Discover the new publishing platform every aspiring journalist needs to know about
On December 1st, writers and publishers alike will celebrate the groundbreaking work of many talented journalists at the British Journalism Awards. With the entry deadline fast approaching and the ceremony only a few short months away, we feel that this is the perfect time to think about the future of journalism by joining forces with NextHub to look into the trends that’ll be shaping the industry.
Social media has kicked off a revolution in journalism. It’s not just about paying to receive content through a newspaper or magazine any more – the days of one-sided communication between publishers and readers are long gone. Instead, there’s constant, lively interaction between the two groups. The lines between who’s the journalist and who’s the audience have largely been blurred. Really, it was only a matter of time before this symbiotic relationship was made more official and given a platform of its own: NextHub.
Currently, there are an ever-increasing number of online magazines, blogs and social media platforms creating an exciting but oftentimes confusing digital environment. Our brains are saturated with ceaseless information hurtling at us from different sources, in different guises; up-and-coming journalists need to find new ways to break through the clutter and get their voices heard. That’s why we think NextHub is pretty groundbreaking. A publishing platform that aims to encourage the next generation of journalists to publish verified work – text, images and videos all in one place – and engage with their readers, this is the future of the journalism industry.
NextHub takes publishing your pieces to the next level by encouraging maximum interaction between journalists and their followers. As a journalist or publisher you can use the site to create a HUB, where you can post articles, photos and videos that all come together to create the coherent voice of your publication. Because of the integrated media on the site, you’re able to build an instantly recognisable brand around your content. When combined with heightened levels of interactions with followers, journalists are able to relate to their readers on a much deeper level. ‘The importance of print will decrease, but their messages won’t. It’s up to the publishers who rely on hard copy to adapt some of their strategy to include digital’, Mikael Oloffson, co-founder of NextHub tells us.
Mikael goes on to explain that the site was created around the idea that reader engagement can really contribute to, and create, better content. Because the HUBs create communities of people with similar interests, publishers can use follower interactions to improve and build upon their content, whether it be verbal or visual.
Tribe posts are where this concept really comes in to its own. Above and beyond normal liking and commenting features, Tribe posts are an active call to action by publishers. We see this as the future of journalism because it’s not just presenting readers with information that they apathetically digest, it encourages them to engage and interact, to have opinions that’ll make sure your work as a journalist remains highly relevant to your audience.
Follow – no, interact – with NextHub on Twitter, and connect with Your Coffee Break’s HUB too!
