Can The Power of The Net Save "Business 2.0"

Okay, I've seen it all.  A Facebook group is out there trying to save Business 2.0 ..  Perhaps domainers (made famous by this mag) can chime in with support to said group and convince the publication's master to keep those presses running. Anything is possible on the net.

PS writes: "" ..domainers are a smart bunch. you guys can figure it out. here's the link to the actual thread, if that's what they're called: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2420762508 ""

Can Fans Save Business 2.0?

Facebook Group Aims to Protect Time Inc. Title From Scrapheap

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=119366

By Nat Ives <mailto:nives@adage.com>

Published: July 18, 2007

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Can Business 2.0 become the "Jericho" of magazine publishing? "Jericho," of course, is the once-canceled CBS show that was revived <http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/cnet/2007-06-07-peanuts-resurrect-jericho_N.htm>  after fans deluged the network with pleas to continue it. Now a self-described avid reader of Time Inc.'s Business 2.0 has started a Facebook group <http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2420762508> called "I read Business 2.0 -- and I want to keep reading!"

Since its establishment yesterday morning, the group has attracted more than 160 members, many of them prominent in new media, technology and business. They include Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist; Matt Cohler, VP-strategy at Facebook itself; Ned Desmond, president of Time Inc. Interactive; Michael Arrington, editor of TechCrunch; Philip Kaplan, founder and chairman of AdBrite online ad agency; Om Malik, creator of tech blog GigaOm; Blaise Zerega, managing editor of Portfolio.com and former managing editor of Wired; James Ledbetter, former European editor of The Industry Standard; Sree Sreenivasan of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism; and Jimmy Guterman, editor of O'Reilly Media's Release 2.0 and former editor in chief of Forrester, Gaming Industry News and CD Review.

Will it be enough? How big it grows -- and whether fan fervor is enough to save a magazine with sinking ad pages -- remains to be seen. Among a bunch of challenged business books, Business 2.0 has caught some worried eyes <http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=116801>  with its 34.1% decline in ad pages over the first half of the year, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. And Time Inc. has been unwilling to guarantee Business 2.0 will continue publishing. "It is true that we are taking a look at the title, but no decision has been reached at this point," a spokeswoman said.

Colin Carmichael, the reader who started the group, said he had been invited to lots of "save this, save that" groups on Facebook and wondered how Business 2.0 readers might respond to similar call. "I don't know if Time Inc. might be swayed," he said. "It's merely a P&L question for them. What might be more interesting is if current or potential advertisers take notice of the audience."

Editor in Chief Josh Quittner, who, The New York Times reports <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/business/media/17mag.html?ref=media> , has been looking for private-equity investors to save the magazine, said he signed up for the group as a purely reflexive emotional gesture. "It choked me up -- an old cynic like me," he said.

But he isn't convinced the group will help. "I know the internet has saved some TV shows," Mr. Quittner said. "I've never heard of it saving a magazine."

Comments

[Chris W.]

I hope this plan works. Business 2.0 is one of my favorite magazines.

Looks like I'll finally have to cave-in and join yet another "wonder-site" (facebook) to help in this cause.

***FS*** we've lost another one. :)

[Martin]

Instead of creating Facebook groups, all the "fans" should have subscribed to the magazine. :)

***FS*** Ooooo touche'