Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Hyperlocal hybrid

Interesting developments in journalism these days. On the one hand media moguls are trying to consolidate and monetize traditional media streams via subscriptions:

A trio of media executives that includes Court TV and Brill's Content founder Steven Brill, former Wall Street Journal publisher Gordon Crovitz, and Leo Hindery, Jr., managing partner of private equity fund InterMedia Partners, on Tuesday announced the launch of a Journalism Online, a new venture that aims to help monetize online news publishing. The venture plans to create a distributable system that will allow publishers to charge annual or monthly subscriptions to view their content, as well as a portal where consumers could pay a single fee to access content from multiple participating publications.

Media Executives Brill, Crovitz Debut "Journalism Online" Venture | Digital Media Wire


Good luck with the subscription model. On the other hand, the hyperlocal trend shows more promise:
A number of Web start-up companies are creating so-called hyperlocal news sites that let people zoom in on what is happening closest to them, often without involving traditional journalists. The sites, like EveryBlock, Outside.in, Placeblogger and Patch, collect links to articles and blogs and often supplement them with data from local governments and other sources. They might let a visitor know about an arrest a block away, the sale of a home down the street and reviews of nearby restaurants.

‘Hyperlocal’ Web Sites Deliver News Without Newspapers - NYTimes.com

My money is on traditional media teaming up with hypermedia.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Warning: Franger Danger

I'm not that unsociable, after all. After months of fretting about a paucity of my tweets, and what a rotten Facebook friend I am, it just so happens that I'm not alone. Turns out there's a name for my malady – I'm what's known as an "ambivalent networker."

A recent survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 45 percent of Americans in all age groups are enthusiastic about socializing via computer and mobile devices. Meanwhile, 48 percent are indifferent to Internet social networks, overwhelmed by gadgets or often avoiding Internet use altogether. Perhaps most surprising was the presence of a group that fell in between - the remaining 7 percent of the survey. These people, who had a median age of 29, are savvy about social networks and always carry mobile devices - and yet they feel conflicted about staying in constant contact. Pew called them "ambivalent networkers."

RGJ.com National News


When my son was living in England, it was always a chore for him to send me photos of his travels. He told me that if I wanted to see them sooner, I should just get a Facebook account. So I registered at Facebook for the sole purpose of seeing my son's photos. As a result I might have the lamest Facebook presence out there. It consists of a minimal amount of personal info and a picture of some tomatoes from my backyard. But then when I made my Facebook profile, I got a few friend requests, which I in time approved, but it leaves me in a quandary – when I accept a friend request, don't some responsibilities come with it? And if I don't accept a friend request, isn't that rude? As of now, I'm what I might call a "franger" – a friend who, due to minimal social contact, might as well be a stranger.

And Twitter is another thing. I made my first Tweet on August 26, 2007 and in those 592 days I've composed 47 updates – not exactly a tweeting frenzy. Originally I began twittering as a way to collaborate with a couple of like-minded teachers from the National Writing Project. It worked well at the time, but now we collaborate via our classroom work on Youth Voices, Skype, Teachers Teaching Teachers podcasts on the Ed Tech Talk webcast community, or via phone calls or Google chats, to name but a few.

So it comes as no surprise to me that people are dropping out of Facebook and Twitter. Online social networks tend to ebb and flow. I join Nings when I'm about to attend conferences or participate in some event like a reunion, but then virtually drop out of them after the conversation around that event wanes.

Our participation in online social networks change, just like our old-fashioned human relationships. Maybe I should update my profile....

Thursday, March 12, 2009

UCET 2009 presentation

I recently presented at the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology conference, sharing my thoughts on how teachers and students can best present themselves online.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Endow newspapers to save them?

By endowing our most valued sources of news we would free them from the strictures of an obsolete business model and offer them a permanent place in society, like that of America’s colleges and universities. Endowments would transform newspapers into unshakable fixtures of American life, with greater stability and enhanced independence that would allow them to serve the public good more effectively.

Op-Ed Contributor - News You Can Endow - NYTimes.com

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

on commenting

Comments are currency. I learned this first from Liz Strauss. They are the ultimate in social proof, because if we’re all supposed to be about joining the conversation, and yet you aren’t getting a lot of back and forth in the media you’re making, it might be time to look at this a bit more. If comments matter to you, read on. Here are some thoughts to help improve your back and forth.

A Crash Course in Comments | chrisbrogan.com

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Google Presentation vs. Powerpoint

A lot of people turn to PowerPoint when they have to do group presentations. Google's Docs has a presentation feature. I asked my students to compare the two applications. Here's a video about what they said.