The effective use of Twitter hashtags like #StandWithRand helps explain the popularity of Rand Paul’s filibuster, Ericka Andersen writes: “Hashtags corralled a legitimate, constructive conversation by multiple thousands into one space. The only way it could be accomplished was with hashtags.”
Roger Craver points to a new study suggesting that premiums may not lift donations:
In a paper appearing in the Journal of Economic Psychology, “The counterintuitive effects of thank-you gifts on charitable giving”, two Yale University behavioral scientists describe a series of experiments showing that, contrary to expectations, rewarding contributors cuts donations in most circumstances.
The Yale researchers who conducted the study, George Newman and Jeremy Shen, found that the most likely reason for the negative effect on contributions was “crowding out”. In essence, the prospect of receiving a gift activated a feeling of selfishness which, in turn, reduced altruism and consequently cut the average donation.
Workers are increasingly purchasing their own services and apps, like DropBox or Remember the Milk, to better complete work tasks. Using outside services this way can create challenges for firms trying to secure their data. But limiting these outside apps can be costly too, as Netflix’s Bill Burns tells the New York Times: “If you try and implant software that limits an employee’s capabilities, you’re adding a layer of complexity.”
Megan McArdle is skeptical that Groupon’s business model remains viable. It has commanded little loyalty from its customers or the businesses that offer the deals. Perhaps worse, it operates in a crowded field with few ways to sustain its competitive advantage:
Moreover, to the extent that the model did work in other sectors, it would be very easy to imitate. (And it was, endlessly). Groupon’s core asset is essentially a mailing list, and mailing lists don’t have great network effects, or economies of scale, to protect their owners against competitors.
It sounds like the firm needs a primer on Porter’s Five Forces.
A new group aims to foster stronger Republican and conservative online efforts:
They decided that the conservative movement simply did not have what liberals did: An infrastructure to train and nurture the next generation of campaign operatives and develop cutting-edge techniques. So they decided to take a shot at filling the void, by developing a proposal for a suite of new outside groups that would mimic, and eventually outpace, Democratic efforts.