Now let time warp back to 2005…

As a self confessed technological amateur, MySpace, when it become popular in 2005 seemed so far out of my psyche, that I never dreamt of using it, let alone getting caught up in the mania.

My friends would talk about the people they spoke to online, the pictures they had recently uploaded and the ‘cool’ new songs that were now blurring in the background of their profiles. They’d tell me stories of how they had rekindled friendships with primary school crushes and ho they’d stalked ex-boyfriends new love interests.

I rolled my eye at what seemed like a bit of a sad obsession and truthfully had no desire to join this online world. Like so many trends that have come and gone I was quite content to let this one slide by.

Curiosity, however, did get the better of me. I secretly started spying on my friend pages. I checked out where they were going on weekends. I scanned their photos and investigated who they had been chatting to and what about. I loved the open book nature of the site and the concept of exploring the lives of those I now and those I have just met. Some might purely call this stalking – what? I’m a journalist I like to be in the know.

As I delved further I began to see that social media was a fun and personal way to show ff your friends, your personality, your interests, your hobbies and your life. It was a space created by you and controlled by you within an online community. To me, each persons space is a represstation of who they are as and person and gives a glimpse into who they are. Provided a person is honest about their identity, an online relationship that is just as close as some face to face contact can be developed.

I typed in my email address and clicked on the orange button imprinted with the words “Sign up”. Three seconds later I had a MySpace, three seconds later my stubborn stance against all these technology and online had slipped away.

Like all good MySpace profiles, mined needed some serious ‘pimping’. This caused me to call in some help, and help came in the form of my 10-year-old brother and a website pimp-my-profile.com. I used this site to find an appropriate background – red with yellow squares – as well as some animations to help liven up my space.

Next I searched MySpace Music browsing profiles of different artists and bands to find the perfect song. With other 32 million bands to choose from, this was quite a tedious process. My final selection being ‘The Bomb’ by New Young Pony Club.

In the next couple of months MySpace become my mobile phone, my diary, my daily planner, my photo album, My CD collection and the local cafe all rolled in one. And then like all good social media consumers I graduated from MySpace and packed up my things and moved to Facebook….now there is Twitter and I’m eagerly awaiting the next social media milestone.

  ”Now Guardian prevented from reporting parliament for unreportable reasons. Did John Wilkes live in vain?”

These 15 words sent internet uses into battle to reveal all, marking a historical victory for the power of the internet after a gagging attempt on routine act of journalism.

The results are unparallel. As Rusridger writes

“By lunchtime – an hour before we were due in court – Trafigura threw in the towel. The textbook stuff – elaborate carrot, expensive stick – had been blown away by a newspaper together with the mass collaboration of total strangers on the web. Trafigura thought it was buying silence. A combination of old media – the Guardian – and new – Twitter – turned attempted obscurity into mass notoriety.”

Is this a lesson of the times on how to usesocial media for the greater good. The internet is an important tool for freedom of speech and used correctly it can seek justice.

Read the full story here:
The Trafigura fiasco tears up the textbook
Trafigura: A few tweets and freedom of speech is restored

Jabaliya Refugee Camp, Ahmed Jadallah (Rueters)

In 2004 Ahmed Jadallah won the World Press Photo of the Year Award for his image of refugees in the Gaza Strip. The picture was taken in March 2003 in the aftermath of an Isreali tank attack in Jabalya refugee camp. At the time Jadallah and his group had been hit by a bomb. Jadallah describes the incident stating “It’s really hard, you know, to see people dying in front of you and I was feeling that I was also dying.” (cited in Leith, 2004, p. 200) He then describes a big hole opening up in the ground and he felt he was falling. After waking up he realised he too was injured. “My legs had been broken, I thought I was dying, and I couldn’t move but I did my job and I took pictures of the dead people beside me.” (cited in Leith, 2004, p. 201) Ahmed Jadallah’s picture captures the horrific scene, the brutal reality, the chaos and the sad truth of death and conflict. Jadallah claims there were no gunmen in the vicinity when they were attacked, only civilians. Ahmed Jadallah’s story, like many other photojournalists, allow us to see the need for photojournalism as a powerful voice within society as well as the danger of the profession and ethical and moral issues involved. “For me I don’t have any power, only the hope that there is change and only the ability to try my best as a journalist, as a photographer to show what is going on.” (cited in Leith, 2004, p. 203)Jadallah’s humble words poignantly reflect the essential role of photojournalism – to inform and educate the world.

