Category archive for ‘ONLINE’ 
-
The Status Quo Vs. The Local Blogger
In Chicago, how people feel privately about the status quo and what they say about it in public are rarely the same. That applies to Chicago’s blogosphere, too. In a new-media space where dissent makes people run for cover, how can local bloggers hope to make change happen?
-
Meet Me in St. Louis, Not Milwaukee: How Not to Oversell Your Urban Tourism Campaign
The urbanist in me loves that St. Louis and Milwaukee are vying for Chicago visitors with cheeky local tourism ads. Here’s why the St. Louis campaign has me yearning to visit, while the Milwaukee campaign has me yawning and staying home.
-
Are Unpaid Social Media Internships Legal?
Chicago nonprofits and businesses often use unpaid social media interns as a cheap way to gain institutional knowledge about building online community. But according to the U.S. Department of Labor, federal law requires that unpaid internships be for the benefit of the intern–not the company. And now the fed is investigating.
-
Exploring Chicago with Foursquare: An Unexpectedly Amazing Experience
For months I dismissed Foursquare, the popular GPS check-in game, as a marketing gimmick. But a whirlwind day chasing down Chicago’s official tourism badges showed a friend and me how addictive it can be–and taught us a lot about our own city that we never knew before.
-
Why I’m Here: My 9/11 Story Told for the StoryCorps September 11th Initiative (Audio)
On May 21st, I was blessed with the unexpected opportunity to be interviewed by the nonprofit oral-history project, StoryCorps. I visited their mobile recording studio, temporarily parked in Pilsen…and told my 9/11 story for the national September 11th Initiative. From StoryCorps, here is my recorded remembrance of the day that changed my life and, ultimately, brought me to Chicago.
-
Don’t Be a Facebook Fraudster
Imagine my surprise when I emailed a colleague on Facebook and received a response from her boss. Word to the wise employer: if you want a presence on Facebook, make sure you’re aware of the Terms of Service, first. Corporate fan pages? Feel free. Impersonating your employees? Facebook fraud.
-
Why HR Departments Shouldn’t Write Online Marketing Job Ads
A local nonprofit recently applied an absurd requirement in an online-marketing employment ad rendering almost all job hunters unqualified. Here’s why you shouldn’t rely on your HR department to write ads for critical, web-related jobs.
-
Windy Citizen Widens Discussion with New “Essential Chicago” Facebook Page
The Windy Citizen, Chicago’s leading community-news forum, is bringing the discussion to Facebook. Debuting this month as a home for conversations about all things local: WC’s ‘Essential Chicago’ Facebook page.
-
Awearness Blog: In Whose Best Interest Is Brooklyn’s New Superfund Site?
The EPA just added Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal to the Superfund list, fast-tracking a cleanup effort for the long-polluted waterway. But whether that’s an environmentally just outcome depends on whom you ask.
-
The Past Imperfect of ChicagoNow
You can’t run a 21st-century blog network at the speed of a 19th-century newspaper. I wish someone would tell the Chicago Tribune. Here’s how institutional lethargy, inadequate tools, inscrutable navigation, and newsroom pushback make it hard to be a successful ChicagoNow blogger. (This post has now officially become the top-rated Windy Citizen story of all time.)
