Where do Twitter’s racist users live?

A mapping project by students at Humboldt State University called the Geography of Hate uses Google Maps to illustrate the hate-filled language spit out into the Twitter ether. 

So where do these hate-speech spouting users live? Well… everywhere.

Tonight, President Obama will address Congress and the nation in his fourth State of the Union address, which is set to begin at 9 p.m. EST. If you won’t be in front of a television — and even if you will be — be sure to follow along via social media. Here’s how:  

• Before the speech: At 7:30 p.m., chat live with White House reporter Paul Brandus on The Week’s Facebook page. He’ll give you the lowdown on what to expect from tonight’s address.
  
  
• During the speech: On Twitter, subscribe to @TheWeek’s list of key political players, which includes both reporters and politicians who will be tweeting about the address. Separately, you’ll want to follow the hashtag #SOTU.  

More: A social media guide to the SOTU

“It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment it happened — but at some point, Twitter became a dark place…

…Once everyone was on Twitter, everyone’s problems were on Twitter. The early adopters might have been tech-utopians, but the succeeding waves were angry cynics and partisan cranks who used the technology to make the world even louder and worse than it was before Twitter. 

Twitter has become like high school, where the mean kids say something hurtful to boost their self esteem and to see if others will laugh and join in. Aside from trolling for victims after some tragedy, Twitter isn’t used for reporting much anymore. But it is used for snark. 

The medium is dangerous and tempting. When Abraham Lincoln was mad, he would famously write people scathing letters. He would then file them in his desk drawer, never to be sent. Abe was lucky he didn’t have Twitter…”

Why I hate Twitter

For the second time, TIME chose Obama as the “Person of the Year.” Managing Editor Rick Stengel says the President was awarded this honor, ”for finding and forging a new majority, for turning weakness into opportunity and for seeking, amid great adversity, to create a more perfect union.”

Reaction has been mixed. Some were annoyed with TIME’s somewhat unoriginal choice.

(Source: theweek.com)

President Obama just wrapped up a live Twitter chat about the fiscal cliff. If you missed it, here’s a rundown of what happened. 

(Source: theweek.com)

In the social-media war between Obama and Romney, one appears to be ahead. Take a look at the numbers: 

1.2 million — New Facebook followers Obama gained in a burst last week following the second presidential debate

21.2 million — Number of Twitter followers Obama has

1.5 million — Number of Twitter followers Romney has

37 — Tweets Obama’s campaign sent out during the second debate

117,374 — Times they were retweeted

2 — Tweets Romney’s campaign sent out during the second debate

6,810 — Times they were retweeted

More numbers…

(Source: theweek.com)

The London Games were the first to take place since Twitter exploded, and boy, do tweeters love Usain Bolt and The Spice Girls.

150 million — Tweets posted about the Olympics

140 million — Approximate number of active Twitter users

9.66 million — Mentions of the Olympics opening ceremony on Twitter in a single day

80,000 — Tweets per minute about Usain Bolt’s 200-meter gold win, the record for tweets per minute during Olympic competition

116,000 — Tweets per minute (or roughly 2,000 per second) about the Spice Girls performance during the closing ceremonies, the record for that evening

More numbers

(Source: theweek.com)

The Bluths are (nearly) back: Arrested Development will return to Netflix for a second season which will include 10 new episodes. 

GOOD DAY FOR:

Jim, Johnnie, and Jameson
Three of the top five liquors that experienced sales gains in 2011 are whiskey varieties. [The Daily]

Fans of the Bluths
Filming of the much-anticipated fourth season of Arrested Development begins today. [HyperVocal]

Gloating early adapters
A new website will reveal how early or late you were to join social media networks such as Twitter and Instagram in relation to your friends and the rest of the world. [Geekosystem]

BAD DAY FOR: 

Cheap fast food
Wendy’s locations in Japan introduce $16 burgers topped with caviar and lobster. [Newser]

Playing with blocks
Doctors discover that a small Lego block crammed up a six-year-old’s nose was the cause of his chronic health problems. [Consumerist]

Twitter rumors
False rumors that Syria’s president Assad had died lead to a quick increase in the price of oil on the commodity markets. [Tecca]

(Source: theweek.com)

Twitter has become the go-to place for people to gripe about, well, anything: Bad movies, political hypocrites, vegan restaurants, NBC’s coverage of the London Olympics, and much more. But recently, a top target of Twitter kvetching has been Twitter itself.

The story begins on Friday, when Los Angeles–based British journalist Guy Adams tweeted a series of bitter complaints about NBC’s decision to delay airing the Olympics until primetime; on Sunday, Twitter suspended Adams’ account, citing a complaint from NBC; by Tuesday, after tweeps had excoriated Twitter, both NBC and the social network had relented and Adams returned triumphantly to the Twittersphere.

What the Guy Adams controversy means for Twitter and the future of free-tweeting

(Source: theweek.com)

NBC’s coverage of the London Olympics is infuriating tech-savvy sports fans, who have branded the network’s coverage of the games with the embarrassing Twitter hashtag: #NBCFail. 

Because London is several hours ahead of the United States, most big events happen during America’s morning or early afternoon. And while NBC is showing these events live via (sometimes glitchy) online streams, the network isn’t broadcasting them on TV until primetime — when many fans already know the results. Among the other gripes: NBC’s questionable decision to edit out an opening ceremony tribute to victims of a London terrorist attack, and Brian Williams’ on-air spoiling of a swimming event’s results before the tape-delayed broadcast. Is NBC blowing the $1.18 billion it invested to air the games stateside?

Is NBC botching its coverage of the Olympics, or does the network know exactly what it’s doing?

(Source: theweek.com)