 Howard Chapnick wrote in 1995 that “the element in news or journalist photography cannot be moved, reordered, reconstructed, directed, manipulated or managed. The journalistic photographer photographs what is, not what was or what might have been.” (cited in Lester, 1999) While these words seem quite idealistic, there are many incidences throughout time where photographers have been manipulated or staged photos yet these photos have still become powerful icons. By examining the complexities of the profession of photojournalism we can see how values of photojournalism such as subject matter, timelessness, repetition, objectivity and ethics differ from that of traditional journalism. We can also examine how the relation between the camera, photographer and photo allows photojournalism to capture important elements of truth and the reality of humanities actions.

In US photojournalist, Mark Hancock’s blog (2009) he describes photojournalism as the visual reporting of facts. He argues that while journalists tell stories and photographers take pictures of nouns, “a photojournalist takes the best of both and locks it into the most powerful medium available – frozen image.”  The written word has power and with skill reporters can expose dark deeds and bring them into the light, However, journalism is limited to timelessness, proximity, newsworthiness and accessibility. Photojournalism, on the other hand, is the discipline that captures verbs and destroys almost all barriers between the viewer and the creator. “Justice can draw its sword in the time it takes an eye to scan an image. An image has no age, language or intelligence limits.” (Hancock, 2009)

Eddie Adams relays this sentiment in the statement “photography is the only thing in the world where there is instant communication and I think that the still photo is the most powerful weapon in the world, bar none … A photograph is here today. It is there tomorrow, it is in the history books and that image that split second image remains in your mind because you look at it and you study it.” (cited in Leith, 2004, p.7) Photojournalism’s uniqueness is that it allows us to understand the world we cannot see for ourselves. A world that sometimes words just cannot describe. The photographs of famine victims in Sudan in 1993 taken by James Nachtwey clearly demonstrate Adam’s argument. The photo of a starving man moving towards an emergency feeding station is particularly memorable. The man is naked, alone and clearly in a deathly state. He is on his hands and knees crawling and visibly struggling to get to the feeding centre. In the background there is a simple and, what looks to be, abandon shack . The ground is bare and dusty adding to the sense of nothingness. Nachtwey said that in “Sudan, the denial of food was used as a weapon of mass destruction and vast numbers of people were subjected to slow death by starvation and disease.” (cited in Leith, 2004, p. 210) While these words inform us of the situation, the image portrays the emotional reality. The image induces feelings and confronts the viewer, making them question why this is happening.

Ron Haviv explains that in war zones the profession of photojournalism differs from that of journalism. He believes there is less a sense of competition, there is not as much need for a photojournalist to get the “scoop”. In some situations he claims different photographers from differing companies work together as a team. This notion often exists for safety reasons and also because of the need to report on these horrific events and get as much media attention as possible so that the world can know what is really going on. Ron Haviv, describing his work, states “they are our friends, we trust them, we do good work together and the objective is for the image to be seen by as many people as possible – just having one magazine or two magazines publishing the image is not going to do it.” (cited in Leith, 2004, p. 188) The idea of repetition in the media is often criticised as journalists are encouraged to find news which is breaking, fresh and new. However repetition adds to the power of photojournalism. Repetition gives the images strength. “It’s hard to take an image of war or famine that can differentiate that particular war or famine from any other… but that becomes power. Why are we still taking these photos? Cause it’s still happening. Wouldn’t it be great not to see these pictures anymore?” (cited in Leith, 2004, p. 192) The profession of photojournalism highlights not only the situation but that these situations are not in isolation, when we look at a picture of the dead in the Gaza Strip by Ahmed Jadallah or the photos Glen Middleton has taken of the camps in Goma, Rwanda, they are the same. They are of death and human suffering. While the locations differ the basic human condition is evident. Middleton said, of one of his pictures from Goma, “it was scenes like this that woke us each morning, the dead were laid out for collection, unidentified and unwanted.” (cited in Leith 2004) The harsh reality is that this photo caption in many incidents is universal and this message is what Haviv believes the profession of photojournalism tried to ingrain in society.

