In the past week, USA Today has jumped into the water of Web 2.0 by adopting a social media platform to allow readers and editors to begin having a conversation. This is yet another significant benchmark in adoption of social media. USA Today is a well known media outlet that services a nationwide audience:
Per the USA Today media kit
- USATODAY.com is an award-winning news and information site providing visitors with more than 200,000 pages of breaking news, sports, money, life, weather, technology and travel news – all updated 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Almost 9 million unique visitors each month turn to USATODAY.com for the latest news and information.*
- Visitors experience comprehensive, convenient news and information from USA TODAY through interactive features, info graphics, and multi-media functions including audio, video, chat and live Webcast
Several smaller news sites have already adopted social platforms, but USA Today is the first to really pull out all the stops and utilize a full-features platform with a variety of tools and community enhancers.
One of the most refreshing aspects of the platform seems to be the attitude of the roll-out:
“Of course, there’s much more to the new USATODAY.com. Explore for yourself and let us know what you think. Love it? Hate it? What other changes do you want to see? Is there a missing feature we should have included? We want to hear your thoughts. Let the conversation begin!”
The platform itself is based on the Pluck Community, with additional subscription services being provided by the BlogBurst platform created by that company.
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