Can you imagine having an audience of 1.5 billion? The total eclipse of the moon last night, a spectacle that hasn’t coincided with the Winter solstice in 456 years, could be seen by North and South America, the northern and western part of Europe and a small part of northeast Asia. Absolutely breathtaking.
Social media, and more specifically Facebook, was recognized last week when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was named TIME’s “Person of the Year,” citing his success of reaching over 500 million people and “changing how we all live our lives.” Zuckerberg reportedly beat out Julian Assange, Hamid Karzai and Sarah Palin. Agree with the choice or not, his accomplishments – and especially at such a young age – are truly remarkable.
Channel surfing or surfing the Web? A recent study concluded that the average U.S. household watches as much broadcast TV as time spent online. Perhaps more interesting is the hours spent in front of the tube has remained the same over the last five years, while Internet use rose 121 percent since 2005.
With all this time online activity, what were people doing? Facebook users were updating their status with HMU (“Hit Me Up”), the World Cup and anything having to do with movies, according to the site’s 2010 Memology report; LinkedIn users were using “Extensive experience,” “Innovative” and “Motivated on their resumes and profiles; and YouTubers were watching the “Bed Intruder Song.” (If you missed it, stay ahead of the game next year with the video sharing site’s new trends page that highlights the most popular videos.)
Ever done a scrub of your contact list, only to realize a few weeks later that you need some of those names? Gmail users can now “undelete” deleted contacts made in the last 30 days. This function will come in handy for those who take drastic deleting measures after a disagreement..
If you are putting a chef hat on for the holidays, check out the Weight Watcher’s iPad app complete with recipes, checklists and video. To really impress guests, get tips from celebrity chefs on the Food & Wine Facebook Page. And don’t forget to invite me to the party!
