The definitive map of the Internet

I came across this interesting map of the internet, which is apparently roughly to scale based on the number of people using each service or taking part in each activity.

Notice how Facebook dominates the world, with a frightening number of people playing Farmville (I don't know what Happy Farm is and refuse to look it up).

Full size version

That QQ in the corner is a Chinese instant messaging service which has morphed into an all-purpose networking/gaming thing and will no doubt conquer the world one day. As it's currently confined pretty much to China we can probably close our eyes and pretend it's not there for now.

Notice the forums nestled snugly in the Sea of Memes. This gives me a chance to rant once again about forums and why they are so often overlooked when people are talking about what's happening on the internet.

If you want to find an actual community, and conversations taking place, check out a busy forum. Honestly, I think they get neglected by self-styled gurus because they were successful long before anyone invented phrases like social media or web 2.0, and they demonstrate that people over 30 were communicating happily on the Internet long before social media consultants existed.

Having said that, if you want to experience the joys of forum warring for yourself, don't go near 4 Chan (it's not as funny as it thinks it is). I humbly recommend the Something Awful forums. And if you're temped to visit MMO Isle, check out Eve Online.

Farewell to The Stirrer as pioneer Adrian Goldberg heads back to the BBC

Farewell then The Stirrer, an independent news website which is closing after four years.

The Stirrer covered Birmingham and the Black Country, reporting mainly on politics.

It's been a huge success in generating original stories, becoming required reading among the West Midlands' political and media classes and developing a loyal community, which hangs out at the site's active forum.

Editor Adrian Goldberg was less successful in achieving what I understand was his original aim, which was to earn a living from the site and, eventually, to employ others.

Adrian was a journalist working for the BBC before he left to launch The Stirrer. He's now quitting the site to head back to the BBC as a Radio Five Live presenter.

Partner in crime Andy Goff - known to The Stirrer community as "webmaster" - is apparently standing down at the same time.

Adrian was a pioneer in setting up an independent local niche news site.

The site failed to follow conventional wisdom in many respects, calling itself a web site rather than a web log or blog, and providing readers with a forum rather than a comment facility.

But the forum was a great success, allowing readers to break stories - which Adrian could then promote to the front page - rather than simply responding to stories published by the site's official writers.

It is currently being used by members of The Stirrer's community who want to create some sort of replacement for the site once Adrian and Andy Goff quit.

Again, I am not sure a site which simply allowed reader comments on stories could ever create a community with this level of cohesion and loyalty (although forums do have downsides, such as a high barrier to entry - you need to register - and a tendency to be unfriendly to newcomers).

One thing the end of The Stirrer does demonstrate is that getting to grips with internet publishing or "social media", finding and exploiting a niche, building a community and being entrepreneurial doesn't in itself answer a question most journalists need to face at some point, which is how to pay the mortgage.

Johnston results show newspapers still enjoy healthy profit margins

Johnston Press recently published its interim results for the first six months of the year, showing an increased profit and operating profit of 19.5 per cent.

Operating profit was £40.05 million, up from £38.2 million compared to the previous year, on a turnover of £207.3 million.

As I've pointed out before, newspaper revenues may be falling but profit margins continue to be much higher than in most other industries.

Print advertising revenues fell by £8.4 million while digital revenues rose by £1 million, but it's important to note that digital revenues, at £10 million, are still much lower than print advertising revenues at £124.1 million. Johnston also raised £49.1 million from newspaper sales.

Johnston publishes 18 daily papers, including the Yorkshire Post, and 253 weeklies.