Posts Tagged ‘internet’
Susan Boyle singing is most watched video in history of the Internet
The Internet has not seen anything quite like Susan Boyle, whose online popularity is headed straight to the history books.
The video of Boyle’s performance in the reality show “Britain’s Got Talent” has set the record for the number of views in a week — and shows no sign of slowing down.
According to Visible Measures, which tracks videos from YouTube, MySpace and other video-sharing sites, all Boyle-oriented videos — including clips of her television interviews and her recently released rendition of “Cry Me a River,” recorded 10 years ago for a charity CD — have generated a total of 85.2 million views. Nearly 20 million of those views came overnight.
The seven-minute video that was first posted on YouTube and then widely circulated online easily eclipsed more high-profile videos that have been around for months. Tina Fey’s impersonation of Sarah Palin has clocked in 34.2 million views, said the folks at Visible Measures, while President Obama’s victory speech on election night has generated 18.5 million views.
But it’s not just in online video where Boyle, the unassuming woman from a tiny Scottish town, has dominated. Her Wikipedia entry has attracted nearly 500,000 page views since it was created last Sunday. Over the weekend, her Facebook fan page was flooded with comments, at some points adding hundreds of new members every few minutes. The page listed 150,000 members at 1 p.m. Friday. By last night there were more than a million.
Indeed, the sleepless Internet is her round-the-clock stage, and the 47-year-old who has said she’s never heard of YouTube is the Web’s hottest entertainer. “She’s really the world’s singer right now,” said YouTube spokeswoman Julie Supan. In her four years at the company, Supan said she cannot remember a video raking in this many views in such a short period of time.
Read more: How a Villager Became the Queen of All Media
Study: Facebook, YouTube at work make better employees
One of our other reporters printed out a copy of this story and handed it to one of the bosses.
Caught Twittering or on Facebook work? It’ll make you a better employee, according to an Australian study that shows surfing the Internet for fun during office hours increases productivity.
The University of Melbourne study showed that people who use the Internet for personal reasons at work are about 9 percent more productive that those who do not.
Study author Brent Coker, from the department of management and marketing, said “workplace Internet leisure browsing,” or WILB, helped to sharpened workers’ concentration.
“People need to zone out for a bit to get back their concentration,” Coker said. “Short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf of the Internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a days’ work, and as a result, increased productivity,” he said.
According to the study of 300 workers, 70% of people who use the Internet at work engage in WILB.
Among the most popular WILB activities are searching for information about products, reading online news sites, playing online games and watching videos on Youtube.
“Firms spend millions on software to block their employees from watching videos, using social networking sites or shopping online under the pretence that it costs millions in lost productivity,” said Coker. “That’s not always the case.”
However, Coker said the study looked at people who browsed in moderation, or were on the Internet for less than 20 percent of their total time in the office.
“Those who behave with Internet addiction tendencies will have a lower productivity than those without,” he said.
Read more: Facebook, YouTube at work make better employees: study
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Soldier virtually present for son’s birth [Video]
Staff Sergeant Timothy Scott was able to welcome in son, Brody Cole, into the world Friday even though he was a thousand miles away from the hospital.
Scott was able to witness the birth form the frontlines in Iraq thanks to a satellite network.
Watch that story: Soldier Virtually Present For Son’s Birth
