Want an early start on that Summer Reading?
Try these two books, both vital to understanding the Web:
• The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
• The Long Tail by Chris Anderson
Both aren't new by a long shot — in point of fact, within online worlds, both are somewhat old hat by now — but if you haven't checked 'em out yet, by all means, get to work. You'll need to know this stuff.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Adjust your schedules accordingly ...
From today's New York Times:
• Tension Over Sports Blogging
The National Collegiate Athletic Association issued new guidelines this year: in women’s water polo, bloggers are allowed three posts a quarter and one at halftime; in fencing or bowling, 10 posts are allowed for each day or session.
• Tension Over Sports Blogging
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Common photo upload error (with solution!)
Hypothetical: You've uploaded a piece of art (or you TRY and you think it failed) into your blog (using this handy-dandy method).
At that point, you either A.) Lose the code that it supplies you with or B.) think it didn't work.
And so then you try to upload the image again, and you get this error:
What gives?
What gives is that a file by that name already resides in the directory for your blog, and MT won't allow you to overwrite it. Any attempt to upload a file by the same name will not work. (Note: Aside from our hypotheticals listed above, this can frequently happen when you're uploading a file with an exceedingly common name ... for example, "Cowboys.jpg" or something like that.)
Now, adopting a naming convention that makes each image more or less unique will help minimize these conflicts. I usually throw the date in front of every image/item I upload ... 041708_cowboys.jpg, or something like that. (It also helps when we're trying to track down an item in a large directory.)
In the short term, try re-naming the file ... Cowboys2.jpg or, better yet, 041708_cowboys2.jpg ... and then upload it as usual.
And, as always, contact us if this doesn't work.
At that point, you either A.) Lose the code that it supplies you with or B.) think it didn't work.
And so then you try to upload the image again, and you get this error:
What gives?
What gives is that a file by that name already resides in the directory for your blog, and MT won't allow you to overwrite it. Any attempt to upload a file by the same name will not work. (Note: Aside from our hypotheticals listed above, this can frequently happen when you're uploading a file with an exceedingly common name ... for example, "Cowboys.jpg" or something like that.)
Now, adopting a naming convention that makes each image more or less unique will help minimize these conflicts. I usually throw the date in front of every image/item I upload ... 041708_cowboys.jpg, or something like that. (It also helps when we're trying to track down an item in a large directory.)
In the short term, try re-naming the file ... Cowboys2.jpg or, better yet, 041708_cowboys2.jpg ... and then upload it as usual.
And, as always, contact us if this doesn't work.
Friday, April 11, 2008
What bloggers can learn from newspapers
Oh, the irony. The always-excellent Copyblogger rattles off five lessons bloggers can learn from newspapers to boost their own circulation.
Seriously.
No kidding.
Anyway, Simon Payn says bloggers should put an emphasis on brevity, getting the lead at the top and writing really good headlines.
Good stuff. Read it.
• Five Lessons From Newspapers to Boost Your Blog’s Circulation
Seriously.
No kidding.
Anyway, Simon Payn says bloggers should put an emphasis on brevity, getting the lead at the top and writing really good headlines.
Good stuff. Read it.
• Five Lessons From Newspapers to Boost Your Blog’s Circulation
Monday, April 7, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Two critics take newspaper bloggers to task (and why they're wrong ... sorta)
So a joint study by a Ball State/Nevada-Reno group has some depressing news for bloggers ... sorta.
Now, this is, obviously, an area where I take at least a little issue. Not the least of which: where would you put the stuff you find in the local blogs you're monitoring? How about, oh, I dunno ... a blog?
In point of fact, a whole helluva lot of blogging — and this goes doubly for political blogging — is spent linking to stuff dug up by other blogs.
Newspaper bloggers, to probably put too fine a point on it, don't like doing this.
Hence, they have to work a lot harder to find a conversive audience ... Which is one of the problems the Ball State/Reno folks list as a reason to not blog.
Sorry, just developed a nosebleed.
Anyway, from my perspective, using local bloggers as a research tool almost goes without saying ... but that can be done as part of a blogging routine that really wouldn't take too much more time than just reading said blogs in the first place.
To follow that up, we all have to remember that our readers are really used to being passive because, y'know, we've treated them that way for a few dozen generations. It might take them a while to catch on that they're invited to the party.
It's part of the industry's need for instant ROI — "Well, they haven't taken to it and I've been doing it a couple weeks now ... guess that won't work ..." — that we really need to get over.
The study also sort of suggests that a big problem with developing conversive audiences is, well, lousy blogging.
I can't argue with that, too much.
This, however, leads me somewhat obliquely to another attack, this one from an opposite flank:
That came from the almost always awesome Web 2.Oh...Really? blog, penned by Craig Stolz, in an entry entitled Why Journalists Should *Not* Become Bloggers.
If I'm reading him right, and let's assume for our purposes that I am, he's making the case that while blogging teaches the essentials of online journalism, too many people are depending upon blogging as the silver bullet of new media. He also seems to indicate that reporters are unlikely to blog effectively in the first place, so it's time to stop forcing blogs down their throats.
