Real Time Information

1. Real Time Information

2. Examples RSS feeds News Weather Social networking Radio Websites

3. News Target audience: the general public, 21+ • The BBC news website breaks up articles into different categories such as: • World • Local • Business • Politics • Heath • Education • Environment • Technology • Entertainment/arts News websites are constantly being updated in real time. This means that the website will always be up to date with the latest news stories and even breaking news. Older news articles and video clips can also be viewed on the websites.

4. RSS feeds Target Audience: 18+ RSS: Rich Site Summary, or really simple syndication RSS feeds allow automatic syndication of web content; whereas a standard file format only allows the information to be published once, then viewed by many different programs. They are used by readers who want to subscribe to timely updates from their favourite websites or to collect feeds from many sites into one place. The BBC news and the ITV news websites both use RSS feeds to keep users up to date with the most recent headlines. The RSS feeds include a heading and a short paragraph of information.

6. Weather Usually included in news websites. Weather pages typically display maps with easy to understand icons to represent the weather forecast. Weather forecasts for different times can be viewed. For example, the weather forecast for the rest of the week can be viewed, as can the forecasts for upcoming months. Online weather forecasts are updated daily, and can therefore be classified as real time information. • Target audience: • Long distance commuters • Events management • Schools

7. Social networking Social networking sites such as “Facebook” and “twitter” typically use real time news feeds. This means that information that gets posted by individual users is automatically added to the news feeds of other users.

8. Radio News, weather, traffic updates and chart updates are all included in radio broadcasts. Information is in real time because updates are made when listeners call in with traffic news and weather conditions Also, news updates are made on the radio using real time information sources e.g. news websites or RSS feeds. • Target audience: • commuters – traffic updates usually occur during or just before rush hour. • Teens and young adults for chart updates

9. Benefits RSS feeds allow brief summaries of web content to be made automatically, whereas a standard file format only allows the information to be published once, then viewed by many different users. News websites allow free access to online news stories without having to pay for a newspaper. Viewing the weather online eliminates the issue of timing. The weather forecast can be viewed at any time online, but it is only on the TV at certain times. Also, weather forecasts in the news papers are not as detailed as online forecasts. Social networking is an easy way to communicate with others. It’s free and doesn’t require modern, up to date technology Radio is also free to listen to and can be listened to over the internet so a radio device is not always required.

10. Drawbacks RSS feeds can only be used with internet access as there are no non internet alternatives. Social networking sites also require internet connection. Online weather forecasts are not always accurate. But neither are regular forecasts. Updates to news websites may be delayed if there are problems with internet connection .

11. Non internet Alternatives Alternatives for news and weather: Alternatives for social networking: Texting (SMS) Radio Telephone News papers Writing letters Television Physical communication

12. Possible improvements Improvements to real time information websites usually only occur when specific, individual websites need improvements; General improvements to the whole sector of websites that use real time information are not usually made as each website is much different to the next.