#or it’s inaccessible forms that ask me to write an extended answer on why I want to work for their company

[eldritchcow]

.

[helenvaughans]

I’m really interested in that tweet you posted about poets writing only for each other nowadays, because I think I kind of agree with you, like maybe it shouldn’t have been stated the way it was, but it might not necessarily be wrong either? Like, I believe poetry can be a very powerful thing, but it doesn’t generally have much of a wide audience beyond those already invested in the genre. I think someone asked Neil Gaiman once why he didn’t become a poet, and he said something like, “I love writing poetry, and will always write poetry, but I knew I couldn’t make a living off of it” and I feel like that about sums it up. Like it doesn’t take away from the value of the art form, but realistically it just doesn’t extend far beyond its own pre-existing circles nowadays

((Poetry anon again)) I feel like it’s also a weird dichotomy though, because I feel like there is a particular brand of contemporary poetry that *does* reach a wider audience, but only because it’s been specifically crafted to do so? I’m thinking along the lines of instagram poets, Rupi Kaur, Amanda Lovelace, etc…who write to very specific topics in a very specific, easily digestible style. I feel like they do reach an audience other than other poets, but I also feel like their kind of poetry is like…fast food poetry, like commercialized. I’m not sure what exactly I’m trying to say here, and I hope I don’t offend anybody who is into their work! Just a trend I’ve noticed within the contemporary poetry genre nowadays, there’s a very specific style and almost commercialization about it that is intentionally crafted to appeal to wider audiences but loses many of the qualities that would make it true, impactful poetry in my opinion

i completely agree, and i think a lot of this gets to like how to be an artist/writer today and how you "market" yourself. instapoets like rupi kaur imo have successfully turned themselves into a variety of social media influencer, which i think is one way you can go, especially if your concern as a poet/writer is to be read by as many people as possible. it also upends the traditionally white and male poetry/literary establishment and opens up the space to more diverse voices, which is obviously a good thing. i think the problem is that, if you are trying to "make it" as an instapoet, essentially what you're searching for is a kind of virality, which usually comes from an appearance of relatability that may or may not be authentic. this article goes into it more, specifically in rupi kaur's case. i guess what frustrates me about instapoetry is that i feel like poetry doesn't have to be bland or vague in order to be accessible. like instapoetry works because a lot of it is just vague enough that you can read just about anything into it, but that leaves a kind of void at the center because it's not really clear what the writer's intentions actually are. like... it's poetry written to be retweeted and re-posted imo.

i also think, beyond instapoetry, there is an idea that poetry (like contemporary art) is somehow too abstract/ivory-tower/inaccessible for most people who aren't poets themselves to relate to. i do think that a lot of those complaints are valid and obviously the poetry/literary establishment has a lot to answer for in terms of restricting access/prestige from marginalized people like women, POC, etc. but i do think some of it also comes from a strain of anti-intellectualism and suspicion of anything that does not hold ""practical"" value in specifically american (and i suspect, though correct me if i'm wrong, british) culture.

that in and of itself is interesting, because i think it speaks to the changing role and perception of poetry in specifically the english-speaking world. like, at the end of the 18th/beginning of the 19th century, you have the romantic poets (wordsworth, byron, shelley, keats, etc.) many of whom came from privileged backgrounds themselves, but who positioned themselves very much against the traditional british moral/intellectual establishment. and then, in victorian britain, you had the poet as upholder/propagandist of bourgeois british/imperial values (tennyson, kipling, etc.) and then you have the modernists in the early 20th century and so forth. tbh, i feel like when you think about it in that way, the rise of the instapoets is not really that surprising. like.....maybe it's kind of a reflection of where the culture is (late capitalist neoliberal social media hellscape where self-branding is god).........unfortunately 🤷‍♀️

[bimboamyrose]

Unfamiliar - A Metamy Fanfic (Ch.4 )

First two chapters

Previous (Ch. 3)

Ch. 4: Stubborn

The evening was spent organizing Amy’s closets. She’d tasked Metal with handing her clothes hangers from across the room as she straightened up her wardrobe and later did the same for him as he stacked her tools back up on the high shelf of her storage space. At least his telescopic arm was coming in useful, even if he could do little more than stand still to avoid losing his balance. 

The dreary day gave way to a clear, chilly evening. Amy invited her house guest to sit on the porch with her for her nightly routine of sipping hot chocolate and stargazing. Glistening snow contradicted the beachy atmosphere, thick white blankets draping over palm trees and obscuring sandy ground. It was perfectly tranquil, silent but for the gentle mechanical whirring of Metal’s body.

Amy sat on a lawn chair wrapped tightly in a velvety blanket, knees to her chest. “If Tails isn’t available to fix you tomorrow, maybe we can at least try to repair your foot so you can stand upright.” 

