NOTE: This article was originally posted by the Globe and Mail on Friday, February 19, 2010. It was written by Meghan Potkins of The Canadian Press.

When the words “COMMENT REMOVED” started popping up on websites carrying stories about a lack of French at the Olympics, Keith Bilous’ employees were hard at work. (more…)

Memorial University of Newfoundland is bringing back its Rant like Rick contest, calling on grade 11 and 12 students to submit their own rants for a chance to win free tuition and free books for a year plus $10,000. MUN is offering two second place prizes of free tuition for a year.

The contest has a YouTube presence. Deadline for entries is March 22. (more…)

CBC.ca is the number one ranked news website in Canada for buzz generated from its online content, according to a study by Chicago-based Cision.

The study looked at the country’s top 10 media outlets and how effective their online content was at generating buzz, as measured by links and comments that the media outlets received from December 29, 2008 to January 27, 2009.

Cision examined how many times the website was mentioned - including on social media such as Twitter to blogs and forums - and how many times someone responded to that mention. (more…)

The Globe and Mail and the Dominion Institute, an organization concerned with public policy and citizen involvement, have launched a wiki as a way to gather views on public policy for Canada.

The first policy issue that they have chosen is the upcoming Canadian federal budget. The wiki will post background information, “briefing notes,” that breakdown the various aspects of the policy, stimulus packages, GST rebate, etc. These will appear on the site along with comments by industry professionals. (more…)

There’s a lot of buzz this morning about President-elect Barack Obama’s pledge to reinvest in America’s infrastructure. And the incoming administration wants people to bring that buzz to the transition website Change.gov.

In addition to unveiling his plans for the stimulus package on the site, Obama is using the site to bring regular addresses to the nation. The site is also welcoming ongoing comments and discussion from the public as well as suggestions for new policies with a section called Your Seat at the Table. (more…)

Unprecedented is a word we’ve been hearing a lot lately. We have an unprecedented global economic crisis, and now Canada has an unprecedented crisis in government with a newly formed coalition of Liberals, NDPers (social democrats) and Bloc Quebecois (separatists) angling to grab power from the recently elected Conservatives.

Major news sites have been flooded by comments from readers. ICUC Moderation Services (the parent of snoo.ws) reports that its team has been inundated with comments on CBC.ca, one of the country’s major online news sites. “Canada is definately speaking out,” said ICUC President Keith Bilous. “It’s like nothing we’ve seen from a news story before.” One story had nearly 6,000 comments by Tuesday morning. (more…)

For those who think that ‘anything goes’ on the Internet, an Ontario, Canada Superior Court firmly disagrees. This week, Judge Lynn Ratushny ordered William Grosvenor to pay human-rights activist Richard Warman $50,000 in damages for malicious postings he made on the Internet.

Among other things, Grosvenor accused Warman of being a pedophile; he threatened to kill him; and posted Warman’s photograph and maps showing how to get to his home. As part of the ruling, the judge ordered Grosvenor to issue a retraction of his defamatory comments, to remove them from the Internet and to publishing nothing else that is defamatory or incites violence. (more…)

Earlier this month, LP33.tv (formally MYAOWL) launched a unique music and video website revolving around unsigned and indie label artists.

The site, which resembles a Web version of MTV, was created to provide new and unsigned artists with a place to promote their careers, sell their music and connect with new fans through the site’s artist-created video content, ivideo promos, tour diaries, video blogs and video logs. (more…)

In campaigns past it was the politicians (or their speechwriters) who would come up with the zingers that would change the course of an election. In the U.S., there was “Where’s the beef?” and “It’s about the economy, stupid.” In Canada, Mulroney intoned, “You had a choice, sir.”

Today, social media has opened the field up to the whole electorate. Take for example the wildly popular “Culture in Danger/Culture en Péril” video by popular Quebec entertainer Michel Rivard. (more…)

Global liquor giant Diageo may be becoming a true believer in UGC after a fake commercial for its Guinness stout ale scored a huge viral success on YouTube.com.

The company’s original reaction to the independently-made, unsolicited “Share One With a Friend” 60 second spot was to ask YouTube to pull it down. But the company soon recognized that (more…)