“The appeal of online forums on Yelp, Amazon, TripAdvisor, and countless other sites, is to offer a wide range of opinions that, taken together, give consumers the scoop about the real quality and worth of a product or service. But recent social research into how these sites work reveals that they may fall short of providing a representative sample of broad opinion.”
Category: issues
The Steep Learning Curve Of Trying To Bring Cultural Options To A Devastated Downtown
“The broader stakes of what we hoped for our town became manifest: not just to open up a bookstore, but to open up the very conditions in which a bookstore might thrive. We could help revitalize the whole town.”
Should Charitable Giving Inoculate The Giver From Criticism?
“The neighbor who comes with his garden hose to put out the fire in my house is no hero if he is the one who set my house on fire or if his failure to support the local fire company is the reason it can no longer respond.”
Comic Books Used To Have Black Astronauts And A Lot Of Outlaw Feminist Women – Then, Censorship
“The comics world … was a cacophonous bazaar of stories: sometimes thrilling, sometimes confusing, sometimes revolting. But that bazaar was swiftly and mercilessly dismantled in 1954 by the newly formed Comics Code Authority. It was replaced with a viciously policed shopping mall whose effects resonate today.”
Why MOOCs Are A Major Advance In Learning
“First, because modern information technology allows for unprecedented interactivity and inter-personal connection, the formation of communities of learners on a global scale. Second, because the ability of computers to process information means that we can, for the first time, replicate and improve upon fundamental processes of learning.”
The Myth Of The “Poor Man’s Copyright”
“The practice of sending a copy of your own work to yourself is sometimes called a ‘poor man’s copyright.’ There is no provision in the copyright law regarding any such type of protection, and it is not a substitute for registration.”
Why I Miss Arts Critics
“The dull-and-earnest J-skool instructors will tell you that reviews, like other news stories, are the first draft of history and our community’s public record. They’ll add that public money always requires public scrutiny. Sure. But that’s not why readers read. We do it to be amused, to think, and to understand the world.”
The Arts Economy Is Based On The Scarcity Principle (What If It Wasn’t?)
What if someone started shouting “Abundance!” in the overcrowded Scarcity Matrix and everyone suddenly woke up? What if, in waking, we immediately began the job of negotiating that abundance by coordinating the resources under our stewardship? Would we begin to imagine and create solutions to the intractable problems of our field that we simply cannot dream of in a zero-sum world? – See more at:
London Arts Organizations Defend Arts Funding In the Capital
London arts leaders said it is “imperative” that any redistribution of money away from London did not unfairly disadvantage those companies based in the capital that work across the country.
A Record Year For Royal Albert Hall
“The figures represent the most succesful year of trading in the venue’s 143-year history with 390 events driving a 7% increase in audiences. The venue recorded its highest ever operating surplus of £5.3 million.”