It's time to relieve the stress of RSS. Newspapers, make your own readers!

(This entry was originally posted by Dave Lee on jBlog)

A few days ago on this blog, Paul Bradshaw wrote what he called one of the most important posts he’s ever made. Here it is.

In it he describes how the era of the awkward, socially backward geek is nearly behind us. They’re not geeks, he says, they’re early adopters. And you’d better listen to them if you want to stay a step ahead of the game. Read more

5 stages of a blogger's life

Hope you enjoy this. Concept by Paul Bradshaw, drawings by the wonderful Alex Hughes:

1st stage of blogging: play

1st stage of blogging: play

2nd stage of blogging: feedback

2nd stage of blogging: feedback

3rd stage of blogging: community

3rd stage of blogging: community

4th stage of blogging: fame

4th stage of blogging: fame

5th stage of blogging: exhaustion/death

5th stage of blogging: exhaustion/death

Here are some Twitter avatar-size versions too:

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Speaking at BLOG08 – WLTM you

I’ve been asked to join a panel of European journalism types at the BLOG08 conference in Amsterdam on October 24 (“Journalism versus/ heart blogging” at 11.45). If you’re going to be there – or just in the neighbourhood – let me know and I’ll shout you a coffee.

Post more = rank higher. We knew it already, but here's the evidence.

The second part of Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere report is out, with more obvious headlines: the more you post, the better your blog does. Here’s the detail from TechCrunch:

“Blogging is a volume game. The more you post, the more chances there are that someone else will link to one of your posts. (Technorati rank is based on the number of recent links to your blog). The majority of the Top 100 blogs tracked by Technorati post five or more times per day, and a full 43 percent post more than 10 times per day. Meanwhile, 64 percent of the 5,000 blogs ranked lower than 600 post two to four times a day, which is still a serious commitment.”

For ‘Technorati’, you can also read ‘Google’, as it also ranks pages based on how many incoming links they have (among other things).

This really only confirms what own experience – and those of millions of others – suggests. But I would add a caveat.

While regular posting definitely increases blog traffic, a well considered, high quality post can be just as effective. Posts like the 21st Century Newsroom series generate a constant stream of visits to this blog, for instance. Another point is that frequent posting can result in good posts being buried beneath other ones when people check their RSS readers.

The best strategy, it seems, is a balance of frequency with quality.

Writer's Residence et al: just how stupid do you think journalism students are?

Writer’s Residence is a web service which thinks journalism students are stupid.

“Student journalists worldwide can register for a free, one-year membership to an online writing portfolio Web site that they can use to show off their writing and demonstrate their web savvy to potential employers.”

After that? “Membership costs only $8.29 US Dollars per month.” Read more

Google are in the political journalism business – and they're doing it better than you

Just go here. And discuss.

Maps, mashups and multimedia: online journalism students tackle interactivity

Alice Fanning's map of UK eco stories

Alice Fanning's map of UK eco stories

As a new semester begins it seems a good time to finally post about how my second year journalism degree students approached the ‘interactive’ element of their portfolio way back in May (yes, everything they do is interactive, but bear with me).

For the first time I gave them an open brief in terms of what they did interactively (in previous years I asked them to produce Flash interactives). Having been taught how to create everything from audio slideshows and image maps to multimedia interactives, Google Maps and Yahoo! Pipes mashups, I was curious to see what they would pick. Would they all plump for the same option? Read more

Combine two maps with MapTube

Thanks to James Thornett for pointing out this wonderful tool. MapTube allows you to select any two or maps and combine them, so: “For example, to see a map of the London Underground overlayed on top of a map of population, go to the search page and enter the keywords “tube” and “population”. Then click on the two relevant maps to add them. They will be displayed when you click on “View”.”

Not only that, but you can add your own data and combine them with others too, something which the BBC – James’ employer – has done on user surveys on issues such as the credit crunch and anti-social behaviour.

If you manage to have a play, let me know how you get on.

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News and the maturation of the comic form

Following the Liverpool Post’s imaginative use of comics in its coverage of the 50-foot, 37-tonne mechanical spider La Princess, Toronto’s Globe and Mail has this great graphic explanation of the financial crisis:

Financial crisis cartoon (Toronto’s The Globe and Mail)

Financial crisis cartoon (Toronto’s The Globe and Mail)

Here’s the Post’s graphic novel insert cover if you’re interested…

Liverpool Daily Post - Spider comic

Liverpool Daily Post - Spider comic

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They're not "geeks" – they're early adopters

Last week I was at a magazine publishers talking about social media platforms, when it was put to me that the platform I was talking about was “mainly used by Valley types”, and why should journalists invest time in a platform when the majority of readers of more conservative titles don’t use it?

It’s a recurring question – so much so that I have decided to present my answer here. I’d welcome any additions. Read more