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Help! There's too much news to sift
April 20, 2012, Friday
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READERS nowadays are bombarded with news from television, newspapers, magazines, online portals and social networking sites.
Software developers are trying to cut through the morass and provide users with tailored social reading platforms - often called "news aggregators" - to help viewers glean information of personal interest from myriad news websites and feeds from social networks.
California-based Flipboard, a popular mobile reading software, launched a Chinese version of its iPhone application at the end of March. The first international version with local language support, Flipboard was named Apple iPad's "App of the Year" in 2010.
"This kind of new reading tool and the merging of online reading with one's interests on various social platforms is a big trend for the future," said Analysys International's researcher Sun Peilin.
The company said it expects the number of downloads on iPad and iPhone to total 100 million by the end of year, while in China it hopes to have at least 5 million subscribers. Flipboard essentially collects the content of social media and other websites and presents it in magazine format and allows users to "flip" through their social-networking and other website feeds.
Big challenges
Flipboard, however, could face big challenges in the Chinese market, where a dozen domestic companies are offering a similar service.
Among those competitors is Zaker, founded by Guangzhou Huayue Digital Technology Co, which allows users to read online publications and postings on social networking sites such as Renren and on Chinese microblogging sites like Sina's Weibo from smart phones and tablet computers.
Some less well-known sites specializing in narrower topics, such as modern technology, nature phenomena and popular science, also are making their content deliverable to a niche group of readers through this kind of reading platform.
Flipboard says its ultimate aim is to improve how people discover, browse and share content across various social networks.
Two-year old Flipboard has raised US$60.5 million, and is now working with publishers to deliver tailor-made Flipboard pages and to insert print-style ads in easier-to-read formats on mobile devices. It is currently working with more than 50 English publishers but hasn't launched any deals in China yet.
Content providers
The business model of these "social magazines" relies heavily on content providers who either charge users for each subscription or volume of magazine downloads or share advertising revenue with the publisher.
Zaker is working with hundreds of domestic magazine and newspaper publishers, and currently has 2 million subscribers on iPad and iPhone.
The easy sharing function and integration with social platforms encourages users to linger longer on such platforms, Analysys International's Sun said.
The more articles a viewer reads on such platforms, the smarter the platform becomes in selecting articles of special interest to that reader.
The challenges mount as more print media publishers rush onto the Internet and as smart phone platforms like Android and Apple's iOS seek to distribute their content more widely. There are hundreds of news applications on Apple's App Store in China as print media seek to launch their own news apps, either on a subscription basis or free of charge.
Different types of media have their own unique ways of approaching their readers.
Daphne Wu, executive president of Caixin Media, said at a recent media roundtable that some of Caixin's investigative reports are being distributed over social networking sites like Weibo, but few are crediting the source of the information. She said Caixin is emphatic in its efforts to retain readers on its own platform.
Some praise digital news magazines like Flipboard for "reinventing media" in the tablet age, but it seems to me they are missing the essence of news content distribution. It recalls to mind how people used to say the iPad and the tablet computer would revolutionize digital publishing and save print media from declining advertising income.
New gadgets and smart phones do offer readers a broader selection of sources, but distribution channels rank second to content and the ideas a publisher wants to deliver. Perhaps the popularity of Flipboard and its Chinese copycats stands to remind us that the quality of content and how it appeals to readers matter as much as how the information is distributed to a wider group.
Software developers are trying to cut through the morass and provide users with tailored social reading platforms - often called "news aggregators" - to help viewers glean information of personal interest from myriad news websites and feeds from social networks.
California-based Flipboard, a popular mobile reading software, launched a Chinese version of its iPhone application at the end of March. The first international version with local language support, Flipboard was named Apple iPad's "App of the Year" in 2010.
"This kind of new reading tool and the merging of online reading with one's interests on various social platforms is a big trend for the future," said Analysys International's researcher Sun Peilin.
The company said it expects the number of downloads on iPad and iPhone to total 100 million by the end of year, while in China it hopes to have at least 5 million subscribers. Flipboard essentially collects the content of social media and other websites and presents it in magazine format and allows users to "flip" through their social-networking and other website feeds.
Big challenges
Flipboard, however, could face big challenges in the Chinese market, where a dozen domestic companies are offering a similar service.
Among those competitors is Zaker, founded by Guangzhou Huayue Digital Technology Co, which allows users to read online publications and postings on social networking sites such as Renren and on Chinese microblogging sites like Sina's Weibo from smart phones and tablet computers.
Some less well-known sites specializing in narrower topics, such as modern technology, nature phenomena and popular science, also are making their content deliverable to a niche group of readers through this kind of reading platform.
Flipboard says its ultimate aim is to improve how people discover, browse and share content across various social networks.
Two-year old Flipboard has raised US$60.5 million, and is now working with publishers to deliver tailor-made Flipboard pages and to insert print-style ads in easier-to-read formats on mobile devices. It is currently working with more than 50 English publishers but hasn't launched any deals in China yet.
Content providers
The business model of these "social magazines" relies heavily on content providers who either charge users for each subscription or volume of magazine downloads or share advertising revenue with the publisher.
Zaker is working with hundreds of domestic magazine and newspaper publishers, and currently has 2 million subscribers on iPad and iPhone.
The easy sharing function and integration with social platforms encourages users to linger longer on such platforms, Analysys International's Sun said.
The more articles a viewer reads on such platforms, the smarter the platform becomes in selecting articles of special interest to that reader.
The challenges mount as more print media publishers rush onto the Internet and as smart phone platforms like Android and Apple's iOS seek to distribute their content more widely. There are hundreds of news applications on Apple's App Store in China as print media seek to launch their own news apps, either on a subscription basis or free of charge.
Different types of media have their own unique ways of approaching their readers.
Daphne Wu, executive president of Caixin Media, said at a recent media roundtable that some of Caixin's investigative reports are being distributed over social networking sites like Weibo, but few are crediting the source of the information. She said Caixin is emphatic in its efforts to retain readers on its own platform.
Some praise digital news magazines like Flipboard for "reinventing media" in the tablet age, but it seems to me they are missing the essence of news content distribution. It recalls to mind how people used to say the iPad and the tablet computer would revolutionize digital publishing and save print media from declining advertising income.
New gadgets and smart phones do offer readers a broader selection of sources, but distribution channels rank second to content and the ideas a publisher wants to deliver. Perhaps the popularity of Flipboard and its Chinese copycats stands to remind us that the quality of content and how it appeals to readers matter as much as how the information is distributed to a wider group.
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