UK newsbrands hit record highs on social media Analysis of data from Jan ‘15 – @thetimes

It’s not just trivia, lists and snippets… *Facebook (likes, shares and comments), Twitter (Shares), LinkedIn (Shares), Pinterest (Shares) Source: Newswhip Dec ’15 (Top 100 newsbrand stories) UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk, thetimes.co.uk, dailystar.co.uk (May 2014) 68 UK news, world news and current affairs 2 Sports 15 Showbiz 5 Videos/ Gallery links 8 Science 2 List/Quiz

Headlines *Facebook (likes, shares and comments), Twitter (Shares), LinkedIn (Shares), Pinterest (Shares) Source: Newswhip Jan ‘15– Dec ‘15 UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk, thetimes.co.uk, dailystar.co.uk (May 2014) Facebook 622m likes 116m shares 148m comments Twitter 71m shares LinkedIn 6.1m shares Pinterest 3.6m shares UK newsbrands have driven 967 million social media interactions* so far in That’s a 17% increase from January to December.

Social media interactions* from UK newsbrand articles have increased by 17% since January *Facebook (likes, shares and comments), Twitter (Shares), LinkedIn (Shares), Pinterest (Shares) Source: Newswhip Jan ‘15– Dec ‘15 UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk, thetimes.co.uk, dailystar.co.uk (May 2014)

UK newbrands have more social media interactions* than Buzzfeed *Facebook (likes, shares and comments), Twitter (Shares), LinkedIn (Shares), Pinterest (Shares) Source: Newswhip Jan ‘15– Dec ‘15 UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk, thetimes.co.uk, dailystar.co.uk (May 2014) 75,567k 28,269k 3,721k 21,993k 2,542k

Leading social networks used weekly for news in the UK Source: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism - Digital News Report 2015, 2,149 Adults aged 18+ ‘’Which, if any, of the following have you used for any purpose/for reading, watching, sharing, or discussing news in the last week?’’

Our stakeholders BrandFacebook LikesTwitter Followers The Times464,298676,000 The Guardian5,188,0194,930,000 The Sun2,037,241990,000 Daily Mirror1,925,063618,000 Daily Mail3,345,8761,410,000 London Evening Standard525,621291,000 The Daily Telegraph2,891,8801,500,000 The Independent3,725,1671,670,000 i188,495757,000 Metro1,143,605221,000

UK newsbrands and Facebook

Facebook is the most popular social media brand for UK newsbrands *Facebook (likes, shares and comments) Source: Newswhip Jan ‘15– Dec ‘15 UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk, thetimes.co.uk, dailystar.co.uk (May 2014)

Facebook interactions for UK newsbrands are growing every month *Facebook (likes, shares and comments), Twitter (Shares), LinkedIn (Shares), Pinterest (Shares) Source: Newswhip Jan ‘15– Dec ‘15 UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk, thetimes.co.uk, dailystar.co.uk (May 2014) 75,567k 46,602k 10,377k 10,147k

66% of Facebook interactions are likes… *Facebook (likes, shares and comments) Source: Newswhip Jan ‘15– Dec ‘15 UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk, thetimes.co.uk, dailystar.co.uk (May 2014)

What’s the best time to post a story on Facebook? Source: Newswhip blog. Times are GMT. Based on data from MailOnline, BuzzFeed, Huffington Post, Upworthy, The New York Times, Elite Daily, MTV and Fox News The most shared stories were published between 4pm and 10pm

Examples of some stories popular on Facebook Facebook (likes, shares and comments) Source: Newswhip Dec ‘15 UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk, thetimes.co.uk, dailystar.co.uk (May 2014) Dec 2015, independent.co.uk 107k shares Dec 2015, metro.co.uk 75k shares Dec 2015, stamdard.co.uk 68k shares Dec 2015, theguardian.co.uk 203k shares Dec 2015, mirror.co.uk 55k shares Dec 2015, independent.co.uk 100k shares

Developing newsbrand reading habits “ I think I first saw the Guardian on Facebook. Friends just started posting links to articles. I found myself clicking on them. After a while I liked the page and began reading more. Then when I started getting the train regularly I found myself buying the paper for the journey Camille, 23 Source: Generation News 2015

Developing newsbrand reading habits “ If I hear about an interesting news story on social media I’ll go to my preferred newspaper website to get more info 73% of Millennials say they that: Source: Generation News 2015

UK newsbrands and Twitter

UK newsbrand Twitter shares are similar to the BBC.. *Facebook (likes, shares and comments) Source: Newswhip Jan ‘15– Dec ‘15 UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk, thetimes.co.uk, dailystar.co.uk (May 2014) 7,608k 3,967k 1,1220k 182k

