Comments on: Blogs then and now http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/05/20/blogs-then-and-now/ by Jeff Jarvis Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:21:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Social Media Optimisation - Ajda Gregor?i?’s blog http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/05/20/blogs-then-and-now/#comment-408294 Social Media Optimisation - Ajda Gregor?i?’s blog Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:24:45 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/?p=3623#comment-408294 [...] Blogs then and now [via Zemanta] [...] [...] Blogs then and now [via Zemanta] [...]

]]> By: Ajdonizmi » Blog Archive » Social media optimisation http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/05/20/blogs-then-and-now/#comment-376207 Ajdonizmi » Blog Archive » Social media optimisation Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:36:47 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/?p=3623#comment-376207 [...] Blogs then and now [via Zemanta] [...] [...] Blogs then and now [via Zemanta] [...]

]]> By: Matt Moog http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/05/20/blogs-then-and-now/#comment-376038 Matt Moog Sat, 31 May 2008 04:49:13 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/?p=3623#comment-376038 Jeff - how would you define companies as communities. What do you think are the main elements of a good online community today? How is that likely to change? Jeff – how would you define companies as communities. What do you think are the main elements of a good online community today? How is that likely to change?

]]> By: Walter Abbott http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/05/20/blogs-then-and-now/#comment-375800 Walter Abbott Mon, 26 May 2008 13:43:52 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/?p=3623#comment-375800 @ John A. Byrne and John Lim. The numbers speak for themselves. They come from the Magazine Publishers of America website (magazine.org) which bills itself as the the definitive resource for the magazine industry. Anyone able to reconcile a checkbook can divine that no business is sustainable with 15% revenue declines year over year. The question is how long the revenue declines continue. Which means magazines - and other paper information distribution systems like newspapers - must figure out how to squeeze the same amount or more revenue from online ads as they historically have from paper ads. I suggest it is unlikely to happen and the empirical data to date seems to support that conclusion. Online has opened up vast new numbers of competitors not previously seen by paper information distribution systems. And make no mistake, newspapers, magazines, television and other forms of broadcast are primarily distribution systems as opposed to manufacturers of a product. Occasionally, they inform or entertain with something not readily available elsewhere, but that is becoming more rare by the day. Prior to the internet, the huge capital costs for entry into the information distribution business barred entry to most. Paper manufacturing is capital intensive, as are printing presses. TV had to build, operate and maintain expensive microwave networks, studios, towers and transmitters. And it takes vast amounts of labor to operate all that equipment. With the advent of the modem, fiber optic cable, the PC and broadband, all that capital is rendered obsolete with the click of a mouse. For Business Week to survive - online or anywhere else - it must convince readers that what it provides is not available anywhere else. And then it must convince advertisers that their dollars are reaching their target eyeballs. It remains to be seen if those advertising dollars will be sufficient to pay for the reporters, writers, editors and others who assemble the words. For the record, I'm a businessman and investor and have read Business Week occasionally for 35 years. @ John A. Byrne and John Lim. The numbers speak for themselves. They come from the Magazine Publishers of America website (magazine.org) which bills itself as the the definitive resource for the magazine industry.

Anyone able to reconcile a checkbook can divine that no business is sustainable with 15% revenue declines year over year. The question is how long the revenue declines continue. Which means magazines – and other paper information distribution systems like newspapers – must figure out how to squeeze the same amount or more revenue from online ads as they historically have from paper ads. I suggest it is unlikely to happen and the empirical data to date seems to support that conclusion.

Online has opened up vast new numbers of competitors not previously seen by paper information distribution systems. And make no mistake, newspapers, magazines, television and other forms of broadcast are primarily distribution systems as opposed to manufacturers of a product. Occasionally, they inform or entertain with something not readily available elsewhere, but that is becoming more rare by the day.

Prior to the internet, the huge capital costs for entry into the information distribution business barred entry to most. Paper manufacturing is capital intensive, as are printing presses. TV had to build, operate and maintain expensive microwave networks, studios, towers and transmitters. And it takes vast amounts of labor to operate all that equipment. With the advent of the modem, fiber optic cable, the PC and broadband, all that capital is rendered obsolete with the click of a mouse.

For Business Week to survive – online or anywhere else – it must convince readers that what it provides is not available anywhere else. And then it must convince advertisers that their dollars are reaching their target eyeballs. It remains to be seen if those advertising dollars will be sufficient to pay for the reporters, writers, editors and others who assemble the words.

