‘Larryville KU’ – A New Way to Find and Share News Online

Where does your audience get its news? There was a time when a newspaper was the only song and dance in town – everyone picked it up, everyone read it, everyone talked about it. That time ended decades ago. The fact that you’re reading this blog is one piece of evidence of a new development in how we consume news – people are increasingly wanting (and willing) to create their own news and share it with their friends.

That traditional news outlets like newspaper and radio stations have suffered from the fragmentation of audience over the past few decades isn’t new to anyone. And there are some media companies who are adapting to the evolution in media consumption and will capitalize off new ways to generate revenue in an increasingly online world. Some sadly, are not so willing and times are tough. But one traditionally print-centric news group, The University Daily Kansan (KU’s college newspaper) has embraced the change and is even leading the way on grabbing news-hungry and web savvy readers in a way they can accept and share.

I had a chance to speak to you Becca Ross, The Kansan’s Digital+Interactive Manager about the launch of LarryvilleKU.com, their effort to create a forum in which their college audience can share news stories, events and favorite places to shop and eat on their desktops and mobile devices:

LarryvilleKU.com gives KU students a forum in which to share their college experiences

1) What was the goal or philosophy behind LarryvilleKU.com?

Becca: LarryvilleKU was a grant project from the journalism school to make the software program LarryvilleKU more relevant and useful for a news organization. When Jon (Sales and Marketing Advisor) told me about the project, he assigned me to come up with the entire sales model of LarryvilleKU, which is designed in a small-business membership buy-in.  At the end of the day, I want people to plan their days around LarryvilleKU, and use it as a resource to find out everything that is happening in Lawrence at that specific time and day.

2) Tell me a little bit about how the site works, from the user perspective

Becca: The site is a geotagged news source that allows the user to see bargains, events, tweets, police reports, photos and specials in Lawrence. If I am on campus and I want to know when the next Ad Club meeting is, I can pull up LarryvilleKU and see it on the map with the room and time. If I want to know 23rd Street Brewery’s specials for Monday, it will be the first thing I see when I click on 23rd Street’s icon. The user can pin point locations, neighborhoods, blocks and exact addresses for specific information happening in that area. Even Kansan articles can show up on the map as long as it has an address, so users can see where the story actually happened.

The ideal user will not only look to LarryvilleKU for the business side, they will also post their own content onto the site. For example, if they are having a Super Bowl party they can post that to LarryvilleKU, to let their friends know the address, time, attire and any information they want to put up. Also, users can tweet to LarryvilleKU by putting their location in their tweet and #LarryvilleKU.

LarryvilleKU.com Map with customizable and geo-tagged news/info icons

3) Why did a site like this make sense for The Kansan and Kansan Digital?

Becca: Every day the world is becoming more digital. Students are constantly on their computers, phones and tablets trying to look for information in the easiest way possible. They use so many tools to spread information such as Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Blogging, Google+ and many more sites that getting a message to them gets more and more difficult everyday. Therefore this product was a perfect way to combine all those tools into one source of information. Now students can customize exactly what news they want to take in and share it with their friends digitally.

This is a major leap for Kansan Digital, because most of our products are geared toward an older audience and out-of-state audience. LarryvilleKU has completely expanded the clientele of the digital team, who have lists up to seventy clients each. There is no business that isn’t right for LarryvilleKU, because the business can customize the news they want to post.

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My personal favorite feature of the site? The ability of users to share their own stories, or re-share an interesting article, great local deal or event in their local community. Sites like Pinterest have made sharing and re-sharing so much easier and its massive recent success just reinforces the idea that people don’t want or need to be told about your brand and business – they’re already forming (and sharing) their own opinions.

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