1. m-Novels for Africa:
Engaging Readers through Mobile Phones
Steve Vosloo, Project Leader
Presented at International Symposium : Mobile Phone and Creation, Paris
14 June 2012

2. www.yoza.mobi

3. What our users commented
“It's great ... for me it really hard to
pick up a book to start readin but i don
mind readin on my phone”
dotty1

4. Background

5. The Yoza Project
• Yoza enables reading, writing and engagement via mobile phones
• South African project launched August 2009, initially funded by the
Shuttleworth Foundation
• Through Yoza, short stories, poems and classic literature are published on
mobile phones (MXit and on a mobisite -- a website for mobiles)
• Highly interactive: users can comment, vote, enter writing competitions and
review stories

6. 51%
South African households that own no leisure books
(TNS Research Surveys, 2006)

7. 7%
Public schools in South Africa that have functional libraries of any kind
(Equal Education, 2009)

8. Mobile revolution

9. Early story on MXit (2009)

10. Yoza today

11. Yoza today

15. “If friar's plan wrks, then romeo wil b
able 2 cum nd take juliet wit hm 2 liv
hapily 2geda at mantua bt if it fails,
sumbdy's gna b dead. Lol!”
Elsie

16. “I loved the book, wish it didnt have an
ending. Shakespear please bring
another one like this one. IT WAS
MWAAAH!!”
Blessed1

17. Yoza Cellphone Stories: Basics
• A growing library of titles: 30 m-novels, 18 poems, 5 Shakespeare plays
• Genres include teen issues, romance, soccer, adventure, “classics”, poetry
• Some stories are serialised (a chapter a day) and every chapter of every story has a comment prompt or vote
prompt
• Chapters around 400 words (some stories 200 words)
• Total length: 4000 to 10000 words
• Stories in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa
• Stories are free but costs for mobile data (about 7c per chapter)
• All stories are either openly licenced (CC) or in the public domain
• On MXit all comments are moderated before going live
• Available in South Africa and Kenya on Mxit

18. What users thought of Yoza stories

19. What our Facebook friends have to say ...

20. Yoza stats (19 months)
• Complete reads: >475,000
• No. of comments: >47,000
• No. of unique visitors: >180,000
• No. of MXit subscribers to Yoza: >69,000
• No. of votes: >44,000
(Period: August 2010 to May 2012)

21. More comments than War and Peace

22. “T z a vry !ntstng stry,really attrtz da
a attns f da reader.k!p t up”
L!hle

23. “I realy lv de story, it ws touchy evn
painful again i hv learnd a lot 4rm it.
Am gona pass it 2 my frnd nd family 2
read 4 dem self”
(Anon)

24. User demographics
• Mostly 18-25 years old, then 13-17
• Slightly more female
• Mostly Black
• Mostly in urban centres, but also spread
throughout country
• Estimate LSM 3-7

25. “Aha” moment:
Mobile phones are a
viable distribution
platform for longer form
content and for enabling
user participation

26. “A gud st0ri alth0ugh vewi sh0rt id
lyk 2 c m0re 0n mxit bk0z it
enc0uragez readin!”
Lesleigh(F)

27. Lessons

28. Lesson 1: Research content and user interface with teens

29. Lesson 1: Research content and user interface with teens

30. Lesson 2: Mobile is a content monster
“Waiting for the next chapters kills
me!”
Suzi*

31. Solution: have lots of content ready to publish

32. Lesson 3: Mobile is “always on”
Solution: moderate constantly

33. “I alwayz (H)ur stories guyz and i
alwayz learn smthing new”
Sisipho

34. Lesson 4: Users know what they want
• Content that entertains, inspires and educates
• Content about issues (pregnancy, drugs, careers, money),
romance and adventure
• Real life stories
• See
http://yozaproject.com/2010/12/04/what-do-you-want-from-yoza-t
Solution: ask, listen and respond

35. Lesson 5: Always prompt (and be provocative)

36. Lesson 6: Adapt based on immediate feedback
The Awesomes chapters rewritten (pre-publication) based on comments
received in earlier chapters
Streetskillz stories changed (post-publication) from third to first person
narrative to pick up the pace, make interaction more direct
Solution: watch and respond

37. Lesson 7: Leverage existing networks and meet
readers where they are
MXit
Mobisite
Facebook

38. Lesson 8: There will be drop-off …

39. “Ag!BORING. . .:-z”
Thandi

40. Lesson 10: … But fans are loyal

41. Final thoughts

42. Mobile phone is the e-reader of Africa
Participatory culture happens through
mobile phones: consumption, creation,
engagement
txtspk iz hr 2 stay
emerging mobile literacies

43. “The stories r interesting nd fun 2
read, they kip ma englsh gng”
Hlengiwe gulube

44. How to access Yoza and contact details
Browser: www.yoza.mobi
MXit: Add a contact (MXit Services) called yoza
Facebook: www.facebook.com/yozacellphonestories
Steve Vosloo Louise McCann
stevevosloo@gmail.com thecontentstudio1@gmail.com
www.yozaproject.com www.thecontentstudio.co.za
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