New Site Targets Chattering (and Now Tweeting) Classes

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»

After reading of the death of a former love, Dan Abrams reflects

(NEWSER) - Mediaite founder/MSNBC host Dan Abrams has delivered his fair share of heartbreaking news, but found the shoe shoved painfully on the other foot this week after reading that one of his "few and truest loves" died by falling—or jumping—off a cliff over the weekend. In a touching piece on Mediaite , Abrams picks apart and reflects on the article written, in a nuts-and-bolts fashion, by the Daily Breeze's Sandy Mazza that reported Julia Rolle's death. More»

Maybe your embarrassing parents can help you land a TV deal

(NEWSER) - Easter and Passover are coming up, which means more embarrassing incidents at family get-together, plus a silver lining: You could potentially score a book deal. Chris Mathias, writing for Nerve , lists five blogs based on “familial eccentricities” that have scored their creators some cash—or at least some popularity:

• Shit My Dad Says : Moving back in with your parents doesn’t suck so bad when your 73-year-old father’s hilarious utterings end up getting you a TV show—starring William Shatner, no less.
• Tiny Art Director : An artist’s 5-year-old daughter offers harsh critiques of his work, often involving the addition of dinosaurs or dragons. The book will be out soon.

Data analysis tells you words to use and when to build your brand

(NEWSER) - You might think all you need to do to get your 140-character gems rebroadcast on Twitter is make them, well, good. Wrong. Fast Company looks at some data-proven tips from Hubspot's Dan Zarrella:

• Links work—If they're the right links: Retweets (or RTs) are three times more likely to have links than the general field, but use the right URL shortener. Newer services such as bit.ly are tops; old standby TinyURL is out to pasture.

(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»