MXit launches IM book
MXit has launched Africa’s first IM book in a bid to encourage literacy and a love of reading amongst youth. From today, MXit users will be able to download an entire book on the MXit network for R13.50 (50 Moola per chapter), which is significantly lower than the cost of purchasing literature in traditional bookstores.
Juan du Toit, International Marketing Manager for MXit, says “This is a very exciting project for us because it allows us to add online reading to the already broad online social networking and chatting model that encompasses the MXit lifestyle offering. As MXit is so widely used by the youth as their preferred communication tool, we hope to encourage the youth to develop a love of reading. We will therefore look to provide our users with more titles in the future.”
With the advent of mobile mediums (mobile phones and smart phones), as a primary means of communication for social interaction and information sourcing, it made sense for MXit to expand its content offering to include literature.
According to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), 26 percent of the world’s adult population is illiterate and 98 percent of these people live in developing countries. Africa as a continent has a literacy rate of less than 60 percent.
The first book offered on MXit’s MBooks platform is Emily and the Battle of the Veil, a fantasy novel written by Karen Brooks, which can be downloaded on MXit by visiting Tradepost. The book can be downloaded as content and read at the users own time and convenience.
Emily and the Battle of the veil is a fantasy novel based on the life of a 13-year old girl in South Africa.
“With the launch of Emily and the Battle of the Veil, we saw an opportunity to assist authors in breaking the status quo of the traditional publishing industry, as well as giving young readers and aspiring writers an opportunity to read new literature or showcase their work”, says du Toit.
“It is also a darn good read and we are incredibly lucky that Karen Brooks felt strongly enough about teenage literacy that she was willing to adapt her book to digital format.”
Karen Brooks draws on her psychology and counselling background to create a fantasy world which explores many teenage themes like relationships between family and friends, self-esteem and social acceptance.
“MBooks is the evolution of eBook. I thought that access to books via a digital medium was a great way to give everybody access to my novel. More importantly, Emily and the Battle of the Veil is suited to teenagers and I wanted to make it accessible to them – hoping that it will foster a love for reading and writing,” says author, Karen Brooks.
“I also found the concept of a zero carbon footprint very appealing. As book lovers we did not traditionally think about the impact on the environment, however I am pleased that the next generation will have the same access to literature that we did, but in an eco-friendly way”.
Said du Toit, “One in five people over the age of 15, do not voluntarily take part in a literary environment. We agree with the United Nations that literacy is a human right. This is MXit doing our bit for literacy as we recognise that most of our users are in the 15 to 24 years-old age bracket”.
The launch of MXit’s first MBook follows the launch of an online maths initiative called Imfundo Yami Imfundo Yethu, which offers online mathematics classes to learners. It is a joint programme undertaken by Nokia South Africa, MXit and a Finnish company that created the mathematical software.
MXit mobile books – will it work?
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