Metal had planted himself on the seat next to hers. The contrast between his disturbing, sharp figure and her endearing and petite frame was as striking as the scenery. He crossed his busted leg over his good one, assessing the damage to his foot. He was not confident a self-repair would be successful, but it was always a possibility. He turned to her and nodded. Amy’s gentle eyes mirrored the starry sky. The calmness in Metal turned to a moderate excitement at the charming sight and it seemed almost to remind him of something.

“So, Metal, do you remember anything? Like, at all?”

He ripped himself out of his enchantment to process her question. Searching through his fragmented memory turned up thousands of inaccessible files. What little was left held mostly primary data with snippets of information. He found pictures and short bios of people he didn’t recognize and the name “EGGMAN” plastered across a repair protocol. Searching for that name just brought up several more corrupt files.

Metal reached for the tablet-sized whiteboard that was sitting on the garden table in front of them. He wrote down “VERY LITTLE” in his neat, mechanical handwriting and showed it to Amy.

She gazed directly into his eyes now, hoping to find some indication of whether Metal Sonic was being truthful in his unchanging eyes. “Do you remember me?”

Amy had asked him earlier if he recognized her and he denied it in his haste. But spending a few hours with the girl teased his memory like a word at the tip of one’s tongue; Metal was sure he knew her somehow. “FAMILIAR,” he wrote finally.

“Familiar, huh?” Amy finished her warm drink, setting the mug down in front of her. Not surprising, all things considered. But what does he really know? She noticed that Metal was quickly erasing his tablet and writing something new. Amy couldn’t keep herself from gasping when she caught sight of it again.

“WHO IS EGGMAN?”

She jerked the other way, hiding her shock. Does he remember that he works for Eggman? It must be part of his programming or something. I need to tell Tails. She decided to bluff. “Let’s, uh, see if we can find out. I think it’s time for bed.” She shot out of her cozy seat and back into the house before the cold could nip her.

Metal Sonic sat unmoving for a moment, perplexed at her sudden gesture. He propped himself up, tablet still in hand, as he drug his feet through the threshold of the backdoor and slid the door closed as gently as he could manage. He watched Amy toss her blanket over the back of the couch, then adjust and smooth it so it looked only partially like it was thrown there haphazardly. A strange maneuver.

“So, uh, you can go into sleep mode I guess?” She didn’t have the slightest idea what robots did at night or if he even needed to recharge. She was met once again with Metal’s unwavering stare; though it didn’t seem so spooky after the day they’d spent together. “Do you sleep?”

Metal simply nodded. He didn’t exactly sleep, but his instinct was to sit idle for a few hours to conserve energy. He was beginning to find that a close-enough answer would be satisfactory.

Amy was surprised but also relieved that she wouldn’t have to worry about him all night. “Oh- Well, is the couch okay?”

He came over and lowered himself onto the sofa, sitting upright and nodding.

“Okay, well- goodni-” Before she could finish, Metal’s eyes had gone dark. I guess that solves that. There was nothing more to do but turn in for the night.

-----------------------------------

The following morning, Amy was startled out of her usual groggy walk into the kitchen when she noticed Metal Sonic’s sharp form sitting at the kitchen table, staring solidly out the back door.  She’d expected to have to wake him up or something but it looked like he had been there for some time. He turned to face her abruptly and her heart jumped once again. 

“Oh, you’re awake- good morning.” Amy chuckled awkwardly.  “Have you… been up long?”

Metal nodded. The morning sunrise activated his sensors. It was closer to 8 AM now and he’d been doing little more than sitting since dawn.

“Sorry, must have been boring.” Amy made her way past him and into the kitchen to make her quick breakfast of toast and coffee. Metal seemed to stare at her the entire time, which made her self-conscious. “I... don’t eat much in the morning,” she explained anxiously . Not sure why he’d care…

Metal Sonic had been analyzing Amy’s every move for the past several minutes. He spent his time awake pondering on the wistful feelings he’d experienced as they sat on the veranda late last night. The exploration of his memory was in vain and he instead tried to force himself to remember, but it was no use. Why was she so familiar? Perhaps observing her would jog his memory.

She took a seat across from him, eating uncomfortably as he looked through her. Amy tried her best to smile. “So, is there anything you’d like to do this morning?”

The robot finally broke his fierce concentration to respond by pointing at his left arm socket.

“Ah…” Amy answered hesitantly. “Tails hasn’t gotten back to me yet.”

He pointed down toward his foot instead.

Amy inhaled deeply, nervous about the prospect of trying to make repairs herself. But she had said they could try, so she agreed dubiously. “Let’s give it a shot.”

Metal turned his attention from her to the glass door where some movement caught his eye. Amy followed his gaze, spotting a small bluebird landing on one of her lawn chairs.

