Annals of Library and Information Studies Vol. 60, March 2013, pp. 56-63 Adoption of social media by online newspapers of Kashmir Sumeer Gula and Shahina Islamb aSenior Assistant Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, University of Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, India, Email: [email protected] bPhD Scholar, Department of Library and Information Science, University of Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, India, Email: [email protected] Received: 17 December 2012, accepted: 25 March 2013 The sites of online newspapers in Kashmir were surveyed individually and the social media tools available on their websites were studied. It was found that vernacular online newspapers of Kashmir are more in need of evolving and existing media structures and practices. Incorporating social media in the newspapers will help to facilitate conversations across a vast geographical expanse. Keywords: Social media, Print media, World Wide Web, Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg, Twitter, Web 2.0, Social Web Introduction particular has brought about a new medium The arrival of internet has brought promising embracing many different forms of human avenues for the information sector. Newspaper communication in digital format5. With the publishing is one of the sectors that has seen a notable development of social media technologies, many transformation after the development of the internet. newspaper readers are turning to alternate media Media companies including newspapers have taken which has changed the forms, practices and audiences the advantage of internet technology which has of online newspapers. With the ever growing converged all forms of mediated communication interactive features associated with social media, including audio, video, data, text, still photo and user’s thirst for up to date information is ever growing graphic art to reach audiences1. Online newspapers and the new innovative technologies-social media are have helped in the development of more open and predating the online newspapers. Many news creative platform for sharing information more organizations have recognized the potential of social quickly across globe. They have helped to bring the media as a journalistic tool and have used social people together in a more dynamic and interactive media marketing to attract online audiences6. With the space. There are approximately 4,900 online rise of the blogosphere, and more recently of social newspapers available throughout the world2. Paperboy networking, most press companies have become (2012) alone lists 6,170 online newspapers which aware and have taken advantage of the potential and clearly reflects a growing trend in the online attractiveness of these and other social media tools to newspaper domain (as of September 08, 2012)3. develop and shape independent spaces for collective Internet Public Library (IPL) indexes a total of 3,774 participation7. online newspapers (as of September 19, 2012)4. The Evolution of newspaper began in the 15th century online newspapers are experimenting with new and from Corantos- papers printed in Northern Germany. emerging technologies that have the attributes to Thereafter newspapers were published from various eradicate the “philosophy of ownership” and pave a parts of the world. In India, the first newspaper came new way to the “philosophy of access”, and social from Bengal with the publication of Hickey’s Bengal media is one such platform on which newspapers are Gazette by James Augustus Hickey on 29 January presently trying to work with. Most social media 1780. The culture of newspaper reading did not exist technologies have reached the sites of online in J&K as the majority could neither read nor write newspapers. The potential implications of online during the major portion of the 18th century and well technologies and the World Wide Web (WWW) for up to the middle of the 19th century. The print mass media in general and online newspapers in journalism in J&K state marked its appearance with GUL & ISLAM: ADOPTION OF SOCIAL MEDIA BY ONLINE NEWSPAPERS OF KASHMIR 57 the publication of an Urdu periodical named them and some sites also offer other forms of personal “Budiablas” by an autocratic ruler Maharaja Ranbir delivery such as podcasts allowing users to share Singh. The origin and evolution of press in J&K visual/audio content. Most sites allow users to provides one of the most insightful windows into the participate by commenting and blogging and other social, religious, political and economic progress of interactive features such as votes, competitions and the state. After the debut of the newspapers in tips12. The adoption of social media tools by thirteen Kashmir, their growth as important information main Danish online newspapers over a period of sources continued. The technological reconfiguration 2008-2009 clearly reveal that new changes are on the in the Web era has changed the looks of information way in the online newspapers and they are related to sources in general and newspapers in particular. First recent developments including Facebook, Google ads, online