Matter investigates iTunes as a pricing model for publishing, Buzzfeed and StumbleUpon find sharing behavior is driven by close friends and not influencers, and reflections from SXSW.

How Content Is Really Shared: Close Friends, Not ‘Influencers’
BuzzFeed and Stumble Upon dispel the myth of influentials, finding “intimate sharing outnumbers broadcasting” significantly. “Real-world word-of-mouth” spreads “highly engaging” content.

Amid push toward new digital frontiers, talk of ‘too much’ at SXSW
As 20,000 attendees drink from the SXSW 2012 interactive fire hose, a number of innovators there debate a “possible downside to mounting technology.” Hitting “Digital Vertigo?”

How to run a social site and not get users killed
Real names, real risks, and a great debate. These notes on a SXSWi panel are in an open Google doc. Add to the resource or perhaps borrow this idea to up community engagement on your own site.

Village Soup’s hot pursuit of a hyperlocal model goes cold
2007 Knight News Challenge winner abruptly shuts doors. Village Soup did print and online news, focused on community conversation. What went wrong and who might fill the void?

iTunes Pricing as a Model for Journalism
Could 99 cent articles become the backbone of a publishing business? Longform science journalism startup Matter sparks a hot debate on content sales.

Two ideas for handling content aggregators, attribution
From SXSWi – two new efforts break trail for a Golden Rule guided by polite and accurate aggregation and attribution. The payload? Acknowledgement and traffic.

Why Group Deals Are Killing Small Businesses: 7 Thoughts from City Grid Media at SXSW 2012
Know your customer to sharpen your pitch. Insights from the small business point of view can help you shape effective ad-deal bundles.

Ray Kurzweil Debunks ‘Exponential Returns’ Doubters at SXSW
Feeling overpowered by the tidal wave of technology? Food for thought: At SXSW “hyperbolic” Ray Kurzweil “believes we routinely underestimate the capacity of our digital creations.”