onfocus

"These constructions acknowledge a truth: our actions are increasingly passive online, and we really are just looking for something to watch, click, share and receive."

Twitter uses Mechanical Turk to give meaning to search phrase spikes so they can serve relevant ads. It calls the Mechanical Turk folks 'judges'. "The judges are like little focus groups that match intent with revenue."

"...half of the nation's deadliest shootings occurred after the [federal assault weapons] ban expired [in 2004]."

Social media monetization pains. I figured the Instagram acquisition was about driving traffic and content to Facebook, not serving ads. Seems short-sighted.

What does it take for a society to be sickened by its own behavior and to change its attitudes? Where is our threshold for self-awareness? [via kottke]