Mashable: Utilization of Innovation

The idea of journalism making its way to the web was a concept of little importance when the Internet became a tool available to the public. It was merely a figment of a dream in the minds of young entrepreneurs.

But over the course of the last decade that dream became a certainty. The reality is the future of news is going to be online and the print format will cease to exist. The length of time it will take for this phenomenon to occur is yet to be seen, but the fate of print news is certainly set in stone.

Many entrepreneurs and young journalists saw the inevitable fate and began expanding and took their skills to the Internet. Sites like Mashable have helped create a market for this type of web journalism.  

Mashable was founded in 2005 by Scottish native Pete Cashmore in Aberdeen, Scotland. The site has since located its headquarters to New York City and Palo Alto, CA. The websites primary focus was social media when the site was founded but has since expanded to cover news, developments in mobile, entertainment, business and a slew of other web interests. Contrast to hard news sites like the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, etc., Mashable does not have a print version.

Website design is a crucial element to the success of online news publications, an aspect that is not lost on the design team at Mashable. Let’s discuss some of the features that make Mashable not only an innovator but one of the better news sites on the web.

The most noticeable element on the site is the top trending story. Similar to most news sites the top story has a large photo coupled with a headline that dwarfs the others. The top story also changes periodically throughout the day. Below the top story are smaller trending stories. The stories appear to be placed based on popularity, not based on when the stories were published. Each story has a bold headline in blue with the text of the story in black not including the blue links. Each trending story has its category listed next to the story. This is a great feature because it allows the reader to sift through content with ease. The stories seem to be well placed and there isn’t too much content on the front page. By contrast, the New York Times website seems to cram as much content as possible on the front page rendering the page unappealing and difficult to read.  

The site employs a toolbar located at the top of the page for navigation. The toolbar is well located and easy to use. There are six categories on the toolbar that allow the reader easy access to different areas of interest; social media, tech, business, entertainment, U.S. & world, and videos. Each category has a dropdown menu that provides easy access to the top trending story for each category. The greatest strengths of the toolbar are location and clarity. Toolbars like the one utilized by the New York Times are located on the side and are cluttered with many different topics making it difficult for the reader to find areas of interest. Mashable does well to avoid others’ flaws.

Above the main toolbar is another smaller toolbar placed near the top of the page. The smaller toolbar gives the reader access to the top stories, trending stories, people, jobs and events. Most of the categories are self-explanatory but the people tab allows the reader to meet the staff of Mashable and follow them on Twitter if they choose. The jobs tab allows the reader to find jobs on Mashable or on other related sites. The events tab advertises events and conferences on Mashable and other related areas.

Mashable chose to provide a photo with every story that appears on the website. Even the small headlines located in the trending topics column have a photo. Providing photos with stories is a great way to attract the reader to a story of interest. Providing photos for every story on the page may seem like overkill and a bit monotonous but I argue that it does well to create page continuity. On the other hand not every story needs a photo. There was a story on the site a few days ago about apple with simply a picture of the Apple logo. The photo wasn’t necessary and did not provide further interest or understanding of the story.

Videos on Mashable seem to work rather well and there is a plethora of video news stories. When I first arrived at the video page via the video tab on the front page toolbar, the top trending video began playing immediately. I found this feature mildly irritating. But despite my annoyance the videos load quickly; a feature that does well to appeal to Mashable’s main demographic.

Advertisements on websites are quickly becoming larger and more aggravating as we venture further into this age of Internet journalism. But Mashable does well to relieve the frustration of irritating ads. Upon arrival at the site, there is a large banner ad just below the main toolbar and another larger ad in the right hand column of the page. Also, neither of the ads are misleading. Both ads are for the same company but change day-to-day. However, there is a small section near the bottom of the page that is slightly deceitful. Near the bottom of the front page there is a section that is labeled partners. This section is essentially an advertisement for “partner companies” to Mashable that sell services such as video cloud, and an array of tech gadgets such as cell phones and iPods.

Commenting on news websites has grown tremendously overly the last several years and Mashable is not foreign to the status quo. Mashable has chosen to force readers who wish to comment to sign in via Facebook or Twitter. I found this feature mildly aggravating but I would maintain that it’s simpler than setting up an account through the site; a feature utilized by most news websites today.

As expected Mashable is a huge proponent of social media. Next to each story readers have the opportunity to like the story on Facebook, share it via Twitter, or “plus one” it (I was told by fellow classmates that this is the proper terminology) on Google +. They also provided easy access to subscribe to Mashable using LinkedIn, Stumble, YouTube, and RSS feed. The most noticeable feature is the opportunity to not only share stories on social media but the size of the widgets next to each story. The widgets are larger than they are on other news sites.

Mashable not only has a mobile website but they also provide apps for Android, iPhone and iPad. The apps for all three providers are free and deliver the same content available through the regular website. One noticeable difference is the layout from the iPhone to the Android app. The Android app provides a layout that is cluttered and rather unappealing but the iPhone app provides nothing more than the headline of each story creating a clean-cut page layout that is easy on the eyes. The mobile web design is similar to the layout of the iPhone app, with easy navigation and simplistic order.

The aspect of Mashable that is most appealing is its simplistic layout and ease of use. I alluded to this earlier but Mashable doesn’t have to follow the layout of a traditional news website like the Times and the Chicago Tribune because they are not an extension of the print version. They have an opportunity to be innovative in the design of the page. The site also does well to appeal to its main demographic in terms of content and layout. This is not a site that our parents are likely to visit so they don’t have to follow the same criteria as a hard news website. The site is geared towards younger, tech-savvy individuals and Mashable appeals well to its audience.  

Despite my apparent adore for Mashable there are a couple of areas that could use improvement. It is not necessary to have a photo with every story on the page. Some of the photos are placed with the story merely for the sake of providing a photo. They serve no purpose. A photo is intended to lead the reader to stories of importance. Stories of little importance would be better served without a photo. Eliminating photos may also provide more room for content on the front page. I would also consider modifying the Mashable logo. The entire design is dramatically similar to the Facebook emblem. Mashable may be better served using a different color or text to help distinguish the site in a market that relies on recognition.