Tweets Not Paved With Gold

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According to reports on  Paidcontent.org and WebPronews.com, a study by the Calif.-based Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism of nearly 200 issues involving the Web's impact on Americans revealed that although 49 percent of the study's 1,981 respondents said they used Twitter and other social networking sites, 0 percent of those respondents said they would be willing to pay to use them.

Zero percent. If the same-sized sample were polled about their willingness to grab a beer with Sen. Harry Reid, kiss Rush Limbaugh on a bet or if they have actual proof that President Obama is the spawn of Satan, the results would be higher than 0 percent. Fortunately, Twitter, the San Francisco-based microblogger, has not yet announced any plans to charge for its service.

Still, the director of Annenberg's Center for the Digital Future, which conducted the study, said the zero percent reflects the problems faced by entities that ask Internet users to pay for something the users are accustomed to receiving for free. Take note, paywall-promoting online newspaper sites.

Google Defers to Writers Group: Won't Scan Books in China Without Author's OK

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Since its inception in 1949, the 8,000-member China Writers Association (CWA") has been the liasion between China's authors and the Chinese Communist government, so challenging online behemoth Google was child's play for the CWA.

Google sent a letter Jan.. 9 that has been posted on the CWA Web site in which Google apologizes for "inadequate communications" with Chinese authors regarding Google's scanning and uploading of books without authors' permission into its online library.  Absent authorization from a book's creator, Google will no longer scan books in China.

Author Mian Mian charged Google with copyright infringement Dec. 30. The matter has yet to be decided by the Chinese court, but the author's work has been removed from Google's online library.

China boasts 338 million Internet users, according to its government.

Mediabistro: Not a Happy New Year in 2009

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A decline in job revenues of nearly $1.9 million compared to 2008 results made 2009 a less-than-happy year for the education/jobs site Mediabistro.

According to Paidcontent.org, the impact of the sagging media jobs market drove down job revenues to $1.57 million for the first three quarters of 2009, a sizeable drop from Mediabistro's $3.47 million figure for the corresponding period in 2008.

Mediabistro, which is owned by WebMediaBrands, reported more than 11,000 paid subscribers to its premium AvantGuild service, down from 14,000 members in 2008 and 13,000 in 2007, according to Paidcontent.org. The subscription price to AvantGuild is $55 for one year or $89 for a two-year subscription.