Jesse DeWitt is the digital director of language learning products at Merriam-Webster. And as you may surmise from his title, DeWitt does not devote the lion's share of his time to the dictionary publisher's social marketing—he wears many hats for the New York-based company. In fact, he shares social media responsibilities with a few other colleagues who themselves have full-time jobs at the company, while contributing a tweet here and a post there. So why is Merriam-Webster pouring time and energy—some 40 posts so far—into Peach, the social app that debuted last Friday, quickly becoming the talk of the Twittersphere? (Even if some are already calling it a techie flash in the pan.) The answered is twofold, but it starts with this fact: Peach is easy to create content with, said DeWitt, whose team has a dearth of visual images at their fingertips and little to no time to create them. For those reasons, Merriam-Webster doesn't even have an account on Instagram or Snapchat. "Visual storytelling is a real problem for us," DeWitt explained. "Obviously, we are so heavily associated with words. It's not like we have this great library of assets we can draw from like a magazine might have. It's been an impediment in using Instagram or Snapchat. Peach has nice built-in commands that give you a quick and easy way to post something visual." Here's what he's talking about. Peach, created by Vine founder Dom Hofmann, lets users find their friends through their phone contacts and... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'
[ AdWeek | 2016-01-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
Did Time magazine pick Pope Francis as its Person of the Year because he'll sell more magazines than Edward Snowden? That's what some media outlets and Twitter users suggested Wednesday after the new pontiff beat out Mr. Snowden for the recognition.Business Insider, for instance, wrote:"Snowden,... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2013-12-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a victory for transparency advocates in the wake of the PRISM secret surveillance scandal, U.S. intelligence agencies will begin revealing the number of surveillance orders they request per year under various FISA ordinances, as well as national security letters. The agencies will also reveal... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Last Monday night, Mark Zuckerberg published a post announcing Facebook's new initiative to bring Internet access to the developing world. The blueprint for internet.org mapped out how Facebook and a host of phone company allies might connect an additional 5 billion people online through more... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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President Obama has angered the American Booksellers Assn. with a planned appearance Tuesday at an Amazon warehouse.President Obama, who faithfully shops at independent bookstores when given the chance, has angered the American Booksellers Assn. with a planned appearance Tuesday at an Amazon... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-07-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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President Obama will highlight Amazon as 'a perfect example of the company that is investing in American workers and creating good, high-wage jobs,' according to the White House. Independent booksellers aren't pleased. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-07-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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David Axelrod, former senior advisor to President Obama, is joining the list of one-time Obama administration officials who will be penning memoirs next year, Penguin Press has announced. David Axelrod, former senior advisor to President Obama, is joining the list of one-time Obama... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has a book deal.Mr. Geithner has an agreement with Crown Publishers, an imprint of Random House, Inc. Crown announced Thursday that Geithner's book, currently untitled, is scheduled for 2014.Mr. Geithner plans a "behind-the-scenes" account of the... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2013-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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President Obama has issued a US directive calling on all federal agencies with annual research... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Just as president Obama comes out in favor of gay marriage, a new book takes a close look at American same sex couples, from Walt Whitman to Greta Garbo to Jasper Johns. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-05-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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There have been quite a few studies aimed at figuring out what makes the so-called "digital native" (i.e. children of the 90's who have had Web access and mobile technology their entire lives) tick. Most of them arrive at some disparaging conclusion or other: "Digital natives are slow to pick up... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2012-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In 'These Dreams of You,' Steve Erickson writes incisively and movingly about issues of family and race, but the novel goes off the rails with tangents.Zan Nordhoc's unhappy family is certainly unhappy in its own ways in Steve Erickson's new novel "These Dreams of You." For instance, in a... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch is talking nonsense, according to Google. Murdoch, a Twitter user for only the past several weeks, used the service to fire a barrage of accusations Saturday night against President Obama and Google. Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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