I'm unconvinced, though, that blogging can't be effective in a newspaper context. I also really don't see the harm of letting people hash out their new chops in a blog setting causes that much harm. Especially when you consider his alternative offering:
Again, I can't argue with the underlying concept here, but if you can't trust a reporter to figure out a text-based thing like a blog, do you really expect them to be able to come up with something that much more advanced?
I mean, I'd like to improve my basketball game, too, but dropping me on the court for a game of one-on-one against LeBron probably won't help too much.
You really DO need to go to kindergarten (oh, okay, pre-K) for at least a little while before making the jump to 5th grade.
This has gone on long enough, and you should read both of these items, because they're great food for thought if nothing else ...
• New study finds that newspaper blogs fail to increase public dialogue
• Why Journalists Should *Not* Become Bloggers
"The results of our study call into question whether newspapers are wasting valuable staff resources," Demo said. "The time it takes a reporter to post a blog entry that attracts 10 or fewer comments could be time better spent in other areas. Newspapers might consider spending staff time monitoring blogs as sources of news rather than trying to re-create the blogosphere on their Web sites."
Now, this is, obviously, an area where I take at least a little issue. Not the least of which: where would you put the stuff you find in the local blogs you're monitoring? How about, oh, I dunno ... a blog?
In point of fact, a whole helluva lot of blogging — and this goes doubly for political blogging — is spent linking to stuff dug up by other blogs.
Newspaper bloggers, to probably put too fine a point on it, don't like doing this.
Hence, they have to work a lot harder to find a conversive audience ... Which is one of the problems the Ball State/Reno folks list as a reason to not blog.
Sorry, just developed a nosebleed.
Anyway, from my perspective, using local bloggers as a research tool almost goes without saying ... but that can be done as part of a blogging routine that really wouldn't take too much more time than just reading said blogs in the first place.
To follow that up, we all have to remember that our readers are really used to being passive because, y'know, we've treated them that way for a few dozen generations. It might take them a while to catch on that they're invited to the party.
It's part of the industry's need for instant ROI — "Well, they haven't taken to it and I've been doing it a couple weeks now ... guess that won't work ..." — that we really need to get over.
The study also sort of suggests that a big problem with developing conversive audiences is, well, lousy blogging.
I can't argue with that, too much.
This, however, leads me somewhat obliquely to another attack, this one from an opposite flank:
Blogging is essentially the Head Start program of digital journalism–a way to ensure that even the most needy and disadvantaged are at least minimally prepared for the greater educational challenges ahead.
... The problem is, they create a lousy user experience–and may do late-adopter journalists more harm than good.
That came from the almost always awesome Web 2.Oh...Really? blog, penned by Craig Stolz, in an entry entitled Why Journalists Should *Not* Become Bloggers.
If I'm reading him right, and let's assume for our purposes that I am, he's making the case that while blogging teaches the essentials of online journalism, too many people are depending upon blogging as the silver bullet of new media. He also seems to indicate that reporters are unlikely to blog effectively in the first place, so it's time to stop forcing blogs down their throats.
I'm unconvinced, though, that blogging can't be effective in a newspaper context. I also really don't see the harm of letting people hash out their new chops in a blog setting causes that much harm. Especially when you consider his alternative offering:
Blogs aren’t even kindergarten in new media.
Get a reporter, an editor, a producer and a developer to sit down together. Have them figure out how to report on some important civic event without writing a story at all.
Welcome to Middle School.
Again, I can't argue with the underlying concept here, but if you can't trust a reporter to figure out a text-based thing like a blog, do you really expect them to be able to come up with something that much more advanced?
I mean, I'd like to improve my basketball game, too, but dropping me on the court for a game of one-on-one against LeBron probably won't help too much.
You really DO need to go to kindergarten (oh, okay, pre-K) for at least a little while before making the jump to 5th grade.
This has gone on long enough, and you should read both of these items, because they're great food for thought if nothing else ...
• New study finds that newspaper blogs fail to increase public dialogue
• Why Journalists Should *Not* Become Bloggers
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
They're punks, and we're not (but we have to be)
I'm mere pages into the Richard Laermer/Mark Simmons book "Punk Marketing" and so far, it's well worth the read.
Now, the book relates to audience segmentation via new media and how it affects the business of marketing, but the principles also can apply to the journalism, which is facing the same problems re: saturation of the market and the rapid development on niche publishing that's stealing market share from the mass-market-friendly print publications.
Long and short of it: Bloggers and other online upstarts are the Sex Pistols. Us? Think Barry Manilow. Or maybe, if we're being generous, Donna Summer.
A few important pieces from these two simple paragraphs:
• "A demand for revolt delivered in our own language": Blogs are written in the plainest of language, often in short, easily-digested bites, and they are — truth told — often a bit profane. (Or at least PG-13.) In other words, they read like a lot of people talk.
