New 9to5 Feature: Asides

Seth Weintraub | Apr 16 2012 - 12:16 pm PT

One of the biggest problems that we, as technology writers, face is choosing exactly what to write about on the site. What specifically is worth covering, and what should we leave for other pubs/Twitter/Facebook/Google Plus, etc.? We often pass on the smaller stories or the ones that do not directly relate to our core mission, even though we find them valuable or interesting. We do not want to stray too far from our core idea.

Nevertheless, we have long been after a way to cover the smaller stories, but more importantly give a forum to discuss these general topics, especially if they are interesting. Now that we have 9to5Forums, we have come up with something we call “Asides.” The idea is to bring together a “linked list” type of format coupled with gratuitous linking and the PandoTicker or AllthingsD Voices method of spreading the best of the Web.

Here are the types of topics we will cover on Asides:

Mid-minor, but still interesting, Apple/Google news, tips, rumors—especially where there is not much to add from the source.
General technology news covering Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Microsoft, etc. (if it is big and relates to our readers).
Sillier stuff like Joy of Tech cartoons or Reddit-type memes.
Deals or new gear from 9to5Toys.com that relate to readership ~~needs~~ desires.
Interesting posts on 9to5Forums.com that catch our eyes.
Quick observations that we would normally Tweet or retweet.
App promo codes or hardware giveaways.
Author news like “Mark will be writing/tweeting from Poland this week.”
Minor site news like outages or minor updates.
Anything interesting we do not find deserving of a full story.

We think we have found a new way to present these minor stories in a manner that has not been done before. Asides will appear chronologically on the website interspersed between regular posts (and in feeds and social media).

However, you will only see the title on the web site, and it will be smaller than a full-sized story. We are working with WordPress on a way so these can open inline, but —for now— clicking on an Aside link will open a new page.

Our expectation is to post 20 or more of these per day. We hope you like Asides and find them useful.