Facebook - The New Face of Journalism

My views and ideas, on how Facebook can help make journalism a more social, personalized and interactive experience.

Transcript

1. Rudi MK. @rudimk
2. The last few years have seen a fundamental change, in the way traffic is driven. 10 years back, Google was driving traffic to about 97.3% of all known websites – that was through search. And today, it’s official – the biggest source of traffic isn’t search anymore – it’s social. Facebook. Twitter. And lots more – but primarily, Facebook and Twitter. In this deck, I’ll talk about how media organizations can use Facebook in order to deliver a more social, and more personalized experience.
3. You can’t clap with one hand. Point being – a team is what usually works. It’s the same here – developers and journalists need to work in tandem, in order to make journalism a more social and personalized experience. So, let’s see how it goes, for journalists.
4. Let your readers recommend articles to friends, using the Like button. On an average, Facebook users have about 130 friends, and more than 30 billion pieces of content are shared on the Facebook Platform every month. Be a part of this cycle, of sharing and discussing. Or, you could use the Recommend button. This works best for content, which may not be appropriate to "Like", or for neutral content. CNN and Reuters use this a lot.
5. Create a Facebook Event. Facebook Events can help you promote special events, such as broadcasts or speaking engagements. Encourage Forums. Use the “Discussion” tab of your Page to encourage discussions around the topics you’re covering. News-as-a-service. Refer to the impressions on your Page and Insights here to get an idea of what content people enjoy reading the most. Once you have this feedback, you can iterate on what kind of content you create and share.
6. A Facebook Page is a must, for every journalist! You can use Pages, to promote your articles, and engage with your readers, and, at the same time, keep your private profile separate. Once a user clicks “Like”, it creates a connection, and you can then publish posts, articles and more, to them.
7. Publish to your subscribers, from the field. Engage them, by sharing Posts, Notes, Photos and Videos.
8. Use Facebook to search for any kind of keyword - use it to see public conversations about that topic. They can be anything: national news items, to events, to local debates. Oh, and it's real-time.
9. Give your readers access to new material. Run promotions on your Page. I’d say, use your imagination! There’s a lot that can be done, if you sit down and think about it.
10. Be as regular as you can, when it comes to updating your status, on your Page. Do it as often as you can. Solicit ideas from your readers. Ask them for their views on your latest article. That helps you stay in touch with the people who matter the most – your readers.
11. So that’s how it goes for journalists. What about developers?
12. Websites would see 3-5x greater click-through rates on the Like button, when - they implement Facepiles - thumbnails of friends who liked the site. - they enable users to add comments. - they placed the Like button at the top and bottom of articles, as well as near visually attractive content - videos, graphics, the like.
13. Sites that place the Activity Feed and Recommendations plugins on multiple pages receive 2-10x more clicks per user, than sites with plugins on the front page alone. Use Live Stream, for events. CNN used it very successfully, during President Obama's inauguration. And ESPN used it for the World Cup soccer games. Need I say more?
14. Use the Facebook Graph API, to create amazing visualizations, that tap into status updates from Pages and Facebook users, who make their updates publicly available. And of course, don't forget using the Graph API, to design the next awesome app for your readers! Reminds me of the visualization created by the New York Times, that ranked World Cup favorites, based on the number of mentions on Facebook.
15. Use Insights, Facebook’s own analytics engine, to view reader demographics and interactions, as well as key indicators about the virality of your Page or app. You can access them through Facebook;s online dashboard, or through the Insights API.
16. These are just a few ways, in which journalists and media houses can work in tandem with developers, in order create a lasting experience for their readers, on Facebook. But don’t limit your imagination. If you feel you have an idea to drive engagements and interactions – go for it!