Straits Times - What is Straits Times all about? Straits Times is a Singaporean web portal that provides a first hand account of Singapore's vibrant social and economic life. This online magazine is published twice a week and covers all aspects of Singapore's social life from the latest news to events and cultural trends. It can be subscribed via email or RSS feed.
Straits Times - How did it come to be? Straits Times was launched in 2021 by Ritu Kumar. It is a Singapore-based social networking and information publishing media dedicated to all things Singapore. The first issue of this magazine released with a focus on food. It has since gone a step further and included various other segments of the Singapore social scene.
A number of Singapore's leading news portals including Channel News, Today's News Network, and Sing Tao have used Straits Times as a platform for their news stories and feature stories. A notable feature of this Singaporean web portal is its live blogging that includes commentary by Singaporean columnists. Other notable bloggers from across the world have also contributed to the Singapore Times blog as well as contributed articles to the website.
What sets it apart from other Singaporean web media sites? Straits Times offers a more personal and interactive approach to news. Its layout is very different from most blogs as it gives more prominence to the readers' content and allows commenting on articles, uploading images and videos, and various other social media features that are popular on the social networking site.
Straits Times is not the only Singaporean web portal that offers a service based on Facebook. A Singapore-based company called Facebook Answers now offers an online Q&A service to interested Facebook users. Facebook Answers works in a similar way to the Straits Times' Straits Now feature wherein a reader can post their queries or comments directly to the web site. The same company, also known as Facebook Answers Central, has also offered an iPhone application that connects its readers with local businesses. Singaporeans, meanwhile, have taken to Twitter and YouTube to share their feedback on local businesses through these two social media sites.
Singapore, as you can see, is not alone in embracing Facebook and other types of social media as these new media are becoming integral parts of how people communicate and build connections. Whether we like it or not, the world is using our Facebook Page to interact with us, which is why it is just as important for us to interact back. These days, it is hard not to notice the trend of hiring Facebookers and Facebook pages. For instance, the Straits Times hired Facebook account executives in March to handle its Facebook engagement. Similarly, news organizations like Singapore TV news and Mompa published stories and clips from Facebook and created Facebook pages specifically for the purpose.
