware application. When people searched Google News for “Michael Jackson” they would receive an “we’re sorry” error page.

Some other social media statistics related to Michael Jackson’s Death:

• Web Usage: Jumped to 4.2 million global visitors per MINUTE. Normal is around 2 million.
• Web Search: More than 50% of top 100 searches were related to Michael Jackson
• Mobile Search: Saw the largest spike ever with 5 of 20 searches being about Michael Jackson
• Yahoo: Single day record of 16.4 million visitors
• CNN: Significantly slowed as they saw 20 million page views and saw traffic jump 5x normal levels within the first hour after the news broke.
• AIM: Went down for 40 minutes
• iTunes: 8 of the top 10 selling albums for download were from Michael Jackson, 8 of the top 10 music videos were also Michael Jackson related. 5 of the top 10 songs.
• Amazon: 10 of the top 25 albums for download were Michael Jackson.
• Amazon: For all CD sales, Jackson held 17 of the top 20 spots including all top 10 slots.
• Youtube: “Thriller Video” currently has 43.5 million views and 185,000 comments.
• Youtube: Fans are uploading videos in droves in memory of Michael Jackson
• Twitter: 5,000 tweets per minute
• Twitter: 23% of all tweets dedicated to the star.
• Twitter: 9 out of 10 popular topics were about Michael Jackson.
• Twitter: Celebrities expresses sorrows while followed by millions on Twitter.
• Facebook: Groups formed to organize vigils and celebration of Jackson
• Domains: Nearly 4,000 domain names related to Michael Jackson registered on Go Daddy within the first day
• Rumors: In conjuction with this news was a flurry of activity with rumors of Jeff Goldblum’s death. This was later shown to be unfounded.

AOL called it a “seminal moment in Internet History… we’ve never seen anything like it”.

Every major news station highlighted Michael Jackson’s Death with large images with multiple articles covering his history, his glorious career, his troubled past, suspicions about his death, about his family, his wealth, and more. It was the fastest and largest wave of information over one news in such a short period of time. The internet as a whole was “slow” as all the major news stations and websites were slowed by the sudden surge in traffic.

I appreciate Michael Jackson’s talents, his singing ability, his dancing ability, it all was fantastic and worth admiring for what it was. However the question I want to pose is…

What does this incredible level of attention towards a pop icon tell us about the culture we live in?

If a war broke out between two small countries, it wouldn’t attract this level of attention. Millions of starving children? Most people wouldn’t read that article, too depressing. How about the continual sex trafficking occurring all around the world? Most people are not even aware of it.

I don’t blame the news outlets, since honestly most of the articles written are just fillers about random things as journalist are trying to find something they could write about. News like this is a goldmine. However they definitely help feed the fire. See some headlines below.

• Unravelling Michael Jackson’s Finances - Newsweek
• Michael Jackson dead at 50: Did drugs kill the King of Pop? - Telegraph
• 6 Random Michael Jackson Pop-culture moments - NYmag
• The History of Michael Jackson’s Face - Anomalies Unlimited
• Michael Jackson and the Jewish Nose - Jewish Telgraphic Agency
• Jackson’s art trumps questionable behavior - StatesmanJournal
• Michael Jackson’s Ex-Nanny Reveals his Drug Habits - Celebuzz

I don’t need to read about the history of Michael Jackson’s face thank you. Every angle you can think of, they wrote it. But the world has never seen this kind of explosion in interest and activity over anything in such a short period of time.

Another Question:
How does one reconcile with the thought that Michael Jackson has a long history of being accused of molesting boys… yet is celebrated and admired on a level very few ever will achieve?

First of all let’s be clear, the question says “accused” not “convicted’. Michael Jackson was found not guilty of the accusations brought before him, though he still continued to allow boys to sleep in the same bed as he did. Yet with the plastic surgeries and the bleaching of skin, Michael Jackson’s was labeled “weird” and “perverse” and his reputation took a huge hit which he never recovered from. By the way Michael Jackson had a skin conditions that would create white blotches on his skin, thus the bleaching of his skin. In case you did not know.

