Real Time Information

Examples

RSS feedsNews

Weather

Social networking

Radio Websites

News

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.

The BBC news website breaks up articles into different categories such as:• World• Local • Business• Politics• Heath • Education • Environment • Technology• Entertainment/arts

Target audience: the general public, 21+

RSS feeds

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.

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.

Target Audience: 18+

WeatherUsually 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

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.

RadioNews, 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

Target audience:• commuters – traffic updates usually

occur during or just before rush hour.• Teens and young adults for chart updates

Also, news updates are made on the radio using real time information sources e.g. news websites or RSS feeds.

BenefitsRSS 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.

DrawbacksRSS 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 .

Non internet AlternativesAlternatives for news and weather:

Alternatives for social networking:

Radio

Television

News papers

Texting (SMS)

Writing letters

Physical communication

Telephone

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.