“Wow, it’s rare to see them out in the cold. I guess spring is around the corner.” Amy smiled warmly at the sight. It had been an unusually long winter and the small snowstorm that passed the night before wasn’t exactly indicative of the cold subsiding. Yet the evening frost now began puddling over the otherwise tropical scenery. It was always the coldest just before seasons changed. She turned back to her guest enthusiastically. “Let’s fix that leg of yours!”

Optimism soon turned to frustration, however, as the tangle of wires and bent hinges that held the robot’s foot in place confounded her. The neat little workstation she’d set up on her kitchen table was now a messy array of tools and bolts. She’d managed to worsen the damage in the process, but any time Metal would make a sound or reach toward something Amy would huff and snatch tools out of his hand. Getting annoyed himself, Metal finally resolved to pull his entire leg away to keep her from making it any worse. Amy refused to let go of his foot, however, and the last of the wires that were holding the appendage in place finally snapped, severing his foot off his body completely. 

“Ugh- look what you made me do!”

Metal let out a series of high and low beeps that were meant to offend. She returned that with a sour look.

“I told you to sit still! Ugh!” Amy shoved the severed foot into his grasp and stomped into her bedroom. Metal could hear crashing as she grumbled and pushed things around her storage closet roughly. The girl stormed back into the room with an enormous roll of duct tape and knelt back beside Metal. “Give me your foot, I’m fixing this for good,” she demanded.

Metal emitted a low grumble. He held his foot above his head, out of her reach.

“You think I can’t reach up there?” Amy stared for a moment, challenging Metal. Then she suddenly shot back up and lunged for his hand. “Quit being stubborn and let me fix it!”

He was the stubborn one? Enraged, he extended his arm up towards the ceiling, playing keep away. She tugged fruitlessly on the telescopic cable. 

“You wanna lose another arm?!” 

Before he could make a response, Amy’s communicator rang from the other room. They both turned their attention in the direction of the jingle. Amy let out a frustrated sigh and tossed the roll of duct tape aside to answer the call as Metal watched her disappear wordlessly past the door. While she lingered there for a few minutes, he pulled his arm back and sat silently once more. He looked from his dismembered foot to the shiny duct tape and back again. He supposed it would be better than nothing.

Amy sauntered back into the living room area with her nose up. “That was Tails. Lucky for you, he’s an actual engineer and he can actually fix you.” She crossed her arms defensively.

Metal Sonic rolled his eyes but reluctantly offered his foot back to her.

“Did you just- You’ve been sitting here expressionless for a whole day and the first emotion you show is that?” She snatched his foot out of his grasp. “Unbelievable.” Amy continued muttering under her breath while she taped his leg and foot back together. “There! Not that it matters, Tails is about to fix it anyway,” she scoffed. “At least it won’t fall off on the way there…”

He looked down at his “repaired” foot. It did seem to at least be attached to him, which was marginal improvement. Metal stood up slowly, attempting to disperse his weight evenly. It was a bit shaky and he couldn’t exactly bend his ankle, but he managed to limp around rather than drag his foot behind him. 

“Well?” Amy looked at him inquisitively.

Metal reached for the little whiteboard that he’d left on the kitchen counter. He set it in front of him and scribbled something down quickly, holding it up for Amy to see. He turned away as he did, seemingly embarrassed. “THANK YOU” it read in slightly less neat handwriting than usual.

Amy’s cheeks puffed when she saw it. Her face flushed and she, too, avoided eye contact. “You’re welcome.” She pouted, her cheeks growing ever warmer as she realized what an outburst she’d had. “And, you know… sorry,” she finally added.

Stubborn, Metal Sonic added to his description of Amy Rose in his memory bank. Temperamental. He looked back down at his foot, noticing how neatly she had wrapped the tape around him- smooth, with no folds or creases. Well-meaning, he appended. The fix wasn’t perfect but it was certainly more comfortable than the alternative. Thoughtful.

Amy composed herself, releasing a deep sigh. “Grab your jacket and your arm. Let’s head to Tails’ place so he can get you fixed up for real,” she smirked. She knew her solution was janky, but genuinely hoped it would at least help keep him together. 

Metal Sonic complied with this. He found his arm strewn into the corner of the storeroom and gave Amy a bit of a side eye, knowing she’d knocked it there in her earlier rage. She pretended not to notice this. He was about to head out the front door when Amy stopped him. “You’re not going to wear your jacket? I know you don’t get cold, but…”

He looked to the coat rack where he’d placed it the evening before. It didn’t agree with his telescopic arm when it was extended so he opted to remove it before helping Amy clean up her closet. 

“I’ll help you get it on if you want.”

He nodded back, dropping his other arm momentarily as she slid it over him and zipped the front. Amy smiled at him then with unexpected warmth. 

