Newspapers Adopt Community Building and Social Networking to Bring In Viewers

In the era of MySpace and YouTube, which rely on content created by users of these websites, newspapers are beginning to adopt similar features to help expand their website audiences. Recognizing that people who regularly use the Internet now expect these features, modern newspapers are providing them -- and thereby providing new ad inventory for advertisers. From the article:

"Newspapers have long been a centerpiece of local community life, but paper publishers are recognizing the need to foster community in new ways through their Web sites. Tribune Interactive, for instance, recently announced it will enable social media features on its sites through a partnership with VMix Media, which plans to announce additional deals with paper publishers in the coming month. Not only could social tools keep users coming back to check up on city hall happenings or high school sports scores; they could fulfill a dire need for new ad revenue streams and ad inventory.

"For newspaper sites in need of creating more volume, enabling user generated content 'is the cheapest way to foster bigger growth,' said Ken Doctor, lead news analyst at media market research firm Outsell. 'User-created content can double inventory volume at a production cost of one to three percent the cost of staff-produced newspaper content,' Doctor added."

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