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Pop! A Metric System for the Linked Economy

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This summer, Mozilla along with the Knight Foundation created a contest for encouraging hackers and hacks (me) to assemble online and consider ways to innovate news through technology. I made the cut to the program’s second phase – an online learning lab where some 60-odd creatives and coders were selected to take part in a four week session. Each week included three brilliantly intense, mind-opening lectures along with a weekly homework assignment. Over the course of the learning lab we heard from many experts at the top of their game. Speakers included Evan Hansen, Editor In Chief of Wired.com;  Mohamed Nanabhay, Head of New Media at the AlJazeera Network; and  Jeff Jarvis, author, professor and director of the interactive journalism program at the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism. See the full list of speakers here. Our final assignment  is a software proposal defining how we can make news better by incorporating the tools and technology available to us today. Here’s my idea.

What is it?

The Pop! Index is a real-time analysis of of data from across the web – because the world needs a comprehensive way to see what’s happening right now. Pop! is a visualization tool that collects, interprets and visualizes significant patterns of user activity. It searches for and analyzes user sentiment along with discussion levels around any topic. It also measures media consumption to provide detailed information on what pieces of content people are currently watching, reading, and engaging with.

Simply put, it’s a metric system for the linked economy.
The back-end may be composed of raw data, but the project simultaneously serves as a form of art. The tactile nature and compelling design allows for users to manipulate, interact with and share the visualized information. The platform is universally accessible, beginning within the browser with a plan to roll out across smartphones and tablets.

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How can we make news cool again? Hint…it already is! [Part 2]

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Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, from pulse2.com

Ok, I’m officially changing course.  I had an idea. The concept was this: a one-stop aggregation site that makes news fun to participate in. Some sort of all-in-one, self-curated and personalized algorithm that pulls news-related content based on topics you like, allowing the user to respond to content via medium of choice.

Then, through doing some research I realized that news already is fun – and much more so than it’s ever been.

Read More »How can we make news cool again? Hint…it already is! [Part 2]

How can we make news Cool again?

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Karl Frankowski photographed Fox News approximately once per minute over the course of 24 hours.

From Aza Raskin’s lecture at the #MozNewsLab on Monday, we learned that
“The real problem is that we don’t understand the problem.”

This sent me into a tizzy – a mental topspin of wondering which problem I’m really seeking to address for the scope of this 4-week class. I felt like Woody Allen, paranoid and self-conscious, attempting to figure out which problem was in fact the real one.

First I asked myself: “Is the topic of this post the right question I need to be asking? What does it mean to make news cool?”

I took a long, slow, sip of my coffee and decided to break it down into baby steps.

Firstly, I thought about what I know.

1. People care about the issues that most closely affect them.
2. They like to share their revelations.
3. There’s never been more news content available to us.

Then I let it simmer.

Yet after banging my head against the wall for a few days, I still didn’t have an idea of where to go.

But what I did have was more questions.

Read More »How can we make news Cool again?