Archive for July, 2009
Start a Newspaper for $10
This year has seen the decline of the newspaper and print industry. According to the Newspaper Association of America, there was a 17% decline in advertising revenue in 2008. The shift has left people asking What will happen to newspapers?
I have wondered how the news industry was going to change to deal with the reality that was happening to them. Why does anyone need a newspaper when they can use the internet to be their own media channel.
Lance Armstrong is a great example. He decided to have a media blackout and use Twitter and his blog as his media channel.
In comes Printcasting. It is a new company out of Boulder that has created a tool that allow users to “create a local printable newspaper, magazine or newsletter that’s supported with local ads. No money tools or design are required.”
It uses technology to hurdle over the common issues that a journalist would have with creating their own paper. Instead of needing design skills or expensive technology, you can create a newspaper for $10.
You can even register your RSS feeds to allow others to syndicate your materials. Basically, if you are passionate about journalism, want to invest your own time, you can be a publisher.
It will be interesting to see if the concept catches on at all.
Twimailer helps combat Twitter Spam
In April, I wrote a post about a Twitter application called, Twimailer. Twimailer is a service that shows you details about new followers. It includes the number people they are following and that are following them.
I thought it was a pretty convenient way I could decide if I wanted to follow someone back. What I hadn’t realized at the time, is that it is a great tool to manage and block Twitter spammers.
True, if I am not following them, I won’t see their posts, but I like Twitter and I want to keep the environment useful.
This morning, I had three follow request in my inbox from people whose only tweet was im into finding a nice guy , interested ? – with a link that followed.
Needless to say, I blocked those users immediately from the link provided at the bottom of the email. I also reported the users as spam – another quick link at the bottom as well.
If you are starting to get a larger amount of followers, Twimailer makes it easier to sort out the wheat from the chaff.