This question is far broader than Michael Jackson. It is a question of how in many circumstances, a celebrity (or any person for that matter) could do the worst of things, yet it is often overshadowed or overlooked simply because of what they are able to accomplish. There are so many actors, singers, sports players who are involved in all sorts of scandals and shown to have very little morals or virtue, yet all it takes is another awesome acting performance, or the memory of some incredible song we all have grown fond of, to simply push all the “bad” aside. Is that right? What does that tell us about our culture and what does that teach our children? Just a thought.

“Michael Jackson proves, in a really sort of perverse way, that maybe we’re not as offended by behavior as we are entranced by music. And think about that. Think about what level of quality you must have to attain to have somebody say, “I know that you’re accused of having molested children, but I can’t hate you for that as much as I love you for your music.”

“There’s just one Michael Jackson now. We don’t have to reconcile the Michael Jackson we love with another Michael Jackson. In a way, he has returned to pristine condition in death. We can be free now for the rest of our lives to love the Michael Jackson we used to love.”
- John Mayer

• Do you agree with this statement?
• Does the fact that he contributed greatly to society both in his music and the blurrying of racial lines in music, “cover over” the fact he has been accused of perverse conduct? Does a right cover a wrong?
• Does the world’s immense reaction to his death tell us anything about our culture focus and values?

Again, just a thought. What do you think?

No related posts.

Heard of these titles? These are just an example of the rise of the vampire genre in recent literature and film. Popular among the youth, these books presents unique young characters catering to different types of teenagers. Unlike traditional vampire stories where vampires are blood-sucking epitome of evil, these new modern vampires are young teenagers discovering their self-identity and going through all the awkwardness and problems of a typical teenager boy or girl. Oh, plus dealing with immortality and dealing with inter species relationships. Of course.

As teenagers go through physical and emotional changes, they have to deal with new feelings and desires they have never felt before. They are often confused, full of anxiety, constantly focused on how they measure to those around them and always self-conscious as they try to form their own sense of self-identity. Unfortunately, outside of family influence, most of their identity gets formed through the peer pressures of school and the unrelenting media. The media fills their minds with images of what is cool, what is normal, and what is not. It helps mold their self-perception as they compare themselves with what they see on screen or read in books because that is what they perceive reality to be.

Each of these vampire stories cater to a different type of teenager. Twilight is catered to a wider audience and all awkward teenage girls and boys. Vampire Kisses is focused on the insecure teenager discovering herself. Blue Bloods cater to the fashion, shopping type. Regardless, the issues of peer pressure, discovering love, the anxieties of adolescent life is something the youth are drawn towards.

If you are interested in a small summary of each of these series and info on the main teenage character check out this article on vampire influences on self identification.

• Have you read any of these books?
• What is your take on the teenager characters?
• Are they good examples or bad examples?
• How do you think it is influencing the teenagers of today?

Related posts:

1. The Secret Life of the American Teenager - Sex Obsessed ABC “Family Channel”

3D Chalk Art Butterfly by Julian Beever

Simply amazing. How is that not real. I imagine myself sliding my hands beneath the butterfly to see if it is really afloat.

3D Chalk Art Butterfly

3D Chalk Art - Waterfall by Julian Beever at Madrid

If I was walking by and saw this waterfall I would be instantly drawn in and delighted to discover it is actually a piece of art. Think about the careful angle calculations that were involved in making this happen.

3D Chalk Art - Waterfall by Julian Beever at Madrid

3D Chalk Art - Laptop - Julian Beever

I can imagine someone trying to steal this laptop when no one is looking, only to discover how foolish they look.

