Make sure readers can share what they read
I still read The Pilot, where I interned last summer, online occasionally. Last week I saw this moving story about an Army medic who died after abusing computer cleaning aerosols. The continuing coverage, by the Pilot and by the various outlets that have picked up the story highlighting post traumatic stress disorder, is hopefully drawing attention to the private hell Dwyer (and other soldiers) face upon their return from Iraq.
I wanted to tag The Pilot’s stories on my del.icio.us account. But has only these options: a printer-friendly view and e-mail a friend or the editor. I have a soft spot for the local paper, sure. I can (and have tagged) stories and columns about Dwyer by other newspapers.
But the Pilot’s missing out on the fun part of the Internet – allowing readers to bookmark and share what’s important to them. Simply letting readers e-mail a story isn’t enough anymore.
What about Digg, or Facebook, Mixx and Yahoo Buzz, options The New York Times lets readers share stories with? The (Raleigh) News & Observer, whose column by Barry Saunders about Dwyer was one that I tagged, has 34 options that include Digg, MySpace, Reddit, Furl, StumbleUpon, del.icio.us, Google and Facebook for readers to bookmark and share stories.
Giving readers options isn’t a nicety anymore, it’s a necessity. Online newspapers that ignore this are missing out on ways to draw people to their Web site and increase their readership.
