Going into the beginning of the semester, I really did not know what to expect from this assignment. I had no previously conceived notions about HuffPost, as I had generally looked elsewhere to find my news. But after exploring HuffPost and its many facets throughout the course of the semester, it has pleasantly surprised me to say the least.
In the past few months I have been able to take a look in depth at HuffPost’s website, analyze their social media presence, explore the history of the news source, and test the efficiency of their app. Though I had my critiques of every aspect I reviewed, I was overall quite impressed with HuffPost’s presence for its audience.
One of the ways in which HuffPost gains its competitive edge amongst a plethora of other news sources is its high level of audience interactivity. Through its many niche groups and the “personal blog” section of the website, HuffPost, in my opinion, engages its audience in a way that many other news media sources do not.
Another aspect of HuffPost that especially impressed me was its mobile app. After exploring the web page, which I found to be overall acceptable albeit slightly overwhelming, I did not have very high expectations for the same amount of content being crammed into my small mobile screen. I could not have been more wrong. The HuffPost news app was laid out efficiently and cleanly, its features were all extremely useful and convenient, and it provided a generally pleasant experience for the user. I was surprised to find I actually preferred it greatly to the website itself.
So as the semester reaches a close, along with this blog, my opinions on HuffPost have certainly changed. While it may not ever become my primary news source, I will definitely be checking in on their app from time to time. And if you, like me, have not taken the time to explore HuffPost, I would recommend the same.
Huffington Post Tracker 