3D Chalk Art - Laptop - Julian Beever

3D Chalk Art - Mirror Image

Here Julian Beever actually draws himself. Which one is the real one? Well it’s easy to tell, none the less pretty amazing. Reminds me of that one music video “take on me” where half of the video was in drawn format.

3D Chalk Art - Mirror Image

3D Chalk Art - Hole of the Dead

Don’t want to be walking next to this hole in the ground. Scary stuff. They should have a real person lie there and grab people as they walk by. Excellent…

3D Chalk Art - Hole of the Dead

Julian Beever at Copenhagen - 3D Chalk Art

Julian Beever is way to lose to the edge! I hope he didn’t fall over and hurt himself! Amazing he can draw from so far up!

Enjoy those?

Check out the previous installments here!

• 3d Chalk Art Part I
• 3d Chalk Art Part II
• 3D Building Chalk Art Special

Which one is your favorite? Let us know below! Don’t be a lurker now…

No related posts.

Please note the following…

• Many Bugs - I am not a programmer, so I am learning as I go making it very possible to find bugs and broken links during this transition. So bear with us!
• Advertising Slots - This theme has giant slots for advertising. I don’t know what I am going to do with those slots just yet. I may replace it with something else, or use them for personal use. One thing I did want to do to test how hard it is for a person to advertise using Google Adsense while weeding out the bad items. For those who don’t know, Google Adsense uses the context within the page to determine the most relevant ad. Well unfortunately when our articles talk about sex, anorexia, video games, among other things what ads will show? Is it even feasible for a person to be able to utilize adsense on their blog, what is the best way to go about it. I’ll be testing this and eventually will get around to writing about it. Meanwhile please alert me if you see any ads you deem inappropriate. info @ cleancutmedia.com. I am already taking major precautions while doing small tests at a time.

For the time being I’ve put up a note about donating to 30 hour famine. The money goes to feed the starving kids around the world. Consider donating! $30 feeds a child for an entire month. That’s a $1 a day. Anything will be appreciated.

Please let us know what you think about the new layout in the comment section below!

No related posts.

Anorexia Weight Loss

A Web page labeled “Ana Boot Camp” recently offered its members a seemingly irresistible proposition: a 30-day regimen designed to help them drop some serious pounds, no exercise needed. The catch was that the group’s members were to vary their daily caloric intake from 500 (less than half the daily minimum requirement for women recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine) to zero. They were supposed to track their progress, fast to make up for the days they accidentally “overate” and support each other as they worked toward their common goal of radical weight loss.

Pro Anorexia or “Pro-Ana” Sites

Pro-anorexia, or sometimes called “pro-ana,” Web sites have been a common fixture in the internet world. The site quoted above was actually a page created in Facebook. These sites have users sharing dangerous diet tips and posting pictures of very skinny girls. The purpose of these sites is to give one another “thinspiration”. Users tend to comment and posting anonymously or with a secret aliases.

“These sites provided a setting where I could talk about the illness without people trying to fix me or tell me that what I’m doing is horrible, disgusting, maladaptive… For me, part of the illness was just about getting attention. You feel so lonely and you want someone to notice you, and I guess that’s kind of the way to do it, even with other sick people.” - Rose 17, Maryland High School Senior

Pro Anorexia Social Network

Sites such as Facebook allows a secondary dynamic by allowing close networking. The girls who visit these pages can now trade information with one another and even exchange phone numbers to talk over their issues. Dr. Steven Crawford, associate director of the Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt in Baltimore, mentioned that when such pro anorexia sites are centered in a social networking site such as Facebook, it becomes appealing because it allows them to make a stand and simply declare their disorder. Having a community with the same issues gives one courage rather than having to deal with hiding and keeping it to themselves.

The creators of these groups claim they were created so anorexic girls can support one another. Some of these sites are legit by focusing on recovering from anorexia. However the problem is that the more girls get exposed to these pro anorexia sites, the more they are likely to gain a eating disorder according to Stanford professor Rebecka Peebles, M.D.

