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15 June 2012 Last updated at 11:19 ET By Mario Cacciottolo BBC News

Argyll and Bute Council are in the news for falling foul of what's known as the Streisand Effect - the act of trying to suppress information but simply making it more widespread as a result.

Martha Payne, from Argyll, was writing about her school dinners on her NeverSeconds blog, taking pictures of them and offering ratings for their nutritional value.

But Argyll and Bute Council banned her from taking photos of her school's food, saying press coverage of the blog had led catering staff to fear for their jobs.

However, they reckoned without the Streisand Effect, which saw the photo ban make headline news in some of the nation's biggest media organisations and the story spiral into a much bigger one that it ever was before.

The furore forced the local authority to reverse the ban, with the leader issuing a statement to say there was "no place for censorship" on the council.

The story sums up the Streisand Effect, named after singer Barbra Streisand, which is an online phenomenon in which an attempt to hide or remove information - a photo, video, story etc - results in the greater spread of the information in question.

Paul Armstrong, head of social for Mindshare, a global media network, says the Streisand Effect is a reminder to brands and celebrities about the effect groups, and individuals, can have on the internet in a very short space of time.

"People have an innate inquisitiveness. When this is mixed with a fear of missing out, feeling something is being hidden from them or that someone is overacting to something, it can cause individuals to react in undesired or mischievous ways that others then support.

"Mix this combination with a natural dislike for censorship and brands or individuals can have a recipe for disaster on their hands."

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The Streisand Effect: When censorship backfires

Today in books and publishing: Fighting censorship of a book about lesbian moms; Israel fights against book discounts; where are the stay-at-home dads in kids' books; you will covet this book-tent.

Censorship of a picture book. Debate continues over In Our Mothers' House, a book by Patricia Polacco about a lesbian couple that was put behind checkout counters in elementary libraries in Utah's Davis School District. (The book now require a parent's permission slip to be checked out.)The Kids' Right to Read Project, which is a combined effort of the National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, wrote to Superintendent Bryan Bowles, as did the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah earlier this week, to say that restricting access to the book"diminishes the education value of the library whose primary role is to allow students to make choices according to their own interests, experiences, and family values" and is likely unconstitutional.

"Federal courts have consistently concluded that the First Amendment protects student access to books in their school libraries, free from limits based on the administrations disagreement with the viewpoints expressed in the books," said John Mejia, legal director of the ACLU of Utah.

"From what we know of the districts removal of the book, we have serious concerns that the district may have fallen short of these protections."

A committee of seven teachers, administrators, and parents voted (6-1) to keep the book off shelves on April 30 because, they said, it didn't align with curriculum standards, "because state law dictates that curriculum cannot advocate homosexuality."A librarian cast the lone no vote. Bowles has reportedly been in conversations with the ACLU. On the up side, remember what happens with censored books? They tend toonly get more popular. [Salt Lake Tribune]

Elsewhere: Why so few stay-at-home dads in kids' books? [The Globe and Mail]

Israeli authors are fighting against book discounts offered by the county's two main bookstore chains, Steimatzky and Tzomet Sfarim,"claiming the price slashing [as low as $6 a book as opposed to catalogue prices ranging $15 or $20] has cut into their royalties." They've gotten Netanyahu and government ministers to support them, and "the parliament is expected to approve a bill enshrining the limits." In France, Germany, and Mexico, similar laws have been passed. [Fox News]

Y.A. appeal for urban youth.Hoping to get more kids to read, Saddleback Educational Publishing is banking on the Urban Flip Book seriesby Stephanie Perry Moore, who co-wrote the boy's books in the series with her husband, former NFL player Derrick Moore. The series is about high school cheerleaders and football players (it's inspired byFriday Night Lights)and is written at a third-grade reading level. "'Many of our struggling learners are African American, Latino, ethnically diverse, so it's important to connect with all of them and show them there are books about them, about the families they're a part of, the friends they have, the environments they're used to,' said [Saddleback's Arianne] McHugh, whose company publishes 100 books each year for middle- and high-school students that marry tween and teen content with a first- to fourth-grade reading level, as well as supplemental educational material written at lower reading levels than the curriculum."[Los Angeles Times]

Google Play books are now available in Germany.That means Google's online bookstore is expandingit's also in Australia, Canada, Italy, the UK, and the U.S. Surely, there will be more. [Engadget]

Art with books: Here is some beautiful book carving byGuy Laramee. And here is the $769 book tentyou didn't even know you needed. You are welcome.

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The Censorship of a Book About Two Moms; Israel Battles Book Discounts

Here's a look at potential safeguards that companies may put in place in light of recent cases of alleged abuse and rape in youth-centric online communities.

Social networks catering to adolescents have a serious trust issue -- and justifiably so.

