From the overeaction to what is just a nifty tool addition, you’d have thought Moses popped down from Sinai and offered to share new commandments. As is the case at a number of other news sites, NYTimes.com users now have the ability to easily share links. In this case, direct sharing is enabled to Digg, Newsvine and Facebook; more important for some, it also allows the creation of a permalink that lasts after the story is archived. (Not surprisingly, content behind the TimesSelect paywall is not included, thus setting off another wave of laments about that service. ) But it’s not NYTimes.com’s first foray into sharing. Emailing stories long has been a staple of the site. Remember that archaic form? More important, the site was among the first news organizations to offer RSS, allowing continued access to stories through urls obtained via RSS. This latest “extends the web-based conversation,” as SVP/GM Vivian Schiller put it in the release, so it matters. Still, it’s just another in a series of efforts by the Times— some small, some grand—to make the most of online.
Seattle P-I: John Cook, who had the story first, looks at what it could mean to social media sites involved. Newsvine’s Mike Davidson says it could lead to a boost in traffic, doesn’t include revenue sharing, and might open the door for more deals. Christine Topalian, manager of strategic planning and business development at NYTimes.com, doesn’t rule out adding comments directly to the site or adding more partners.