Johnston Press embarks on year of social networking experiments

This article was migrated from an old version of our website in 2025. As a result, it might have some low-quality images or non-functioning links - if there's any issues you'd like to see fixed, get in touch with us at info@journalism.co.uk.

There used to be something here that couldn't be migrated - please contact us at info@journalism.co.uk if you'd like to see this updated!

Regional publisher Johnston Press is planning a series of social networking experiments across its portfolio of local news websites.

Speaking to Journalism.co.uk, group editorial content manager Mark Woodward said that a range of social networking technology providers would be piloted on different titles in the group. A new community platform on the Halifax Evening Courier site, which uses an 'out-of-the-box' solution created by Kick Apps , is the first stage in the trial, he said.

The publisher is currently developing another social networking trial on one of its southern titles, Woodward confirmed.

"We are looking at two or three partners in the social networking area that we might work with from a group perspective. Social networking will be a theme for the year [at Johnston Press]," he added.

"We are getting something together, but it's something we are playing around with to get a handle on what works and what doesn't work; what do users find useful?"

The trial on the Halifax site is deliberately distinct to health, added Woodward, to help the publisher understand how the tools and functions of social networking sites can be used for specific local topics.

It would be natural, Woodward said, for future community sites to focus on sport, where reader interaction online is already strong, and traffic and travel news, which can be sourced centrally by the group and broken down at a local level.

"We're about embedding our sites at the hearts of communities. Newspapers became a central focus for information in the community, putting people in touch with others and advertisers in touch with their community - the strategy is to do that online," said Woodward.

"But online you can do that far more dynamically and the user can lead you through that journey."

The social networking sites will engage users through both topic type and geography, added Woodward.

The group hopes users will create their own communities, which the publisher itself may not have spotted a demand for, he added. The role of the newspaper will then be to provide tailored information to users via these specific networks.

"What we [newspapers] can do in these times is make sense of all the information that's bombarding people. We have got that role to play which is about giving authority around that content so people can trust it. They trust our brands in print and we know from research that they trust it when we move our brands online," said Woodward.

"What we are doing is making sense of the world around them from the plethora of information, but also for the first time not pushing all that information onto the consumer. We've got the ability for the consumer to drive that interaction and say what they want on the sites and when they want it."