Facebook gets it. Bummer newspapers didn’t
Today the Rocky Mountain News publishes its final edition after nearly 150 years. Elsewhere, newspaper publishers everywhere from San Francisco to Philadelphia face equally grim prospects.
The reasons have been well chronicled by others like Poynter Online and I won’t waste time rehashing familiar arguments and analyses. But one complaint about newspapers is that they increasingly are out of step with their readers, who for too long were ignored at the bottom rung of a one-way hierarchy which defined their relationship.
It was only a coincidence, but the Rocky Mountain News announcement came on the same day that Facebook declared that it would embrace a community-driven process for governing. Responding to a controversy earlier this month over changes to its terms of service, Facebook said it will henceforth put any proposed modifications to its membership up for public debate in a "notice and comment" forum.
Read the full article at Webware.
10 Best Hamburger Fantasies Become A Reality
Sushi is so 2006 and bacon is totally 2008, but what random food fad is on the cool horizon this year? Burgers. Why burgers? They’re as all-American as you can get – even more American than apple pie and baseball, which are really just variations of German and British inventions respectively. Plus, they’re a great compliment for 2008′s just passing trend, bacon.
In honor of this great American feat of food engineering, I am proud to bring you the must-have burger gizmos of the upcoming year…
Read the full article at InventorSpot.
Why Big Brands Struggle With Social Media
Social media continues to grow globally in terms of adoption, usage, interest and impact in a massive way. It’s undeniably changing the way that content and information work particularly in terms of the publishing of consumer opinion. This has transformed the way that consumers relate to brands and the way that brands should operate, driving direct interaction, transparency and a more consultative approach.
However, we still operate in a system defined by the old media world and consequently big brand involvement is still in the main tentative and sporadic. From my experience of trying to get big brands to embrace the social revolution, there are a number of reasons why they have yet to embrace the real opportunities that involvement can deliver:
- Social Media is often viewed as just another marketing channel
- It does not fit into current structures
- Communities and content are global
- Social media needs a long term approach
- No guaranteed results
- The metrics are new
See the full article at Mashable.
Times Square To Become Giant Pedestrian Mall
The Great White Way is on the fast track to becoming a pedestrian mall.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced experimental plans to close part of Broadway to vehicles.
But as CBS 2 HD has discovered, not everyone is on board.
“This midtown traffic mess is one of those problems everyone always talks about and you always say there’s nothing you can do about it, well, we’re going to try and do something about it,” Bloomberg said on Thursday.
The mayor announced an ambitious plan to actually close blocks of Broadway for pedestrians.
“We expect both travel times and safety to improve and in some cases substantially,” Bloomberg added.
The mayor’s plan, according to published reports, would be to close Broadway from 42nd to 47th streets and put chairs, benches and cafe tables where taxis and trucks usually go. The mayor’s vision would resemble last summer’s Broadway Boulevard Project below 42nd Street, which is still in effect.
See the full article at WCBS.
Spider-Man + U2 = Broadway Show?
Broadway’s Spidey senses are tingling.
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the hyped stage musical directed by Julie Taymor (The Lion King) with music and lyrics courtesy of U2‘s Bono and The Edge, will kick off what its producers hope will be an amazing run along the Great White Way beginning with previews on Jan. 16, 2010, and a Feb. 18, 2010, opening night.
The $40 million effort, reportedly the most expensive Broadway production ever, will make its debut in the Hilton Theatre, the only venue big enough to allow the superhero room to spin his way around the sprawling skyscraper sets while duking it out with various bad guys.
See the full article at Yahoo News.
