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Launched today and still in beta, Younews (http://www.younews.in)is the latestaddition into the Indian Web 2.0 space. A new Internet startup that may likelychange the way news is reported and read by people, at least online. "The site isall about user powered content. Younews gives you, the user, the power to decidewhich news in actually newsworthy. This helps in bringing up and keeping alivetopics which the nation thinks is important while presenting to a casual visitor tothe site the most important news as the nation sees." says Aravind Chandrasekaran,founder Younews.
Unlike traditional news websites, Younews does not have editors or reporters. Anuser registers on Younews and submits news stories and web links which he likes.These stories immediately come up on the upcoming section of the website where otherusers read and vote it up if they like it. Once a story gains a sufficient number ofvotes, it gets published on the front page of Younews under the appropriatecategory. This way Younews promises to take citizen journalism to a new level bydemocratising the whole process of news gathering, reporting and publishing.
The concept is not new. Younews founder Aravind says he was inspired by theextremely popular technology oriented site Digg.com which pioneered this way."Digg.com operates in its own space. Though quite popular in the US andinternationally, I found not many of my net savvy friends here in India knew aboutit. But they liked the concept. That's where I saw the opportunity for Younews. Awebsite that targets a niche Indian market with news that matters to them." saysAravind.
India's phenomenal growth rate in terms of Internet penetration and online newsreaders in recent years is definitely throwing up lot of opportunities for startupslike Younews. Social media sites like YouTube and Digg have been able to get tons oftraffic by letting people be a part of them. As Aravind says "The possiblities arelimitless. You could have Younews for reviewing products, movies, shopping deals oreven stocks. Companies can add a few things to gain valuable market insight. But asof now Younews is only going to concentrate on news. If the success of Digg.com isany measure then I guess Younews will do well too. Am just looking for some startupcapital for promotion and further development work." Younews does seem to have a lotof potential. All that remains to be seen is if India's netizens are ready for itnow.
