I casually followed the transition for a couple of months before losing interest, and was disappointed to check in last week to find an uninspired website and social media presence, and PDF-only digital editions. I also realized I hadn't noticed the magazine on the newsstands in months.
Tag: Community
Richard Nash on Cursor and the “F” Word
Nash took an honest shot at something he believed in and, more importantly, maintained his integrity throughout the process. While neither Cursor nor Red Lemonade ended up being the "game changers" some thought they might be, one could argue (and so I will) that the publishing industry overall is stronger for the attempt, and what *did* work shouldn't be lost in the discussion.
The Problem With Klout? It Has None
Therein lies the real problem with Klout. While its Topics feature is an intriguing attempt to add a much-needed contextual layer to its linear scoring and might have some long-term potential (most likely as acquisition bait, to complement PostRank or Radian6?), overall, it's a pretty useless, Foursquare-style gamification of the worst aspects of Social MEdia.
The Truth About Disruption in Publishing
In publishing, every day it seems there's a new upstart or three that's going to disintermediate (or even better, KILL!) traditional publishers, but with the exceptions of Open Road Integrated Media and, possibly, Ruckus Media Group -- notably, both are run by major publishing veterans and have partnerships with a variety of "traditional" publishers -- you'd be hard-pressed to name too many others that have had any truly notable impact to match the hype surrounding them.
Amazon, Libraries and Ownership in the Digital Age
Basically, Amazon one-upped Barnes & Noble's Read In-Store feature that allows Nook customers to "read NOOK Books FREE for up to one hour per day" in any of their 700+ stores, and put the exact same feature in every Kindle customer's living room via 11,000+ public libraries, without the physical and timing limitations.
Advertising Addiction will be the Death of Magazines (Again)
Most magazines, print and digital, are little more than advertising platforms whose readers are defined as “targets”, valued in quantity over quality, and when the advertising revenue stream dries up, the magazines usually fold, readers be damned.
You Know What’s “Uninspired,” Prof. Galloway? (UPDATED)
In the pre-digital days, influential media brands like Cosmopolitan and Vogue were one of the primary gateways for marketers to connect with consumers. They offered an attentive audience that would have been difficult for most marketers to gather without investing heavily in staff and infrastructure. Today, those media brands are no longer primary gateways, and marketers aren't nearly as reliant on them to reach their desired audience as they used to be as they now have cost-effective tools at their disposal to engage directly with consumers.
Beyond the Story: Engaging Experiences Rule
Book publishers, on the other hand, have traditionally either focused on "digital" as a secondary medium, or worse, not even as a distinct medium at all, simply a fascimile or marketing channel for their print products. In doing so, they've effectively positioned themselves for easier disintermediation, being seen as container manufacturers instead of content curators and community organizers.
Three Valuable Lessons from Forbes’ Digital Shift
"Editorial control" is a four-letter word in my book. It's a legacy of the pre-participatory era, and journalists, editors, authors, etc. who fight to maintain it, or the illusion of it, are spitting into the wind that should be filling their sails. Credibility is more important than control, and that comes from your community.
It’s the CONTENT, Stupid! (And the Community.)
While Wall Street and technology pundits continue to devalue those who create and curate content professionally in favor of dumb pipes, content aggregators, and social media pyramid schemes, the fact is, at the end of the day, it all starts with good content. Without it, the digital business is a cork floating on the publishing stream, and the new shiny devices are little more than electronic bricks sinking to the bottom at varying rates of speed.