links for 2011-04-13

So we think the Big Society needs a watchdog: people who will scrutinise and report on what’s happening from an independent viewpoint, supporting the government where it is merited and testing its ideas against the values and experience of those already involved in grassroots action. On 31 March we held a ‘Big Society reality check’ in London where speakers set out five tests the Big Society will need to pass in its second year – you can read them here.

Rather than scaring users about publicly sharing their location, Fearsquare "takes a list of your ten most recent FourSquare check-ins and cross-references these with the UK Police Crime Statistics database" and shows "how many crimes were committed, during a recent one-month period, in the locations where they checked-in." It is all part of an opt-in study that examines "the interaction of people with crime statistics that are presented in a uniquely personal manner."

While television is still preferred by a slight margin of Canadians for getting the news, a majority (52%) replied that, in general, they find more news and information that interests them on the internet. This compares to 27% for TV, 15% for print and 6% for radio.

For true quality, sometimes it takes a human touch. Social media acts as a human filter and signal for the best content across the web. A “Like,” a tweet or a LinkedIn share often serves as a human vote of approval.