Blogging Catches On as Marketing Tool

Remember, it hasn't actually been announced yet

(NEWSER) - Rob Shoesmith is currently camped outside London's Covent Garden Apple store in a tent, awaiting the release of the iPhone 5. Not all that weird, except of course that the iPhone 5 hasn't even been announced yet. Why is he doing it? As a "marketing and PR experiment," of course, and the Los Angeles Times notes that he's blogging about the whole thing. More»

Young people turn from long posts to short tweets

(NEWSER) - Just a few years ago, blogging was hot enough to be Merriam-Webster’s word of the year—but as Facebook and Twitter have grown, blogging has declined, the New York Times reports. The trend is particularly notable among the young: between 2006 and 2009, a survey found, blogging’s popularity among 12- to 17-year-olds dropped by half, while between 2008 and 2010, it fell 2 percentage points among the 18- to 33-year-old set. More»

Blogging turns from amateur calling to corporate career

(NEWSER) - It’s become obligatory for internet philosophers to crow about how blogs have democratized the press and allowed average joes to beat big media, but it’s just not true anymore, writes Benajamin Carlson of the Atlantic. “The free-wheeling fraternal spirit of blogging has become increasingly subject to market disciplines.” Or, as Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein put it, “The place has professionalized.” More»

(NEWSER) - The blogger at the center of a lawsuit against Google has defended comments calling a model a skank, reports the New York Daily News. "I feel my right to privacy has been violated," said New Yorker Rosemary Porter, 29, whose identity was revealed under court order after model Liskula Cohen, 37, filed suit. "This has become a public spectacle and a circus that is not my doing. Before her suit, there were probably two hits on my web site." More»

(NEWSER) - If you think blogs are useless, think again: Scientists have developed a “hedonometer,” or happiness gauge, that analyzes personal online statements to pinpoint the overall contentment of the US population on a given day, the Discovery Channel reports. The program looks at sentences beginning with “I feel” and then grades the statement based on what follows. “Triumphant” gets an 8.87; “hostage” scores a 2.20. More»