social media news - Social Media Week New York (SMWNYC) - MAY 4

According to The New York Times’ Bits column, Twitter has sent a message that will flutter in the timeline. The social media microblogger will censor content viewed as inflammatory by selective nations. A grey widget will pop up in the time feed, stating that, “This tweet from @username will be withheld in: Nation X.” Disruptive content could range from banned literature written by Salman Rushdie to criticism of oppressive global regimes. Twitter’s previous policy included an absolute removal of content on a worldwide scale, rather than a selective process of elimination.

The U.S. Government would alert Twitter of content it wished to be removed for security reasons. A few users have speculated that government officials are looking to manage the influence of offline sociopolitical movements (Occupy Wall Street, Arab Spring) that mobilized in the content stream. Others are enraged after the company voiced its disapproval of the SOPA bill, but did not black out with Wikipedia two weeks ago. Some analysts feel that Twitter wants to penetrate market sectors with competing platforms and stronger firewalls (China). Their strategy’s motive will be revealed in time.

In my mind, the message is clear. Content may be king. Censorship wants to be the checkmate. The volume of communication across platforms has evolved to such a high degree that governmental intervention is not surprising. Social media is a young communication device. The medium has empowered the voice of many users, giving strength to the disenfranchised. Consumers express their beliefs in unlimited community forums. As opposed to prior forms of expression in world history, digital censorship has no tangibility. Firewall proxies are solved by hackers within minutes. The facts are simple. Borders do not exist in cyberspace. Censorship cannot control the unseen.

Abdul Fattah Ismail is a digital marketing specialist with expertise in content development. He lives in New York and is an MBA graduate in Marketing Management from St. John’s University. He has contributed articles for Blueliner Marketing and Talent Zoo.

Pundits have been ready to bury search engine optimization as a tool for data valuation in the web. One writer proclaims that conventional web crawlers will finally stand still. Social media networks, in his mind, now represent the referral source for content. On the other hand, this writer from State of Search says for internet scions to hold off on those proclamations. He states that while search index results will be pushed farther down the page in favor of personalized social media lists (Google+), the integration won’t take hold for awhile.

Looking at both cases, I would not worry for the moment. Unless I am an ardent user of Google+. Your queries for simple knowledge acquisition could be obfuscated at the expense of the search monolith. Google+ has decided to adjust their algorithm to deliver results based on your social media presence and online history.

In short, you search for “Ethiopian Restaurant Reviews in D.C.” Instead of seeing results from leading content providers like Yelp and Zagat, you’ll see individual reviews from John and Jane at the top of your index. One could ask this question: What is Google’s strategy with Plus?

I have an account and like the tool integration of mail, search, chat, and so forth. But it hasn’t registered into my daily social experience. I don’t feel like I’m alone in relaying this sentiment.

As a result, it appears that they are featuring the product at all costs.

The author from State of Search also mentions that a security option toggle allows the user to turn off personal results for privacy measures. Nevertheless, the damage is slowly spreading. Google’s strategy to drive user statistics for their social media tool could backfire.

A cynic may feel that research development was already compromised with the emergence of Google and Wikipedia. They are wrong. Society may look to their immediate network for credible solutions. They are also wise enough to seek knowledge from those who deliver content with expertise, intelligence, and passion. Despite the age, this axiom lives in the cumulus cloud.