Print vs. Pixels: Why Writing on the Web Is Totally Different From Writing on Dead Trees

Everything you know about writing for the web is wrong.

Transcript

1. Print vs. Pixels Why Writing on the Web Is Totally Different From Writing on Dead Trees by JONATHAN RICK
2. “BuzzFeed wasn’t just hiring brand names to serve as lustrous hood ornaments connoting credibility, the way Tina Brown and Arianna Huffington have. The hires at BuzzFeed were more like maypoles: young writers native to the web who become pivot points for content because they are bathed in both the ethos and practice of social media.” —David Carr
5. Lean Backward
6. Lean Backward Lean Forward
7. This is how we read online. Nielsen Norman Group (2006)
8. This is how we read scan online. Nielsen Norman Group (2006)
11. PRINT PIXELS Edit, then publish Publish, then edit Column inches Endless scroll Footnotes Hyperlinks End mark Related posts, expanded bylines 1 headline 2 headlines 1 subheadline 1 subheadline, 1 tweet, 1 meta description
12. PRINT PIXELS Pictures Videos Chinese wall between editorial and advertising Sponsored content High-brow and low-brow don’t mix Gawker, Huffington Post, BuzzFeed Hack Hack and flack Intuition Data Cover, A1 Home page
13. Everything You Know About Web Publishing Is Wrong
14. CONVENTIONAL WISDOM UPWORTHY Focus on current events Timeliness doesn’t matter Publish hundreds of posts per week Publish 60 posts per week Original content is best No original content Videos should be short Video length doesn’t matter Wear your partisanship on your sleeve Use nonpartisan headlines Comments build a community No comments Pitch big-name reporters Pitch social media celebrities
15. Steve Jobs Hate d The New York Times iPad App — So They Made A Ne w One
16. Steve Jobs Hate d The New York Times iPad App — So They Made A Ne w One o S k o o L s e n i z a g a M o ? d D a y P i h W w e N e h t n o e l b i r r e T
17. Steve Jobs Hate d The New York Times iPad App — So They Made A Ne w One o S k o o L s e n i z a g a M o ? d D a y P i h W w e N e h t n o e l b i r r e T Magazines Fumble the iPad Opportunity
20. What’d Ya Think? hi@jonathanrick.com jonathanrick.com @jrick slideshare.net/jrick