Online magazine
Encyclopedia
- This article refers to online equivalents of magazines. For online diaries, see Online diaryOnline diaryAn online diary is a personal diary or journal that is published on the World Wide Web on a personal website or a diary-hosting website.-Overview:...
and BlogBlogA blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
. For online academic journals, see electronic journalElectronic journalElectronic journals, also known as ejournals, e-journals, and electronic serials, are scholarly journals or intellectual magazines that can be accessed via electronic transmission. In practice, this means that they are usually published on the Web... - For the magazine of this name, see ONLINEONLINEONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....
.
An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers, but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control. Magazines typically have editors or editorial boards who review submissions and perform a quality control function to ensure that all material meets the expectations of the publishers (those investing time or money in its production) and the readership.
Online magazines that are part of the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
, that is, all or part of a website, are sometimes called webzines. An ezine (also spelled e-zine and usually pronounced ˈ) is a more specialized term appropriately applied to small magazines and newsletters distributed by any electronic method, for example, by electronic mail (e-mail/email) (see Zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
). Some social groups may use the terms cyberzine and hyperzine when referring to electronically distributed resources. Similarly, some online magazines may refer to themselves as "electronic magazines" to reflect their readership demographics or to capture alternative terms and spellings in online searches.
Many large print-publishers now provide digital reproduction of their print magazine titles through various online services for a fee. These service providers also refer to their collections of these digital format products as online magazines, and sometimes as digital magazines.
Online magazines representing matters of interest to specialists in or societies for academic subjects, science, trade or industry are typically referred to as online journals.
Business model
Many general interest online magazines provide free access to all aspects of their online content although some publishers have opted to require a subscription fee to access premium online article and/or multi-media content. Online magazines may generate revenue based on targeted search ads to web-site visitors, banner ads (online display advertisingDisplay advertising
Display advertising is a type of advertising that typically contains text , logos, photographs or other images, location maps, and similar items. In periodicals, display advertising can appear on the same page as, or on the page adjacent to, general editorial content...
), affiliations to retail web sites, classified advertisements, product-purchase capabilities, advertiser directory links, or alternative informational/commercial purpose.
The original online magazines, ezines and disk magazine
Disk magazine
A disk magazine, colloquially known as a diskmag, is a magazine that is distributed in electronic form to be read using computers. These had some popularity in the 1980s and 1990s as periodicals distributed on floppy disk, hence their name...
s, or diskmags, due to their low cost and initial non-mainstream targets, may be seen as a disruptive technology
Disruptive technology
A disruptive technology or disruptive innovation is an innovation that helps create a new market and value network, and eventually goes on to disrupt an existing market and value network , displacing an earlier technology there...
to traditional publishing houses. The high cost of print publication and large web readership has encouraged these publishers to embrace the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
as a marketing and content delivery system and another medium for delivering their advertisers' messages.
Growth
In the late 1990s ezine publishers began adapting to the interactive qualities of the Internet instead of duplicating magazines on the web. Publishers of traditional print titles and entrepreneurs with an eye to a potential readership in the millions started publishing online titles. Salon.comSalon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
founded in July 1995 by David Talbot was launched with considerable media exposure and today reports 5.8 million monthly unique visitors.
In the 2000s, some webzines began appearing in a printed format to complement their online versions. These included Movie Insider, Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
, Synthesis
Synthesis (magazine)
Synthesis is a website, weekly newspaper, and a national magazine that deals with popular music, movies, technology, and other interests of pop culture. It is owned by Bill Fishkin, who began the newspaper in Chico, California in his apartment. The magazine is known for publishing eclectic...
and Lucire
Lucire
Lucire is a fashion magazine that originally began on the web in 1997, branching into a monthly print edition in its home country of New Zealand in 2004...
magazines.