She also found in a study in 2006, that 96% of teens diagnosed with eating disorders who have visited pro anorexic sites ended up discovering new dieting or purging techniques.

One girl named Stef, 19, had joined several pro anorexia sites drawing the worries of her friends. However she said that it is “helping me deal with my eating disorder”. She enjoys the thinspiration, the weight loss tips and finding fasting partners.

Anti Pro Anorexia Stronger

The anorexia opposition is even stronger. Anti-anorexia groups far outnumber the pro-ana groups on Facebook. Some of the purposes of these groups is to find pro-ana sites and ask Facebook to take them down. In Facebook, groups cannot promote self-harm or harm to others. They also serve as a way to warn people about the pro anorexia sites and educate it’s members about other alternatives.

Angela Ross, 19, recovered from her disorder and ended up creating a anti pro-ana page. She has 1,400 members. She was fueled to take action because she had run into a pro-ana site during a day when she was feeling down about her weight. The site ended up leading her to having eating disorders.

Some do see these sites as a positive sign that teenagers are getting more serious about being open about their disorders. Marcia Herrin, a Dartmouth professor who has written several books on eating disorder, says “To me, that illustrates or indicates that teens these days are so wise… They’ve seen so much, they know so much, compared to when I was a teenager in the ’60s, that not all of them are wrapped up in eating disorders. Girls are concerned about other girls in their social group who they see toying with an eating disorder. They may talk to them directly, they may talk to a school counselor, they may talk to the girls’ parents.”

More on Rose who was quoted earlier in the article.

Rose actually hoped some of her friends would see the groups she was joining and talk to her about them. “I wanted one of my close friends to see it and rescue me,” she says. But unfortunately, no one did. At one point, she was so involved in the Facebook pro-ana community that she started her own group in defense of it; eventually she deleted that group and stopped posting in others. She couldn’t get over her guilt at “helping someone kill themselves” by supporting them in their fasting, and she realized that the groups weren’t truly helping her. “Even though the pro-ana sites provided a way for me to communicate with people, it wasn’t real-life connections and it wasn’t real friendships,” she says. “It was us telling people, ‘Oh, stay strong.’ I was not getting better. I was venting the frustrations. I just wanted to talk to people with similar experiences; they really didn’t help at all.”

Rose has now recovered from anorexia and rarely visits pro-ana Facebook groups. She says taht she is relived to no longer be part of that world.

• What is your reaction to pro-anorexia sites?
• Did you know such sites existed? on Facebook?
• Have you seen any of these sites? How did it affect you?

Share your thoughts!

Related Articles:

Unnaturally Beautiful Children: Image & Beauty
Girl Self-Esteem & Image Issues & Parents

Related posts:

1. Who Regulates Online Advertising & Marketing to Children?

I am not one to be promoting video games. I personally believe video games, though can be fun activities in groups, usually ends up as a huge time sink. This isn’t an issue just with children and teenagers, but adults. In the modern era, even adults spend hours on end playing video games rather than living life in the real world. This is especially a concern for young children who spend so much time in front of the tube that it hinders their general interpersonal development.

I mean, a kid shot his parents over Halo 3 a while ago. I am not claiming the game caused him to do it, but if he wasn’t so obsessed with playing the game, it probably would not have never happened! Games are very addicting.

Having said that, I appreciates graphics, CG, and creativity. The following few videos are trailers and previews that came out of the recent Electronic Entertainment Expo or “E3″ conference. It has been making it’s rounds in the internet world.

What is Microsoft Natal?

Heard any buzz yet? The first of these is a trailer by Microsoft in regards to new concept technology they are currently developing. With the success of the Wii and it’s movement sensing controller, Microsoft decided to take it further by proclaiming “no controller!”. Basically what they dubbed “Natal” will be able to detect your entire body movements and use your actions for the game. Imagine playing a fighting game actually swinging fists and legs. Imagine racing with an imaginary steering wheel. That is what Natal is trying to do. See the video.

