I linked to a poll yesterday asking is graphic design art, yes or no? As of the time I voted (no, btw, based on the strict interpretation of what graphic design is), about 60 per cent of respondents had answered yes. Given I didn't think there could really be a straight yes or no answer, despite my "strict interpretation", plus there being no avenue to discuss the poll, ... Read full entry

Actually it's not just social media dialogue or exchanges of communication. I'm looking for a term that describes the ever disparate discussions we have with each other, particularly friends and acquaintances. I'm talking about the snippets of conversation that can take place by way of blog comments, social network messages and wall posts, instant messaging, forums, photo-sharing sites, and micro-blogging, such as Twitter. Then there's the same thing through voicemail, text messaging, ... Read full entry

Ten ways to go about encouraging more meaningful comments left in response to newspaper articles online. Derek Powazek has given the matter quite some thought. If you think bad comments bug you, they bug the good commenters twice as much. Yes, you should be paying someone on staff to be the Community Manager. In addition, you can also enable the community to help. Give every post a "This is ... Read full entry

In ten plus years of online journalling/weblogging/whatever else, the comment facility here has only been operational for about the last eight months of that time. That was mainly because disassociated ran off hand coded static HTML files for most of the first ten years, and installing a comment feature, though possible, would have been tricky. I was also largely averse to having comments in the first place, as some ... Read full entry