Detroit is hardly synonymous with new-economy thinking these days, but the city's two major papers are doing their part to change that. The question is whether it's too little too late. Both The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press are cutting back on their print products in order to focus more resources on digital media. Starting next year, home deliver of the papers will be limited to Thursday though Sunday, and some days' papers will be reduced to a single section. Meanwhile, the papers will add digital channels and offer subscription-based Web-only editions. Both papers are owned by the …

While social networks have made it easier to stay in touch with friends, it is a sad reality that they have also made it easier to anonymously harass and bully people. And as recent cases have show, the bullying is hardly limited to minors. So a number of social networks are taking steps to make it easier for users to report harassment. YouTube last week took a major step by unveiling an "Abuse and Safety Center" tool, which takes users through a step-by-step process to report bullying. And MySpace is building its capacity to delete hate speech and other harmful …

The "race to the bottom" on data-retention policies continued on Wednesday as Yahoo announced it would anonymize user data after 90 days, which replaces its previous policy of purging all data after 13 months. All the major search engines have been reducing the amount of time they keep user data identifiable under pressure from regulators: Google recently changed its policy from 18-months to just nine, for example. At issue is whether consumer privacy trumps the search engine's right to use that data to improve their services. Yahoo said 90 days strikes the perfect balance between privacy and business interests. …

After more than a decade of using the Macworld expo to launch now-legendary products such as the iPhone, iPod and Macbook, Apple has announced it will no longer be a part of the gathering. CEO Steve Jobs has already relinquished his spot on the agenda for next month's expo to another Apple executive, and after that Apple will pull out altogether. The company says that the proliferation of its successful retail stores and its online presence renders trade shows like Macworld obsolete, and that it no longer needs them to communicate with consumers. Analysts said the move makes sense …

They may hold sway over the digital community, but traditional media still holds sway over them. So MS&L says of the "digital influencers," those much-hyped trend setters supposedly leading the way online: They get their information first from traditional media. In a survey being released today, MS&L claims that 84% of digital influencers go online to learn more about a subject only after first learning about it from TV, radio and print. The survey explored how influencers operate within three specific categories: the environment, beauty and health. Renee Wilson, deputy managing director of MS&L New York, …

As digital communication between people evolves from simple interactions -- sending e-mail and instant messages -- to more complex ones -- commenting on Flickr photos, replying to Tweets -- so too do our demands of our email providers evolve. Yahoo recognizes this, and is experimenting with a new kind of email that will accommodate the way we live our lives online today. In beta testing now is a version of Yahoo Mail with a "smarter inbox" that allows for third-party interactions and incorporates social tools. The welcome page focuses less on mainstream news and ads and more on social activity …

Google is denying that it has reversed its stance on Net neutrality after a story in Monday's Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources saying the search giant was talking to telecom and cable companies about giving Google traffic preferential treatment. Richard Whitt, Google's Washington-based telecom and media counsel, wrote in a blog post on Monday that the Journal's report is based on a misunderstanding of the company's offer to place so-called "edge servers" within the networks of Internet service providers. Such servers store Google content that is frequently requested by consumers, such as YouTube videos, so it can be more …

Is nothing sacred? According to NBC Universal, ad sales for online video are also slowing down in this economy, casting a shadow over one of the few bright spots in the sullen economy. TV executives in particular had pinned high hopes on online video as sales of TV ads grow sluggish. Online video was growing at an explosive rate and was not expected to significantly diminish. But apparently nothing is safe in the current economic climate, as even Hulu ad sales have slowed: While it's entire inventory was sold out as recently as August, that is no longer the case. …