E3 - Microsoft Natal Trailer Video

The next two videos are preview shots of upcoming games Star Wars and Final Fantasy XIV. These previews show mostly CG Rendering and Visual Graphic effects. The graphics are simply spectacular. The battle scene depicted in Star Wars between the Jedi Knights and the Seth empire is truly epic, grander than any of the movies released so far.

New Star Wars Trailer - Epic Battle Scene

Final Fantasy XIV - Preview Trailer

Now don’t be wasting time playing video games! Go out! Play sports! Do something!

No related posts.

Ad Block Plus

We talk all the time about how bad emotionally driven advertising has had a detrimental influence in our society. Starting at a very young age, billions of dollars are spent to take advantageous of our inner desires for love, significance and our insecurities to sell us things we don’t need. It has changed our outlook about what would truly make us happy and has filled our minds with so much garbage that perhaps many of us feel immune to it. “What is the big deal… right?”.

Well that brings up the question - what can be done?

AdBlock Plus - Block Advertising on Websites

I wanted to highlight a small plugin for Firefox that will BLOCK ADS on all websites. How does that work? Any ads being served from advertising URLs are simply removed from the page.

See this quick 1.5 minute AdBlock Plus video below to see how it works.

Does it work?

Yes! Here are some sample screenshots of what happens when adblock is turned on.

New York Times (Ads in Green) — New York Times (Ads Blocked)

New York Times uses a very similar style as other news sites. Lots of ads are integrated into the page as shown by the highlighted green boxes.  See the image on the right with AdBlock Plus activated. Notice all the ads are now gone. The entire right sidebar is almost cut in half! Pretty nice.

ESPN (Ads in Green) — ESPN (Ads Blocked)

I’ve been recently dismayed at the type of ads showing up on ESPN. Early in the year you’ll see tons of “dating/ personal” ads as well as weight loss ads (taking advantage of new year resolutions and those who were lonely over the holiday break). Often these ads show pretty young girls in ways to make the user want to feel insecure and desire to look different and for guys to want to seek out a new relationship. Being a sports site with heavy male demographic, you can imagine the type of ads showing up here. The ads on ESPN have relatively been ok, except for a recent streak of bad ads. But flip on adblock plus and now the ads are gone! The site still intact. Awesome.

Ok, looks great, where do I get it?

Download the Plugin Here: AdBlock Plus Firefox Plugin

Read More: More Advertising Influence Articles

• Let us know what you think of the plugin!
• How did it work for you?

Related posts:

1. Creativity: Contextual Advertising & Visuals
2. Who Regulates Online Advertising & Marketing to Children?
3. Bias of American Media – Influence of Media Money

See this beautiful piece of music below. If you appreciate music, it will knock your socks off. Such a beautiful things to hear.

Love Story (Taylor Swift) Meets Viva La Vida (Coldplay)

Piano: Jon Schimdt
Cellist: Steven Nelson (cellist)

This arrangement was created by Jon Schimdt’s for his daughter. His daughter loved the song “Love Story” by Taylor Swift especially a particular transition in the song. Jon Schimdt thought it would transition really well with Viva La Vida by Coldplay so he created this arrangement.

Oren Lavie - Her Morning Elegance

From the album “The Opposite Side of the Sea”, released in March 2009. This song is titled “Her Morning Elegance”. This video is a very artistic use of stop motion utilizing a bed as the frame and bed items as the everyday object. Just play the video below and see what I mean.

Related posts:

1. Creativity: Toshiba Timesculpture Advertisement Video
2. Black Hole Short Film - Underestimating the Subtle Power of Desire

Last month there was turmoil here at Clean Cut Media. A bad coding test took the site down for a few hours. Unfortunately Google indexed the site during that period. The effects were immediate as we saw a full week of data at lower volumes. However, the site has rebounded nicely during the last week of May. With a new record pace, we easily made up what we lost the week before.

