Journalism Enterprise.com

In My Heart.org

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What do they say it is?

In My Heart describes itself like this:

In My Heart is the premier online portal for Jewish obituaries, Jewish tributes, Jewish eulogies and Jewish reminiscences for deceased Jewish individuals around the world.

In My Heart provides the Jewish community worldwide with tools for the creation of memorial websites for deceased Jewish individuals in English and in Hebrew. In My Heart is a service that will enable the Jewish community worldwide to memorialize deceased Jewish family members, friends, and loved ones. In My Heart is located in Israel.

What do I say it is?

In My Heart is an evolving blog that provides members of the world-wide Jewish community a place to memorialize their loved ones. It covers the deaths of leaders, activists, authors, actors and everyday people whose lives have touched the hearts of others. In providing this service, it gives Jewish readers a way to stay connected in the digital age.

What’s great about it?

Jewish people live all over the world, and in such a spread-out community, it can be hard keeping up with the newest developments. This provides a way for family and friends to pay tribute to the departed while broadcasting the news of the death at the same time. It’s also a way for the outside world to connect with the community and learn about notable Jewish men and women.

In My Heart also relies on reader-generated content for obituaries. When readers noted that Grace Paley and Tillie Olsen didn’t make it into the notable Jewish deaths post for 2007, a special post was made just for them. This shows how much the site cares for its readers and a balanced approach to providing obituaries.

What could be better?

I would like to see this as a complete site or network. Chatrooms or message boards would be a great addition and a way for people to share memories of a loved one. With a better site, the tribute page would attract more attention.

How is it going to make money?

It’s not really a site to make money. It’s a site to provide a service to the Jewish community as a world-wide entity. If it ever makes money, it will probably be from donations.

Should I pay it any attention?

If you’re Jewish, you should definitely pay attention. With the reader-friendly plea for obituaries and tributes and frequent updates about Jewish notables, this blog is a good way to keep up with Jewish deaths around the world.

In My Heart should also be of interest to news junkies. With family members and friends supplying the information, a few people who have disappeared from the public sphere are bound to be mentioned, possibly before the media finds the story.

By Wendy Withers

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Add comment January 3rd, 2008

Yoosk

What do I say it is?

An interesting attempt of doing collaborative journalistic interviews. People choose what to ask and who will be interviewed, vote for the best questions, and then Yoosk tries to contact the public figure in order to answer them – directly, or by trying to include those questions in the interviews this person is regularly assigned to answer.

What’s great about it?

The collaborative way of creating interviews is interesting. And the idea that you can come back later to comment on the answers obtained. The interview becomes more dynamic with the possibility of coming back later to discuss the answers given. The collaboration doesn’t end with getting the answers.

What could be better?

By asking people to suggest who is going to be interviewed and what will then be asked, they are risking not to be able to contact those people. Maybe if they contact people first, and they opened for questions, things would work out better. And faster.

Another point is the broadness of the topics (and area) covered by the website. Do people really want to discuss gossip interviews? Narrowing the audience would be good to get more focused interviews.

Also, it is not so clear what questions are already answered, and what is still under votation. Maybe different colors would help to distinguish.

How is it going to make money?

Once they have content to offer, more people will access, generating page views, what will attract advertisers. So far, it is just a lot of people asking, and almost no answers. So far, there are very few ads, incorporated into the content.

Should I pay it any attention?

The idea is interesting. If it works, it can be used to improve the way collaborative work, at least for interviews, happens.

The voting system and the possibility of allowing people to comment on the answers given make people come back to visit the website often, generating page views, and, more importantly – discussions.

By Gabriela Zago

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Add comment December 12th, 2007