For the record, I’m a businessman and investor and have read Business Week occasionally for 35 years.

]]> By: The Evolution Of Blogging « Media Junkie http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/05/20/blogs-then-and-now/#comment-375790 The Evolution Of Blogging « Media Junkie Mon, 26 May 2008 05:12:38 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/?p=3623#comment-375790 [...] It’s amazing how, in the past couple of years, we not only accept blogs as news sources, but also how we’ve made them a part of our daily media diet. So now that we’ve accepted blogs, what next for the medium? Where is it headed to next? Jeff Jarvis gives us an idea in his post “Blogs then and now” [...] [...] It’s amazing how, in the past couple of years, we not only accept blogs as news sources, but also how we’ve made them a part of our daily media diet. So now that we’ve accepted blogs, what next for the medium? Where is it headed to next? Jeff Jarvis gives us an idea in his post “Blogs then and now” [...]

]]> By: FreshNetworks Blog » Blog Archive » Business Week thinks beyond blogs http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/05/20/blogs-then-and-now/#comment-375609 FreshNetworks Blog » Blog Archive » Business Week thinks beyond blogs Sat, 24 May 2008 08:22:36 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/?p=3623#comment-375609 [...] Blogs then and now [...] [...] Blogs then and now [...]

]]> By: John Lim http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/05/20/blogs-then-and-now/#comment-375509 John Lim Fri, 23 May 2008 06:48:56 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/?p=3623#comment-375509 @John Byrne: I'm totally with you on this. While there's no doubt that print media is taking a hit, publishers have to see the Web and Print as two different mediums, with each having its own advantages and disadvantages over the other. Magazines will still be around three years from now--to say otherwise is jumping to conclusions. It's just that the magazines who fail to adapt, who fail to be relevant to its audience, and fail to see this distinction between what kind of content should go online and to print--those mags will die. From what I've seen, Business Week is a strong contender to survive and flourish within two mediums. Walter Abbot's view is an example of many short-sighted publishers out there who view the New Media as a threat, and not as a complementary medium. @John Byrne: I’m totally with you on this. While there’s no doubt that print media is taking a hit, publishers have to see the Web and Print as two different mediums, with each having its own advantages and disadvantages over the other.
Magazines will still be around three years from now–to say otherwise is jumping to conclusions. It’s just that the magazines who fail to adapt, who fail to be relevant to its audience, and fail to see this distinction between what kind of content should go online and to print–those mags will die.
From what I’ve seen, Business Week is a strong contender to survive and flourish within two mediums. Walter Abbot’s view is an example of many short-sighted publishers out there who view the New Media as a threat, and not as a complementary medium.

]]> By: John A. Byrne http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/05/20/blogs-then-and-now/#comment-375461 John A. Byrne Thu, 22 May 2008 16:57:48 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/?p=3623#comment-375461 Walter, I'll take your bet on that prediction. Of course, we'll be around--in analog and digital forms and God knows what else. Are times tough? You bet. But there's an important distinction to make here. There is no readership problem with us or with many other magazines. Renewals are at record levels. So is newsstand sale. We publish a magazine that is read by highly affluent, highly educated decision-makers. They are not abandoning print. What we, in common with many other magazines, have is a business model problem. Advertising revenue--which solely supports that model--has been migrating from print to online. We can only solve that model problem by aggressively pursuing a digital growth strategy. That doesn't mean doing it the same old way online. It means completely rethinking and reinventing ourselves so that our business is organized for the future. It's shifting our focus from being "product centric" to "audience centric." Mike Shatzkin, who heads up a consultancy called Idea Logical, has said it best: "In the future, you will not monetize 'content;' you will use content as a tool to monetize 'community.'" Indeed, I'm hell bent on trying to do just that with a series of initiatives on reader engagement. Want to place that bet? Walter,
I’ll take your bet on that prediction. Of course, we’ll be around–in analog and digital forms and God knows what else. Are times tough? You bet. But there’s an important distinction to make here. There is no readership problem with us or with many other magazines. Renewals are at record levels. So is newsstand sale. We publish a magazine that is read by highly affluent, highly educated decision-makers. They are not abandoning print. What we, in common with many other magazines, have is a business model problem. Advertising revenue–which solely supports that model–has been migrating from print to online.
We can only solve that model problem by aggressively pursuing a digital growth strategy. That doesn’t mean doing it the same old way online. It means completely rethinking and reinventing ourselves so that our business is organized for the future.
It’s shifting our focus from being “product centric” to “audience centric.”
Mike Shatzkin, who heads up a consultancy called Idea Logical, has said it best: “In the future, you will not monetize ‘content;’ you will use content as a tool to monetize ‘community.’” Indeed, I’m hell bent on trying to do just that with a series of initiatives on reader engagement. Want to place that bet?

