If newspapers that are planning to put their operations online rather than closing them down would take note of a new comScore report, it would tell them how to perhaps drive more readers to their publication. According to a comScore report released today, the number of people using their mobile phones to access news has more than double from January 2008 to January of this year.
Of the 63.2 million people who used their mobile phones to access news and information in January 2009, 35% or 22.4 million of them have done it on a daily basis. This is twice the number of people who did the same thing in 2009.
Aside from accessing news, the report also revealed that these people use their mobile phones to do their social networking activities, financial-related transactions, accessed business directories and entertainment news.
All these point out to one thing – that mobile phone usage is becoming part of people’s daily lives. Not only are mobile phones now being used only for calling or texting but also for other online activities.
And like I said, newspaper publishers must take note of this fact. Redirecting their publications online while stopping the printed media can be more successful if they will make their publications more mobile phone-friendly, regardless of mobile platform.
A good example of this is the way websites are optimizing for the iPhone. There are more and more iPhone optimized websites being created since the iPhone came out. These iPhone optimized websites tailor fit the design, usability and navigation of their sites on the iPhone’s display capability. Hence, providing users with an almost exact replica of the website on the iPhone.