“Credibility, responsibility. These words give us the right to call photography a profession rather than a business.” These words by Chapnick (cited in Lester, 1999) allow us to see how crucial it is that photojournalists maintain principles such as credibility and their need to uphold responsibility. In order to uphold their position within society and be seen as an important tool of communication principles must be followed by all professionals.  Lack of ethic philosophies inevitability diminishes photographers’ journalistic impact. Delivering the truth is an important responsibility that allows photojournalists to be seen as credible. When discussing objectivity and truthfulness in his work in the Gaza Strip, Ahmed Jadallah claims that when he makes an image he tries to get a strong clear picture that conveys what is going on. He believes he is totally objective. “(My aim) is to tell the truth. It has to be accurate and unbiased – just the truth.” (cited in Leith, 2004, p.203)   However the nature of the perception of truth in photojournalism is complex. Jadallah states “I feel like I can just cover what I see because most of the time everything is reality. If I cover a house being destroyed, what bias could there be in covering it? It is a destroyed house.” (ibid) There is a fine line between subject choice and subjectivity. The decision to take a certain picture or shed light on a certain event definitely can shape how it is perceived to the viewer. In Jadallah’s example, we can see he has chosen to cover the destroyed house instead of subjects that may have just as much relevance to the audience.   What must be asked is why did Jadallah choose this particular image? And what did Jadallah decided not to take a photograph of? Therefore the photographer has more power over what is portrayed than viewers initially realise. In print journalism, biased and emotive words are easily detected, yet in comparison photos that may not be telling the full story or may have motivation behind them are harder to distinguish for those that are truthful. Evans supports this argument believing that “the photographer is the first filter of reality, selecting the moment and the composition which fits whatever it is he feels is the essence of the story.” (1997, p.i)

Bourdieu’s theories of plotting the field examine how the creative production doesn’t just happen in a vacuum. Artists make their work and position it and themselves according to what they see as possible and as being in their best interest at a given moment. This field theory allows us to see how the construction of photographs and the choice of subject matter do not always happen in isolation. Everyone has their own preconceptions which therefore becomes a reconstruction tool just as much as much as Photoshop or computer technology. The photographer can subconsciously manipulate, reorder and reconstruct an image simply by having their own cultural context.

Clarke (1997) believes that when reading photography a viewer enters into a series of hidden relationships. A viewer not only sees the image but they are also asked to “read it as an active play of visual language.” The visual language he discusses has two aspects; the first aspect is to remember the photo is the product of a photographer. Similar to Bourdieu’s theory, which indicates everyone has their own contextuality, Clarke argues a photo is always the reflection of a specific point of view. This point of view could be aesthetic, polemical, political or ideological. “One never takes a photo in any passive sense. To take is active. The photographer imposes, steals, recreates the scene according to a cultural discourse.” (Clarke, 1997) This therefore demonstrates that in photojournalism true objectivity is more complex in practice than it is in theory. Everybody has their own cultural discourse that subconsciously governs what they do, how they feel and how they view certain event s. This therefore makes the image just as much “a reflection of the ‘I’ of the photographer as it is the ‘eye’ of the camera.” (ibid)

As Chapnick writes “the journalistic photographer photographs what is,” in actual fact this is more an aspiration to which photojournalism should aim to achieve. However the nature of human-kind, as well as the nature of the profession, means that in some incidences this is not necessarily the case. “The camera cannot lie but it can be an accessory to untruth.” (Evans, 1997, p.i) As photojournalism gives audiences a poignant glimpse into the emotional realities of human condition this makes the search for objectivity an important professional practice. Images evoke almost immediate emotional responses among viewers, pictures have tremendous impact. Visual messages and well chosen words combine to educate, entertain and persuade. Yet on the flip side they have the power to also offend, shock, misled, stereotype and confuse.  Photojournalists hold great responsibility to be as fair and as unbiased as they possibly can in their representations. The lack of truth and presentation of misleading information would be the death of photojournalism. Once the public’s faith diminishes and a person can no longer truly believe what they are shown, the ability for images to evoke messages and tell stories becomes obsolete. In reflecting the power and responsibility of photojournalists and the risks associated with the profession, Evan’s states “Bullies can be shown as men of charity, the pompous as folksy, friends as enemies, honest girls as tarts.” (1997, p.i)