Mar: 12,859 Views
Apr: 16,008
May: 22,515

That makes one wonder, what if the site never went down? 25K? 30K?

Did you know you can get updates directly!
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Top 10 Articles & Posts in May

In Order of Online Activity [Previous Rank]
Remember since this is for the month of May, it favors posts from early May…

(1) Creativity: 3D Chalk Art in the Streets Part I [1]

At the starting of June, there are 354 votes in the poll! Revisit to see how it is doing!

(2) Creativity: Amazing 3D Building Art [2]

If you haven’t seen this. The 3D art is amazing. I would probably walk into some of these walls accidently.

(3) Creativity: 3D Chalk Art in the Streets Part II [3]

The rest of the posts are crying foul as #1 drove this part II post into the #3 slot. What are they going to do to break this tight grip on the top 3?

(4) Israel Palestinians Media War on the Gaza Strip [8]

Flurry of activity has show this post up the charts. Can it break the top 3?

(5) Movie Review: Watchmen Morality Review [4]

Second consecutive month dropping one slot. Edged out by Israel by 37 views.

If you want to contribute a Movie Review please email us.
info [at] cleancutmedia.com.

(6) Influence of Media & Advertising in Our View of Life [NR]

The new darling of the list. Posted on April 29th, so got a full month of traffic to climb almost into the top 5.

(7) Selling Products or Selling Lifestyle? [9]

Moved into the charts last month. Climbed 2 slots. Will it be able to continue to rise?

(8) Youtube Statistics - The Ultimate Time Suck [NR]

Climbing in an out of rankings. After falling out last month, clawed its way back in.

(9) Facebook vs MySpace Statistics [9]

(10) Teens Sharing Nude Photos Online - Impact in Real Life Behavior [6]

Don’t ask what kind of keywords some people are finding this page. Hope they read the article. Shame on them.

Honorable Mention Girl Self-Esteem, Image Issues & Parents

- NR means Not Ranked. -

Hot Post of the Week -
Star Trek 2009 Movie - Themes Galore

Most Commented Last 7 Days
Unnaturally Beautiful Children - Image & Beauty

Fun Clean Cut Media Statistics Below

Top 10 Searches in February for Clean Cut Media

Major shakeup 4 thru 10!

(1) “youtube statistics” [1]
(2) “myspace statistics” [2]
(3) “myspace statistics 2009″ [3]
(4) “gracepoint fellowship church” [NR]
(5) “latest youtube statistics” [4]
(6) “youtube statistics 2009″ [NR]
(7) “facebook vs myspace statistics” [NR]
(8) “the chalk man artist” [NR]
(9) “clean cut media” [NR]
(10) “chalk man artist” [NR]

Fell out of Rankings
“asia popular social networking”
“britiansgottalent”
“impact of media on children”
“media influence statistics”
“myspace statistics 2008″
“statistics on media influence”

FUN FACT: We nearly doubled the # of pages a user views while cruising Clean Cut Media. Love it!

Where is the Traffic From?

We’ve had visitors from 130 Countries. Not as much excitement this month as the top 7 countries held their places!

RANK (vs. previous)
[1] United States (-)
[2] Canada (-)
[3] United Kingdom (-)
[4] India (+1)
[5] Australia (-1)
[6] Singapore (+1)
[7] Germany (+2)
[8] France (+7)
[9] Malaysia (-3)
[10] South Africa [NR]

Notables: China (12), Taiwan (34)
Dropped (prev rank): Turkey (8), Pakistan (10)

How about in the US
Highest # of Visits: California
Most Pageviews Per Visit: Montana (not much to do there huh? jk!)

Media Influence Searches

FUN LOVE:A little love to the #1 referring blog - Dis-Gracepoint Fellowship. Disgracepoint is a humor site hosted by Gracepoint Fellowship Church.

