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

www.yoza.mobi

“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

Background

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

51%South African households that own no leisure books

(TNS Research Surveys, 2006)

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

(Equal Education, 2009)

Mobile revolution

Early story on MXit (2009)

Yoza today

Yoza today

“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

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

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

What users thought of Yoza stories

What our Facebook friends have to say ...

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)

More comments than War and Peace

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

“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)

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

“Aha” moment:

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

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

Lessons

Lesson 1: Research content and user interface with teens

Lesson 1: Research content and user interface with teens

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

Lesson 2: Mobile is a content monster

Solution: have lots of content ready to publish

Lesson 3: Mobile is “always on”

Solution: moderate constantly

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

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

Lesson 5: Always prompt (and be provocative)

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

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

MXitMobisite

Facebook

Lesson 8: There will be drop-off …

“Ag!BORING. . .:-z”Thandi

Lesson 10: … But fans are loyal

Final thoughts

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

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

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

thecontentstudio1@gmail.com

www.thecontentstudio.co.za

Steve Vosloo

stevevosloo@gmail.com

www.yozaproject.com