Woman holds plate containing new grain sprouts to celebrate the new year in Tehran, Iran, March 1947. From National Geographic’s beautiful new Tumblr, Found.
On Nextness this week.
- Why brands shouldn’t be storytellers. Narrative is now on demand.
If you only read one thing.
- A fascinating conspiracy theory on the death of Google Reader and decline of RSS. Was it killed off because it gave readers too much power? (And breaking the rules of “just one thing,” if you like that you’ll like this: The new Gmail is weird on purpose.)
Management.
- “The Chief Digital Officer will prove to be the most exciting strategic role in the decade ahead. The Chief Digital Officer plays in the place where the enterprise meets the customer, where the revenue is generated, and the mission accomplished. They’re in charge of digital business strategy.” | Chief Marketing Technologist
- Revisiting: A manifesto for free radicals: less paperwork, less waiting, more action | 99U
- Is giving the secret to getting ahead? | NYTimes.com
Innovation.
- The Bitcoin bubble and the future of currency: “any chart which looks like the one at the top of this post is bound to end in tears at some point” | Felix Salmon
Data and technology.
- Young children—even toddlers—are spending more and more time with digital technology. What will it mean for their development? (Interestingly, even app developers try to limit their children’s screentime) | The Atlantic
- Why Kickstarter won’t sell or go public | Fast Company
- “Online video isn’t about how good it looks, it’s about how good it is. People who make online video are much better at making online video than people who make TV shows.” Lessons learned from YouTube’s $300M hole | Hank’s Tumblr
- Responsive web design is not the future | Six Revisions
- Related: A Response to ‘Responsive web design is not the future’ | Brad Frost
- The messaging apps taking on Facebook, Apple | WSJ.com
Insights.
- Ugly is the new pretty: how unattractive selfies took over the internet | The Cut
- From tax forms to medicine bottles to store shelves, we are facing a crisis of complexity. When simplicity is the solution | WSJ.com
- “Who’s heard of VICE media? Wild, interesting effort to interest millenials who don’t read or watch established media. Global success.” So tweeted Rupert Murdoch last year. The New Yorker has this profile of Vice, “the Time Warner of the streets.” | The New Yorker
- How LeBron James transformed his game to become a highly efficient scoring machine | Grantland
- What happened to rainbows? Why Facebook turned red for gay rights: HRC uploads two versions of their logo on Monday. A yellow gets 262 likes, and the red/pink one 11,000… | The Atlantic
Creativity.
- Tavi Gevinson marks five years of her personal blog with this meditation on different types of memories | Style Rookie
- What’s the best way to give feedback? | Scamp
STW Group news.
- Mini Paceman gives the bird to slower cars.
- Designworks wins global accolades.
- The Jodi Lee Foundations asks ‘what sh-ts you?’ in new website launch via Jamshop, Adelaide.
- Mortgage Choice knows the feeling.
- STW launches formal mentoring for women: gender diversity “no longer a moral issue but a commercial consideration.”
- DT honoured at IAC Awards.
- Peter Horovitz returns to adland to take top job at Ogilvy Melbourne.
OMG | cool | wow.
- On TED, 100 websites you should know and use.
- Wires and Lights: Crikey’s new TV blog.
- Times Haiku.
- An IFTTT recipe to send Linkness automatically to Instapaper, by @blanchomme.