Ian Reeves

A few facebook facts  1.6bn+ active global users  1.4bn+ mobile users  31m UK users  130 friends on average per user  Average user creates 90 pieces of content per month  20 mins average time on site per day

Active Facebook users

Facebook traffic referrals

Facebook v Google referrals

But…  “Facebook and search are critical for bringing added eyeballs to individual stories, and they do so in droves. But the connection a news organization has with any individual coming to their website via search or Facebook seems quite limited.” Pew Research Center 2014  See also NPR ‘April fool’ experimentNPR ‘April fool’ experiment

Engagement of news users

Facebook as source for political news

Facebook interactions

Threats to news publishers

Opportunities for news publishers  Growth of traffic  User engagement - Increase in sharing of content  Insight – analysis of reader behaviour

Questions for news publishers  Does the traffic from social media lead to any broader traffic growth?  Or does it loosen ties between the organizations who produce the news and the readers who ultimately consume it?

Facebook integration for news sites  Facebook Connect – allows users to log in with their Facebook id, and gives news sites access to Facebook user data  Instant articles – instant loading of news from publishers  Social readers - apps that send links to a user’s fb friends of content they have read on news sites. 12m fb users signed up to Guardian social reader app. Washington Post, YahooNews also developed them (but many later dropped them).  ‘Subscribe’ button – sign up to feeds from any news sites  Interest lists – combine multiple feeds

Loss of control of reader behaviour  Guardian axed its Facebook social reader app in December 2012 after Fb changed how it worked on the site  Problem for news organisations is that Facebook takes control of the content

Implications for journalists  Personal Branding  Engagement  Reporting  Distribution  Ethics

Facebook and journalists  Facebook Page – gives you a professional presence on the platform that can be different from your personal presence.  Can be especially useful when it comes to the your relationship with your sources. You don’t have to worry (as much) about the content of your personal profiles, or ethical implications of accepting a source’s friend request.  Cultivate your community. News is now a conversation.

Facebook pages for journalists

Journalists and facebook  Facebook pages allow journalists to set up personalised feeds from other sources – e.g political parties, without appearing to personally endorse them as ‘friends’  Growing number of fb applications – e.g live streaming of video

Journalists and facebook  Pages also give insight into data about subscribers – valuable insight into the make- up of your community

Facebook and journalists  Facebook as directory of sources. Organisations like NPR regularly use it as a way of finding case studies for stories.  Use interest lists to keep tabs on key sources  Facebook as breaking news platform. E.g local US TV station KMOV went to real-time updates for tornado story

Community sourcing of content  Facebook is world’s biggest photo-sharing site. So make use of your friends/subscribers to share their pics and videos of breaking news stories  Use polls and questions to enhance reporting and test reader opinions.

Facebook and journalists  Social storytelling – e.g Nicholas Kristof of the NY Times used it report from Tahrir Square and Bahrain

Facebook and journalists  Washington Post used Facebook updates to tell story of mother who died in childbirth

Journalism ethics  Rise in social media and Facebook in particular, throws up some tricky dilemmas for journalists.  Digital doorstepping – when is it appropriate to use social media as a way of approaching potential sources?  Friends or sources? How much personal information from your friends are you prepared to use?  Public or private? Just because something is shared with a circle of friends online, doesn’t mean there’s no reasonable expectation of privacy.  How your personal facebook profile might impact your professional life

Additional reading  Pew Research – audience routes to news Pew Research – audience routes to news  Pathways to digital news Pathways to digital news  Best practices for journalists on Facebook Best practices for journalists on Facebook  Facebook as source for political news Facebook as source for political news  Why Facebook referrals are not worth much Why Facebook referrals are not worth much  How journalists can make use of Facebook Pages How journalists can make use of Facebook Pages  Washington Post: A mother’s story Washington Post: A mother’s story  Pew Centre research Pew Centre research  Mashable: Facebook’s growing role in social journalism Mashable: Facebook’s growing role in social journalism  The social media revolution: impact on news media The social media revolution: impact on news media  Facebook ethics conundrum: the Annie Le murder Facebook ethics conundrum: the Annie Le murder