NI introduces My Sun community website

by Media Week, Media Week 17-Oct-06

News International has introduced a free members-only community, My Sun, to the range of content available on The Sun's website.

The service does not link thesun.co.uk with News International sister
company MySpace directly, but it is hoped the name association will help
promote the site and get people to interact with The Sun's news stories,

with their journalists and with each other.

Users can create a profile for themselves and then go into discussion
forums about topics of the day featured in the newspaper site's
sections, such as news, sport, the Bizarre diary and Woman.

My Sun has gone live, but has been soft-launched and the marketing push
is due to begin within weeks.

Discussions between Sun.co.uk users will be post-moderated as part of an
effort to allow people to talk freely.

David Roddick, digital director at The Sun.co.uk, explained: "The main
difference [with MySpace] is that it's not a social network. There are
no friends, it is about the content."

He added: "For example, with the England match report, you can discuss
our piece that morning and people may take issue with your view.

"It creates that debate and you can enter that debate with other users
and Sun journalists."

Journalists will also be blogging on the site.

Users have to register for the site, create a profile, and must be over
the age of 18.