Admit it: you\u2019re addicted to the internet. Given some downtime at work you turn to Facebook, only to find it mostly offers photos of cats and friends\u2019 babies. You turn to Instagram, where people are mostly showing off their private parts. You even turn to Twitter, but it\u2019s filled with the meaningless ramblings of celebrities.<\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s Coconuts, a relatively new network of sites spread across seven Asian cities, including Hong Kong. Inspired by US-based blogs such as the Gothamist network and New York\u2019s Gawker, Coconuts has won over viewers with its constant and immediate mix of breaking local news, quirky stories, neighbourhood reporting and pop culture-focused content.<\/p>\n
In Hong Kong, Coconuts\u2019 online-only focus has stood out from the city\u2019s print-dominated market, breaking through with its coverage of the citywide democracy protests and hitting a record 700,000 unique October viewers in the process.<\/p>\n
Founded by American entrepreneur and former journalist Byron Perry in 2011, Coconuts first launched in Bangkok, stemming partly from Perry\u2019s frustrating experiences with traditional print media and partly from the Thai capital\u2019s lack of neighbourhood-focused news.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really interested in local news. I love what\u2019s happening around me,\u201d says Perry, who was living in Thailand at the time. \u201cAnd since Bangkok didn\u2019t have anything like that, and because I thought there was potential for it around Asia, I decided to start Coconuts on a shoestring budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cI began by writing about everything, producing all sorts of content about what was happening in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n
The site immediately met with acclaim, and after receiving investor funding in San Francisco, Perry expanded his website into Manila and Singapore, before tackling Hong Kong in late 2013.<\/p>\n
Coconuts Hong Kong started small, with lifestyle-related features and short news articles as it tried to find a footing in an already media-saturated city. But in the same way its Bangkok site built up its initial audience through Perry\u2019s on-the-ground coverage of the city\u2019s 2011 floods, Coconuts\u2019 reporting of the Occupy Central campaign sent the Hong Kong site\u2019s unique viewers skyrocketing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Hong Kong protests were definitely a boon for Coconuts. Everything we did was extremely popular: we were producing updates as quickly as we could, from Admiralty to Causeway Bay to Mong Kok, and trying to live-cover as much as possible,\u201d says Perry.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur ultimate goal was to share what was happening and remain as neutral as we could, and it caught on, mostly because our Hong Kong team did an awesome job of providing a stream of videos, photos and content.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the tipping point that turned the city\u2019s English-speaking audience on to the site\u2019s impressively inspired content, ranging from not only breaking news, but features digging deep into art trends, videos chronicling the city\u2019s gentrification, as well as up-to-the-minute event information, restaurant reviews and other city-related information.<\/p>\n
On paper, that doesn\u2019t sound far off from what\u2019s offered by most lifestyle publications, but where Coconuts has differentiated itself in the market is in its all-inclusive local focus and online exclusivity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re hyper-local, we\u2019re recording absolutely everything that we can within the urban area, and very rarely straying outside of that. We don\u2019t have an international or national scope, the focus is on Hong Kong,\u201d says Perry.<\/p>\n
\u201cHong Kong has such a vibrant scene and so much cool stuff happening, but not much of a big online media focus, and I thought it was right for something like us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coconuts has capitalised on the immediate nature of the internet. Not limited by deadlines or page counts and through the use of social media and quick translations, Coconuts can share and report on stories print publications can\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something we wanted to do, since no-one else was. Every Coconuts site has a wide range of content, from high-brow stuff that took a lot of work to report, to short posts that share a stupid commercial or a silly flash mob. We do a lot of translating from Chinese media and from social media, both of which are where a lot of pop culture crops up, so it\u2019s great that people react.\u201d<\/p>\n
A recent story Perry liked was about \u201cpill graffiti\u201d: stickers of red-and-green pills that cropped up in Sheung Wan and gained social media interest. Coconuts capitalised on the interest by sharing a video on the phenomenon. \u201cThat\u2019s the kind of pop culture stuff I always want to do for Coconuts\u2019 content,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Perry\u2019s brand of ideas have caught on and, with an average 400,000 to 500,000 viewers per month and rising, Coconuts Hong Kong looks set to be the next big thing among the city\u2019s English-speaking audience. It begs the question of what Perry\u2019s plans are for Coconuts Hong Kong and how he hopes to stand out as copycats start to flood the market.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery city is different. In Hong Kong, it\u2019s an expat-oriented site, as opposed to Singapore or Manila, where it\u2019s more for locals. We\u2019ve found a good niche with something that competitors aren\u2019t doing, by focusing exclusively online with a lot of content, by being funny, by being snarky,\u201d says Perry.<\/p>\n
\u201cHong Kong also has a very tabloid attitude towards content, and we\u2019re trying to embrace that. It\u2019s really caught hold in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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