How do you know when people REALLY like you?

When you’re defended by schleb gossip bible Popbitch.

Many kilowatts of power where wasted this week when a Times article asserted that a Google search produced as much carbon as boiling a kettle. The story went all over the world and the blogosphere positively buzzed – before the carbon expert quoted in the Times piece asserted that he’d been misquoted and never said such a thing – so there. Then Google went and set the record straight by publishing the real carbon footprint of a search.

Then I see this in today’s Popbitch email:

The carbon footprint of two google searches is the same as boiling a kettle? Not true say Google. It’s more like 0.02g. Not 7g.

So there. Is this a comment on the Times newspaper’s quality of research – despite there being no mention of the hack or the newspaper. Or does Popbitch just like Google and won’t have anything said about it? We think the latter given yet another search engine themed comment in the very same email:

The only internet two search terms more popular than sex? “Google” and “Yahoo”. Yes people go to Google and then type in “Yahoo”. And vice versa.

Why the search theme Popbitch? Is this some nifty bit of email based SEO trickery I’ve yet to learn of?

Most PR outfits are moribund – TechCrunch

Another day, another blogger bemoaning the approach of PR professionals. But unlike most posts, I think TechCrunch may have a point. In that some PR agencies are getting it right when it comes to online.

Wonder what PR Week makes of this. TechCrunch isn’t just any old blog after all.

MediaGuardian hacks now write for paidContent

Cross promotion is inevitable when one content site buys another, but it gets a little complicated when the publisher of a big content buys another smaller content site which covers the same sector – and decides to keep the smaller one going as a standalone entity.

Such is the case with the paidContent site and its recent acquisition by the Guardian. The mainstream media owner has wasted no time at all in pulling paidContent, er, content, into the MediaGuardian’s own digital news pages. Not sure how this impacted the existing digital news team there, namely Jemima Kiss, but hey, who are we to second guess one of the most successful publishers in the UK?

But integration and cross promotional thingies have increased even more with today’s inclusion of a post from the MediaGuardian’s own PDA digital news blog on paidContent’s site. Not sure if the byline format works for me, but it’s interesting how this is slowly developing into something interesting. Assuming this is step two in a defined long term game plan.

Separately, the paidContent blog talks about a new website by the creators of Dazed & Confused called Dazed Digital. Not a magazine extension site it appears, but a destination in its own right. Quite nice, but no obvious sign of comments or UGC services for us fickle read/write/rip consumers of content. Also, most of the videos seem to suffer from poor lighting, making each interviewee look like they’re in silhouette. Artistic fancy or handycam hitch?

Should men’s mags ‘upscale’?

Media Week recently asked four key media players (as in key people, not software) whether they agreed with reports that many publishers are now upscaling men’s mags to attract a more affluent reader and advertiser.

Three said ‘No’, while one said ‘Yes’. I’m still undecided. ‘Yes’, because more lower end readers are getting their fix online (hence the popularity of Dennis’ Monkeymag and IPC’s Nuts.co.uk and NME.com). But then I also say ‘No’ because there’ll always be an audience for men’s mags in the lower end. They perhaps just need to make them less embarrassing to read in public. The Sun, which is still going strong, is a perfect example.

So, if by upscale, we mean put less pics of bikni clad women on the cover a la GQ and Esquire, then I say ‘Yes – kinda’. I blogged about men’s mags upscaling a while back (and probably contradict myself).

Still on the topic of lads mags, great article by the Mirror’s Brian Reade today which pointed out the irony in Michael Gove MP blaming lads mags like Nuts, Zoo and Loaded for objectifying women. Brian wondered why Gove missed The Sun off the list, given that Page 3 was also a big offender. Surely nothing to do with Gove being a columnist for the Times, The Sun’s sister paper?

“I’m Paris Hilton and I approve this message cos it’s totally hot”

BitchBuzz's succinct Twitter biog: 'Fierce. Female. F***ing. Fabulous.'

Watch Paris Hilton talk about US energy policy. No, really. I spotted this via BitchBuzz, which is today due to launch a new take on websites aimed at women. Best of luck with the launch BitchBuzz. i think I know who runs this, but I’m not sure they want that to be public domain. Anyone shed any light?

Visit BitchBuzz.com

Web traffic growth for Nuts, Loaded et al

NME.com doing well in the fiercely competitive music sector

No real surprise for IPC Media given that the lads mags demographic is made up of heavy internet users. But the growth stats are impressive – Nuts.co.uk gained 121 per cent more users year on year, while Loaded grew by 51 per cent. NME.com continues to gain strength on the web with 107 per cent year on year user growth. The growth has been attributed to the integration of video and social networking features.

[via MediaGuardian]

Chris Morris and the CERN particle smasher

I’m still surprised by how few people have heard of the CERN science project.

Perhaps that’s a good thing given the initial panic about the potential for the earth to be swallowed up by a black hole.

Anyhoo, the Guardian yesterday published a special supplment on the project, complete with a truly bizarre article by Chris Morris (of BrassEye and Nathan Barley fame).

Read his article: Massive bosons blew my unit

Also, listen to a CERN podcast about his visit.

Business Week invests in citizen journalism and user engagement

Well, peel me like a beetroot and pickle me in brine – a publisher has woken up to the value of developing long term relationships with blog post commenters.

Backed up by a dedicated strategy and senior member of staff, prime commenters are to be cultivated and paid (yes, paid) to not only write articles, but also take part in wider news production. Hello user centred design!

I’m also excited aboout this content strategy because it has a good chance of taking off, thanks to the calibre of the commenters they’re looking to work with – namely high profile CEOs and directors. Users will actively seek out their content. B2B publishers should take note, as should consumer media owners: citizen journalism doesn’t begin and end with the Guardian’s Comment is Free.

Read more about Business Week’s citizen journalism content strategy [via paidContent]