While, there is a danger of photos being too biased, at the same time the subjectivity adds to the impact a photo can have. It allows the viewer to feel. It stirs up passion, it can shock, it can create reaction, which in turn can encourage a person to change their way of thinking. W. Eugene Smith said “Let truth be the prejudice” (cited in Lester, 1999) Truth is the guiding principle – not layout efficiency, not magazine cover eye-catching ability, not political persuasion, but truth. “When truth is the prejudice, photographs and the stories behind them can be easily defended and are a source for humanistic concern or inspiration.” (Lester, 1999)

The role of the photojournalist seems fairly simple on the surface to get to the scene, frame and focus the shot, collect the information, process then select the photos for print. Yet behind these fundamental tasks lie broader ethical considerations – when do photojournalists stop being image-gathers and put the camera down to adopt another role?

In a profession with undefined and blurred guidelines, ethics and moral responsibility becomes a person’s decision at the time. There is always more to the story than can be outlined in written guiding principles. In Collingride’s response we can see that concern for his own safety as well as compromising his own objectivity were reasons that caused him to act the way he did. He did what he felt was right for the situation at the time. When viewing an image a responder must realise that there is often more to the story and that in many cases the moral ends justifies the means. The complex nature of the profession, together with the lack of formal rules can haze the lines between the professional and personal response to a state of affairs.

Denise Leith claims that photojournalism is a profession that is continually being challenged professional and personal by issues. “Do you pick up the starving child, do you give your sandwich and bottle of water to someone in dire need, do you take a wounded civilian to the hospital?” (2004, p. xvi) While these questions may sound simple, when you are in the presence of devastation it is hard to know how to act. Urging responders to feel for the photographers predicament, Leith argues that in these circumstances “You may think that you know. You may hope that you would behave honorably. But you cannot be absolutely certain that you would be the person you would like to be.” (2004)

A photojournalist is torn between the moments where they put down their camera to assist and when they decide the greatest assistance they can give is to get the pictures to the world. James Nachtwey says there is no photo he would not take. Arguing that “If all the photographers who entered the concentration camps at the end of World War II had turned away in horror from making images – as some did – then essentially documentation of that time in history would have been lost.” (cited in Leith, 2004, p. xviii) However, others believe there are times when one should self-censor. Eddie Adams did not take a photograph of a petrified solder in battle because he believed the picture would have branded the boy a coward and ultimately ruin his career. Adams self-censored and did not take the photo despite believing the image “would have told the whole story of the war.” (ibid)

Christopher Morris, arguing against Ron Haviv’s earlier comments of not being a competitive profession, believes that photojournalism can be a selfish business, if you want to win awards you become a war photographer. He states “War is where the most amazing pictures are to be made because that is where life and death collide.” (cited in Leith, 2004, p. 276) The underlying motivation for recognition can therefore sometimes cloud ethical concerns. Eddie Adams reiterates this idea by stating “I never said that I have really been on a mission like some photographers. I think many of them are full of shit, with how they are going to save the world with their pictures. They go to war because they want good pictures. They want the recognition.” (cited in Leith, 2004, p. 2) Like all professions photojournalism also has it cynical and self-promoting side which can lead to lack of maintaining ethical guidelines.

 Bibliography

Clarke, G. (1997) The Photograph, Oxford, Oxford University Press, accessed May 28, www.aber.ac.uk/media.Modules/MC10220/

Dunn, P. (1988) Press Photography, Oxford Illustrated Press, England

Evans, H. (1997) From picture to page: photojournalism, graphics and picture editing, Random House, London

Hancock, M. (2009) Photojournalism Blog, United States, accessed May 28 http://markhancock.blogspot.com/

Leith, D. (2004) Bearing Witness – the lives of war correspondents and photojournalists, Random House, Sydney 

Lester, P. (1999) Photojournalism; An ethical approach, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, New Jersey, Accessed May 10 http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/writings/pjethics.html

Walller, M (2000) A Bigger Picture; a manual of photojournalism in Southern Africa, Juta and Co Ltd. Kenwyn.

Sheena Matheiken, a stylish Brooklynite, has made a personal mission of wearing her own Little Black Dress every single day for one year. Yes 365 days. Through the sustainable style stunt, she’s raising money for the Akanksha Foundation, a nonprofit group that funds the education of underserved Indian children. Many of these children come from impoverished villages  and wouldn’t have access to schooling otherwise.

As a sustainable project, Sheena redesigns the dress everyday adding different accessories to ensure that the look is ever changing. 365 days and never once doubling up that is definitely an achievement. Each day she photographs her attire and writes a small caption on what she is wearing. People can then comment on the outfit and rate it. You are also able to donate to  the charity on the blog.

How do you design a dress that can be worn all year around? The uniform dress was designed by her friend, Eliza Starbuck. Taking inspiration from one of Sheena’s staple dresses, the pair improved the shape and fit to add on some seasonal versatility. The dress is designed so it can be worn both ways, front and back, and also as an open tunic. It’s made from a durable, breathable cotton, good for New York summers and good for layering in cooler seasons.

This project allows us to see how the internet has become an invaluable way to raise aware and access a global audience. Sheena is now on day 170 and doesn’t at all seem to be tiring her creative flows.

Good luck!

The beautiful St Basil's Cathedral

Story by Matt Rhodes from Fresh Networks 

Earlier this year we reported on how Russia is the fourth largest social networking market in Europe. Data from TNS showed that use of social media and social networking in Russia is widespread, making it the fourth largest market in Europe for social networking behind the UK, Germany and France. In part this position is driven by strong local social networking sites, principally Odnoklassniki (Одноклассники), which reports some 30 million registered users, and VKontakte (В контакте) with some 28 million registered users.

These numbers are truly impressive and perhaps the rate of growth in membership of social networking sites in Russia is even more so. But recent research from comScore shows that Russians are the most engaged users of social media in the world.

The research showed that in May this year, 1.1 billion people went online worldwide, and 75% of these visited social networks and online communities. In fact, the typical user of the internet spent 3.7 hours on such sites in May. But users from Russia led the way with the typical internet user in that country spending a total of 6.6 hours ever month on these social media sites. Brazil was second with an average of 6.3 hours per user and Canada was third with 5.6 hours per typical user. These numbers compare with 4.6 hours spent by the typical UK internet user on social networks. And a typical 4.2 hours for people in the US.

By this simple measure, the Russian internet audience appears to be perhaps the most engaged in the world in social networking and online communities. This highlights the danger of focusing on English-language-centric developments in online communities, social media tools and social networks. In Russia, two local sites each reach more than 40% of the entire Internet population in the country. Facebook, by contrast, reaches only 2% of the Russian internet audience.

Some of the most interesting developments in the use of social networks and online communities are happening where the users are most engaged and where the user bases are growing most rapidly. This is more likely to be in the markets where the audience and access is developing quickly. Perhaps we should all look to Russia and Brazil more when we want to know what comes next.

Nisker’s words can be a tribute to citizen journalism today. I thought it’d be good to compile a list of organisations where people are making some news of there own. Here is a list of citizen journalism publications,that are demonstrating the strength of this new media platform:

