Print vs. Pixels
Why Writing on the Web
Is Totally Different From
Writing on Dead Trees
by JONATHAN RICK
Slide 2
Slide 2 text
“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
Slide 3
Slide 3 text
No content
Slide 4
Slide 4 text
No content
Slide 5
Slide 5 text
Lean Backward
Slide 6
Slide 6 text
Lean Backward
Lean Forward
Slide 7
Slide 7 text
This is how we
read online.
Nielsen Norman Group (2006)
Slide 8
Slide 8 text
This is how we
read scan online.
Nielsen Norman Group (2006)
Slide 9
Slide 9 text
No content
Slide 10
Slide 10 text
No content
Slide 11
Slide 11 text
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
Slide 12
Slide 12 text
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
Slide 13
Slide 13 text
Everything You Know
About Web Publishing
Is Wrong
Slide 14
Slide 14 text
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
Slide 15
Slide 15 text
Steve Jobs Hate
d The New York
Times
iPad App — So
They Made A Ne
w One
Slide 16
Slide 16 text
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
Slide 17
Slide 17 text
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
Slide 18
Slide 18 text
No content
Slide 19
Slide 19 text
No content
Slide 20
Slide 20 text
What’d Ya Think?
[email protected]
jonathanrick.com
@jrick
slideshare.net/jrick