Is internet shopping like The Truman Show–a movie about a man who thinks himself free, but whose life is actually controlled by a TV producer? Are we online consumers like Truman Burbank, hopelessly and blissfully naive while titanic companies control our fate? Are the prices we pay online a function of a competitive market, or are our choices framed in ways we don’t quite fathom? These provocative questions are posed in a fascinating book about how platform internet companies (Amazon, Facebook, and so on) are changing the norms of economic competition. Virtual Competition: The Promise and Perils of the Algorithm-Driven Economy argues that these companies, with their immense data advantage, are effectively making their own rules in the marketplace, beating back new market entrants, and disadvantaging customers. As the internet took off in the 1990s, it was said, by some dreamy-eyed commentators, to be a giant-killing, democratic medium–a sort of anti-Walmart. You could start a business from your bedroom. You could win a $100 million in venture capital while still in your bathrobe. The internet was to emancipate commerce and to embody Adam Smith’s “invisible hand”–the beneficial, and mutual, economic effect that comes from people acting aggressively in their own self-interest. “We have no idea about how, and the extent to which, we are being exploited.” [Photo: © 1998 Paramount Pictures/IMDB]In Virtual Competition, economists Ariel Ezrachi and Maurice Stucke document the... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'
[ Fast Company | 2017-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#dual role
#concept store
White supremacists and misogynists see the ancient Mediterranean as a touchstone. A group of concerned scholars, including the Facebook founder’s sister, are sounding the alarm. When members of the Unite the Right rally marched through Charlottesville on August 11, 2017 in polo shirts and... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2019-05-30 12:59:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#white supremacists
#facebook founder
#friday night
Open Road has evolved into a leading marketing platform, boosting sales and discoverability for its publishing partners. (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-05-10 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#open road
#boosting sales
#publishing partners
The social network is predictable and dreary. My quest to make it random and fun. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2019-05-09 17:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#facebook algorithm
Norwegian authors are bringing “the spirit of Frankfurt” to Oslo in the form of a three-day literary festival featuring Norwegian and German writers in conversation. The post ‘Author-Driven’ German-Norwegian Literature Festival in Oslo This Week appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#week appeared
#german writers
Sometimes shopping online for holiday gifts seems like the easy way out, but when looking for something really special and personal, Barnes & Noble believes going to the store is essential to finding that perfect gift. That's why the brand is recasting its booksellers as the all-knowing book... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2018-12-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#perfect gift
Ahead of the London Book Fair's 2019 Market Focus on Indonesia, a rights forum draws publishers to learn about buying and selling into the island market. The post London’s Indonesia Rights Forum: ‘Creative Economy’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#post london
This is the second year of operation for the Aspen Words Literary Prize, which stresses fiction that has social impact, work specifically addressing contemporary issues. The post Aspen Words Prize Longlist of 16 Titles for 2019 Prize in Issue-Driven Fiction appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-11-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#social impact
Today, Facebook's Global Head of Safety, Antigone Davis, published a blog post outlining how the social network fights child exploitation. The company uses standard industry practices, such as requiring users to be 13 years or older, using photo-matc... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2018-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#machine learning
#global head
The Canadian digital platform is using machine learning to discover what readers want. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-09-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#machine learning
The economic impact of the Hay Festival on the local area has totalled more than £70m in the past three years, according to research carried out for the event. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#local economy
#economic impact
#hay festival
#local area
#research carried
Established to let journalists publish books quickly about current political issues, the UK's independent press Byline Media will feature its first book–on responses to injustice–at its annual festival opening Friday. The post Political Publishing: Byline Media Launches Its New Issues-Driven... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#political publishing
As well as slashing fees for short stories, the magazine has demanded fiction writers waive all rights to their workThe new issue of the Woman’s Weekly fiction special is out now, promising its readers short stories from writers who “never fail to come up with new twists and turns and unexpected... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#short stories
#marie claire
Arrow has signed a topical "up lit" novel by Emily Giffin, All We Ever Wanted, about what happens when a compromising photograph of a vulnerable teenage girl goes viral. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#arrow signs
#emily giffin
Mark Thompson, left, the chief executive of The New York Times Company, with Thomas Friedman, a Times columnist, in 2016. At a panel discussion on Thursday, Mr. Thompson said Facebook uses algorithms that can mischaracterize news as partisan political content. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2018-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#mark thompson
#times columnist
#panel discussion
After Facebook's news feed changes, publishers are not changing their strategies on the platform, or they're trying to focus more on other social channels. The post Digiday Research: Majority of publishers aren’t worried about Facebook’s algorithm changes appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2018-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#digiday research
#publishers aren
#social channels
A few months ago Facebook implemented a big change in its algorithm that impacted what kind of content it would surface to users. In a move that sent shivers down the spines of media professionals, Facebook said it would de-prioritize publisher content in favor of posts between connections. For... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2018-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#big change
#media professionals
Following recent news reports into the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Bloomsbury Sigma is bringing forward the publication of an investigation into how algorithms control our lives by leading mathematical modeler, David Sumpter. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#bloomsbury sigma
#bringing forward
When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in January that the site's News Feed algorithm would further emphasize posts from friends and family, publishers that hadn't diversified across many platforms faced a reckoning. Publishers like Little Things, despite testing its content on other... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2018-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
It’s even worse than I feared. I left Facebook in 2013, less for my own sake than for what my presence on the service was doing to others. I knew that anyone who “liked” my page could have their data harvested in ways they wouldn’t necessarily approve. Over the past five years, people have not... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Ireland would be much poorer without bookshops, which contribute a total of €132m to the economy, a new report has found. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |