interesting things
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GoPro’s line of action cams have resulted in some of the most explosively viral first-person videos of the past couple years. Yesterday, the video camera maker confidentially filed with the SEC for an initial public offering, signaling that GoPro is thinking about base jumping right into Wall Street.
via Fast Company http://ift.tt/1gpNQHl
She says if she were up for reelection in a purple state, she wouldn’t have him campaign with her.
via POLITICO – TOP Stories http://ift.tt/1bIla9w
Despite threats from Starbucks that what Nathan Fielder is doing is a trademark infringement, the network’s parent company says "Dumb Starbucks" constitutes "protected free expression."
via Hollywood Reporter http://ift.tt/1emuSya
Not all falls in skating are created equal. So we asked former national team member Katrina Hacker to really explain in plain English what goes wrong, where it goes wrong, and what we should be looking for in the next week as skaters take the ice for the pairs, men’s, and women’s competitions.Â
via The Wire http://ift.tt/1eQSG1C
Yesterday, Business Insider chief correspondent Nicholas Carlson stuck a subtle shiv into his competitors at Buzzfeed, attributing the site’s success in exploiting Facebook’s ever-evolving newsfeed algorithm to its practice of buying traffic in the form of Facebook ads—as opposed to, you know, attracting readers. Then he took it out. Without telling anyone.
In the post, Carlson laid out a compelling explanation of how Facebook revisited its newsfeed algorithms, changing how it selects the stories you see. That recent change seems to have taken the piss out of some of the web’s biggest new viral sharing sites: The shift drove down traffic for Upworthy, ViralNova, and other sites that traffic exclusively in sharebait.
But not Buzzfeed: It has actually seen traffic growth. Carlson’s explanation for the anomaly was simple: Buzzfeed pays for play. It is known to buy Facebook ads for posts that it thinks needs "viral uplift." After considering and then dismissing Buzzfeed’s "respected journalists who publish hard news" as a potential reason for its continued Facebook success, Carlson concluded:
It could be that Buzzfeed, unlike all those other sites, buys traffic from Facebook.
Buzzfeed’s business model is to create advertorials on Buzzfeed.com and then get traffic to these advertorials by buying Facebook ads.
If that’s the reason, then the message Facebook is sending isn’t so much that it wants "high quality" content for its News Feed. It’s that if you are a media company, and you depend on Facebook for your traffic, you better make sure Facebook is benefiting from your existence.
That’s how the piece originally ended: with the sense that Buzzfeed’s ability to financially reward Facebook helps explain its recent success on the platform.
But at some point, Carlson changed the story’s ending substantially, with no note that he’d done it. Here’s how it reads now:
It could be that Buzzfeed, unlike all those other sites, buys traffic from Facebook.
Buzzfeed’s business model is to create advertorials on Buzzfeed.com and then get traffic to these advertorials by buying Facebook ads.
If that’s the reason, then the message Facebook is sending isn’t so much that it wants "high quality" content for its News Feed. It’s that if you are a media company, and you depend on Facebook for your traffic, you better make sure Facebook is benefiting from your existence.
More likely, it’s that, unlike all those other sites, Buzzfeed employs several respected journalists who publish hard news and smart analysis. Maybe, in the eyes of Facebook executives, this makes all Buzzfeed content "high quality" and therefore News Feed-worthy. Other sites, including Slate, The Atlantic, and Business Insider, have also invested in journalism and continue to benefit from Facebook traffic.
All of a sudden, it’s not pay-for-play. Instead, Facebook is rewarding Buzzfeed—and a couple of other sites, including his own—because its "smart analysis" makes the content better.
Carlson confirmed the change on Twitter:
@AdamWeinstein I decided to change the emphasis, yes
— Nicholas Carlson (@nichcarlson) February 11, 2014
In an email exchange, he also confirmed that he changed the post after receiving an email from Buzzfeed CEO Jonah Peretti, and after discussing things with Business Insider chief Henry Blodget.
These are the facts:
1. I changed the emphasis after speaking with Joe and Henry, and considering what’s happened to Slate and The Atlantic.
2. During this discussion or maybe before, Peretti had emailed me. But I didn’t change the story because Peretti emailed me.
3. It didn’t happen in this case, but I am open to being emailed by people and being convinced by their winning arguments.
This morning, Carlson posted a followup story based on his exchange with Peretti. Its title was "Buzzfeed CEO: Here’s Why Facebook Isn’t Crushing Us." Spoiler: It’s not because they pay Facebook money. It’s because they are awesome.
[Photo credit: AP]
via Gawker http://ift.tt/1kyNtzf
First, the good news: Pascal Tessier, a senior at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Maryland, just became the first openly gay Eagle Scout in the U.S. The bad news: The Boy Scouts are probably going to kick Tessier out in a couple of months.
Tessier, 17, shown above in uniform with his family, earned his final requisite badge Monday night, making him the first known homosexual Scout to attain the organization’s highest rank since it relented in allowing gay boys into its troops last month.
But there’s still a catch, the Washington Post reports: Tessier may ultimately lose his membership in the Scouts this summer:
Ultimately, the council voted to accept gay youths but not gay adults.
Even as he celebrated Monday night, Tessier was well aware of how the partial policy change could affect him. He will turn 18 in August.
"It’s kind of a backhanded acceptance: We accept you for now," he said. "It says to you you’re a monster of some sort."
Interestingly, Tessier’s older brother Lucien is also gay, and he also became an Eagle Scout several years back—albeit while concealing the fact of his sexual identity. There’s no telling how many more Eagle Scouts have been secretly gay. But maybe they can start their own club. After all, Pascal Tessier may need a new support unit in August if his current one kicks him out.
[Photo credit: AP]
via Gawker http://ift.tt/1emHg0W
Seattle’s technology scene, though vibrant, is significantly smaller than that of its cousin to the south, the San Francisco Bay Area. So, too, it seems, are Seattle’s anti-gentrification protests.
via NYT > Most Recent Headlines http://ift.tt/1jrKIQ9
The mystery behind Joseph Mitchell’s Joe Gould’s Secret is finally solved.
via The Latest from VanityFair.com http://ift.tt/1bQqKtH
Kiyoshiro Yamamoto and Susumu Ueda plead guilty to charges stemming from a 2010 sting operation at the Hump, a Santa Monica restaurant.
During dinner service at a Santa Monica restaurant a few years ago, a sushi chef known to customers as Yama disappeared out the back, car keys in hand. A few moments later, he reemerged clutching a package tightly wrapped in plastic.
via L.A. Times – California | Local News http://ift.tt/1lZZu2k
A popular Canadian video celebrating diversity that pokes fun at lugers hits on themes that the Americans say are old, tired and inappropriate.
via NYT > Most Recent Headlines http://ift.tt/1h7a1qq