Small Media Causing News to Think Big

The internet as it existed at the end of the last millennium was minimalist when compared with the multimedia web sites of today’s web 2.0 boom. The text was plain, video streaming was not yet realized in in sites like Youtube and newspapers saw a web site as an opportunity to expand, not to retreat.
The next step in the evolution of news, however, is through internet-capable mobile devices that changes the way consumers see and use news and information.
Nicholas Jones, a 21-year-old Japanese Language and Literature major, said that the length of his internet use on a daily basis has increased after he purchased his HTC Magic phone in December of last year. “I needed a new phone and had skipped out on the iPhone, because it was pretty expensive and I didn’t want all of its features,” he said, “The Android phones are great because I can keep up with the internet all day while I’m at work but it was pretty affordable, even then.”
Android is the mobile operating system initially developed by Google, and later the Open Handset Alliance. The Open Handset Alliance is a consortium of several mobile device- related companies, including Google, who announced the operating system as a method of establishing open standards for mobile devices. This means several companies can compete to establish themselves as hardware developers for the industry, but without setting up the proprietary, licensed systems that companies like Apple have.
Nathan Edwards, a 20-year-old International Affairs major, purchased a Blackberry phone despite being an otherwise loyal Apple customer. “I certainly like Apples products- they are stylish and do what they were designed to do- but mobile media is different. Having the hang-ups of Apple’s exclusive design in a mobile isn’t just undesirable, its downright annoying.
On the other hand, that logic probably won’t apply soon. Things like Android are forcing the [mobile] companies to be more open. The deal is this: I’m using this thing every day, I’m making myself more open to communication, I need to be able to use this thing like my computer when I need to. When they limit what you can do with a thing that’s designed to be this super-convenient swiss-army knife of electronics, you lose the busy people who wanted to buy your product,” said Edwards.
News is being read by mobile devices. In a display of mobile might that could have some die-hard newspaper fans groaning, The New York Times reported in June that it had 60 million page views on mobile devices a month, with 10 to 20 million of those coming from iPhone apps, the Nielson Company reported in June.
According to the Nielson Company, there are 53.4 million mobile internet users in the United states with 22.3 million of them accessing news through their mobile.
It’s no surprise that the top two websites accessed by mobile devices are the web sites Facebook and Myspace. These sites are important to mobile consumers and are being designed and retooled now to deliver content via a mobile device.
Twitter, a newer social media network, had 735,000 unique mobile visitors to its site in January.
“Twitter is almost perfect for mobile social media,” said Edwards. “It has a word limit of 140 characters that sort of ensures what you read is small, it’s good for devices like Blackberries.”
Mobile websites are sparse, have few to no pictures, and have few ads. But then a mobile site is designed to be the PC experience made convenient; minimalist user interfaces with few colors but a smooth layout are key.
Kiah McClain, 19, has noticed a change in the way he uses the internet on his phone. “I do use the internet more thanks to my Blackberry, but I also tend to read information in little short snippets. I do browse Facebook, yeah, when I’m in class or work. I can’t always scroll through a New York Times column. I usually just read headlines, check something quickly on Wikipedia or watch a news clip on Youtube I can’t remember the last time I watched or read something on it for more than a few minutes.”
Newspapers are tailoring the way they write news online with these devices in mind; headlines, article summaries and alternative media stories are being used more frequently.