Do you read Business 2.o? Well, you just about didn't any more at the end of July when, by all accounts, it looked as though the Time, Inc. magazine was going to go belly up. However, the periodical was saved at the last minute, with reporters receiving assignments after being told to forget them earlier in the month. So, how did the rag get a chance at a second life? Some wonder if the influence of Facebook may have played a role. The Valleywag blog explains:
The Facebook group "I Read Business 2.0 -- and Want to Keep Reading!" numbers more than 2,000 people, but that's hardly enough for Time Inc. honchos, who deal with magazine circulations numbering in the millions, to pay notice. But Facebook, with its early-adopter audience, may have proved an ideal way to get the attention of serious prospective buyers.
Everything's up in the air, of course. Time Inc.'s top brass could decide to refuse the offers. They could proceed with plans to fold some of the staff into Fortune. They could even -- though this seems unlikely -- decide that the buyers have a good idea in wanting to own the magazine, and reconsider holding onto it.
This much is clear, however. Business 2.0 has gone, overnight, from certain death to an uncertain life. It's the kind of back-from-the-brink business-revival story that I used to read all the time. In the pages, naturally, of Business 2.0.
Sounds like somewhat of a stretch to me. But, who knows, maybe it's true. Facebook is the name on the lips of nearly every tech-covering media outlet these days, so perhaps the right eyeballs found the Facebook group to be a representative snapshot of Business 2.0 readers, which led them to make an offer Time, Inc couldn't refuse. Dear social networking, what is it you can't do?
Yeah that sounds like a huge stretch to me, too. But who knows, Owen probably does have some inside scoop. From his bio at B2:
Posted by: Mat | August 09, 2007 at 12:19 PM