She was musing silently about his change in character. Overnight, Metal went from a nightmarish enemy to a placid houseguest. Amy thought he could be reprogrammed into becoming her ally, but was now realizing that this robot with all his hinges and bolts was a bona fide person. She’d always thought he was angry by default, encountering him only in battle or other tense situations; but seeing how Metal could become elated and annoyed and show gratitude gave her hope that he wasn’t just an emotionless machine to be modified. Instead, he was a potential new friend.

[kpop-zone]

High school Blackpink reaction to their s/o causing them to get detention

A/N: I’m really sorry that Lisa’s and Chaeyoung’s are so much shorter!

Jisoo

When Jisoo looked at you, she knew that you were just hatching some mischievous plan. You were way too quiet. Right when the bell rang to indicate that recess was over, a smug smirk formed on your lips and you fixed your gaze on her.

“No.”

Jisoo said sternly without even knowing what your plan was.

But she didn’t even need to know. You only ever had shenanigans in your head.

“Come on, jagi.”

You whined but Jisoo simply ignored you.

You didn’t give up that fast though, so you stood between her legs and gave her puppy dog eyes.

“Pleaseee. You know how boring Ms. Choi is. Besides, you already know everything that she is teaching. You’re just smart like that.”

Jisoo knew that you were only praising her right now to make her soft. But it was totally working.

“What do you wanna do?”

She huffed annoyed and you grinned victoriously.

“Nothing bad. I’m just going to pretend that I have to puke. And then we’re gonna enjoy an extended lunch break.”

You winked at her and Jisoo felt torn.

She was a good student and didn’t want to ruin her reputation. But on the other hand, she was already hungry and really not looking forward to that class. Therefore, she gave in to you.

“Fine.”

Jisoo rolled her eyes and you squealed excitedly.

When Ms. Choi entered the room, you went to your seat well-behaved, but a smirk was playing on your lips. Only 5 minutes into the lecture, Jisoo could hear weird gagging noises from your direction and instantly all the students’ heads whipped around.

“Y/N! Aren’t you feeling well?”

Ms.Choi asked in shock and you shook your head vehemently with a pained expression on your face.

You were such a good liar, making Jisoo wonder if she should be more careful with you.

But then Ms. Choi asked who could accompany you to the bathroom and Jisoo quickly raised her hand. Dramatically you put your weight on her and let yourself almost be carried out of the room, but as soon as Jisoo had closed the door a wide grin played on your lips.

“We’re such a good team.”

You boasted while holding up your hand for a high five, but Jisoo only scoffed and started walking to the bathroom. As soon as you arrived, she climbed on the sink while attentively listening if somebody could barge into the bathroom.

“Relax, Jisoo. I even brought snacks as a token of my gratitude.”

You offered, catching Jisoo’s attention when you mentioned snacks.

Suddenly you pulled plenty of packaged food out of your clothes that the two of you started to devour together. Jisoo was completely immersed in her chips that she didn’t even hear Ms. Choi entering the bathroom and standing in the door for several seconds, staring at you sternly.

“I thought you had to puke?”

She suddenly asked and both of you jumped in surprise.

You grinned at her with your mouth still full, but your charms couldn’t save you this time. Ms. Choi condemned both of you to detention, causing Jisoo to throw a death glare at you.

You picked her up after her last class and together you walked to the detention room. Jisoo groggily plopped down on one of the seats and started doing her assignment. She was mad at herself for letting you pull her into that kind of trouble. She shouldn’t temper with her good performance like that.

You tried to play cute with her to get her to lighten up, but Jisoo was having none of it.

“Let’s just get this over with, Y/N.”

She mumbled, not wanting to get into more trouble.  

Jennie

Jennie was checking if she had done all her homework properly, while you were standing in the front, surrounded by the other students who were hanging on your every word. She shook her head at the scene in front of her before focusing on the paper she had written. But then suddenly hands blocked her sight and she huffed, already knowing who was annoying her.

“Y/N!”

Jennie tried fighting you off, but she didn’t really have a chance against you.

Therefore, she accepted her fate, so you moved around her and sat on the table in front of her.

“You know, I think we’ve all worked hard today and deserve a little break.”

You started and Jennie knew that you wanted to cause trouble again.

“Y/N...”

She said suspiciously, but you put your innocent face on.

“What? I just want to ensure justice.”

You exclaimed heroic, making Jennie chuckle.

“And what are you trying to do right now? Asking me for permission? Because I know that you wouldn’t listen to me, even if I tried to talk you out.”

Jennie asked curiously, but you shook your head with a grin.

“No I need your brains. You wouldn’t happen to know how to lock a door without a key?”

You smirked, making Jennie look at you in confusion.

“Why should I know that? And besides, why don’t you just block the door handle with a chair?”

She responded and you seemed to be satisfied with the answer.

