The Sun's social network tools should add revenue as well as readers

Readers' comments (8)

• Oliver Meakings | Tue, 24 Nov 2009 1:40 pm

  Suzanne, bearing in mind it's 2009, and online communities with similar functionality existed in the days of Compuserve, I'm not sure why this move is deserving of such praise or analysis. What exactly is new here?
  
  Infact the only compelling reason users have to engage in social functionality on The Sun website appears to be a shared disdain for everything that isn't White Van, Greasy Spoon, Working Class White Male.
  
  Although unaware Daniel Jackson himself has already articulated one piece of compelling functionality that could have been created - rather than adding some of the unnecessary found-everywhere functionality that has been - a social tool for creating, exploring and joining shared holidays - why not evolve this into something which is not only unique, but monetisable and USEFUL.
  
  In terms of monetisation. I am yet to be convinced that the popularity of a community environment such as MySun will translate into revenue. I think that it is an easy, misguided and outdated conclusion that more community PIs, repeat usage and "engagement" translates into more revenue – especially from display advertising - and one we need to move away from
  
  The whole thing is a typical big publisher approach - bolt on "community" and expect users to embrace new functionality without a single compelling reason to do so.
  
  
  
  http://www.twitter.com/olivermeakings

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• Anonymous | Tue, 24 Nov 2009 2:20 pm

  @Oliver Meaking: I totally agree. There just doesn't seem much in it for users, other than to replicate all the other activities they already do on facebook, and why would they do that
  
  One of the lessons of the rise of social networks is the law of the network effect - that is, a network gets exponentially more powerful and useful the larger it is. With that in mind, I'm not sure why a branded social network would hold much attraction for users if only, say, 5% of their friends are on the network.
  
  Looking at the site it seems basically a glorified discussion forum - something that sites like guardian.co.uk already do much better, and generating all types of new engagement(s).
  
  I really can't agree this is a "well-thought-out platform". In fact, it's unbelievably lame, and the latest in a long list of examples of The Sun chronically underestimating its readership

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• Ali | Tue, 24 Nov 2009 2:34 pm

  Oliver Meakings:
  
  I don't believe Pluck powers the community on MySun. However I would love to understand why you believe what you do about them.
  
  You seem to attack the community on MySun with shocking prejudice. What matters is the shared passion/interest behind a community, not what it's about. Presumably you would refuse to implement any sort of community features based on your own personal prejudice -- and only implement one should you agree with their opinions. Hmm, welcome to the internet; we do things differently here and people are usually allowed to care about whatever they want.
  
  Actually, this point applies to the "typical big publisher approach" you decry -- demonstrably false, that assertion, by the way.
  
  Finally you mention compelling social tools -- how do you power the community aspects of a *social* tool without some sort of community?

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• Anonymous | Tue, 24 Nov 2009 4:29 pm

  The point is that this move is not about Compuserve - i.e. online pioneers or converts. It's about a tabloid newspaper deciding now is the time to leverage online community. Oh, and it's a title within Murdoch's empire. That's what's interesting.

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• Ashley Ellen | Tue, 24 Nov 2009 4:45 pm

  RE: Monetising Social Media/interactive community platforms/exagerrated forums.
  
  MySun and online news providers will engage different users in this manner, get them to comment on stories, build on-line relationships between strangers, target ad them all....
  ...and then switch to Paid for content!

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• Suzanne Bearne | Tue, 24 Nov 2009 5:42 pm

  Oliver Meakings
  
  Thanks for your comment.
  
  Repeat visits and engagement leads to a more loyal audience which in turn is more valuable than a one-off visitor who comes through the site through Google and then disappears. More and more of the heads of online publishers would prefer a loyal audience who love and come back to the title rather than gain more uniques. Especially because on the face of it, if you want reach, advertise on Facebook.

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• jonathon oake | Tue, 24 Nov 2009 8:18 pm

  I work for the Mirror so I'm heavily obligated to dislike everything the Sun does, but even so I think this is pretty poor.
  
  There are many interesting ways online newspapers could intersect with social media, but this is wrong in so many ways. It goes entirely against Jeff Jarvis' famous advice 'do what you do best, link to the rest'.
  
  At the end of the day, investing in content is what will increase Sun's level of 'engagement' (in much the same way as they are doing, through SunTalk etc), not bolting on some lame social networking tools. (then, having invested in content, use facebook, twitter etc to disseminate and (hopefully) increase engagement)
  
  @Alex Farber: Actually Oliver Meakings is entirely correct to question whether increased engagement leads to increased revenues from display ... otherwise, wouldn't Facebook, with it's amazing user engagement, be highest CPM around?

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• Thad Martin | Wed, 9 Dec 2009 3:18 pm

  @Oliver Meaking - To add to Suzanne's own response – monetization dependent on massive traffic views and CPM banners is struggling. Having the active fan base there not only makes them more loyal, but also offers The Sun the ability to bring in advertisers and sponsors in new and more effective ways. The result can be campaigns that the audience is more receptive and responsive to, provide the advertiser more value, and enables the Sun to charge at an actual premium. It gives them a much greater chance to adapt their advertising model. It also opens up many more touch points for additional revenue streams – everything from ecommerce to partnerships.
  
  It also gives them a strong foundation of an active audience for future community-driven initiatives that will be much more successful because the foundation of users is already there.
  
  Also remember that these conversations are very different than those on Facebook. Facebook is built on connecting people who already know one another. MySun is bringing people together around the news and topics of the day, its bringing people together and enabling them to discover one another based around shared interests. Its fundamentally different – and that is why it is active and successful.
  Facebook and Twitter are not experiences that the Sun can control, MySun is. They are actually able to syndicate out the conversations to those sites, and draw traffic and users back into an experience they control and monetize. It carries much greater potential.
  
  Now, in full disclosure I’m @onesite.com, the company that actually powers MySun and others – but again and again we have seen those add real value to a variety of companies. They have the content and the audiences, building a community by enabling that audience to discover itself is a very natural fit, and provides a lot of benefit.

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