The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of the Media

What are people making of Sarah Palin’s recently released emails? Pretty much nothing. [NY Magazine]

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords just released her first public photos since she was shot at an Arizona constituent event in January, in an effort to prevent the release of paparazzi photos. Her chief of staff says she may be released from the hospital before the end of the month. [Poynter Institute]

Twitter didn’t just create a new kind of political scandal, it also created this year’s version of the emoticon: the hashtag. #awesome [NY Times]

Remember WikiLeaks? Even though Julian Assange isn’t splashed across the news anymore, the website still affects how we get our political information. [CNN]

Facebook is awesome, but there’s certain virtual behaviors that have no place in real life. Example: don’t show random people your photos and ask them if they want to comment. [BuzzFeed]