Help us design the ‘newspaper’ of the future
Call us crazy, but the Nozzl Media team is on a mission to create a new generation of local news product — and we need your help.
Nozzl Media’s product will look and act a lot like a news feed on Twitter or Facebook. But Nozzl Media won’t be just another social-media site. It will contain real news about Portland-area events, neighborhoods, businesses, crime and the kinds of local information you can’t live without. You won’t be inundated with a fire hose of information — unless you want to be! That’s because you get to control what you do and don’t see in your feed (or stream, as we call it). And the stream will update itself in real time over your iPhone or other smart phone.
Our goal is to give you, the consumer, the ability to define “news” any way you want to. Then we’ll deliver it to you, wherever you are. That means you’ll never again have to worry about missing something important to you, because of information overload.
But for Nozzl Media to deliver the service you want, we need your help. So here’s your first assignment: Sign up for our initial survey, which will give us a good idea of what you want and don’t want.
To participate, let us know where to send the survey. E-mail us at info@nozzlmedia.com. Or if you’d like to contact me directly, you can e-mail me at stevew@nozzlmedia.com, direct-message me at nozzlsteve on Twitter, or call me at (503) 568-5438.
I truly believe that the “newspaper” of the future belongs to its readers. Thanks for being willing to help design a product for a new generation. Talk with you soon.
Thanks, Carissa! That’s really helpful. We’ll get busy collecting your green living, design, beer and bikes content! Stay tuned…
Very cool, if this can become the StumbleUpon of news I think you’ll do very well. I’d sign up for anything local related to green living, design, beer, and bikes, for example. The user content aspect looks nice too (I’m making assumptions based on the questions asked in the survey).
P.S. I took your survey but it was via a link on Twitter and if I remember how Survey Monkey works my answers were probably cataloged under the person you sent the survey to.
Thanks, Amy. At this point, we have lots of jobs that need to be done, but no money to pay anyone …. yet. Meanwhile, we’ll remember your strategic Beaverton location.
You’re right about zoned editions that define people only in terms of their residence. People’s lives are vastly more complicated than that. That’s why we believe the answer lies in casting the widest possible net for information on every neighborhood and every activity in greater Portland. Then individual consumers can dip into that vast pool of information and choose what they want to read. They become, in essence, editors of their own custom newspapers.
Your observation about advertising is absolutely the crux of the argument over whether newspapers will live or die. Filtering technologies like ours — which enable consumers to select their own news — will also enable consumers to connect with advertisers who sell the products and services they’re most interested in. If you’re interested in classical music in Portland, you’ll get Oregon Symphony ads. If you’re interested in elder care, you’ll get assisted living facility ads. But you won’t get ads that are completely irrelevant to your interests. We hope it’s a win for both consumers and advertisers.
Hello Steve.
I’ve always felt that The Oregonian’s zoned editions attempt to achieve these goals but they don’t work. They boundary lines are drawn arbitrarily along residential lines for production purposes. But the zoned editions don’t make allowances for the vagaries of where a person works/shops/plays/studies in addition to resides. For example, the Southwest Portland resident may care about Beaverton or Portland schools, depending on where she lives and where her kids attend(ed), and she may also care about Hillsboro if she works there, or Portland if she drives through there to work in Portland. And she may care about Cedar Hills if she shops there, Forest Grove if she goes to college there, or Lake Oswego if she goes to church there. She may care about assisted living facilities if she’s elderly, she may care about nightclubs if she’s young, and she may care about school supplies if she has schoolchildren.
The most important thing is advertising, though. The zoned editions are not effective because an advertiser cannot specifically target one person and avoid blasting advertising at people who aren’t likely to buy their products/services.
Amy Starke
P.S. I’m in the job market. Hire me for your Beaverton-area correspondent!