There is a conventional wisdom in the media industry that micropayments for online content don’t work, but Greg Golebiewski of Znak It says that this isn’t true, and that media companies need to experiment with the model. Read more at paidContent »
The biggest challenge for modern etiquette is that we have so many different forms of communication available to us now, but not everyone agrees on how or when it is appropriate to use them. Read more »
Until now, the Atlantic has been the poster child for traditional media entities that have succeeded online, but the New Yorker looks to be planning some major moves of its own to boost its online presence. Read more at paidContent »
The sister of Facebook’s CEO got caught in a privacy snafu on Christmas Day after a private photo of her family was shared publicly. But this is about more than Facebook and its notoriously complicated settings — figuring out the boundaries of online privacy is not easy. Read more »
An article at Jezebel identifies high-school students who posted racist tweets in the wake of the election, raising a number of questions about what we consider to be an appropriate response to that kind of behavior, and when the cure is worse than the disease. Read more »
A Twitter user named @ComfortablySmug has been held up as a villain for posting fake news reports to Twitter, and his identity has been forcibly revealed by BuzzFeed — but is that, and all that it implies, an appropriate punishment for his alleged crimes? Read more »
In addition to occasional acts of journalism, Reddit is also known for its less savory content, including a page featuring creepy photos of women taken without their permission — and the controversy over that kind of content says a lot about the nature of the community. Read more »
There has been a lot of criticism of Advance Publications for shutting down printing of newspapers like the New Orleans Times-Picayune, but Digital First Media CEO John Paton says the chain should be defended for trying whatever it takes to save its business from certain disaster. Read more »
Newspaper companies are trying to cut costs by shutting down the printing presses and laying off staff, but unless they have a strategy for managing the transition from print to digital, all they are doing is liquidating the goodwill of a generation of readers and advertisers. Read more »
Facebook is said to be working on new features that would allow children under 13 to access the network. Is this a way of helping parents encourage their children to develop better online skills, or does it open kids up to privacy problems and other issues? Read more »
Media industry executives love to talk about the “original sin” that newspapers supposedly committed, by not charging for content when the web was young — but this theory misses the point that the media game as a whole is being played according to fundamentally different rules. Read more »
Just like the iPhone brought smartphones to the mainstream, widespread streaming, YouTube and online pharmacies have brought SOPA to Congress. But the fundamental issue isn’t about SOPA, it’s about protecting business models that rely on a fragmented world, as the web makes fragmentation less relevant. Read more »
Apple’s iPhone 4S is the smartphone on the tip of everyone’s tongue this holiday season, according to stats from Nielsen/McKinsey subsidiary NM Incite released Friday. The 4S captured 40 percent of online buzz around smartphones during the last six months, despite not being introduced until October. Read more »
Apple was the second-most popular online retailer in the U.K., according to data collected by web stats measurement firm Experian Hitwise and IMRG released Monday. Apple rose to second place from eighth the previous quarter, thanks to a five-fold increase in traffic between August and October. Read more »
Apple’s search for a replacement for retail chief Ron Johnson continues, but that hasn’t stopped it from shaking up its retail operations despite the ongoing transition, with mobile payment and ordering options, and reportedly planning even more changes in the near future, too. Read more »
Perhaps Netflix has found a friend in its lonely battle against broadband caps, as a U.K. paper is reporting that gamers playing the OnLive service can use up to 20 GB in six hours. Can an outraged gaming community help eliminate broadband caps? Read more »
Google chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt admitted in an interview in Edinburgh on the weekend that Google is taking a hard line on the real-name issue with Google+ because it sees the social network as an “identity service” on which it can build other products. Read more »
If Google wants Google+ to succeed, it needs to get better at communicating clearly with the users of its new community. But the company has consistently failed to do this, and in fact has made things worse. Is being transparent something Google is incapable of? Read more »
Microsoft can’t give up on search. Though it’s been losing money forever, Microsoft needs search to defend its core platforms, compete with Google and solidify its ad business while opening emerging revenue ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
As it rolls out its Google+ social network, Google has been cracking down on its requirement that users have “real” names, just as Facebook has — but are we losing something valuable as a society as a result of this stamping out of online anonymity? Read more »
Online anonymity has been taking a beating recently, with the Gay Girl in Damascus affair and a recent piece by the former ombudsman at NPR criticizing anonymous comments. But allowing people to be anonymous has real value for society that shouldn’t be dismissed so quickly. Read more »
Minutes.io is a simple, well-designed web app that makes taking and distributing meeting minutes quick and painless — no more transcribing handwritten meeting notes, or cobbling together a minutes email from typed notes. It’s free, and no sign up is required in order to use it. Read more »
In case you missed it, the iPad 2 officially went on sale online at the Apple Store at 1 AM PST today. Online sales started well before retail sales, but those ordering now will have a much longer wait than those currently standing in line. Read more »
Apple made a lot of money from direct sales last year, so it isn’t surprising that it would expand its online store to China, a market with huge growth potential. Extending the App Store’s reach there isn’t shocking either. So what does Apple stand to gain? Read more »
One of the benefits of buying an iPod from Apple online is that you get to engrave a free message on the back. It helps you identify your device, and it’s nice for gifts. The iPad lacked the option at launch, but it’s here now. Read more »
The woes of the traditional media industry have fuelled concerns that traditional offline news sources are being replaced by online sources. But a new study by the Pew Center has found that online news consumption has actually increased as more people go online for their news. Read more »
I’m old enough to remember when being at home meant that you were off work. There was no logging in from home to check your mail. (If you wanted your mail, you had to drive into the office to pick it up.) Computers were big boxes […] Read more »
Whether you’ve been a web worker for a while or are just starting out, we’ve provided many tips for preparing and managing your online career. We’ve covered 10 ways to make money online and 10 more ways to make money online. We’ve also shared in-depth information […] Read more »
Words occupy so much of my waking life that dictionaries are also devotional texts for me. As I become less dependent on traditional books and print media and more involved with web tech and digital publication, my desire to find a truly great dictionary web app […] Read more »
As I sit down each day to do my work, the vast majority of which involves writing (articles, web site content, tweets and blog posts), I can’t help but think about the writing rules drilled into me by past English teachers. In most cases, their advice […] Read more »