Refer to a posting you like or add us to your blogroll and maybe next month you’ll be in this slot! 8 of the top 20 referring sites are blogs!

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Contribute! Get Involved!
We would love for the community to contribute content! Whether it be a full fledged article or tipping us on some great source or statistic, please let us know! Email Here

Want to contribute your company or website articles on Clean Cut Media? Wondering how to get us to link to your content? If you’d like to have your content posted on Clean Cut Media, we’ll be happy to provide a link reference on the post. Just let us know. Email Here

Much Love to all the Visitors.

Related posts:

1. Clean Cut Media - Growing Media Blog
2. Clean Cut Media - Feb Recap - Love for this Media Blog
3. Clean Cut Media - Rapid Rise

• Are you aware that Craigslist were making headlines among the internet sphere for their battle against South Carolina’s Attorney General for the controversial “erotic services” column.
• Were you aware Craigslist even had such a category?

Craigslist has become an household name as the place to go to find jobs, to buy and sell items anything from a used DVD to cars to houses. The service boasts 40 million classified ads posted every month. Amidst all the different categories and millions of posting, what often goes unnoticed is the “erotic services” section that is unfortunately accessible to anyone. Adults, Children- anyone can access these classified section.

The Attorney Generals of several states demanded that Craigslist shut down this service as it promotes prostitution. Craigslist chose to implement changes in response to their concerns. It adopted screening measures that were recommended and removed the “erotic service” category… kinda.

Craigslist is Protected under Federal Law Section 230

To Craigslist credit, they did this despite technically being protected under federal law for content posted by users. Section 230 CDA protects free speech online and it is often used to protect sites like Youtube from being completely shut down to do user videos that violate copyright law. If a prostitute advertises illegal services and carries it out, the prostitute is guilty but Craigslist is free of any crime.

However the Attorney General of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, believed this wasn’t enough and threatened criminal charges if Craigslist did not comply. Craigslist had recently entered into South Carolina and was quickly adapted by it’s residence. McMaster sent Craigslist an ultimatum demanding ALL sexual postings be removed from Craigslist South Carolina. He first threatened legal action if Craigslist did not comply in 10 days.

“remove the portions of the Internet site dedicated to South Carolina and its municipal regions which contain categories for an functions allowing for the solicitation of prostitution and the dissemination and posting of graphic pornographic material”

10 days passed. No Compliance. Henry McMaster than stated they will start a criminal investigation.

“As of 5:00 p.m. this afternoon, the craigslist South Carolina site continues to display advertisements for prostitution and graphic pornographic material. This content was not removed as we requested. We have no alternative but to move forward with criminal investigation and potential prosecution.”

Drama Unfolds - Craigslist vs Henry McMaster!
Craigslist decided it needed to take an offensive position. Craigslist responded with a flurry of blog entries stating that he Henry McMaster was in the wrong. Craigslist demanded an apology stating that though they are constitutionally protected they complied with requests from the Attorney Generals with a strict ad screening regimen, and that many more prominent companies were doing far worse. Here is an entry:

Many prominent companies, including AT&T, Microsoft, and Village Voice Media, not to mention major newspapers and other upstanding South Carolina businesses feature more “adult services” ads than does craigslist, some of a very graphic nature. For a small sampling, look (careful NSFW) here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here.
- [All "here" were links to various companies that allowed adult advertising. Links have been removed]

No Apology came and Craigslist filed it’s own lawsuit.

Henry McMaster Office claims Victory

More importantly, overnight they have removed the erotic services section from their website, as we asked them to do. And they are now taking responsibility for the content of their future advertisements. If they keep their word, this is a victory for law enforcement and for the people of South Carolina.

Immediately the media went on a frenzy, calling this simply a PR ploy in response to the suit against the the office. They were claiming victory for something that happened over a week ago and it only came after Craigslist sued Henry McMaster seeking declaratory relief. He has also been accused of attacking Craigslist as a way to gain attention and prominence in office.