newspapers, then newspapers with social mash-ups and mobile apps13. Teljas evaluated five media inclusion, newspapers have travelled a long Swedish newspaper’s web 2.0 utility. The study way. All over the globe, online newspapers are testing concluded that all five newspapers offer buttons for new waters of the ever growing and dynamic social sharing articles via Facebook. Content sharing was media technologies. Online newspapers in Kashmir also offered for social media services such as Twitter, are also introducing social media technologies. social bookmarking service and del.icio.us14. Belam Despite the newspaper industry’s rapidly growing use (2007) reviewed eight British newspaper web sites of social media, thus far, very few studies have (Daily Express, Daily Mirror, Daily Mail, Guardian, discussed the impact of social media in the context of Independent, The Sun, The Telegraph and The Times) the online news industry. Only a small number of in depth to identify where and how they are using the studies have been conducted on use of social media 6 social media and found that most of the sites have by online newspapers . The current study is an adopted such technologies though there are still some attempt to evaluate the occurrence of social media areas where sites are very much Print 1.0 rather than tools in newspapers of Kashmir. Web 2.015. In a study by Brick Factory (2006), a Review of literature Washington, DC-based digital agency, top 100 most There are evidently different ways for online circulated newspapers in the United States embrace a newspapers (and other websites) to use social media variety of social media tools, including RSS feeds, technologies. National dailies show spontaneous online videos, podcasts, blogs, and others in an effort growth in adopting new technologies including use of to maintain current audiences, as well as to reach out discussion forums, links to related information, video, to new groups of people via the Internet. By including audio, electronic mail, search engines, consumer such interactive features on their websites, and by services, sign-up for personal delivery, and making content available via RSS, many of America’s instantaneous updates. Many online newspapers apply newspapers have made a powerful effort to reach new technologies and platforms such as Twitter, Web-focused audiences with media that are relevant Facebook, Digg etc. as supplementary media to today’s virtual society16. Besides, Brick Factory channels8. Many news organizations and community (2006 a) reviewed the websites of the top 50 most newspapers are rapidly adopting a variety of new circulated magazines in the United States and approaches like social media (RSS, Twitter, evaluated them based on the presence or absence of Facebook, and text alerts) available to them in order various Web 2.0 features. The findings reveal that to reach new audiences, to drive traffic to their sites magazines are not making full use of Web 2.0. The and to extract information about their consumers9. most common online feature offered by magazines These tools help newspapers in reflecting and serving are RSS feeds (48%), message boards/forums (46%) the interests of their readers10. and videos (34%). Just 14% of websites Newspapers in Kuwait are perceived as the first use podcasts and bookmarking, 8% allow comments sector to adopt the social media applications on their on articles and 6% use tags17. Erdelez and Rioux websites11. Findings of Andersen, Rasmussen and (2000) while examining the design and functional Rasmussen (2009) in a survey on the adoption of features of sharing tools on a sample of 11 US social media technologies and services by traditional newspaper websites found many websites include Danish news media reveal that RSS feeds and buttons or links (sharing tools) that allow users to newsletters are the most common features used by conveniently share news stories and other information 58 ANN. LIB. INF. STU., MARCH 2013 with friends, family and colleagues18. Nigam (2008) Methodology analyzed the adoption of internet by women’s fashion A list of 58 daily newspapers of Kashmir obtained and beauty magazines in UK and analyzed that 81.8% from CNS Directory27 (Appendix I) were surveyed. websites have blogs, 54.5% websites allow users to Out of 58 newspapers only 21 (36.20%) were found save stories to profile and have video and 45.5% online. Among the 21 online newspapers, 10 websites have RSS feeds19. Mariano (2010) analyzed (47.61%) were in English language; 10 (47.61%) in the extent Metro Manila newspapers have undergone a Urdu and 1(4.76%) newspaper was in Kashmiri. transformation from pulp to digital. Metro Manila The ten English online dailies include Greater newspapers fail to exploit the power of web technology Kashmir, Kashmir Dispatch, Kashmir Horizon, as they remain text-heavy, are low on interactivity, and Kashmir Images, Kashmir Monitor, Kashmir play a back-up role to the print version though Social Observer, Kashmir Times, Rising Kashmir, The networking and bookmarking (social media) were Mirror of Kashmir and Trade and Jobs and eleven prevalent in three newspaper sites only 20.