Companies put vision statements on their websites. Councils put them on the buses. They have become part of the media swirl that few people notice because they're so ubiquitous.  So it’s a little odd to realise that this month we’re launching a project that fulfils our original vision.  Ten years ago, we thought broadband would mean many more people would participate in civil society through media publishing online. So we built a business providing the tools of participation – websites, content management... Read More

I've been enjoying the latest Google ad - the one where Dad sets up his daughters Gmail account as some kind of birthright. I confess I've done the same - not quite when my kids were babies - but way sooner than they really needed an email account. It was really a cyber smash and grab to get them account with proper names and without all the silly number suffixes. But it made me consider all the talk in certain circles about the death of email. Some would argue that In five or six years time when my kids might want to use it would... Read More

So congratulations are due on YouTube's 6th birthday - they now claim 3 billion views per day with users uploading more than 48 hours worth of video every minute.  That's a 100% rise on last year and still climbing.  I don't imagine they really think that half the world is watching everyday, perhaps there are some keen viewers who come back a few times, but the reach is truly astounding for a video platform that launched with flaming farts and singing fans.  Back in 2005, we were trying, with difficulty, to... Read More

We're always pleased to see new schemes to involve the public in media publishing and the launch of 'Blottr' looked like another step forward.  They promise news updated as it happens "by people on the street" and they invite you to "get involved and break news stories happening around you". So you might expect something with longer stories than Twitter, or a little more mobile friendly than previous citizen journalism projects. What I didn't expect was the same old agenda.  From the content published on... Read More

Re: Microsoft/Skype. A couple of thoughts. Attention is what's on sale here - not the technology. It's human eyeballs sold as a commodity.  There's also the idea of information overload. What audiences really want is not more buckets of information, but the filtering out of irrelevant information.  So a location with an uncluttered screen that people stare at while they talk to each other - maybe there's some value in that. Or maybe Microsoft just wants to be a bit more cool?   Read More