The Indiepub Blog

Links of Note: Jan. 2, 2008

January 2, 2008 12:58 PM Posted by mac

Abused Words and Phrases, 2007 Edition

Lake Superior State University in Michigan has released its 33rd annual list of overused/misued/abused words and phrases that should be tossed in the dustbin of history. Among this year's winners: "perfect storm," "webinar," "post 9/11," and the Belichickian "it is what it is." I hope "dustbin of history" makes next year's list. (Via Yahoo News)

OJR's Five Lessons from 2007

Online Journalism Review consistently delivers excellent commentary and advice for Web journalists, so a tips list from these guys deserves a read. My two favorites from the OJR list: "Learn from sports how to engage readers" and "Ask readers for information, not articles."

Gawker Media Shifts to Page-View-Based Bonuses

Gawker Media, owner of Gizmodo, Wonkette, Defamer and other popular blogs, is the latest Web-based publisher to connect blogger payments (in this case, bonuses) with page views. Gawker Bloggers can now earn money on top of their base monthly rate by luring in valuable page views with exclusive, thoughtful and all-around great content -- in theory. I'm a supporter of this model, especially for publishers, but bloggers/freelancers/writers should remain grounded when presented with opportunities like this. Technically, a superstar blogger could earn superstar money with a few superstar posts, but "technically" doesn't apply to most folks. It takes huge amounts of work and luck to lure in the kind of traffic than can make page-view-based payments lucrative. This is undoubtedly a good, fair system, but it doesn't make blogging any easier.

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