telegraph launching readers blogs

my_telegraph_blog_small
Originally uploaded by telegraph_media_group.

The Daily Telegraph is set to become the first (as far as I’m aware) national UK newspaper to launch reader blogs. According to Shane Richmond, the Telegraph’s Blogging and Community Editor,

“My Telegraph allows any reader to create their own blog, store all the comments they make on other readers’ blogs and save articles to read later. “

Later, in the comments to his post revealing the myTelegraph, Richmond explains that they are hoping the functionality and community aspects of participating on the site will tempt some people who wouldn’t have ever previously considered blogging to start.

Personally I think the design of the Telegraph blogs has been well executed and, from the screenshots provided of the embryonic myTelegraph, expect we’ll see more of the same. That said, I’m not sure that the ‘build a platform, invite people in, manage their participation and take on on the editorial/legal/brand exposure risks” model I often find myself questioning these days is the right direction for the Telegraph to go when aggregation and linking could achieve the most of the same results. Regardless, I’m looking forward to seeing how this particular project develops and whether any of the other UK papers follow the Telegraph into this area.