NowPublic.com - Social Media: Making the News Public

The media is turning into a social phenomenon, what with everyday citizens touting camera equipped cell phones and digital cameras, just about anyone is liable to capture the next news item. This new breed of participatory news has found a perfect niche with web 2.0 sites like Vancouver based NowPublic. NowPublic is a fervid promoter of crowd sourcingâ€"all its articles and content are submitted by the public, with users presenting links to external articles, or creating their own content onsite. Users can rate and comment on stories, and there´s revenue sharing-- writers may be tipped for their articles. The site features video and photo uploading, and with its recent integration of YouTube´s video library, users can add videos to stories for greater coverage and detail. The site is well designed and adds crowd wisdom to the news.

“NowPublic is a participatory news network which mobilizes an army of reporters to cover the events that define our world. In twelve short months, the company has become one of the fastest growing news organizations with thousands of reporters in over 140 countries. During Hurricane Katrina, NowPublic had more reporters in the affected area than most news organizations have on their entire staff.”

NowPublic brings the news into a public arena so that it can be discussed and commented upon openly; unlike traditional media outlets, the site brings to the fore the power of the citizen, and makes it possible for an unlimited number of viewpoints to be showcased.

Social news sites are quickly growing into a burgeoning industry, how will NowPublic stay ahead of the crowd?