NowPublic unveils SCAN
What is SCAN?
Right now a vast conversation is happening on the Internet on every imaginable topic. Increasingly this discussion is visible through social networks like Flickr, Youtube, twitter and others.
NowPublic has been in the business of finding newsworthy conversations since its inception. In fact, the site has become the go-to-place if you want to find out what people are seeing and saying about today’s news.
This week NowPublic will be launching SCAN in partnership with The Vancouver Sun. SCAN may be the best way of unearthing newsworthy content on the Internet. Nowhere else is it as easy to find undiscovered news photos and videos by ordinary people and hidden links to breaking news. This is your window into the real-time web.
How does SCAN work?
The way the system works is by tracking the microblogosphere (that means twitter and other status updating sites). We search the conversations on these sites based on keywords. So for instance, if you wanted to find out what people were saying about the New York Yankees, SCAN can look for tweets about every single player. That’s pretty powerful. …but just like the Snuggie™, there is so much more.
SCAN will then show you the links people are sharing. If those links go out to photos or videos we’ll serve up a set of thumbnails so you can quickly see what’s worth clicking through to. SCAN also shows you who’s tweeting, and what the most recommended tweets are.
When you visit The Sun website you’ll see photos, videos and tweets on the right side of selected stories. This gives you a sense of what people are saying on twitter and on the web. By clicking the ‘Follow the Buzz’ button you’ll be able to dive right into the conversation. Now you can see what photos and videos people are linking to, find the most popular links and recommend comments and tweets you think are good. 
As pioneers in the space we think this is one of the ways that the audience can work together with news organizations to make the news. It’s early days and it’s experimental but we think the results are going to be interesting. If you want to see how this unfolds stay tuned to this site or follow us on Twitter. We’ll keep you posted.
…And as always, if you’ve got feedback please let us know what you think.
Michael Tippett, The NowPublic Team.