• fizwoz: The first online marketplace for consumer captured photo and video
• ThisIsDiversity: A Global Community Of Citizen Journalists
• Allvoices: The first open media website where anyonce can report from anywhere.
• The Tech Policy Review
• Courant Times of Santa Cruz
• Independent Agency for citizen photojournalists
• Agoravox (France)
• Article Niche (USA)
• The Viewspaper (Paper run entirely by the Indian youth)
• Journal.re (Reunion)
• (International)
• Asturias Opinion (Spain)
• Backfence.com
• Bakersfield Californian
• Bakotopia – Bakersfield, CA
• Buy It Like You Mean It – grassroots ethical supply chain discussions
• CBS Eye Mobile – Citizen Journalism from CBS (USA Network Television Station)
• Cent Papiers (Canada – Quebec)
• Center for Citizen Media
• Citizen Photojournalism – Flickr
• Citizenside.com (share and sell your news images – an AFP.com website)
• Citizenxpress.com (The Indians’ contribution to the cause of citizen journalism)/ expired
• cplash.com – Citizen Journalism In India
• Citizen Journalism Nepal
• Citizen Journalism Report
• Citizen Wausau – community site for residents of Wausau, Wisconsin
• Coastsider: News & Community
• Comincialitalia: News & Community – Italy
• CyberJournalist.net
• demotix
• - Davis Islands News and Information, Tampa, FL
• drugpile.com – medical news from one physician’s perspective
• Eco89 (France) – see also Rue89
• ElComentarioTV News & opinion in Asturias. Spain
• ePluribus Media
• Fai notizia (in Italian)
• Fairbanks Open Radio
• Giornalismo partecipativo – an Italian citizen journalism site
• Global Voices Online
• DigitalJournal.com
• GroundReport
• Groundviews Sri Lanka
• Highway Ukraine Citizen Journalism Online
• Halfway To Concord California political news, Contra Costa and East Bay politics
• HULIQ – Citizens Report Globally
• iBelarus – Belarusian Citizen Journalism Platform
• iChagrin.com – the only online citizen journalism site serving Chagrin Falls Ohio and South Russell Ohio
• Indiconews – Global citizen journalism website with interview and region specific functionality
• InsideWoodland.com Local news in Woodland, CA
• inewss: Citizen News Site from India
• iReport
• iTalkNews
• Jasmine News Sri Lanka – SMS/Mobile use for public journalism/mobile blogging
• J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism
• Kolkata Citizen-Journalism Website (India)
• Ledbury Portal
• Largemouth Citizen Journalism Manual
• Media Mouse: Grand Rapids, Michigan Independent Media
• MeriNews: 1st Citizen Journalism News Portal in India
• Mero Samachar: A community based crowd news source
• Mixeye
• Moobol: China’s pioneer citizen journalism website
• Muncie Free Press
• MyBreakingNews: Toronto’s CP24′s citizen journalism site
• MyNews: CTV.ca’s Canadian citizen journalism site
• Mynews: another Citizen Journalism News Portal in India
• MyTown
• NeighborMedia at Cambridge Community Television in Cambridge, MA.
• Newscribe – discover, collaborate over and review news stories
• NewsCloud
• NewsTrust
• The Northwest Voice – Bakersfield, CA
• NowPublic
• OhmyNews International
• Online Journalism Review
• Orato
• Our Media Learning Center
• Participatory Citizen Journalism: merinews (India)
• Pew Center for Civic Journalism
• Philly Future
• Pocono Herald
• PopularVoice.Org
• Potrero Hill, San Francisco – Reporting on Potrero Hill, San Francisco
• Poynter Online
• The Methods Reporter – Chicago blog by Medill graduate journalism students
• Progressive U – Student civic journalism
• plebsTV.com – news by people
• Purdafash: Participatory website from India Indian CJ-Site that raises awareness about social & environmental issues
• Public Journalism Network
• The Rapidian: community generated news in Grand Rapids, MI
• The Razor – Melbourne, Australia’s Home of Citizen Driven Journalism
• Readers Edition German Citizen Journalism Project
• reporter.ca.za
• Reset Italia Italian collaborative webzine
• Rue89 (France)
• SACRN South Asian Citizen Reporters Network
• Salida Citizen – A community news and citizen journalism site for Salida, Colorado
• Scoopt – Photo citizen journalism site
• SCVTalk.com Santa Clarita, California community news site
• Sierrabear.com – A community news and citizen journalism site for Sonora and Tuolumne County, California
• The Southwest Voice – Bakersfield, CA

