m-novels for africa: engaging readers through mobile phones

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m-Novels for Africa: Engaging Readers through Mobile Phones Steve Vosloo, Project Leader Presented at International Symposium : Mobile Phone and Creation, Paris 14 June 2012

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Page 1: m-Novels for Africa: Engaging Readers through Mobile Phones

m-Novels for Africa: Engaging Readers through Mobile Phones

Steve Vosloo, Project Leader

Presented at International Symposium : Mobile Phone and Creation, Paris 14 June 2012

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www.yoza.mobi

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“It's great ... for me it really hard to pick up a book to start readin but i don mind readin on my phone”dotty1

What our users commented

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Background

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The Yoza Project

• Yoza enables reading, writing and engagement via mobile phones

• South African project launched August 2009, initially funded by the Shuttleworth Foundation

• Through Yoza, short stories, poems and classic literature are published on mobile phones (MXit and on a mobisite -- a website for mobiles)

• Highly interactive: users can comment, vote, enter writing competitions and review stories

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51%South African households that own no leisure books

(TNS Research Surveys, 2006)

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7%Public schools in South Africa that have functional libraries of any kind

(Equal Education, 2009)

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Mobile revolution

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Early story on MXit (2009)

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Yoza today

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Yoza today

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“If friar's plan wrks, then romeo wil b able 2 cum nd take juliet wit hm 2 liv hapily 2geda at mantua bt if it fails, sumbdy's gna b dead. Lol!”Elsie

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“I loved the book, wish it didnt have an ending. Shakespear please bring another one like this one. IT WAS MWAAAH!!”Blessed1

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Yoza Cellphone Stories: Basics

• A growing library of titles: 30 m-novels, 18 poems, 5 Shakespeare plays

• Genres include teen issues, romance, soccer, adventure, “classics”, poetry

• Some stories are serialised (a chapter a day) and every chapter of every story has a comment prompt or vote prompt

• Chapters around 400 words (some stories 200 words)

• Total length: 4000 to 10000 words

• Stories in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa

• Stories are free but costs for mobile data (about 7c per chapter)

• All stories are either openly licenced (CC) or in the public domain

• On MXit all comments are moderated before going live

• Available in South Africa and Kenya on Mxit

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What users thought of Yoza stories

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What our Facebook friends have to say ...

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Yoza stats (19 months)

•Complete reads: >475,000

•No. of comments: >47,000

•No. of unique visitors: >180,000

•No. of MXit subscribers to Yoza: >69,000

•No. of votes: >44,000

(Period: August 2010 to May 2012)

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More comments than War and Peace

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“T z a vry !ntstng stry,really attrtz da a attns f da reader.k!p t up”L!hle

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“I realy lv de story, it ws touchy evn painful again i hv learnd a lot 4rm it. Am gona pass it 2 my frnd nd family 2 read 4 dem self”(Anon)

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User demographics

• Mostly 18-25 years old, then 13-17

• Slightly more female

• Mostly Black

• Mostly in urban centres, but also spread throughout country

• Estimate LSM 3-7

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“Aha” moment:

Mobile phones are a viable distribution platform for longer form content and for enabling user participation

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“A gud st0ri alth0ugh vewi sh0rt id lyk 2 c m0re 0n mxit bk0z it enc0uragez readin!”Lesleigh(F)

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Lessons

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Lesson 1: Research content and user interface with teens

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Lesson 1: Research content and user interface with teens

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“Waiting for the next chapters kills me!”Suzi*

Lesson 2: Mobile is a content monster

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Solution: have lots of content ready to publish

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Lesson 3: Mobile is “always on”

Solution: moderate constantly

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“I alwayz (H)ur stories guyz and i alwayz learn smthing new”Sisipho

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Lesson 4: Users know what they want

•Content that entertains, inspires and educates

•Content about issues (pregnancy, drugs, careers, money), romance and adventure

•Real life stories

•See http://yozaproject.com/2010/12/04/what-do-you-want-from-yoza-the-yoza-community-responds/

Solution: ask, listen and respond

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Lesson 5: Always prompt (and be provocative)

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Lesson 6: Adapt based on immediate feedback

The Awesomes chapters rewritten (pre-publication) based on comments received in earlier chapters

Streetskillz stories changed (post-publication) from third to first person narrative to pick up the pace, make interaction more direct

Solution: watch and respond

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Lesson 7: Leverage existing networks and meet readers where they are

MXitMobisite

Facebook

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Lesson 8: There will be drop-off …

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“Ag!BORING. . .:-z”Thandi

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Lesson 10: … But fans are loyal

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Final thoughts

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Mobile phone is the e-reader of Africa

Participatory culture happens through mobile phones: consumption, creation, engagement

txtspk iz hr 2 stay

emerging mobile literacies

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“The stories r interesting nd fun 2 read, they kip ma englsh gng”Hlengiwe gulube

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How to access Yoza and contact details

Browser: www.yoza.mobi

MXit: Add a contact (MXit Services) called yoza

Facebook: www.facebook.com/yozacellphonestories

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Louise McCann

[email protected]

www.thecontentstudio.co.za

Steve Vosloo

[email protected]

www.yozaproject.com