“My genius girlfriend. Come on...”

You grinned while holding out your hand for her to take.

Jennie looked at you with wide eyes, but you waited patiently until she grabbed it and let herself be pulled to the door.

“Guys, class is cancelled for today.”

You announced proudly, causing the other students to cheer you on.

Quickly you scribbled something on a piece of paper and hung it on the outside of the door before blocking it with a chair.

“What did you write on the paper?”

Jennie asked confused and you winked at her cheekily.

“That this room is inaccessible because of a pipe burst.”

Your creativity with your pranks never lacked to amaze Jennie, even if she pretended to be unimpressed right now.

The whole class was dead silent when their teacher shook the door handle and eventually left while cursing. Afterwards, everyone broke out in laughter and you enjoyed your free time. At one point, however, someone needed to go to the rest room and your prank started to go the wrong way. As soon as your classmate had left the room, you heard the furious voice of your teacher yelling in the hallway.

A few seconds later, he stormed into the classroom and looked at all of you sternly.

“Who was behind this?”

He asked upset and started to threaten the whole class with detention when no one raised their hand, causing you to eventually stand up.

“It was me.”

You admitted with only little regret in your voice, but Jennie didn’t want you to get into any trouble. You were known to be a prankster and your punishment surely would be severe.

“No it was me.”

Jennie suddenly blurted out, causing the teacher to look at her in disbelief.

But despite her being a straight A student, he didn’t show any mercy and condemned both of you to detention.

Together you walked to the detention room after your classes had ended, while you looked at her guiltily from the side, because Jennie pretended to be mad at you for getting her in trouble. In reality, Jennie wasn’t mad though. She had fallen for you because of your “rebellious” side in the first place and she enjoyed that she could proof that she was more than just the nerd today.

She was a little concerned what her parents would say, but that was a problem for later. Now she was looking forward to spending some time with you. Detention wasn’t the best premise, but any time spent with you wasn’t that bad.

Chaeyoung

Chaeyoung was one of the good ones, you knew that. And you didn’t plan on changing that, even though you were a troublemaker yourself. You liked that the two of you were polar opposites and balanced each other really well. That’s why your bad conscious was killing you right now. You held your crying girlfriend in your arms and tried your best to give her comfort.

You had known that your plan wasn’t quite allowed, but you also hadn’t thought that you would be caught. Your school was up a hill, so you thought that you surely had a beautiful view on the city from the rooftop. Therefore, you figured out a way over the past weeks how to sneak up there. Today you had finally wanted to take your girlfriend on the rooftop and have a cute lunch date.

Unluckily, you were surprised by the school’s janitor and some craftsman though, because the roof had a hole that needed to be repaired.

Both of you were brought to the principal who punished you with some detention. You were already used to staying longer at school. Chaeyoung, however, had never been in trouble before. She had begged the principal to not tell her parents, but of course he called them.

Therefore, your girlfriend was clinging to your body now, while crying.

“What if they’ll force me to break up with you now?”

She sobbed, but you patted her back calmingly.

“Don’t worry, jagi. Your parents are super cool. They won’t make that big of a deal out of this.”

You said confidently, hoping to ease your bad conscious and stop your girlfriend from crying.

One thing was for sure. You would never get your girlfriend in trouble ever again. She was way too worried about her school performance and what her parents thought.

After a while, Chaeyoung calmed down and did her assignments at record pace and with a much higher quality than required. When the teacher that supervised you, praised your girlfriend for her extraordinary work, she started blushing lightly but was in a much better mood afterwards.

Lalisa

You didn’t need much convincing for Lisa to join in on your prank. She might be a straight A student, but she was definitely not one to say no to trouble.

Therefore, she giggled excitedly when you made your way to the secretary’s office. You hid around the corner and looked at Lisa.

“You ready?”

You asked her and she gave you a cheeky grin and a thumbs up in response.

The two of you waited until the principal’s assistant went to the restroom before slipping into her office.

You waited at the door to keep watch while Lisa quickly went to the microphone and started blasting ‘Swalla’ through the speakers. She started laughing mischievously and dancing to the rhythm. You were so focused on your girlfriend that you hadn’t even realized that the secretary had come back and was now standing behind you with her face red in anger.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

She yelled and Lisa threw her phone in surprise, making the music stop abruptly.

You looked at your girlfriend with wide eyes, but when she met your gaze, you could see that she was trying really hard not to laugh. You truly had fallen for a troublemaker.

The two of you were brought to the principal and he punished you with several hours of detention and some assignments. Nevertheless, a wide grin was playing on Lisa’s lips as soon as you excited the principal’s office. She put her arms around your shoulder and walked with you to your first hour of detention.

“That was fun. We should try that again.”

She grinned and you chuckled in response

You had found your partner in crime.

