Classifieds and user comments are coming soon, but for now we’re adding some quick features to boost reader participation – mostly in the area of sharing news with others.
You may have noticed the "Share" icons at the top and bottom of stories. You can share stories via Facebook, email or printing them by clicking on their respective icons. You can also add a story to your favorites by clicking the "star" icon. If you click the "Share" link or the plus sign (+), you can choose from over 250 other methods of spreading the word (such as myspace, StumbleUpon, Digg, Delicious, etc.). So far, Facebook and email have been the preferred reader method of sharing stories with a few myspace and StumbleUpon links as well.
Until user comments are available on the next revision of Newscow, sharing a story on Facebook is a good way of adding your views to the stories. Once you’ve shared a link on Facebook, you and all of your friends can add as many comments as you like – completely unmoderated by us at Newscow.
We’re currently testing out the new Facebook "Like" button on the site to see whether its something we will include in the new version of the site or not. Feel free to help us test it out. You can leave your feedback on the Facebook Newscow group page or email us if you’re not a Facebook user.
Right now Facebook’s privacy policies are a hot topic due to some changes related to the "Like" button and other "instant personalization" features. With your privacy in mind, know that we are not interested in following what you, personally, are doing on the site – what stories you read. We like to know in general so we can continue to bring you the information you want to read, but we already have the tools in place to let us know anonymously what you find interesting.
We don’t have any tools in place to track you via Facebook (or plans to) and if we add any, we’ll be sure to post it prior to launching it. I have worked for several years in the area of personalizing websites and applications, so I can see both the privacy concerns and the personalization benefits that come with these moves. The right balance is a personal choice and right now that is a choice you can make on your own by adjusting your privacy settings.
