Postmedia's Use of Foursquare
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Presentation delivered at the International Symposium on Online Journalism, April 1, 2011
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Postmedia's Use of Foursquare
- 1. Tim CurrieAssistant ProfessorSchool of JournalismUniversity of King’s CollegeHalifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Experiments in Location-Based Content:A Case Study of Postmedia’s Use of Foursquare
- 2. Foursquare Social network 6.5 million users Smartphone app tied to GPS Users leave tips at a location Users can indicate they have “done” tips Game-like experience 2/7
- 3. The Study Interviews with editors placing editorial content as tips 3 Postmedia newspapers: National Post, Edmonton Journal, Vancouver Sun RQ1: What criteria have editors used to select content for Foursquare? RQ2: How have the editors produced this content? Theory: Gatekeeping 3/7
- 4. Uses Q: What content was successful? Film festival guide Restaurant review Opinion piece 4/7
- 5. Findings Q: How would you characterize the editorial contentyou place in Foursquare? “Not hard-core news” “Evergreen” “Useful to people over a longer period of time” “Opinion” “Feature-y” 5/7
- 6. Findings Newspaper content placed in Foursquare was: An opinion, review, guide or first-person account Described with the goal of inspiring action Timeless — or about an event of 2+ days About a specific location or an activity done at a specific type of location Placed at a location where people gather socially 6/7
- 7. Implications News on mobile devices is the future Foursquare is just one of many distribution channels Content tied to social nature of the tool 7/7
Editor's Notes
- Thanks very much for inviting me. I know we’re competing with the Rangers first game of the season this afternoon. So thanks for being here.I’m a Blue Jays fan. So it’s nice to be somewhere with a team that has an actual chance of winning a championship.
- Study looked a very specific thing done by a small number of editors in North America:Tying editorial content to location using the social network FoursquarePeople at a location “check in” to a place & can read tips left by others. They indicate that they have “Done” a tip or add the tip to their “To-Do” listNews organizations are using it to distribute their editorial content as tips on locations, which Foursquare calls venues.If you follow a user, they will also see their tips pop up when you are nearby the place where they left the tipsNews organizations using this to distribute restaurant reviews — and other types of content
- Interviews with editors using FoursquareI chose Postmedia because it’s one of the most active news organizations using FoursquareIt’s clear that news organizations are putting only a fraction of their content into Foursquare.I was interested — what was it about these articles?And also about the process of getting them into Foursquare. Who is doing it? And how.I looked at it through the framework of gatekeeping – the function of editors deciding what gets published/distributed.
- Asked the participants about content they put in Foursquare that they considered “successful”I left it up to them to judge what was successful -- Generally ones that received a lot of reactionNatPost: Dropped a series of tips at Toronto Film Festival locations. Reviews and guides to the festivalEdmonton Journal: Took a series of opinion pieces about light rapid transit use. Left at them LRT stations in the cityVancouver Sun: Left reviews of a couple of downtown restaurants that were popular
- One key question asked: What content were the editors choosing for this location-based service?Rarely about anything that took place at a certain time – partially due to workload, they tried putting band profiles at a club venue before a concert – but few saw it. Has to have some longevity.“Evergreen” quality – useful for a long whileOpinion – something that got an emotional reaction from people. “I agree!”Few instances of news – “just jarring” to know someone had been beaten where you are.
- What was the nature of this editorial content?Content that provided a recommendation: a guide, a travelogue, a review Framed to promote user action — to click “Done” on a tip or start a conversation on Twitter or Facebook – something that could be measured – yes, but most said it was to promote engagementTimeless – but also about events, IF they lasted a few daysAbout a specific location like an actual restaurant – but also about activities done at a narrow type of location: About things that people do at airports or about issues of interest to people who shop at Apple stores.Not about solitary places. Eg: “birthplace of a famous person”. Instead about places where people gather in groups socially – at music and theatre festivals, sports events, transportation hubs & educational classes. Places where people feel inclined to interact.
- Mobile devices will be a huge distribution channel for news in the near future – many indications of that – and a user’s location will be important ( hyper-local)Just one channel: Editors said “It’s important to be present where people are” a) physically (GPS) b) where people connect socially in networksAbout going out, having a good time, exploring — and sharing online. Limited research that suggests people share less when they are upset. Affects content.Lots more in the paper. Thanks.