Contrast with even the best daily journalism, which is written in as neutral a tone as possible and then thoroughly edited, often by 2-3 ever-more-cautious editors, usually with an eye toward not offending anyone ...
The result? The stories don't sound like people talking. They sound like stereo instructions.
• "Energy and vitality": This is, at least in part, another by-product of the above.
Bloggers tell you what they know when they know it. They go back and add stuff as they go, correcting errors (and providing clarification) where necessary.
Traditional reporting involves gathering all the facts, checking them, then putting them through the editing process.
Safe, to be sure, but the end product is often lacking in both energy and vitality.
• "Complacent music industry": I'm using this more as a backhanded swipe at the news industry, which (as a whole) indeed did slumber through most of the Web's earliest stages of development ...
Even today, many papers seem more concerned about protecting their own turf than blazing new trails.
Bloggers (and other new media types) have no such concerns. They can try new stuff constantly, and they'll figure out what works ... even while the rest of us are just creeping into the game.
• "Raw and unstructured ... created with glee": The enthusiasm many of these bloggers bring to the party can't be matched by something as mundane as professional obligation.
That comes across in the writing every bit as much as in the content.
A shorter way to put it: Blogs can be fun. Even blogs about wonky/serious stuff.
Why? Driven by their own passions, the bloggers make it that way. (See, also, the aforementioned ability to experiment and try new things.)
In traditional newswriting, fun has its place ... but it's a fairly limited, even segregated place.
ALL THAT SAID, as a metaphor, this "punk rock" thing has its flaws.
Punk wasn't the first "for the people" music form to come down the pike ... although, arguably, the loudest ... and it wasn't even the most recent. (Rap, anyone?)
I would argue the online revolution is significantly more profound, in ways we haven't even imagined yet, and the bloggers are just the first wave of whatever's coming next.
But, hopefully, this thing can help you sort of frame exactly what we're up against here, and why now, it's more important than ever that you start to understand blogs, and what makes them tick.
• "Punk Marketing"
Now, the book relates to audience segmentation via new media and how it affects the business of marketing, but the principles also can apply to the journalism, which is facing the same problems re: saturation of the market and the rapid development on niche publishing that's stealing market share from the mass-market-friendly print publications.
Long and short of it: Bloggers and other online upstarts are the Sex Pistols. Us? Think Barry Manilow. Or maybe, if we're being generous, Donna Summer.
In the late seventies, punk was a shot heard around the radio as a beyond-refreshing change from the tired old formulaic music of the time. It was a call to action, a demand for revolt delivered in our own language. The punk rock that burst rudely onto the scene ... was replete with energy and vitality and shook the complacent music industry to its core and scared the crap out of disco-infused freaks that were running/ruining the whorish record business.
The records were raw and unstructured and had the unmistakable feel of something created with glee by the people for the people.
A few important pieces from these two simple paragraphs:
• "A demand for revolt delivered in our own language": Blogs are written in the plainest of language, often in short, easily-digested bites, and they are — truth told — often a bit profane. (Or at least PG-13.) In other words, they read like a lot of people talk.
Contrast with even the best daily journalism, which is written in as neutral a tone as possible and then thoroughly edited, often by 2-3 ever-more-cautious editors, usually with an eye toward not offending anyone ...
The result? The stories don't sound like people talking. They sound like stereo instructions.
• "Energy and vitality": This is, at least in part, another by-product of the above.
Bloggers tell you what they know when they know it. They go back and add stuff as they go, correcting errors (and providing clarification) where necessary.
Traditional reporting involves gathering all the facts, checking them, then putting them through the editing process.
Safe, to be sure, but the end product is often lacking in both energy and vitality.
• "Complacent music industry": I'm using this more as a backhanded swipe at the news industry, which (as a whole) indeed did slumber through most of the Web's earliest stages of development ...
Even today, many papers seem more concerned about protecting their own turf than blazing new trails.
Bloggers (and other new media types) have no such concerns. They can try new stuff constantly, and they'll figure out what works ... even while the rest of us are just creeping into the game.
• "Raw and unstructured ... created with glee": The enthusiasm many of these bloggers bring to the party can't be matched by something as mundane as professional obligation.
That comes across in the writing every bit as much as in the content.
A shorter way to put it: Blogs can be fun. Even blogs about wonky/serious stuff.
Why? Driven by their own passions, the bloggers make it that way. (See, also, the aforementioned ability to experiment and try new things.)
In traditional newswriting, fun has its place ... but it's a fairly limited, even segregated place.
ALL THAT SAID, as a metaphor, this "punk rock" thing has its flaws.
Punk wasn't the first "for the people" music form to come down the pike ... although, arguably, the loudest ... and it wasn't even the most recent. (Rap, anyone?)
I would argue the online revolution is significantly more profound, in ways we haven't even imagined yet, and the bloggers are just the first wave of whatever's coming next.
But, hopefully, this thing can help you sort of frame exactly what we're up against here, and why now, it's more important than ever that you start to understand blogs, and what makes them tick.
• "Punk Marketing"
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