An online magazine is a

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

published on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

, through

bulletin board system A bulletin board system (BBS), also called computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such as ...

s and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer magazine ''

Datamation ''Datamation'' is a computer magazine that was published in print form in the United States between 1957 and 1998,

''. Some online magazines distributed through the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...

call themselves webzines. An ezine (also spelled e-zine) is a more specialized term appropriately used for small magazines and newsletters distributed by any electronic method, for example, by electronic mail (e-mail/email, see

Zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...

). 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", "digital magazines", or "e-magazines" to reflect their readership demographics or to capture alternative terms and spellings in online searches. An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with

online newspapers An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for newspa ...

, 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. 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 journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

Business model

Many general interest online magazines provide free access to all aspects of their online content although some

publishers Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

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 advertising), affiliations to retail web sites, classified advertisements, product-purchase capabilities, advertiser directory links, or alternative informational/commercial purpose. The original online magazines, e-zines and

disk magazine A disk magazine, colloquially known as a diskmag or diskzine, 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 the ...

s, or diskmags, due to their low cost and initial non-mainstream targets, may be seen as a

disruptive technology In business theory, disruptive innovation is innovation that creates a new market and value network or enters at the bottom of an existing market and eventually displaces established market-leading firms, products, and alliances. The concept was ...

to traditional publishing houses. The high cost of print publication and large Web readership has encouraged these publishers to embrace the

as a marketing and content delivery system and another medium for delivering their advertisers' messages.

Growth

In the late 1990s, e-zine publishers began adapting to the interactive and informative qualities of the Internet instead of simply duplicating print 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.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

, 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.{{Cite news, last=Carr, first=David, date=2005-02-10, title=The Founder of Salon Is Passing the Mouse (Published 2005), language=en-US, work=The New York Times, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/10/books/the-founder-of-salon-is-passing-the-mouse.html, access-date=2021-02-21, issn=0362-4331

References

Zines Electronic publishing

Business model

Growth

See also

References