Facebook Wants To Be Your News Source
February 2, 2010
We recently discussed how social media complements the news industry, and how a study has even found news to be a top priority of Twitter users. Facebook wants to let users know that it can also be used to keep track of news, when you set up a news list.
This isn't so much a new feature, as it is a way to use the social network that you may or may not have thought of. Basically, Facebook is encouraging users to set up a list for news, as if they were setting up a list of co-workers, or a list of friends from high school.
"You can even create a 'News' list to filter news-oriented Pages into one view on your News Feed," says Facebook's Malorie Lucich. "Simply add relevant Pages to the list, just as you would with a friends list. The next time you sign on to Facebook, you can click the 'News' filter to see stories from all of the news outlets of which you've become a fan."
"In addition to reading news on Facebook, you can share news with your friends on external sites with Facebook Connect," says Lurich. "Outlets like The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, USA Today and countless blogs have become more social by adding Facebook Connect to their websites and iPhone applications. You can sign in with your Facebook login to see what articles your friends are reading and comment on articles with your authentic identity."
The fact of that matter is that a lot of people around the world are spending a great deal of their online time (which is growing itself) on Facebook. Far more people use Facebook than use Twitter. Facebook has the reputation of being where your real friends are, but most news outlets have Facebook pages at this point, which can be followed just easily as Twitter accounts. Facebook seems to simply be reminding people that this is one use of Twitter that they can get from the larger social network as well.
Have You Read This?
> Do Facebook and Twitter Threaten or Complement the News Industry?
> Do You Have the "Right" to Link?
> Is This the Answer for Online News Revenue?
Facebook Wants To Be Your News Source
January 30, 2010
We recently discussed how social media complements the news industry, and how a study has even found news to be a top priority of Twitter users. Facebook wants to let users know that it can also be used to keep track of news, when you set up a news list.
This isn't so much a new feature, as it is a way to use the social network that you may or may not have thought of. Basically, Facebook is encouraging users to set up a list for news, as if they were setting up a list of co-workers, or a list of friends from high school.
"You can even create a 'News' list to filter news-oriented Pages into one view on your News Feed," says Facebook's Malorie Lucich. "Simply add relevant Pages to the list, just as you would with a friends list. The next time you sign on to Facebook, you can click the 'News' filter to see stories from all of the news outlets of which you've become a fan."
"In addition to reading news on Facebook, you can share news with your friends on external sites with Facebook Connect," says Lurich. "Outlets like The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, USA Today and countless blogs have become more social by adding Facebook Connect to their websites and iPhone applications. You can sign in with your Facebook login to see what articles your friends are reading and comment on articles with your authentic identity."
The fact of that matter is that a lot of people around the world are spending a great deal of their online time (which is growing itself) on Facebook. Far more people use Facebook than use Twitter. Facebook has the reputation of being where your real friends are, but most news outlets have Facebook pages at this point, which can be followed just easily as Twitter accounts. Facebook seems to simply be reminding people that this is one use of Twitter that they can get from the larger social network as well.
Have You Read This?
> Do Facebook and Twitter Threaten or Complement the News Industry?
> Do You Have the "Right" to Link?
> Is This the Answer for Online News Revenue?
How Press Releases Can Be Great For Search
December 30, 2009
Press releases are not only great ways to spread the word about any announcements your business might have. They can also drive traffic, particularly from search engines. This is not news, but it's a commonly overlooked fact.
Have press releases brought you significant search traffic? Discuss here.
"Search engine rankings are arguably the most important small business marketing tool available today because it drives Web traffic -- and potential prospects -- to a small business' Web site," a PRWeb spokesperson once told WebProNews. "However, because improving search rankings is desirable, achieving results can be both challenging and highly competitive."
Back in the summer, PRWeb shared a case study with us, involving a firm that typically sees a boost in search engine rankings and a 50% spike in web traffic after they issue a release. In fact, for one release in particular, the firm saw a spike of 400% on two different Web sites, and the firm doesn't believe they were from the same users. They also incorporate social media tools like Twitter to extend the "shelf life" of press releases, and say that drives additional traffic.
"When we included a link to our press releases on Twitter and other social media networks, we saw these both expanded the scope of distribution and the extended the longevity of the announcement," the CEO of the company behind the case study had said. "With other news releases we saw an initial spike in Web site traffic on the first two days and then it dropped off. With these features we've seen increases in traffic up to five days after the news release was issued."
In a study from Arketi Group, also back in the summer, journalists were found to use the web in the following ways:
- 95% search
- 92% reading news
- 92% emailing
- 89% finding story ideas
- 87% finding news sources
- 75% reading blogs
- 64% watching webinars
- 61% watching YouTube
- 59% social networks
You've got to wonder if that social networks number has gone up by now. My guess is that it has, and social media has since become all the more important to search, particularly with the inclusion of real-time search results in Google and Google's social search experiment (which may eventually move beyond experiment status).
Marty Weintraub, the President of aimClear shared some great tips and insight into the use of press releases for search in a recent interview with WebProNews. Among other things, he noted that when you do a press release, you're "hitching a ride" in the search engine results and news results. You can use outbound links in press releases, and perhaps more importantly, you're out there where the journalists are looking.