If the phrase “digital magazine” brings to your mind a text-based publication accompanied by images, filled with hyperlinks, and read on a computer, tablet, or smartphone, it’s time to update this perception. The following model of online publishing is becoming a thing of the past, making way for a far more immersive, multisensory experience. A new era is emerging – let’s get ready for it.
When online magazines started coexisting alongside print (becoming one of the hottest trends in publishing), we could see a clear distinction between “traditional publishing” and “digital publishing”. There was no doubt about which was which.
At that time, we were defining “digital publishing” as the electronic counterpart of a traditional magazine, accessible on digital devices such as computers, tablets, and smartphones. It could take various forms, from simple PDF files to interactive publications enriched with multimedia elements like videos, animations, audio, or interactive infographics.
Their strongest features that distinguished them from the paper were enormous possibilities of interactivity, readers’ engagement, content personalization, social media integration, and data analysis.
Today, the latest technological changes may be disrupting this well-known category of digital magazines, dividing it into “traditional online publishing” and… well, what exactly?
How to Add a WordPress Comments Section to Your Website?
Generating digital publishing revenue has moved from an ad concentrated model to monetization strategies based on paid subscriptions and paywalls. For publishers, this shift means a necessity to concentrate on building an online community gathered around their content. The goal is to transform engaging readers into paying subscribers. Enabling the WordPress comments section, available on desktop as well as on mobile app, can help achieve this goal.
Everyone who has once tempted to read a discussion on the Internet below any article can understand why some publishers decide to disable comments. The reasons seem quite obvious: fear of hate speech, unreasonable criticism or just impolite statements. Constant moderation process requires extra work and, quite often, hiring new employees. It’s easier to close the comments section or… move a discussion to social media channels. The second option means voluntary resignation from keeping readers on publishers’ sites and giving them in the technology giants’ hands.
The possibility of writing (and reading!) comments doesn’t just mean participating in the discussion with the author or other people. It’s an extension of the article, improvement of the journalism value and finally, transformation of passive readers into active ones, which has a huge impact on building a sense of belonging to the group. From here it’s a very short journey to trusting the brand and staying longer with the content, which will result in subscribing and paying. Consequently, you as publishers, journalists and authors face a challenge to be community organizers today.
Where should you start? From making it possible for people to express their thoughts under articles, using different devices they read on. You can do it thanks to tools like Disqus and Facebook Comments.
Get to know how to install the WordPress comments section to start building a circle of your supporters.