'Skank Blogger' Remains Defiant

Blogging site to enforce new content policy

(NEWSER) - Tumblr is taking a stand against blogs that promote self-harm. When a new content policy goes into effect, likely next week, pro-anorexia blogs or others that urge readers to self-injure will no longer be allowed on the blogging site, according to a staff post today. The Awl and New York's Daily Intel blog note that the policy has divided users and will be difficult to enforce. The post itself notes that the prohibition "is intended to reach only those blogs that cross the line into active promotion or glorification," meaning that jokes about starving yourself are fine but advice about how to starve yourself is not. More»

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»

(NEWSER) - A Manhattan judge has forced Google to reveal the identity of an anonymous blogger who called model Liskula Cohen a "40-something" "skank," reports Canada.com. In the precedent-setting ruling, Cohen, 37, convinced the court to unmask the writer so she could sue for defamation; when Google handed over the blogger's email address, Cohen recognized a personal acquaintance. More»

User-generated content sites can have publishers pounce within days

(NEWSER) - The blog-to-book cycle is speeding up as publishers seek fast cash from Internet funnies, the New York Times reports. Sites like Pets Who Want to Kill Themselves—featuring user-submitted photos of pets in bizarre outfits—have gone from startup to print in a matter of weeks, with the "authors" doing little but coming up with the idea. More»