Media Vent
By Bob Sacks
About Bob
Bob Sacks (aka BoSacks) is a printing/publishing industry consultant and president of The Precision Media Group (BoSacks.com). He is also the co-founder of the research company Media-Ideas (Media-Ideas.net), and publisher and editor of a daily international e-newsletter, Heard on the Web. Sacks has held posts as director of manufacturing and distribution, senior sales manager (paper), chief of operations, pressman, circulator and almost every other job this industry has to offer.
Pub Talk
Want to Know What's Really Going to Be the Magazine Killer?
Aug 25, 2010If you're spending more than 50 percent of your digital development resources on website functionality, stop!...
The Digital Market
Single Copy: The Sexiest Thing Going
Aug 5, 2010In the world of selling magazines to customers, newsstand is the unpredictable relative, the circulation no one wanted...
Byte Back
For Advertisers, Will QR Codes Blend the Print-Mobile Experience?
Jun 9, 2010Ignoring Harold Ramis’ (playing Dr. Egon Spengler) dire warning: "Don't cross the streams," advertisers are daily crossing the...
Networked Link Journalism
Several people wrote complimentary notes about that blog, but didn't understand my suggestions about using Twitter. "Why use Twitter?" they asked. "Of what importance could 140 characters be to journalism?" Well, my friends, even Twitter is a piece of publishing's future, and is now known as "Networked Link Journalism."
Some of you may not understand some of the jargon in the article I am suggesting you read, and to that I say, all the more reason for you to read it. Did you know that Twitter was the first to release the news about the earthquake in China? I have also been told that Twitter was indispensable in the terror attacks in India. In the article, you'll read about journalists who have never met but were able to coordinate information to cover a wide-ranging story like never before. It's not that Twitter really matters to the daily production of a print magazine. But it does put you into a unique and interesting headspace of instant communication to groups of people. With Twitter, the people who write their 140 character messages have followers. So far, I have slightly more than 100 followers after being on Twitter for only a month or so. There are some people who have 25,000 to 30,000 followers. Those numbers are larger than some magazines.
Twitter is not the next big thing, because it's already here and in use. But Twitter is definitely part of a new world communications order. And I think it is an important "little" thing to know about.
