Information dissemination characteristics of mobile phones

Although there is still a debate over the concept of calling mobile phone text messages the "fifth media", on July 18, 2004, my country's first mobile newspaper "China Women's News Multimedia Message Edition" was officially launched. Readers passed Reading newspapers and listening to news on mobile phones has become a reality.

Lu Xiaofei, editor-in-chief of "China Women's News", called mobile newspapers "the torch of a new round of information revolution" and said, "The birth of mobile newspapers heralded the end of the era of a cup of tea and a newspaper. "China currently has 210 million mobile phone users. The power and potential of mobile phone text messages and multimedia messages to spread information, and their characteristics of being direct and close to the public, have had a strong impact on traditional radio, television and print media.

The so-called "mobile newspaper" is the product of the combination of the latest telecommunications value-added services and traditional media. In other words, the news content of the paper media is sent to the user's MMS mobile phone through the wireless technology platform, so that the user can read the entire content of the day's newspaper through the mobile phone at the first time of every day.

Mobile newspapers use MMS to realize the function of disseminating news information. The biggest feature of mobile MMS transmission is that it is fast and convenient. Its advantages are mainly reflected in the following aspects:

Technically: The mobile phone is a wireless communication device. With the continuous development of technology, the size of mobile phones has increased. Getting smaller and smaller, with more and more features. Mobile MMS service does not require cumbersome procedures and long waits. Users only need to press a few keys and make some simple settings to enjoy this service. And unlike making phone calls or surfing the Internet, MMS on mobile phones requires that the recipient is also on the other end at the same time. The information can be stored on the server of the MMS platform. Once the other party turns on the phone, the information will be sent automatically. The party receiving the information can respond in real time or delay the response. The information is saved in the mobile phone for easy reference at any time.

Content: Rich content is also one of the important reasons why mobile text messages and multimedia messages are popular. Mobile phone short messages have a lot of content, and SMS content providers provide a variety of information customization services, so users can freely select the information they need. Mobile MMS is a more advanced form based on SMS. During the transmission process, the end user can receive 50K multimedia data packets. This multimedia data packet contains pictures, text, sounds, animations, etc., covering All contents of the 4-page 8-page newspaper. Therefore, the mobile newspaper provides readers with an original "newspaper" including masthead, page layout, title, introduction, photos and even advertisements, with very comprehensive information.

Speed: The mobile newspaper uses wireless multimedia communication technology, which is different from WAP browsing. You can receive the entire content of the "newspaper" instantly without being online. While the newspapers subscribed by traditional subscribers were still in printing plants and post offices, mobile newspapers were already displayed on mobile phones. Moreover, the 50K media data packets provided by the mobile newspaper are sent to the user's mobile phone at one time, and there will be no disconnection or waiting like online browsing.

From a communication point of view, mobile phone text messages make communication more convenient and the communication speed continues to accelerate. In fact, it also leads to an increase in the frequency of communication and an expansion of communication content. This feature of mobile phone text messages and multimedia messages gives them incomparable advantages in the dissemination of news information. News information is generally short and concise, updated quickly, and requires fast dissemination speed and wide range. This is the advantage of mobile phone text messaging. According to Longhu.com, within 4 hours after the outbreak of the US-Iraq war, the number of views on commercial websites including Sina, Sohu, TOM, NetEase, etc. increased by 5 to 10 times compared with usual, and the number of users' SMS subscriptions exceeded usual levels by more than 4 times. In less than 4 hours after the war broke out, the TOM news channel traffic reached 6.5 million pages, 2 million text messages were sent, and 170,000 multimedia messages were sent. Many people received news text messages from the website immediately and experienced the convenience and speed of the short message service. There are also many people who use the group sending function of their mobile phones to forward this information to more people, acting as a part of the so-called "N-pole communication".

Mobile newspapers also have advantages that traditional media cannot match in terms of "interactivity". We know that one of the important characteristics of traditional mass media is the strong one-way nature of communication. This characteristic results in the audience's feedback on media information being mostly post hoc and delayed, lacking immediacy and directness. Negroponte distinguished networks into ring networks and star networks.

Television networks are typical ring networks. When you watch a program, many people are watching it at the same time. Its operation mode is "one-to-many". The telephone network is a typical star network, which radiates from a fixed point. You have as many routes as you have the phone number in your hand. It can be said that this is a "many-to-many" operating system. If we delve deeper into this distinction, we can define a star network as a "network without a centralized organization." Mobile MMS based on the telephone network reflects this characteristic. In this communication system, the sender and the receiver are equal, and the receiver also constitutes a link in this communication system. There is no clear and constant relationship between the sender and the receiver. boundaries. Therefore, mobile newspapers not only send users the news they need, but can also achieve multiple functions such as tracking, newspaper collection, reader surveys, and reader reviews. It provides more and more convenient services to readers and newspapers, and achieves broader and faster interaction.

Based on cross-platform cooperation between traditional paper media and telecommunications value-added services, mobile newspapers have created a new way of news dissemination. At the same time, restricted by various factors, new mobile newspapers also have competitive disadvantages.

First of all, only MMS mobile phone users can see the mobile newspaper. Although China Mobile currently has more than 200 million users, only about 20% of them have MMS mobile phones, which means that the number of potential readers of mobile newspapers still needs to be increased.

Secondly, the mobile version of China Women's News is currently sold on a monthly subscription basis, with a monthly fee of 20 yuan. The monthly "mobile newspaper" only includes the condensed version of China Women's News. If users want to know all the news in the page, they need to request it separately. The price of each text message is currently 1 yuan, and may increase in the future. This charging standard is a bit expensive compared to only 0.1 yuan per text message sent and free for the recipient. Compared with ordinary newspapers, it is not cheap.

Thirdly, in terms of network construction, China Mobile has only launched MMS base stations in Beijing and Wuhan so far, and the base stations determine the speed of MMS sending.

Finally, the current mobile newspapers are actually just the "MMS version" of traditional paper media, and are only equivalent to the newspaper's distribution department and printing plant. It does not have its own editorial department and cannot be considered an independent media.

In short, in the current market where the "four major media" of newspapers, television, radio and the Internet are fiercely competing for each other, the new "mobile newspapers" are also coming to get a share of the pie. In this regard, Tang Dansong, president of Beijing Haoyi Spacetime Network Technology Co., Ltd., who is responsible for grafting China Women's News onto mobile phones, said, "Readers of mobile newspapers are a group of people with high knowledge levels, good economic foundation, and age groups in the society. Elites aged 25-45 who are highly sensitive to information. "Those who are on business trips and don't have time to read newspapers in the morning can read newspapers on their mobile phones while sitting in the subway or in the car." "Mobile newspapers do not conflict with other media. "It will provide convenience to consumers." He also revealed that the company has signed contracts with newspapers such as "Worker Daily", "China Youth Daily", "Information Herald", and "Family Weekend", and these newspapers will also be launched one after another." "Mobile News". (