]]> By: Blogs selling out - and then what? — Vad NU! http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/05/20/blogs-then-and-now/#comment-375399 Blogs selling out - and then what? — Vad NU! Wed, 21 May 2008 10:05:24 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/?p=3623#comment-375399 [...] Jarvis made the point the other day how the perception of blogs have changed with some mainstream media companies during the course of the last three years. Where before it was frowned upon, many media companies [...] [...] Jarvis made the point the other day how the perception of blogs have changed with some mainstream media companies during the course of the last three years. Where before it was frowned upon, many media companies [...]

]]> By: Walter Abbott http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/05/20/blogs-then-and-now/#comment-375318 Walter Abbott Tue, 20 May 2008 20:30:40 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/?p=3623#comment-375318 Three years from now, Business Week won't even exist. At least in paper form. http://www.magazine.org/Advertising_and_PIB/PIB_Revenue_and_Pages/Revenue___Pages_by_Magazine_Titles__quarterly_/26899.cfm Jan - Mar 2008 vs Jan - Mar 2007 2008 2007 %chg 2008pgs 2007 pgs %chg Business Week $53,916,530 $63,823,130 -15.5 429.53 532.83 -19.4 Three years from now, Business Week won’t even exist. At least in paper form.

http://www.magazine.org/Advertising_and_PIB/PIB_Revenue_and_Pages/Revenue___Pages_by_Magazine_Titles__quarterly_/26899.cfm

Jan – Mar 2008 vs Jan – Mar 2007

2008 2007 %chg 2008pgs 2007 pgs %chg
Business Week $53,916,530 $63,823,130 -15.5 429.53 532.83 -19.4

]]> By: Jeff Jarvis http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/05/20/blogs-then-and-now/#comment-375312 Jeff Jarvis Tue, 20 May 2008 19:23:38 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/?p=3623#comment-375312 Well, there's a ridiculous overstatement and generalization -- about up to Keen's standards. Well, there’s a ridiculous overstatement and generalization — about up to Keen’s standards.

]]> By: Ian Thorpe http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/05/20/blogs-then-and-now/#comment-375310 Ian Thorpe Tue, 20 May 2008 18:33:51 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/?p=3623#comment-375310 In three years a lot certainly has changed. Firstly I find the overall quality of individual bloggers has dropped dramatically, so be replaced by pointless chit chat. Secondly I find that blogs (that aren't really blogs) such as Pandangon that take a professional approach to provinding well written, entertaining, thought provoking content on well designed pages are going from strength to strength. So it starts to look as if Andrew Keen was right after all. The cult of the amateur had no staying power. In the same way social networking will run out of steam. People who spend valuable time getting poked on facebook don't deserve a life. In three years a lot certainly has changed. Firstly I find the overall quality of individual bloggers has dropped dramatically, so be replaced by pointless chit chat.

Secondly I find that blogs (that aren’t really blogs) such as Pandangon that take a professional approach to provinding well written, entertaining, thought provoking content on well designed pages are going from strength to strength.

So it starts to look as if Andrew Keen was right after all. The cult of the amateur had no staying power. In the same way social networking will run out of steam. People who spend valuable time getting poked on facebook don’t deserve a life.

]]> By: Stuntbox - A Style of Looking http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/05/20/blogs-then-and-now/#comment-375305 Stuntbox - A Style of Looking Tue, 20 May 2008 16:36:47 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/?p=3623#comment-375305 [...] and famously kinetic, Jeff Jarvis is holding court at the BusinessWeek offices in midtown Manhattan, conducting a teaching session [...] [...] and famously kinetic, Jeff Jarvis is holding court at the BusinessWeek offices in midtown Manhattan, conducting a teaching session [...]

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