Location-based flirting app Skout and teen social-networking game Habbo were hit by reports that adults allegedly used their services to sexually prey on underage users, causing both sites to temporarily restrict access this week.

The incidents serve as a reminder of the potential risks that arise when a minor logs on to any social network, an issue that has gotten even more scrutiny with Facebook looking to possibly open its doors to users under 13. More importantly, it reinforces the notion that no network is truly safe, no matter the technology safeguards that are put in place.

"You can never know completely that the person at the other end of the conversation is a kid," she said.

Nevertheless, Skout and Habbo have quickly shifted into damage-control mode with attempts to reassure users and the media that it will improve the protection that it offers to its users. Both companies have said they are trying to upgrade their security measures, moderators, and technology.

Paul LaFontaine, CEO of Habbo parent company Sulake, did not respond to questions, but did post on the company blog, indicating that the company is working to "ensure that best-in-class moderation and detection systems are in place to create a safer and improved experience for our many responsible users."

Skout, likewise, has said it would look into upgrading its safeguards and take additional steps to protect its users.

Age limits One protective measure is age limits, which Skout has said it would look into for its community. But the measure has long been debated within the industry, particularly because it's usually ineffective.

"It's a huge problem. In most case, it really doesn't work," said Chris Babel, CEO of TRUSTe, a company that helps online companies address privacy concerns.

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Can social networks protect your kids?

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado Strawberry Days, meet the 21st century.

Colorado's oldest civic celebration, dating back to 1898, is now incorporating modern-day influences such as social networking and American Idol to celebrate Glenwood Springs' biggest event this weekend.

Our Strawberry Days social networking site is a great way for us to reach a wide network of people, said Dylan Lewis, pubic relations director for the event. Social media marketing is all about word of mouth, and this form of media helps us develop relationships.

Lewis worked with the Glenwood Springs Chamber of Commerce to create the new strawberrydaysfestival.com social networking site that invites members to join, comment, add content and view photo slide shows. The site is dedicated to all that is Strawberry Days in Glenwood Springs.

We've had about 100 members join. I've seen people comment, I remember going to Strawberry Days back in 1979.' But at the same time we're showing Strawberry Days to a whole new group of people, he said.

Facebook users can also follow event postings and updates on the Strawberry Days Festival page, which has already surpassed 1,000 likes in less than four months since its creation.

People just have a natural, genuine interest in Strawberry Days, from all over the state, especially on Facebook, Lewis said.

The Strawberry Days social networking sites help event organizers post such information as the Miss Strawberry Days candidates and information about the Glenwood Idol auditions that took place Monday, as part of events leading up to the festive weekend.

Glenwood Idol contest

Glenwood Idol is a local take on Fox's uber-popular reality TV singing competition, American Idol.

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Strawberry Days social networking brings talent to more than one stage

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/bv92fn/social_networking) has announced the addition of the "Social Networking & Social Media: 2012 to 2016" report to their offering.

Social media is a once-in-a-generation, global phenomenon that is changing the world, unquestionably for the better. Whether it is Caracas or Boston, Auckland or Budapest, anywhere where there is an internet connection, in fact, social media is deeply and irrevocably embedded in the online world.

In spite of having first emerged just ten years ago, by the end of 2012 1.9 billion people around the globe will be actively using social media services, which represents over 85 percent of the entire online population. By 2016, these figures will have increased to 2.5 billion and nearly 90 percent respectively.

While social media unquestionably delivers huge value to users right around the globe, the business aspects of this new industry display some strange characteristics, such as:

- In spite of its global reach, utility and pervasive nature, the actual value of the social media market is rather modest, at just USD 10.4 billion in 2012 and USD 19.4 billion in 2016. By way of comparison, the size of the worldwide online advertising market in 2012 will be USD 114 billion while the worldwide Pay-TV market will be worth USD 275 billion;

- When a like-for-like comparison is made with traditional media forms, like newspapers, television, books and radio, fundamental reasons mean that the social media industry is only able to harvest a small percentage of the value delivered to users: newspaper industry ARPUs are more than 12x larger than social media;

- The market value of creating the content that was added to Facebook in 2011 was USD 6.4 billion, compared with company revenues of USD 3.71 billion. Facebook effectively outsourced these costs to users, but has no plan to remunerate those users for their efforts, other than providing a free service;

- We project that Facebook's share of the worldwide social media market in 2012 will be in excess of 50 percent. With a total market size of just USD 19.4 billion in 2016, the social media market is not large enough to sustain the growth of Facebook for more than a few more years. and so the company must enter major, new markets.

This report explains these and many other aspects of the social media market in detail against a background of detailed company profiles (21 leading social media companies are profiles) and worldwide analysis (24 leading countries are profiled).

Go here to read the rest:
Research and Markets: Social Networking & Social Media: 2012 to 2016