‘Slant’ has a fresh take on what makes news truly social
For this week’s edition of Site of the Week, we bring you the brand spankin’ new Slant.
What is it?
At a glance, Slant is a new a site (and when we say new, we mean June 2015 “new”) covering all things pop culture, politics, sports, and tech with a diverse array of writers and the requisite humor of an upstart digital publisher.
If that were all, Slant would still be worth keeping tabs on.
But of course, that’s not all.
What Makes it Unique?
If Medium and Mic.com had a baby, it would look a lot like Slant.
Though currently in “closed beta,” according to their site, Slant will provide any and all users with a blogging platform to contribute articles. A Slant editor will then work with the writer to shape the story to standards of quality and ensure that the post has a fair shot at success.
In the early going, that “success” will likely comprise the usual publishing KPIs of pageviews, shares, time spent, etc., and one of the benefits to working with a Slant editor is learning how to optimize for all of the above.
But another key benefit is money.
Slant users will get as much as 70% of the revenue (that is not a typo) their stories earn for the site, as well as access to detailed performance analytics.
Of course, that may not add up to much in the way of a livable wage at this point, but still… the idea that platform users should partake in the rewards they reap for the platform is pretty rare in digital media these days.
Why Should You Care?
Slant has a fresh take (or “angle” as their branding suggests) on how to make the news truly social. It’s a bold experiment that will be interesting to watch in the months ahead.
If You Only Have 5 Minutes…
Read Gabrielle Fratangelo’s Best and Worst of NYC’s Food Deliver Apps.
