This story first appeared on RJI’s Futures Lab. Reporting by Berkeley Lovelace.
With Snapchat firmly establishing itself alongside other social media as an avenue for news and information, this week we offer an overview of four other messaging apps with journalism-related potential.
PART 1: Peach
Created by Vine co-founder Dom Hofmann, Peach attracted a lot of buzz when it launched in January. The iOS app enables users to share photos, GIFs, drawings and status updates using “magic words.”
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PART 2: Line
Serving an established user base around the world, Line handles text messages, images, video and audio and is available on multiple mobile and PC platforms.
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PART 3: Kik
Available for iOS, Android and Windows phones, Kik allows users to send instant messages without providing a phone number or location data.
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PART 4: Yik Yak
A location-centered app, Yik Yak lets users post messages of up to 200 characters on a bulletin board-like interface. The app’s primary attribute was that posts were totally anonymous, but the app is now asking each user to create a user name. It’s available on iOS and Android platforms.
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Additional information:
Facebook will soon allow publishers to distribute their content through its Messenger app, according to Marketing Land and Nieman Lab.
Reuben Stern is the deputy director of the Futures Lab at the Reynolds Journalism Institute and host and co-producer of the weekly Futures Lab video update.
The Reynolds Journalism Institute’s Futures Lab video update features a roundup of fresh ideas, techniques and developments to help spark innovation and change in newsrooms across all media platforms. Visit the RJI website for the full archive of Futures Lab videos, or download the receive email notification of each new episode.
