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Online Journalism News

New Metro news site taps social networking trend

Posted: 22/02/06 By: Jemima Kiss
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Free city newspaper Metro has devoted a significant part of its new website to user-generated content.

Metro.co.uk was launched yesterday and invites users to submit a wide range of content to its 'Your Metro' section including images, video, music, blog details and to contribute to debate on message boards. Metro is also offering to set up blogs for users with good story ideas and plans to use reader reviews of events.

The site was built by Associated New Media, publishers of the Daily Mail website. Executive editor Nigel Vincent told journalism.co.uk that reader interaction is a key part of the new site because of its 'perfect' audience of young urbanites with iPods, camera phones and heavy broadband use.

"Interaction is fundamental to this site. We want people who read it to have ownership of the site," he said.

"That's not just comments and message boards but their own photos and blogs. We want it!"

Cross-promotion with the newspaper is also central with appeals in the newspaper asking readers to contribute.

Metro.co.uk also offers news in nine channels including celebrity gossip and bizarre news. Content varies depending on the time of day with quizzes and games at lunch time and dating in the evening.

News organisations are becoming increasingly focused on community building and social networking sites that build large, complex and active networks of international users. Last year news mogul Rupert Murdoch acknowledged the revenue potential for these communities when he paid $580 million for MySpace.com, a UK version of which is due to launch in March.