Micro-blogging pioneer with plenty of buzz but no revenue swaps execs
CNET Oct 17, 08 6:05 AM CDT
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Twitter has shunted CEO Jack Dorsey into the chairman's role and given his job to current chairman and co-founder Evan Williams, CNET reports. The micro-blogging site has grown fast since launching last year and has been surrounded by plenty of buzz—but while managers say things are right on track, it still lacks a working revenue model.
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YouTube videos spoof Nazi leader
Guardian (UK) Sep 28, 08 12:03 PM CDT
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Hitler wants his Xbox back, at least in one of many YouTube spoofs. Using clips from a 2004 German film about the Nazi’s demise, users have also rewritten subtitles to show Hitler ranting about Hillary Clinton and Adam Sandler movies. The spoofs are the latest Web 2.0 spawn, the Guardian observes, enabling armchair impresarios to create and broadcast their own content.
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Experts compare it to physical closeness
New York Times Sep 6, 08 7:08 PM CDT
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The mini-missives that friends post on websites like Twitter create what experts call "ambient awareness"—a form of contact akin to picking up a friend's body language or stray remarks. Alone they add up to little, "but taken together, over time, the little snippets coalesce into a surprisingly sophisticated portrait of your friends’ and family members’ lives, like thousands of dots making a pointillist painting," Clive Thompson writes in the New York Times .
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ANALYSIS
From police updates to serializing novel, aficionados find innovative new uses
Ars Technica Sep 4, 08 3:59 PM CDT
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Don't write off Twitter as a mere time-wasting self-promotion toy, David Chartier writes in Ars Technica. Users have adapted the microblogging tool to business, government, and even art, pushing 140-character posts beyond "what I had for lunch today." Some innovative Twitter accounts include Comcast, which tracks customer service issues, and an Arizona police department that reports important bulletins in real time.
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ANALYSIS
'Carefully groomed' site beats 'the chaos that is MySpace,' may mean $
Mashable Aug 26, 08 5:28 PM CDT
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Facebook has just crossed the 100-million-user plateau, and it’s more notable than when MySpace achieved the feat 2 years ago, Stan Schroeder writes on Mashable. First of all, Facebook says it counts only active users, unlike its rival. But more importantly, Facebook has a vision of how to cater to and expand its user base—and how to make money.
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Researchers and psychologists think connection, and release, are beneficial
Boston Globe Aug 20, 08 4:16 PM CDT
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Cancer patients, once reticent, are increasingly explicit in sharing the details of their ordeals in blogs—and finding it therapeutic. Researchers at Ohio State looked at 50 blogs and found they helped patients cope, the Boston Globe reports. Not only do they make it easier to keep friends and family current, they make the writer feel more in control.
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ANALYSIS
Movies, TV shows will stream directly computer, no huge download required
Ars Technica Jul 17, 08 5:20 PM CDT
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Amazon entered the streaming video tangle today with Amazon Video on Demand, a service that resembles Netflix and Hulu far more than the company’s Unbox service, Ars Technica notes. While Unbox functioned on a principle similar to the iTunes Store, Amazon Video will stream movies and TV shows directly to customers' computers (and, later, TVs), cutting long download times.
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Little-known Internet player hitting the big time with simple idea
Los Angeles Times Jul 16, 08 1:29 PM CDT
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Richard Rosenblatt doesn’t work in Silicon Valley and few people, even there, know his name. But in just 2 years his Demand Media has become a huge player, backed by $355 million in private investment, and pulling in nearly $200 million in revenue this year, the Los Angeles Times reports. His big idea is, well, a small one: eat up thousands of niche social-networking websites, the so-called Long Tail of the Internet, and create tailored content that draws the faithful, and by extension, the advertisers.
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ANALYSIS
Harvard prof questions theory that Internet fuels boom for niche commerce
Slate Jul 14, 08 4:23 PM CDT
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The "Long Tail" theory of the internet—that the Web's boundless democracy is enabling a boom in niche culture and commerce—is coming under fire just as its author releases the paperback version, Farhad Manjoo writes on Slate. After reviewing data that should back Chris Anderson's theory, a Harvard professor concludes that while obscure media sales are growing, they're still obscure.
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Independent web ads for favored candidates are making an impact
New York Times Jun 28, 08 9:21 PM CDT
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A glut of political amateurs who produce popular videos on the cheap for YouTube and similar sites is redefining campaign politics. The New York Times takes a look at the phenomenon, in which partisans with nothing but passion and a computer produce often scathing videos about McCain and Obama. The campaigns, meanwhile, are struggling to ajdust to "politics at the speed of the Internet," as one Obama adviser puts it.
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MIT offers a look new software to improve how we communicate online
MIT Technology Review Jun 28, 08 6:04 AM CDT
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What’s next in the wide world of Web? MIT’s Technology Review lists 10 up-and-coming apps and gadgets to make communicating even easier: Pinger . Like texting, but with your voice: leave voice messages for your friends on the company’s server. Pownce . A microblogging service like Twitter—but users can send large files back and forth, too. Qik . Broadcast live to the Internet using just your mobile phone. Dash Navigation . Road-ready Internet access that lets drivers grab traffic info on the fly. Ushahidi . To help get the word out during disasters, text messages appear on a web-based map showing the texter’s location.
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OPINION
Osama not up on his Facebook, YouTube; US should exploit populist backlash
New York Times Jun 26, 08 9:07 AM CDT
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At its height, al-Qaeda had mastered how to amplify the effect of real-world attacks with virtual representations—videos, audio recordings, and articles reproducing its mayhem online. But as the Web has transformed into a more social entity, the terrorist organization is " stuck in 1.0," writes analyst Daniel Kimmage in the New York Times . If America and its allies want to win the war on terror, they should look to YouTube.
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In classic fashion, company has cool idea, needs users, cash
Portfolio Jun 21, 08 8:44 PM CDT
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Won’t these Internet startups ever learn about business plans? That's backward thinking, says prolific venture capitalist Joi Ito, who has a stake in the new website PMOG. “People make fun of the idea," he told Portfolio . “There are few sites, however, that have a critical mass where they usually don't figure out a business model.”
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Gastronomy bible's website lets amateur cooks weigh in
BusinessWeek Jun 18, 08 8:45 PM CDT
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Before it was the last word in gastronomy, the Michelin Guide was a free book designed to spur travel, and hence sell tires. Now, it’ll be free once more, thanks to a revamped Web strategy, BusinessWeek reports. Michelin’s redesigned site will not only give away more content, it’ll also include web 2.0 features to let amateur gourmets get a word in.
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