Most of you read Gannett Blog on full-size computers. But looking at all the mobile device trends, it's clear my future as a journalist lies in the palms of readers' hands. I ask myself: How would you present groundbreaking, multi-part, investigative projects in a palm-sized space? Maybe I'd use Twitter to broadcast a provocative teaser, complete with embedded link to the best landing page.
Twitter underscores the shift toward the consumer's palm -- and the growing value of mobile homepages. Yesterday, I played with the free text-message service so much, I decided to add a Twitter shortcut to my iPhone's touch-sensitive desktop (left). I can create up to 16 of these quick links to favorite webpages on the desktop's homepage. If I want more, they go on additional "inside'' screens. (The bottom row of icons doesn't change.)Tapping any of these on the iPhone's touch-sensitive screen launches a web browser that takes you straight to that page. (My most frequently tapped shortcut takes me to the Blogger software desktop, where I moderate comments remotely. Hoo-boy, that's fun.)
Everyone is fighting for proximity to your mobile homepage. Adding Twitter yesterday forced me to kick an existing shortcut inside -- and off my iPhone's most valuable real estate. That was when I thought: The new digital royalty will be those that land in the most palms.
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Welcome to the club? It's not just your future but our papers future as well. Wait till more organizations start broadcasting/streaming onto handhelds
ReplyDeleteI doubt twitted will be the answer. If you start getting "Tweets" from too many sources the volume becomes hard to cope with. MHO
Jim, Is it possible for you not to use your GannettBlog twitter account for personal tweets? I'd like be able to follow it with my device for breaking Gannett news but I really don't want to see the tweets about guys with orange hair. You could create another twitter account easily for that outlet.
ReplyDeleteAgreed on that, 11:04 am; I was just experimenting yesterday. Long-term, Twitter would be for business purposes only.
ReplyDeleteMobile is where the 12 to 24 set is right now, and if you're not there, you are irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Kindle.
This is 1985 all over again. You need to be on all the screens, because there will be a shift, and there are a number of competing platforms.
The way information is consumed is fundamentally shifting again.
I'll go back to my copy of USAToday on my Kindle.