Group items tagged

cultural trend

"While at least Life-magazine-killer TV has served as a platform for the creation of some great artworks (HBO's "The Wire," created by newspaperman-turned-TV-auteur David Simon, comes to mind) and inspired the creation of new art forms (see the upcoming Smithsonian retrospective of the work of "father of video art" Nam June Paik), it's hard to imagine what of lasting value hot web-native media brands like Gawker and BuzzFeed are contributing to visual culture and art history. Which brings me to an email I got last Wednesday from Gawker promoting its "top story" of Dec. 5., titled "The 13 Most Powerful Images of Naked Celebrities of 2012," which quickly racked up more than a million page views. It was a sequel to a Gawker post from the previous day titled "The 19 Most Powerful Images of 2012," which was mostly a shameless, edited-down rip-off of a BuzzFeed post titled "The 45 Most Powerful Images Of 2012," consisting of intense wire-service photojournalism from Reuters, the AP, Getty and others, which derive most of their support from old-school print-centric publications around the world. Gawker's excuse for its act of, uh, curation: "Who has time to scroll through 45 pictures?""

The live network has struck a deal with AXS TV to bring half of HuffPost Live's 12 hours of live weekday programming to the channel, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET Monday through Friday. The addition of HuffPost Live will diversify AXS TV's programming, whose stated mission is to provide live, 24/7 coverage of pop culture, music and fashion

If AI digests our culture will we need ourselves?

In a reflection of its expanding premium content strategy, YouTube has unveiled two new original channels focused on cars: Motor Trend and Drive. The Motor Trend channel, created by Source Interlink Media, will include original content from the likes of Motor Trend. Meanwhile Drive will take viewers behind the scenes and "[celebrate] the rich culture of cars." Content will include news, reviews and commentary from industry figures such as Chris Harris, Mike Spinelli, Leo Parente, and Alex Roy.

Moxie perks x 10?  2-story kitchen with locally sourced ingredients, dog friendly, gym, lounge, free beer, plus more. Just thought this was cool :) 

The Web site, at eonline.com, has had a fairly traditional layout, following the blog model. In terms of ads, display units have appeared across the top, down the right side and in between stories. Executives at E! described the new model for eonline.com as a "liquid" publishing and advertising platform that is intended to change dynamically, reflecting the purpose of the Web site as a go-to source for pop culture news and information. In keeping with that new format, the Web site can be expanded to five columns from three, depending on the device on which it is viewed.

Minecraft is gaining popularity, could become a big digital culture crossover into mainstream

Sephora "pop-up museum" showcasing fragrances

Today the lofty Times Literary Supplement--"the leading international forum for literary culture"--will run an unusual advertisement: It's for an iPad app. The app, "The Tempest," is essentially an enhanced e-book version of the Shakespeare play. (You know, the one with Prospero, Miranda, the island.) It's loaded with features--including an audiobook version read by professional actors, inline commentary from Shakespeare scholars, and social tools for your class or study group--and is available from the iTunes store for $9.99.

Smartphones are on a fast track to become the primary device for both creating and consuming digital content. According to the Pew Internet for the American Life Project, already a full 31% of Americans who own internet-capable phones browse the web primarily from their phones. These numbers are actually higher in emerging markets. What's more, there are at least three other factors at work here. First, images are global. They eschew all language and cultural boundaries. Photography is the only true universal medium. Nothing comes close. Second, images are distributable. The bandwidth required to transmit photos is minimal, yet the opportunities for quick, creative expression are plentiful. As of this writing, Apple's App Store alone has over 10,000 iPhone apps in its photo category -- many of them for editing. Photoshopping has been democratized. Finally, images are digestible. You can glance at a picture for as short or as long as you want. Photos are a non-linear, shared consumption experience. The same can't be said for video or even text.