Nick Carr looks beyong our current social software bubble to the reasons it may not last: “The crux of the problem is that, in most cases, social software is an extremely inefficient way for a person to get something done. The crowd may enjoy the product of other people’s inputs, but for the rather small… Continue reading The Problem with Social Software
Author: Dan Blank
Newspapers & Links
Techdirt looks inside the debate that many old media companies go through when moving online: “A reporter at a paper in Missouri writes to Poynter Online, discussing an internal debate that her newspaper had over whether to include external links to stories in other publications. Ultimately, the higher ups decided against it on the view… Continue reading Newspapers & Links
Tips to Improve Newspaper Websites
The Bivings Report offers up 10 Ways for Newspapers to Improve Their Websites. On the list: Start Using Tags Provide Full Text RSS Feeds Work with External “Social” Websites Link to Relevant Blog Entries Get Rid of All Registration Partner with Local Bloggers Offer Alternative Views of Your Content Modernize Your Site’s Graphic Design Learn… Continue reading Tips to Improve Newspaper Websites
Free Digital Books
Google is now offering free digital books for download. There are quite a few limitations to the service so far, but the scale of what Google is doing behind the scenes with books is amazing. Their goal is to scan every book – collecting all the worlds knowledge. I am just glad that future generations… Continue reading Free Digital Books
An Often Ignored Publishing Niche
Coupons. Yes, it is indeed publishing. The New York Times looks at the state of the coupon business, which has held its own against digital coupons, so far. However, change is on the way: “The next stage, according to marketing experts, will come with the spread of digital cellphones with location-tracking and automatic short-range communication… Continue reading An Often Ignored Publishing Niche
Collaborative Journalism
Wired is running an interesting journalism experiment: “In an experiment in collaborative journalism, Wired News is putting reporter Ryan Singel at your service. This wiki began as an unedited 1,059 word article on the wiki phenomenon, exactly as Ryan filed it. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to do the job of… Continue reading Collaborative Journalism
Web News Roundup
Just a few interesting articles: There has been a ton of talk online about Google’s foray into Microsoft Office’s territory, with their “Google Apps for Your Domain” announcement. Chris Anderson has the most interesting theory about how this will affect the web. AdSense alternatives A rant about why RSS is not such a big deal… Continue reading Web News Roundup
Tagging the News
Jeff Jarvis started an interesting discussion on how to categorize and tag news. Some of the comments he received are interesting: “…tags are crap. I tried to get analysts to do it, and it didn’t work (good luck with reporters). The reasons are that “your taxonomy isn’t my taxonomy” and it requires a discipline that… Continue reading Tagging the News
Citizen Journalism – Consumer Style
Advertising Age reports on the growing importance of user-generated reviews: “Product reviews written by real people are perhaps the most underappreciated slice of the consumer-generated-media universe, the explosion of which has captivated the advertising and media worlds.” In related news, Fred Wilson introduced me to a few phrases that scare me: shopcasting and social commerce.… Continue reading Citizen Journalism – Consumer Style
Blogs Rewrite Journalism
Malcolm Gladwell recently wrote a piece in The New Yorker about the US pension system. On his blog, he has been clarifying statements, and responding to comments that contest points in his article. In his most recent post, he makes some clarifications about what it means to be a journalist, and “report,” as opposed to… Continue reading Blogs Rewrite Journalism