Examples of some stories popular on twitter Source: Newswhip Dec ‘15 UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk, thetimes.co.uk, dailystar.co.uk (May 2014) Dec 2015, mirror.co.uk 10,720 shares Dec 2015, independent.co.uk 10,210 shares Dec 2015, independent.co.uk 3,850 shares Dec 2015, theguardian.co.uk 8,850 shares Dec 2015, bbc.co.uk 14,020 shares Dec 2015, standard.co.uk 780 shares Twitter (Shares)

UK newsbrands are often conversation catalysts on twitter Following The Mail on Sunday's publication of an extract from Lord Ashcroft's unathorised biography of David Cameron 'Call me Dave', #Hameron #Oink and #piggate were trending on Twitter.publication

UK newsbrands are often conversation catalysts on twitter A Twitter Pig was created within minutes and gained over 15,000 followers within 24 hours..…

Twitter adds four core benefits as a news platform for users… Gossip/Banter I want to relax and enjoy myself Twitter has a unique humorous side to news stories. It’s a backstage pass into the lives of celebrities and allows me to be part of the gossip. Knowledge I want to be the first to know Twitter gives me instant access to the news and is where news stories tend to break first. It’s the best place to follow news stories as they develop during the day. Community I want to find out about things I care about Twitter gives me the chance to engage with stories relevant to me with a community of like-minded people. Discovering people with shared interests I wouldn’t otherwise meet through shared news interests. Opinion I want to know what people think Twitter is a way of discovering different points of opinion and commentary on news stories. More personal opinions of celebrities/writers. Interaction with the news on Twitter Source: #NewsOnTheTweet 2014

Newsbrands underpin these 4 key benefits Gossip/Banter Witty and celebrity columnists Newsbrands are responsible for some of the most popular individual tweeters. Individual journalists are key contributors to the humour content on Twitter. Knowledge Trusted instant updates Newsbrand handles provide legitimacy and authority when news is breaking on Twitter. They also provide journalists that offer quicker, more accurate instant updates on stories as they happen. Community An opportunity to connect with like-minded content and people Through their sub-section handles and the overarching strength of newsbrand identities newsbrands offer users the opportunity to discover more content that is relevant to them and engage with other people through these communities. Opinion Honest and expert opinions and debate Newsbrands offer expert opinion pieces and the individual journalists offer honest and frank opinions as well as engaging with followers. Interaction with the news on Twitter Source: #NewsOnTheTweet 2014

The whole is stronger than the sum of the parts Newspaper brands provide an authoritative viewpoint and offer verified news in a user generated content world. Twitter helps newspaper brands to become part of breaking news in people’s minds through instant updates Newspaper brands provide detailed analysis behind 140 character Tweets Twitter provides opportunities for users to engage with newspaper brands that they wouldn’t normally read in other formats. Newspaper brands offer content and recognisable brands that can bring people together through shared interests Twitter enables newspaper readers to connect with newsbrands and content in a more direct dialogue

Newsbrands are also big content providers for LinkedIn and Pinterest Source: Newswhip Jan ‘15– Dec ‘15 UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk, thetimes.co.uk, dailystar.co.uk (May 2014) 263k 571k

Summary and implications UK newsbrands have driven 967 million social media interactions in Massive shared audiences on a daily basis Facebook sharing is increasing UK newsbrand audiences, this is vital to social media velocity Wide range of stories to tap into for advertisers

What Are NewsWhip’s Social Rankings? Each month, NewsWhip publishes lists of the top social publishers of the previous month, covering Twitter, Facebook and sometimes LinkedIn and Pinterest.The rankings are based on the number of shares, tweets, comments and other interactions accrued to content published by each site in the relevant month. What content is covered? For Facebook, NewsWhip combines the total number of likes, shares and comments on content published during that month alone. For Facebook, if someone on a site uses an on-site share button to share an article to their timeline, that action counts as one share. If someone copy-pastes the link directly to Facebook, that share will count in the exact same way. The rankings have nothing to do with the number of people who ‘like’ a publication’s Facebook page that month, although that may have some effect on how engaged the audience is with the content. A publisher with many “likes” has better audience access and may have access needed to drive more activity around their content. For Twitter, NewsWhip counts the total number of tweets that include links to each publisher’s articles (that includes re-tweets) from that month. Twitter favourites are not currently included. For all sites, the figures relate solely to content published during the month in question alone. Older content that continued going viral, or archived material posted without a new URL is not taken into account. Where does the data come from? All the data comes from Spike, which monitors about 50,000 publications in 12 languages, categorising content from each one by country, topic and publisher, and gathering data on topics, authors, and videos associated with each story. Spike tracks the speed at which each story spreads on Facebook and Twitter. Methodology