"Sorry for the confusion. To clarify, this is my personal blog, in which I write about a range of things but mainly about what we're up to at The Star-Ledger. I work for The Star-Ledger, and our home on the web is at NJ.com. We just debuted a new nooncast, Ledger Live, which you can find at http://www.nj.com/ledgerlive. In any case, thanks for your post about the show. We're off and running..." - John Hassell
"Hmm. Not sure what you mean, John. This is my personal blog, and if you click on the About link, it explains who I am and where I work. Sorry for any confusion, but I guess I don't understand the problem." - John Hassell
"Mathew and Rich,
Thanks for the kind early reviews. (We're big fans of Rocketboom, so that comparison made me smile.) We're going to keep plugging away at this and see where it takes us. If you have ideas to improve it, we're all ears.
Cheers,
John" - John Hassell
"Ken, thanks for the nice words. And you know, it's not everyday people say things like "I don't live anywhere near NJ, unfortunately." That you DO say this speaks highly of your character and taste." - John Hassell
"Agreed. One of the advantages we have, in this respect, is that our online company's CMS is Movable Type. So our newsroom is really just a bunch of bloggers (from a technical point of view), and when we link out, it's blog-to-blog." - John Hassell
Constructive advice from a smart guy who knows a thing or two about newspapers. - John Hassell
via Bookmarklet
It's funny how many of these things we're already trying at my paper. Problem in most cases is we've been afraid to give those areas 100% effort. I'm passing this link along to the bosses and marking it in my "yet another supporting argument" category. - Kevin Hessel
Fred: A great post. Here's one way we at The Star-Ledger are trying to use these tools to address some of Umair's points: http://www.nj.com/helpinghands. Basically, it's a platform for blogs by non-profits and volunteer organizations across New Jersey. A partnership with the United Way allows groups and volunteers to find each other through a searchable database of events, interests and opportunities. - John Hassell
Revolutionary products often start out looking like toys, such as the PC. Of course that does not imply that all toys are revolutionary, but it's important to remember that the impact is not always obvious beforehand. - Paul Buchheit
Incidentally, the line at the Shake Shack was awesomely short right after the rain storm ended ;-) - j1m
I've noticed that 'likes' happen first and comments follow. I would speculate that the formula goes something like this: If a user finds an interesting item, they're more likely to 'like' it if it has few or no 'likes' yet. If there's an existing conversation, a user is more likely to add to the conversation. People are less likely to leave the first comment ('star the conversation') on an item shared by someone they don't know. Put these rules together and you get a group behavior of an interesting item getting several likes with no comments, then a comment, then a great deal of increased activity in both 'likes' and comments. Of course, it would be interesting to gather data to support these hypotheses. :-) - Kevin Fox
Kevin, as a general rule, I comment when I know what to say or quote after reading a peice and I like when I don't. - Clare Dibble
In a world where our media consumption is evermore occurring on an individual level (feed readers, Kindles, iPods vs the family radio and TV) humans still crave shared experiences. The same forces leaving me confident that the live music business will remain healthy for years help me understand the emotional value of endorsement of a FF post. Even if we discount a "like" to zero, I think it still serves as a sign of vitality and gives this service a pulse. Often it's just nice to know others are listening. - Christopher Sacca
good post Fred. I personally have completely given up on "Web 2.0" as a term - it's just the Internet now (with Ajax, RSS, rounded corners, and "social" stuff). but I do think "Internet Ennui" is a recurring cycle, and considering the run we've had recently, we're probably closing in on another wave of it... - Jeremy Toeman
Not everything has to be about social change. Sometimes, we just want a place to hang out and relax. - Morton Fox
@Kevin - One thing I like about the friendfeed bookmarklet (and also feeds from delicious), is that you can include a comment right off the bat, which I think is more likely to spark a conversation. I think that having that first comment there might also entice people to read the link. @the article - I think this depends a little on how you define web 2.0. Is it the technology aspect (ajax, json, etc.) which allows websites to be more interactive, or is it the social aspect, or some combination. - Robert Felty
john, i'm glad to hear it - good stuff. morton, the point is that more value can be created by solving bigger problems than just entertainment (in fact, hanging out can be part of the solution). fred, that was (really) a killer, eloquent post. - umair
