Blogosphere Reinventing Journalism, Not Bleeding It

(NEWSER) - When the editors and writers at the Onion AV Club aren’t working—which appears to be often—they have their own “favorite time-wasting” websites to frequent. A sampling:

• CNN: "They’ve got some news there that you can read and junk," Nathan Rabin writes. "As a news-gathering operation, they aren’t in the same ballpark as The Onion, The Daily Show, or The Colbert Report, but they’re not half bad, all things considered."

(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»

Linkability is key, blogger writes

(NEWSER) - While the blogosphere is generally considered a free-for-all medium where any topic or opinion is fair game, it’s actually governed by narrow rules, Jeremy Beer writes on Front Porch Republic. “It is uncommon for someone to write a piece about something that is not immediately pertinent to the contemporary ‘conversation’—as defined by the blogosphere,” he writes. That makes it rare for “anyone to write anything ‘original’ at all.” More»

More people are using the web to share stories about breakups

(NEWSER) - Call it therapeutic or call it revenge, but more ex-spouses are airing their dirty laundry on the Internet—and courts are supporting them even if their former partners are not. Personal blogs have quadrupled since 2003, the New York Times notes in a look at the trend, with many using them to dish about everything from marital affairs, divorce proceedings, or their ex's profile on Match.com. More»

Sensationalist Times piece spun out of nothing, says Slate

(NEWSER) - The relentlessly self-analytical blogosphere had a field day with the recent New York Times story on bloggers allegedly writing themselves to death. But as the Internet exploded with reaction to the paper's claims, a Slate critic points out that the dire trend story was backed up by the thinnest tissue of circumstance. "Let's not kid ourselves that any white-collar work ranks high among dangerous professions," sniffs Timothy Noah in Slate. More»