WSJ to leverage on its own community

Silicon Alley Insider reports that The Wall Street Journal will change its layout tomorrow, at least for its online version. This will enable them to create a Facebook-like community with features similar to LinkedIn, centered around business topics and interests. As a paying subscriber of WSJ, I can only applaud the idea: this is a great way to get more value for my money.

In fact, this is an interesting new way to create a sustainable business model around the 'eyeballs' that the WSJ attracts. Since Murdoch decided to open up the website to non-paying visitors, many online subscribers where probably wondering what extra value was in it for them. With facilitating a community around its online domain, WSJ may not only create enormous goodwill but also many monetization opportunities, like targeted advertising towards an upscale public.

Funny how financial newspapers take the lead in this. In Belgium, I would say that De Tijd is leading the pack in the way how they involve their community closely online.