[lucyariablog]

News Powerhouse Gives Pointers for Great Content

What can marketers learn about content quality from a news outlet? Plenty, if that news outlet is Quartz. If you read my post How to Grow Your Audience From Zero to Millions in Less Than Five Years, you know that Quartz (“a new kind of global business news outlet”) creates content that people “freaking love.”

Yes!! Freaking love it! And immiscible, what a delightful word!!

— Jen Brass Jenkins (@chrliechaz) January 18, 2018

What would you give to have people freaking love your content?

What would you give to have people freaking love your #content, asks @MarciaRJohnston? Click To Tweet

The pointers here come from a talk that Jay Lauf, co-president and publisher of Quartz, gave at Content Marketing World: Deconstructing Quartz (QZ.com): How One of the Most Popular Mobile Destinations Grows Audience, Extends Reach in Digital, and Creates a Superior Content Experience.

Here are a few things that Jay and his team do that give Quartz readers palpitations:

They base their stories on their audience’s obsessions.

They surface each story’s “Thing” (kernel of interest).

They nail their company’s voice.

Base stories on your audience’s obsessions

Does your content team base its stories on what your company wants to talk about? Or do you dig into topics your audience is obsessed with?

At Quartz, journalists don’t call their topic categories “beats,” as in a traditional newsroom. They use the term “obsessions.” The distinction goes deeper than semantics. From the beginning, this team has been choosing which stories to create based on their answer to this question: “What do we think are the obsessions of our target audience today?”

Quartz hires journalists who have the same obsessions as the readers Quartz wants to reach. “Every single piece of content on Quartz is somebody’s obsession,” Jay says. This approach “gives the content a greater chance to be engaged with, to be shared, to be a delightful thing.”

Every piece of @qz #content is somebody’s obsession, says @jlauf. Click To Tweet

The labels in the screenshot below are what Jay calls “longitudinal obsessions” – categories that have remained part of the news app for a long time:

Future of finance

Language

Science of learning

“America First”

Glass

Fashion

In addition, the Quartz team adds timely obsession categories, such as:

Modi-nomics (added during India’s 2014 general election)

Olympics (added … take a guess)

Bitcoin (added for six months during 2017)

Obsessions take other forms at Quartz. (It confused me at first that they use the term obsessions not only as a label for their news categories but also as a name for the weekday newsletter, which I talk about next.)

Last September, Quartz launched an interactive email newsletter called the Quartz Obsession. Each weekday, this newsletter delves into a topic a Quartz writer found fascinating (and thought the audience would too).

Here’s an example of an Obsession newsletter devoted to lava lamps:

The newsletters inform and entertain, mixing stories and facts with GIFs, videos, quizzes, and polls. The writers have fun with language – asking in the lava lamp article, “How did that bubble up?” – while going deep and wide into their topics with a diligence and delight evident in only the most avid explorers.

What obsessed reader could resist a poll like this one, which appears at the end of the lava-lamp Obsession article?

In case you get as big a kick out of this poll as I do, you’ll want to know which choice won. At the bottom of the next day’s Obsession, fans learned that the middle choice won: 36% of readers selected “Who said nudist underwater ballets never change the world?”

I can’t believe that the middle line beat out the clincher: “Shhh! It’s about to do something.” Genius.

“What are your target audiences obsessed with,” Jay asks. Focus your content on those areas and hire content creators who are obsessed with the same things.

Hire #content creators who share your readers’ obsessions, says @jlauf. Click To Tweet

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: How the Best Newsletters Get – and Keep – Readers’ Attention

Surface each story’s ‘Thing’ (kernel of interest)

As your team develops a story, are you satisfied with telling it straight? Or do you dig for a riveting nugget at the story’s core, something that others might never think to call attention to?

Quartz journalists are trained to find each story’s “Thing” – its kernel of interest – the thing worth putting in each headline. Here’s how Jay describes what they do:

We have a Things team … In any article or piece of content we put out, we look for the one Thing, the magic Thing that’s interesting about it, and we surface that.

Often, the writer will create a headline and craft a tweet or two before writing the article. If all a writer can come up with is boring (and prompts thoughts like “No one’s going to click on that. No one’s going to share it. No one’s going to like it,”), then the writer hasn’t yet uncovered the Thing – the kernel of interest – inside the story.

For example, in February 2016, other business news outlets were reporting Gap Inc.’s gloomy earnings report with headlines like this:

“Gap shares dip following disappointing earnings”

“Gap reports fourth-quarter earnings”

“Gap gives tepid forecast as it works on comeback.”

Who’s going to read those?

The Things team at Quartz came up with this headline: “Banana Republic made a blazer with armholes too small for an ‘average’ woman to get into.” (Banana Republic is one of the Gap brands.)

Inaccessible armholes?! Who isn’t going to read that article?

