Social media

Digital Editors' Network - 24 May 2011

Where we are - Independent.co.uk

430% growth in Facebook referrals in a year, contributing to

35% growth in daily unique browsers

50k 'likes' for The Independent page and 13k for i's page

Nearly 100k likes for all Facebook pages, including open graph

80k+ followers across Twitter accounts (not including

journalists)
The basics - buttons

• Near headline
• With faces
• At top and bottom of article
 Send button compared to Recommend
Like button (Recommend)

Send button
Bit.ly shortened URLs - Ind.pn
Access to Bit.ly analytics

 
Other social plugins
Live stream to accompany liveblogging
Open Graph pages
FB Questions
Amplifying your journalists' voices
Geotargetting content
Liveblogging
...can become print editorial
Hashtags
Hashtags to involve your content in
ongoing discussions
Engaging posts - questions and
likeable/RT-able statements
Plug your other accounts
Section accounts - Can be given to desks
The value of mentions
Mea Culpa
Your pages' appearance
Discussion points
1. Don't worry that search is still a
bigger referrer than social

• Bing are using Facebook likes to augment organic search

results, and Google are using Twitter.
• Halo effects surrounding sharing e.g. 33% more likely to
reshare.
• Social traffic stays longer and is more engaged.
2. Focus on the user 

• Aggregate content into appropriate categories -

geographical, section-based, writer - and build out these
with social presences.
• Remember that the next generation don't think in terms of
publications but in terms of categories, or individual pieces
of content.
• Automated (unformatted) and scalable, or manual (rich) and
labour intensive?
• Users often share the news they think their friends haven't
seen or which is funny e.g. BBC News' 'Most Shared'.
3. A new mindset

• Top down and bottom up support is necessary.

• Show the resource value of social media where possible.
• Focus on the easy wins first and don't be afraid to automate
and gradually move to, or augment with, manual.
• Don't be afraid to experiment (and steal) - 

"The fight to be first stifles innovation", Mary Hamilton