• Tribal Shout – Audio Blogging
• University Chic
• Wanabehuman: Citizen Journalism worldwide
• WeSay.com: news photo site for amateur photographers
• India’s active e-newspaper for citizen journalism/reporting whitedrums.com
• Wikinews
• YouReporter: an italian citizen journalism website
• You Scoop It A new citizen journalist site, very professional
• Ventura County Star
• You Witness News: Yahoo’s citizen journalism offering
• YourHub.com
• newsotronic.com: National community news site for citizen journalism
• NewsMeBack.com Citizen journalism
• First Citizen Journalism News Site in Indonesia
• GlobalReporter.com
• Citizen Journalism News site in Middle East

Now, it seems, the same can be said with watching major sporting events as will. On October 11, the England verse Ukraine World Cup qualifier was the first ever sporting event to only be available on the internet, not TV. People had to subscribe to get the coverage but the results were outstanding, with organisers reporting half a million people watched the game. That is a pretty incrediable figure.

Here’s the Reuters report;

250,000 pay to watch England game on internet

By Mitch Phillips

LONDON, Oct 11 (Reuters) – The first England international to be available only on the internet attracted around 250,000 subscribers for a total estimated viewing figure of almost 500,000, organisers said on Sunday.

Saturday’s World Cup qualifier, won 1-0 by Ukraine against an already-qualified England in Dnipropetrovsk, was not shown live on any UK TV networks, although the BBC made a late decision to buy and screen the highlights late on Saturday.

The rights for the match had originally been bought by Setanta but the company went into administration.

Kentaro, who bought the rights from the Ukraine Football Association, decided not to accept offers from other television companies and instead made the game available only online.

The firm charged almost five pounds ($8) for subscriptions taken out before Thursday, rising to 10 and then 12 pounds.

A number of national newspapers and internet service providers (ISPs) also made the match available on their own websites while it was also screened in some cinemas.

“This pioneering broadcast has been a great success,” Kentaro Chief Executive Philipp Grothe said in a statement.

“Not only have we delivered Britain’s largest ever live pay-to-view internet sports audience but commercially the venture has proved itself as a viable model for future games.

“Technology has ignited a revolution in people’s viewing habits and there is a new sports broadcast platform developing on the broadband enabled internet.”

Andrew Croker, executive chairman of Kentaro’s technical partner Perform, said: “This was an extremely successful and groundbreaking project.

“An innovative marketing approach particularly with national newspapers, betting and ISP affiliates meant that we were able to get this out to a broad audience and make it a huge success.

“Additionally, from a customer service, production and distribution point of view, we felt it went very smoothly.”

It started like most stories do - a boy meets a girl. But this is a more modern fairytale. Gem and Roger, the two PRinks creators met via Twitter as they both worked in PR and had an interest in social media. Discovering the connection to a mutual friend, they decided to catch up for a drink one evening after work and thought, ‘Why not do something like this with other industry folk who might like to meet and share a drink?’ So they did. And two weeks later they held the first PRinks at the Cabana Bar in St Leonards.

Now, while it was a relatively small gathering for the first turn out, Gem was excited to see the response from colleagues and people she’d never met or spoken with before. She said it was also great to put some faces to names that she’d spoken with online and find out that these people were just as interesting offline as well. Now they have held a total of three PRinks and they are expanding each time. Gem got an email yesterday informing her that a PR consultant wants to start a PRinks in New Zealand…so now PRinks is going global. I don’t think Gem ever expected that when she signed on to a Twitter account.

The PRinks logo

I think this shows us alot about networking and the fact that offline activity is just as important. Much in the same way that everyone including the dog stops when a bald bloke says he’s a banker, there’s a preconception around networking events that you are simply looking to find the nearest person with a blank cheque book, and the environment can sometimes be both forced and unpleasant.

Twitter truly is a pandora’s box of networking opportunities. However, at the same time, it’s easy to fall into networking complacency. I think to myself - I’m following new people, gaining new followers, interacting while I go. Networking? Well Twitter ticks that box. And in some ways, yes it does. Twitter is today’s networking. However it is not the only one. It is simply just the beginning and the networking cannot end here.

At the end of the day, meeting face-to-face is essential.

Often the best connections you make are with those who are interested in what you have to say rather than what you have to offer. Hopefully online channels can continue to be the leveller in this regard.