Final Thoughts - Craigslist is Right, but…

I agree with Craigslist that Henry McMaster cannot simply point them out and ignore the fact that this is happening everywhere. The big companies like AT&T, Microsoft, and Village Voice Media are all guilty of doing the same thing. All the big newspaper media companies also allow similar advertising. If you go after one you have to go after all if truly this is your conviction. Even if it means ruining one’s own standing with the media and losing political support from these big name companies. The Craigslist CEO’s response was very well written and very convincing.

However having said that, being that craigslist is so accessible by all people including teens and children i think it behooves craigslist to take the ethical route and simply rid itself from all sexually linked advertisements altogether. The step taken by Craigslist in placing strong filter is a great move and I applaud that. I also agree Craigslist is compliant to applicable laws. The point I do not agree with is the approach of pointing at others who are doing “worse”. What’s the big deal if I steal a bike when everyone else are stealing cars? Ultimately it is still the same thing. It is still wrong regardless of the “degree” of the act. Both parties should be held accountable. This is a situation where being compliant to law is not enough and the need to adhere to a higher moral law is in order. I say drop it altogether, admit it wasn’t right and become the force to encourage other companies to follow suit.

No More Erotic Services! Just Adult Services…

By the way - Craigslist got ride of “erotic services” but has now put up “adult services” open for posting by legal adult services. Postings will cost $10, reposting at $5. All proceeds go to charity.

Holy smokes. Does anyone find this a bit disturbing? Charity? That’s like taking blood money…

• What is your take on this matter?
  
• Do you agree with Craigslist or Henry McMaster?
  
• What is the best way Craigslist should respond?

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Facebook vs Myspace vs Twitter Visitor Statistics (via ComScore)

Facebook started off as a small social network popular among some college students. Then in the past few years Facebook’s users have skyrocketed as Facebook went mainstream. First among college students, then once it was open to the public, it blew the gates open as millions of new users young and old joined to check out this new social network. In April 2009, the social network passed 300 million unique visitors a month according to ComScore. 160% increase from April of 2008. Facebook also has 225 monthly active users.   Twitter continues strong as it jumped 70% in March with 32 million worldwide uniques, while MySpace has flat lined at 123 million uniques a month. MySpace has recently shaken up their leadership in order to rejuvenate their stagnating figures.

Click Here to Follow Clean Cut Media on Twitter!

Facebook the Big Gorilla of Social Networks: 60 Million+ Users

Though twitter is getting a lot of attention these days, Facebook continues to be the big gorilla in the social network space. The network is widely used to connect with friends, old and new. It has become a primary source to email friends and make contact with old lost friends. Easy to use and with a simple interface it continues to grow at a furious rate.

Facebook Growth has slowed down a bit since the beginning of the year from 11% per month in Feb and March to 4% in the last 2 months. Facebook unique users has now surpassed 60 million. There was a surge of new users ages 18-25, while a sudden exodus of users over 55 after significant growth earlier in the year in this demographic. 18-25 users make up 33% of users but what is less known is that 33% of the users are also over 35.

Facebook Statistics: Demographics

Facebook Raises $200 Million from Digital Sky Technologies

Facebook just raised $200 million from a Russian firm Digital Sky Technologies in exchange for 1.96% of it’s company! That is a $10 billion dollar valuation of the Facebook. However Facebook still has not found a viable revenue model. Though there are plenty of ideas such as an ad network or a payments platform, these funds will help buy more time as they determine the best path to take.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook’s Revenue Model: “One of the most interesting things about DST’s portfolio is that they’ve invested in several social networks, each with different monetization models. Facebook is still growing and experimenting with a number of different business lines, which we hope will grow and become big in the future… In the long run there will be multiple businesses. For the next few years, advertising will be the biggest part of our revenues. There are other areas that we think could be really interesting over time, like virtual gifts and user transactions.”

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