emi - ReadWriteWeb http://www.readwriteweb.com/feeds/tag/emi en Copyright 2009 Richard MacManus readwriteweb@gmail.com Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:00:55 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.23-en http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Gen Z Gets A Platform of Their Own: Diary.com

There are many different types of bloggers in the world today - new media journalists, "journalers," video bloggers, and others. One of the types - "diaryists" - record their innermost thoughts and feelings in a way that's very much similar to how people (yes, usually girls) once recorded their thoughts in small books kept under lock and key and stuffed beneath their mattresses.

Of course in this day and age, the thought of actually putting pen to paper seems like something from a bygone era. But the urge to create a diary hasn't been abandoned - it's just that the format has changed.

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There are a few sites today that allow you to go private easily. LiveJournal and Vox cater more to the journaling crowd than WordPress does, for example, but there are many smaller sites like www.opendiary.com, www.mydeardiary.com, www.webbookdiary.com, and www.digitalexpressions.nu, that provide an online diary application.

Unfortunately, outside the larger blogging communities like LJ and the like, the quality of the online diary offerings is somewhat lacking. The digital scrapbook site, Kronomy, kicks it up a notch in terms of being a more modern tool than those previously mentioned sites above, but it's more focused on letting you share your digital, multimedia memories. And other sites like Our Story, Story Of My Life, dandelife, and My Family are more family-focused than private. None are really a quiet hideaway on the web for true diary writing.

Introducing Diary.com

But now online diaryists and diaryist wannabees can rejoice - there's a new site that's tailored just for them. With a big focus on privacy - it is your diary after all - Diary.com is a great starter blog for the little (over)sharers of Generation Z who are at the perfect age to begin their very own start blog, err, diary, right now.

Entries can be up to 1000 words max or you can paste in the URLs for photos or videos found elsewhere on the web. The site then displays the video or photo embedded in your diary. Amazingly, even just pasting in the URL of a YouTube video manages to post the video into the diary - no messing around with embed codes here - it's dead simple. Click the thumbnail of the video and you'll go to the permalinked page for the entry where the video can be played - all without having to leave the diary.com site.

Gen Z's First Lifestream

Diary.com isn't really very blog-like at all though. It's more like a lifestream than a blog, which furthers solidifies the argument that lifestreaming is encroaching in on blogging's territory. Here's a whole generation whose first blogging experience will be more like a FriendFeed sharing experience than an attempt at long, thought out writing. In fact, Diary.com's format is more like a cross between FriendFeed, Twitter, and Tumblr combined. It's like FriendFeed because of its multimedia capabilities and stream-like look and feel, but the structure also resembles Twitter with its entry box at the top and posted items below. Of course, the idea of posting multimedia along with text is a lot like Tumblr, except this Tumblog is for your eyes only - no peeking.

Shared Diaries

Private diaries aren't the only feature of the site at Diary.com. On today's social web, there is a desire to share with friends, so in addition to supporting private diaries, the option to create a shared diary is available, too. A shared diary can be sent to anyone you choose - you simply enter in their email address and share. You can create multiple shared diaries and they're available from a drop-down at the top of your screen. It's easy to envision the shared diary option used as the digital age slambook, filled with naughty observations about fellow classmates.

Conclusion

Although Diary.com isn't doing anything dramatically new, it's taking some of the best features of the social web sites we grownups know and love and simplifying them for use by first time bloggers/lifestreamers. It's worth noting that the Diary.com folks seem to think their demographic extends beyond kids - they suggest their shared diaries can be used for anything from travel diaries to baby diaries, for example. We suppose they're right, but we're betting that their best customers will be a bit younger than that.

]]>Discuss]]> http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/gen_z_gets_a_platform_of_their_own_diary_dot_com.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/gen_z_gets_a_platform_of_their_own_diary_dot_com.php Products Mon, 01 Sep 2008 09:45:00 -0800 Sarah Perez Hurricane Gustav on the Web: A Reference Guide for Our Readers On the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we watch as Hurricane Gustav once again batters the Gulf Shore. Today, many of us are glued to both the TV and the web to keep track of the ongoing coverage of the storm. Beyond just traditional media outlets, there are also a number of other resources on the social web that you can use to keep up-to-date with Gustav news. Social networks, blogs, live news video, and, of course, Twitter, are all being used for up-the-minute coverage. In fact, Twitter even had a breakthrough moment on CNN as reporter Rick Sanchez referred to it on air and used it to gather news.

Here on RWW, we've pulled together a huge list of Hurricane Gustav links for your reference. Below you'll find links to weather sites, mobile web sites, links to various news and governmental sites, links to social web sites, and links to those using Twitter to report the storm.

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Mobile

Other Links

Social Web

Twitter

]]>Discuss]]> http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/hurricane_gustav_on_the_web_reference_guide.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/hurricane_gustav_on_the_web_reference_guide.php Mon, 01 Sep 2008 07:06:14 -0800 Sarah Perez MySpace Music Store: Where's the Long Tail? On the same day that Apple announced that iTunes had surpassed Wal-Mart as the number one music retailer in the United States, MySpace announced that it had joined with three of four major labels (EMI isn't on board yet) to launch their own iTunes killer. As they did previously for Amazon, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony BMG have agreed to let MySpace sell music DRM-free. But the big question is: Why just the majors?

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]]> "MySpace is reaching into its roots with the music service," wrote the Dow Jones news service. "MySpace became popular as a way for users to connect with their favorite bands and add songs to their profile pages. Listening to music remains one of the most popular activities on the site, which has since branched into online video and other media efforts."

It's true that MySpace owes much of its success to its popularity with musicians, and the service could certainly be a game changer. Search for almost any major musical act in Google and you're almost certain to find three things on the first page of results: the artist's official page, the artist's wikipedia page, and the artist's MySpace page. With it's position as the current generation's MTV, the potential for MySpace to serve as a serious hub for music sales is believable. And as we noted in February, chief rival Facebook has a long way to go to catch up with MySpace in the area of music.

But MySpace doesn't just cater to the major acts -- much of the appeal of the social network is in the ability to connect directly with local, long tail acts. That's where its true roots lie. As Matt Rosoff writes on CNET's Crossfade blog, "major label acts are a small part of the MySpace experience... MySpace is the ultimate long tail site for musicians, where bar bands and small-town heroes can appear in the same context as the biggest bands in the world."

What we're looking for next from MySpace is to extend the functionality of their music store to every musical act using the site. That would certainly be a game changer and would make it easier for small acts to build awareness and cultivate their "true fans." In essence, it would make it simple for any small band to put out their work on the web's label: MySpace.

]]>Discuss]]> http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/myspace_music_store_wheres_the_long_tail.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/myspace_music_store_wheres_the_long_tail.php Products Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:11:54 -0800 Josh Catone