Happy 2012 and Welcome Back!
It's that time of the year again – the first week of the year. We're all trying to get into the swing of working again, shed those Christmas tummy's and make resolutions that we might not be able to keep! I feel your pain, I too will be forcing myself to the gym tonight and I've been dreading it all day.
BUT, 5 days have rolled past pretty quickly already and rather than get bogged down with the post-Christmas blues, let's get motivated about what 2012 has in store!
This week, I'm getting excited about a new social platform that I think has potential in 2012...
SCRIBD
No, I'm not still drunk on Christmas liquor. It's pronounced 'Skribbed' and is the world's largest social reading and publishing platform.
Scribd is said to 'become a home for readers everywhere and will transform the ways in which people share and discover information and ideas.' (Trip Adler, Scribd)
Another Revolution?
With people using their mobile devices and tablets for almost everything, it was only a matter of time before there had to be a place to bring readers and creators of written content together, regardless of physical or format constraints. Where the Internet was a pivotal moment for the printing and publishing industry, new technology and social platforms may be changing the industry all over again.
What's It All About?
Scribd was founded by Trip Adler, and was started after he realised how hard it was for people to publish content to the internet and gain readership. As technology has developed, the platform now aims to make it simple for readers to share, discuss and discover written content, across the web and mobile devices.
You select various areas of interest and pick favourite sites to "follow" you then get stories delivered to you in a constantly updated feed. Either select stories to view or to store in your "library" for later. It is similar to a Twitter feed.
To access Scribd on your smart phone or tablet, they have developed Float, their digital reading suite. This allows you to put all of your favourite documents, news, blogs and anything you enjoy reading in one place for you to access on your mobile device at any time.
For anyone producing content, Scribd is where you can find an audience. It allows your content to be discovered through search engines, shared on social networks and read on billions of mobile devices.
You could think of it as the largest book club on the planet. Every day, millions of people contribute to the conversations happening on Scribd by commenting, rating and Readcasting to friends on Scribd, Facebook and Twitter.
Do people care what you have to say? Maybe now is the time to find out.
People subscribe and read your content or articles if they are interested in what you have to say, and then share this with others. I've searched and subscribed to authors who write about digital marketing and located some great articles. However, it's not only books and articles, if you are a business you can post news, press releases, fact sheets on products and much more. The list is endless.
Scribd also provides you with 'My Stats,' view how many reads you get, what countries and regions they come from and what keywords they use to find your articles.
A Breakthrough?
I have just published one of my blog posts on Scribd entitled – Social Media - Is It Too LOUD? In about an hour I have had 11 reads, now that isn't too bad considering I have only just signed up, and don't really have any subscribers or followers.
In this piece, I discussed how difficult it is to get noticed and heard on social media networks.
Have I just found a solution?
Scribd, isn't about bombarding your audience with information, but leaves it in their hands. If they want to know about something, they can simply find, read and discuss the topic, book or organisation that interests them.
Millions of people go to Scribd each day and their content publishers include the biggest names in book publishing, media, government and entertainment and many other people just like me and you.
It's early days, but with social media networks becoming a little bit too crowded, will Scribd provide a new place for you to have a voice and actually speak to people who want to listen?
Take a look and let me know what you think, do you think this is the next big thing?
In the meantime, I will be monitoring Scribd and trying to get to know it a little better!
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