“The typical headlines from traditional news outlets don’t necessarily tell you anything,” Jay says. “They don’t draw you in.”

The thing about a story’s Thing is that it must be earned. You don’t just stick something in the headline to grab attention gratuitously. You do your homework.

In researching this story, the Quartz reporter discovered that Gap’s numbers were off partly because of Banana Republic��s performance. And one of the reasons Banana Republic’s performance was off was that its manufacturing and production had slipped.

“They had lost a ton of money in shipping blazers globally for women who couldn’t fit their arms in the armholes,” Jay says. “We surfaced that as the headline. That draws you in and makes the story more interesting, more shareable, more findable. Those are things we look for.”

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: How the World’s Best Journalists Bring Interviews to Life

Nail your company’s voice

Another part of letting your content shine is getting the voice right for your audience and purpose.

As innovative as the Quartz team was in creating the world’s first app to deliver news instant-message style via chatbot, that inventiveness alone doesn’t explain why customers love the app. Customers love it (see Jay’s talk for testimonials) because of its conversational voice.

It’s the voice, Jay says, that “has made this thing magic, giving it a special way of engaging our audiences.”

Here’s a screenshot from the app that gives a sense of the Quartz voice:

How many news sources say things like, “Great to see you back so soon,” and “Yeah, let’s see how you do”? How many news sources enable you to respond with a waving-hand emoji or a “cool”?

Jay isn’t suggesting everybody adopt a voice like this. Quartz understands its audience. Quartz aims for younger executives more than traditional media outlets do. The Quartz voice reflects the organization’s culture and the sensibility of the readers who keep coming back.

.@qz voice reflects its culture and the readers’ sensibility, says @jlauf. Click To Tweet

Jay’s advice to marketers: Whatever the personality of your company, “deploy it aggressively” in your content.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:

Focus Your Marketing: Define Your 3(ish) Critical Words

5 Easy Steps to Define and Use Your Brand Voice

Conclusion

Does your team base its stories on your audience’s obsessions? Do you and your colleagues dig for each story’s unique kernel of interest and then bring that “Thing” to the headline? Have you nailed your company’s voice?

If so, you’re well on your way to a level of content performance that few companies experience. Tell us about it in a comment.

Get engaging insight and practical how-to advice from the 100-plus speakers at Content Marketing World Sept. 4-7 in Cleveland, Ohio. Register today and use the code BLOG100 to save $100.

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

The post News Powerhouse Gives Pointers for Great Content appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.

from http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2018/03/news-great-content/

[likefusion]

