The Boston Globe has settled on a platform by Pluck to help the paper make the most of user-generated content (UGC) hosted on its subsidiary website Boston.com. The Boston Globe has recognized the need to have a much stronger online presence and the need to be able to interact with users, the Pluck platform will allow Boston.com to do all this and more.

Pluck, a subsidiary of Demand Media, specializes in driving traffic to clients’ websites using a variety of social media strategies. Boston.com will be using a product called Sitelife, a complete social network. Sitelife allows a company to have all the tools of a social network, customized to their needs. This is a great benefit for companies that want to host their own networks and not just exist within a bigger social network such as Bebo or MySpace.

For a website such as Boston.com that already has thousands of visitors everyday, a service like this can be
very beneficial. Through Sitelife users can build profiles, start groups, write reviews, comment and voice
opinions in forums and post videos and pictures.

Although this is not necessarily the best option for all companies, for the companies big enough to be
able to populate this new social network the advantages are easy to see.  Through moderation and other means of monitoring the network it can be a safe place for like minded and even people with opposing views to come together and discus issues or meet new friends. The new service will be useful in developing a larger readership base among more tech savvy youth who are moving away from hard copy print material.

The whole news print industry is in trouble right now and the Globe’s parent - the New York Times - has even talked about shutting it down. The competition brought by the Internet is more then many companies can handle. By dealing with the issue like The Boston Globe has done, by listening and engaging its readers, the Boston Globe stands a far better chance of surviving.