lecture 9 fb: moderating online news communities
TRANSCRIPT
Who sometimes reads a news story on Facebook that’s in your
timeline?
Who sometimes posts a news story to Facebook?
YOU ARE ALMOST ALL USING FACEBOOK TO CONSUME AND
PUBLISH NEWS
YOU ARE ALL PART OF THE SOCIAL NEWS CONVERSATION TAKING
PLACE ON FACEBOOK
Once again the arab spring examples :
Tunisia: Mohamed Bouazizi
Egypt: Khaled Said
Libya: less well-known is how NPR and other media, during the revolution preceding the fall ofGaddafi encouraged locals to post news on the NPR page
Syria: dozens of news communities still active and vital in getting news out today
It’s an invaluable resource in countries with little freedom of the press, or with less
established media markets – or with dying media markets !
Example: community newspaper that went fully on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/RockvilleCentral
But mostly…
That’s where your audience is.
As the digital audience increasingly moves towards mobile use of social media to
find content that interests them, journalists and news organisations need
to know how to best reach that audience, or face losing touch with them.
Using Facebook for investigativepurposes
Pro Publica and their FB group on patient harm:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/patientharm/
When you become an editor…
Use Facebook for sources and angles: how willyou cover a story?
Luke Lewis, Buzzfeed UK’s editor
• https://www.facebook.com/lukeslewis?fref=ts
Facebook news posting tips
Ask a question
Readers respond with 70% more comments than the average post
Others ways to generate responses:
• Seeking input around a posting
• Call to « read » or « take a closerlook »
• Posts with clever language
• Highlighting a specific quote
Facebook news posting tips
Write a few lines of introduction to your story:
Readers respond to posts with a few lines and some detail at least 50% more
Use pictures or images: They bring in 150% more likes and 65% more
comments than posts without.
Moderating a FB news page
1. Post frequently2. Keep it concise3. It's a conversation, not a broadcast4. Post pictures and add text5. People respond to emotional stories6. Clever titles get you shares7. Lists get you shares8. Stories with a strong visual element get shares9. Use « subscribe »10. Moderate comments
Tips in brief:
post regularly
use large images and video
use humour and feel-good stories
start conversations
share breaking news
Advantages of FB news community
• Potential for great distribution and great feedback
• Obviously what is appealing is the interactivity and the ability for people to discuss news
• It changes the story (or helps write the story) as followers contribute information
• Allows you really to know what’s going on on the ground, to compare perspectives and ask and get answers to questions in real time