Should You Be Using Live Video to Make More Money?: Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Periscope. All the major social platforms are integrating live streaming in some form. Several up-and-comers, like Meerkat and MeVee, are also creating buzz. And this all means one thing: Live video is hot. Scorching hot. It seems everyone is now using live video in some fashion to connect and interact with their audience in real time. I've noticed a good chunk of the YouTube channels I've been subscribed to for years are now taking it live. It's definitely catching on. But does using live video make sense for you? Is it a viable means of making more money? In this post, I'm going to take a close look at the state of live video, how people are using it and what kind of results they're getting. I'm also going to look at the benefits as well as the drawbacks that might not be very obvious. By the end, you should have a pretty good idea whether or not you should add live video to your sales and marketing repertoire. Market outlook First, let's see what the live video market looks like at the moment. Of course, video in general is booming. According to eMarketers.com, “digital-video ad spending will rise from $9.9 billion in 2016 to $20.08 billion in 2020.” More than doubling over the course of five short years is pretty dramatic. But live video is what's really blowing up. Socialbakers found that “half of all big media pages publish live video.” And the number of videos is growing. I can only imagine what the numbers will be like once 2020 rolls around. Another interesting thing I'd like to point out is the engagement level that comes along with live video. In fact, live video blows pre-recorded video out of the water. Forrester reports that “live video gets three times the amount of engagement as non-live video.” And it's easy to see why. There's a certain buzz that comes along with watching a video in real time. There's a connection that isn't there otherwise. Not to mention that viewers can directly interact with the person recording the video via live chat. It's pretty cool and shows just how far video has come in a relatively short period of time. Remember when simply watching videos on YouTube was cutting-edge and really big deal? Live video has built upon the original concept and made it far more interactive. How live video is changing content marketing It's safe to say that content marketing isn't going anywhere anytime soon. And that's fine by me. Content marketing and inbound marketing in general have been a breath of fresh air in a world where conventional advertising mediums have become stale and quite obnoxious. But the way I look at it, live video is poised to shake up content marketing. Massive social networks, like Facebook and YouTube, could become a new form of TV big-name companies funnel more and more money into. The traditional text-based blogging format could change as well. Rather than always writing regular blog posts, people might start sprinkling in live videos here and there. As you can see, there are some far-reaching implications. The benefits of live video Now, let's get down to the nitty-gritty. How can live video benefit you? If you're putting in the time and energy, it'd better be worth your time. The way I see it, there are some huge advantages. It helps your audience get to know you For starters, it allows your audience to get to know you on an incredibly deep level that's simply not possible with any other medium. Just think about it. A live video combined with a real-time comment/Q&A session is arguably the most effective way to inject your true personality into your content. Darren Rowse of ProBlogger uses live video fairly frequently to answer questions and connect with his viewers. It adds a whole other dimension to his overall content. And, in my opinion, it makes him more personable and relatable. You feel like you know the guy. Engagement Next, there's the increased engagement. If you've been blogging, active on social media, copywriting, etc. for any length of time, you know just how important engagement is. And by all accounts, live video is a natural catalyst for boosting engagement. As I mentioned earlier, live video gets triple the engagement of pre-recorded video. More specifically, “streaming videos on Facebook are viewed at much higher durations (3x) than non-live content.” And here's the kicker. Facebook's per-video engagement rate is a whopping 6.3%! That may not seem like a lot at first glance. But keep in mind the normal engagement rate for many industries on Facebook is less than 0.15%. That's a massive difference! The brilliant thing about live video is that it naturally begs for engagement. It's basically like sitting down and having a face-to-face conversation with your audience. They can ask questions, leave comments and really get to know you. Increased engagement naturally comes with the territory. Extend your reach Live video is just about everywhere these days. Scroll through your Facebook feed, it's there. In fact, “Facebook videos have increased 360% across everyone's news feeds.” Check out what your favorite YouTubers have been up to, and odds are someone is recording a live video. Getting in on the action is virtually guaranteed to help you extend your overall reach. It allows you to reach a larger percentage of your demographic that may have been inaccessible before. Generate massive leads and sales When you put it all together, it translates into more leads coming your way on a regular basis. Not only that, the quality of your leads should increase as well. They know you, trust you, and have rapport with you. Therefore, a sizable portion of your leads is already primed to buy. And it's not unrealistic to expect repeat sales and long-term brand loyalty. The Funky Fairy, a children's clothing store in England, ran three sales over four days on Facebook Live. Their goal was to liquidate their overstock inventory and quickly crank up sales. The owner, Vicki Stewart, displayed the items for sale, while chatting about them. Viewers, using comments, were also able to request specific items they wanted. And it totally worked! Views increased from roughly 7,000 during the first two sales to 10,000 for the last one. This enabled The Funky Fairy to quickly move stock that otherwise would have probably just sat there. Monetization strategies There's one last thing I would like to point out. Increasing sales isn't the only way to make more money through live video. There are several ways you can monetize your videos to make money directly. I came across an article from DaCast that highlights some specific ways you can make money broadcasting live video. Offer pay-per-view or subscription-based videos. Promote advertisers on your videos (“ads appear in the lower thirds of your video or as clips before your broadcast begins and/or interrupting it like standard television commercials”). Ask for donations and link to sites like Patreon. I suggest approaching these monetization strategies with caution (you don't want to create a rift between you and your audience), but I felt they were worth mentioning. Under the right circumstances, they could definitely help you drive higher profits. Does it make sense for you? At this point, I think we can all agree the market outlook for live video is extremely promising. It's also clear that using live video can be highly beneficial to your brand and help you increase revenue. But it doesn't mean it's right for every single brand. Not to burst your bubble, but live video may not be viable if you have a small audience. For instance, YouTube mandates that a channel must have a minimum of 1,000 subscribers in order to live-stream. This number was reduced significantly: earlier in 2017, you had to have at least 10,000 subscribers. And quite frankly, it could be embarrassing if you go live and no one shows up. Another issue is it can hurt your brand equity if you don't nail it. You're basically gambling on your image by live-streaming. Putting yourself out there could potentially backfire, and people may not necessarily like what they see. Or maybe it's just not for you. It's pretty common for people to freak out once the camera is on them. All of a sudden, your mind goes blank and the whole thing is just awkward. Remember, there's no editing with live video. Viewers see everything in real time. I'm not trying to kill your vibe, but it's important to look at all the angles before you decide to start using live video. Conclusion Live video is a powerful new format, changing the content marketing game. Most experts are predicting it will continue to grow and more companies will funnel big money into it. The potential is huge. If you follow the right formula and create engaging live video content, you can strengthen existing relationships, increase the size of your following, boost engagement, generate more leads and increase sales. On top of this, there are several other ways to directly monetize your live videos. But it's important to note this medium isn't viable for everyone. I suggest giving it careful consideration before diving in head first. If it's something you're seriously interested in and makes sense for your brand, give it a shot. For examples and ideas, check out this post from IMPACT. How often do you watch live videos? http://bit.ly/2sb4ZDB