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New Media News Every Morning

Digg would rather die trying

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Digg users can take down Digg. Literally. That’s what exactly happened when a code that unlocked copyrighted DVDs appeared on Kevin Rose’s front page and Digg users started digging it. The site’s administrators began taking down the links and suspending the accounts of those who posted them. The users disagreed and revolted by flooding the site. The New York Times has an article about it.

So, Rose posted on his blog: “But now, after seeing hundreds of stories and reading thousands of comments, you’ve made it clear. You’d rather see Digg go down fighting than bow down to a bigger company. We hear you, and effective immediately we won’t delete stories or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever the consequences might be. If we lose, then what the hell, at least we died trying.”

Kevin, you have to realize that you don’t “own” Digg anymore. Well, at least you did, with your blog post.

Originally posted on May 2, 2007 @ 9:26 am

YouTube, eBay lead winners in 11th Webby Awards

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The winners of The 11th Annual Webby Awards will be saluted alongside a remarkable slate of special achievement honorees, including rock legend David Bowie, eBay President and CEO Meg Whitman on behalf of the eBay community, and the co-founders of YouTube, at the June 5th gala in New York City, Webby organizers announced.

The Webby Awards winners were revealed in a wide range of categories, including Websites and brand new categories honoring online film and video, interactive advertising, and mobile content.

In addition, over 400,000 votes were cast by people around the world for their favorite sites, videos, and ads in The Webby People’s Voice Awards presented by Verizon. A full list of both Webby Awards and People’s Voice Awards winners can be found at www.webbyawards.com.

Originally posted on May 2, 2007 @ 8:55 am

Social network focuses on happy posts

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Its mission is simple and wrapped up with its motto: “Share a story. Change a life.” Happy Posts has struck a chord with the Internet community as the new hangout place for positive and uplifting content. The site, a radical change from what normally is seen online, is an open forum for people to share positive stories from their lives.

“Every day, we are hit from all sides with negativity,” said Mark Hager, founder of Happy Posts. “We wanted to create a place where anyone from any background could tell about the good things that happen to them. We’re not concerned about where you’re from, what you do or what you believe,” Hager said when asked about their target demographics. “We’re looking to create a grass-roots movement with the sole purpose of creating the world’s largest repository of every day miracles.”

Originally posted on April 26, 2007 @ 9:28 pm

‘MySpace en Español’ launches

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espanol.jpgMySpace announced at the Billboard Latin American Music Conference the beta launch of MySpace en Español, a new Spanish-language version for U.S. based Hispanics. MySpace also revealed a new pan-regional site in Spanish for Latin American residents as well as further development plans for localized communities in Mexico and Brazil.

“We’re moving rapidly to build communities that reflect and respect the lifestyles of our diverse members,” said Travis Katz, Senior Vice President and General Manager of MySpace International. “MySpace en Español opens the community even wider, giving our Hispanic members the choice to share their experiences, connect with family members, and plan their social lives in either Spanish or English. We look forward to getting their feedback as we build out these new cultural communities.”

The company also announced today a beta version of MySpace Latinoamérica, a pan-regional site in Spanish for Latin American users. More than 150 million residents from across Latin America will be able to access MySpace in Spanish through the new localized community. Across Latin America, MySpace will be working with local teams to develop relevant programming and unique partnerships most relevant for each country’s user base.

Originally posted on April 24, 2007 @ 10:45 am

Chicago Tribune gets local with Triblocal

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triblocal.jpgThe Chicago Tribune announced the introduction of Triblocal, a local community publishing service in two portions of Chicago’s western and southwestern suburbs. Beginning today on triblocal.com, community contributors have the ability to post stories, photos and events about their hometowns and comment on postings from other contributors.

Content and photos from the site will be used to develop a print publication that will debut later this year and be distributed with the Chicago Tribune in those communities. Triblocal editorial staff will provide enhanced coverage of these communities both online and in print.

“We’re constantly working to better serve the changing needs of our readers and their communities,” said Owen Youngman, senior vice president/strategy and development of Chicago Tribune Company. “Triblocal is designed to meet the needs of a growing population who want to share news and information that’s truly relevant to their lives, while also delivering a vital, engaged audience to advertisers.”

Originally posted on April 19, 2007 @ 9:14 am