How to think mobile
(This is a work in progress, please add comments on this with suggestions, criticisms and ideas.)
OK, I get it. More and more people are viewing our content on a smartphone. But what do I do about it? How do I think mobile?
The first thing to do is to put yourself in the shoes of your audience. You're on a phone. You could be at home watching TV, you could be on a train ride home, you could be on the pot, you could be in a boring meeting at work, you could be reading while in bed trying to fall asleep, or in front of your computer, or in a lounge chair with a newspaper in your lap.
You are mobile. You are swiping through photos smaller than the palm of your hand. Reading a story by flicking your thumb across the screen every few graphs.
Now think about your story. How can you help someone find the location of the event? How often should a power outage story be updated for the person sitting at home waiting for the lights to turn back on? How can someone waiting on a backed-up freeway find out about the wreck ahead and what do to about it? How can you make it possible for mobile users to interact - to send in photos themselves of the current rainstorm, to vote in a poll that you'll later use to update a story giving readers a voice?
What types of stories are "good mobile stories?"
And what can I do to make those better for mobile users?
Mobile users view all types of things - breaking news, columns, slideshows, videos, graphics. But some stories are just made for mobile. Here's some ideas:
- Breaking news
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- Publish a headline and sentence as soon as you have the first bit of news confirmed.
- Continue updating - don't wait to do 1 or 2 big updates, update as often as you learn new details.
- Never write "More details to come." Explain in the last paragraph - or throughout the story - what specific details you still don't know.
- Make updates clear. For all significant updates weave the new information into the story AND add an update time of when you learned the fact and add the fact at the top of the story.
- Put yourself in the readers' shoes. What details might you add that could help someone better understand the story?
- Always make sure your email and phone number are in the contact field of the story. Tell people in the story to send you details (and ask specific questions, if possible) if they are at the scene or have more information.
- Follow the comments (not just after you're done with the story, but as you are reporting). Sometimes people ask insightful questions that we should work to answer or add information that you can review and add to the story.
- Events
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- Especially if you plan to cover an event, tell people about it before. And this stretches beyond just the normal fairs and concerts. Tell people ahead of time about important city meetings, TV shows, sports games and any other thing people might want to act on.
- Make sure to include details on how to go or watch. If writing about a physical event, include the address a website and a phone number contact. If writing about an online event be sure to include the web address and any other details such as related twitter or facebook contacts. If writing about a TV show include the channel and time of the show.
- Tell people other details they'll need to know about going - the cost of the tickets (and if they are still available), any clues to watch for (if you know something that will happen that you could give them an insider tip on), and any other information that might help them.
- Tell people if you plan to cover the event during and/or after. Tell them where to check to get the updated story information and when to expect it.
- Tell people who might attend how they can participate in your coverage by sending you information, thoughts, photos and other information.
- For the post-event coverage:
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- Link together your pre and post event stories.
- Make sure to include any information you found from people who attended the event.
- Talk about any future related events that people might attend.
- Make sure to answer any questions that were left hanging in the pre-event story (not for carnival stories, but this is important if writing about a court proceeding or government meeting).
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- Talkers
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- People out and about, or in an office meeting or at home with family will talk about things happening. These are the same talkers we've been following since the just-newspaper days.
- Try to get the key words or phrases or names in the headline so people can find your story. If people are talking about, for example, a famous person or a trend or a news event - try looking on Twitter or on Google Trends or on Google AdWords to see what key words or phrases people are using. Also, talk to people in the newsroom to see how they've heard it referred to in the community.
- Make sure to link to all your coverage on the topic. If something is a talker you've probably covered it a few times so make sure to link them up so people can find all your coverage on the topic.
- Add in polls as much as possible. It gets people involved in the story. Then, write a followup post about the (unscientific) poll results and summing up any comments or reaction you received on the story.
- Follow the comments. Participate to stimulate conversation, answer questions, find gaps in your coverage and find story ideas.
- "See-ers"
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- What's a "see-er?" Well, it's a new term coined by me and it is similar to a talker - but is visual or auditory. Talkers are story that people in O.C. are talking about. See-ers are things that people see or hear in Orange County.
- When someone hears gunshots they'll want context about what happened and exactly where it happened. When someone hears a helicopter overhead they'll want to know what they were doing - even if it was just a simple rescue, people will still be curious.
- Try to add in the headline a key thing about people seeing or hearing the event (shots fired, helicopter, large rally, crowds, etc.).
- These are not just breaking things, but things that people see around town. Just like in the old days when you'd go out and walk your beat - the same practice can help you think of stories mobile readers might be looking for. This can include everything from posters around town for an upcoming event, construction equipment or a large visual change in a construction project,
- TV guide
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- Sometimes people look for our stuff (or just read our stuff) as they are watching TV - to find information.
- If you write about Dancing with the Stars ahead of time, you should probably update the story before the show starts so that it makes sense if someone reads it while watching the show.
- It's nice to give people a guide or behind-the-scenes view to what they are watching. For a baseball game tell them details on why the lineup was changed, for a reality TV show tell them a back-story to watch for (if you know ahead of time).
- Invite people to comment and talk during the game - either in the story comments or on Facebook or Twitter or some other place. Perhaps even take it a step further and offer a meetup location where people can hang with you during the event (great for big events).
- Think of other stuff the person might be interested in that is entertaining and add links. If someone is browsing a phone during a TV show, they are likely looking to be entertained beyond the show and links help them find that content quickly.
- Guides
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- Think about your beat beyond news. All reporters already write guides, but we often don't think about it. Have you put together a list on a topic or developed an infographic on something? These are guide-like things that help people. These are also sometimes called evergreens - stories that are not focused on a certain news event or that need to be published on a certain day. Building up guides and giving them easy-to-find titles can help people who are on the go looking for information on a person, place, thing or trend.
- Think especially about guides that people might be looking for while out - best places for free wifi, best apps for planning a vacation, etc.
- Stuff for the young
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- Smartphone audiences trend younger than web audiences and much younger than print audiences. Sure, older audiences still use smartphones - but younger people trend much higher and they view more content on phones. The key age ranges for the Register are 18-24 and 25-34. Keep this in mind when selecting story ideas and writing stories. College stories shouldn't just be written for parents of kids in college, but also for those attending. Stories about teens should not be written down to young folks, but should include information directly from teens as well to be well-rounded. Also be sure to watch what things are being talked about by younger demographics - rather than just listening to the talkers for typical newspaper audiences.
