Emreteers 2007

Facebook status update:

What do the recent Facebook changes
mean for newspapers & journaIism?
Kingston University
26 October 2011
2011 Kathryn Corrick
%his wiII be a whistIe-stop tour
BIink and you may miss the foIIowing:
What are the Iatest changes to Facebook?
A tour of four newspaper apps
What does it impIy for journaIism and pubIishing?
atest changes to Facebook were
announced at the F8 conference
https://f8.facebook.com/
%hey can be summarised into two
main areas
%imeIine
OpenGraph
%imeline
A response to the Facebook ProfiIe being:
'the biggest Iost opportunity in the history
of storyteIIing'
http://thetechjournaI.com/how-to/an-initiaI-guide-to-controI-facebook-timeIine.xhtmI
%imeline summary
'Express who you reaIIy are'
Surfaces onIy the defining
and important moments of
your Iife
Users wiII be abIe to
'backfiII' and 'curate' their
timeIine with further content
and events
%here wiII be different fiIters
for timeIine views
Add apps
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kcorrick/2792
525747/
mplications
Users wiII be abIe to see more easiIy how much
data they have on Facebook
PotentiaIIy creates more highIy rich data sets
More granuIar privacy settings
pen Graph connecting more
'FrictionIess experiences (Apps)
ReaI-time serendipity (the %icker)
Finding patterns' (it's aII about the
data)
Open Graph Apps - it's aII about verbs
Listen
Watch
Read
But couId be anything:
Want
Own
Bought
%he %icker and verbs
In this exampIe 'read' and 'used'
mplications
More possibiIities for organisations (as we'II see)
Emphasis on Apps not Pages
More, richer data and data sets (advertising)
Over sharing and spam
Privacy
Reputation management and trust
Is it 'sociaI' or a use of the 'sociaI graph'?
F8 Digested, digested
%imeIine - first draft of your autobiography
(incIuding the embarrassing bits)
Open Graph - frictionIess verbs
lso read
%wo bIog posts worth reading by Mat Morrison
and Adrian Short:
http://emergingspaces.co.uk/content/what-Iast-
nights-f8-facebook-conference-means-brand-
advertisers
http://adrianshort.co.uk/2011/09/25/its-the-end-
of-the-web-as-we-know-it/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kcorrick/6197818343
What do these changes mean for
journaIism and newspapers?
Overview of what's possibIe
%our of four apps
An assessment
What's now possibIe?
Facebook have created a new API* for OpenGraph
%his is avaiIabIe to anyone if they sign up as a Facebook
deveIoper (you couId buiId one yourseIves with the
right skiIIs)
It gives access to deveIopers to create apps for
Facebook's new features - the %imeIine, %icker etc.
So apps can now be created with verbs such as 'X is
Reading/Watching/Listening to Y' as weII as enabIing
you to create a page for users to use your app in
Facebook if you choose
A number of media partners had access prior to Iaunch
incIuding Spotify, NetfIix, %he Guardian.
* a deveIoper interface that enabIes you to access & use the underIying
technoIogy and data structures of a pIatform and buiId things with it. Eg.
BuiId an app.
%he theory in a nutsheII
You see what your friends are reading in your
%icker or WaII and cIick on the Iink and read
the articIe yourseIf or add the app.
Once you've added the app you'II be provided
with further ideas of articIes to read via what
your friends have read but aIso what's popuIar
and in that issue. You can add comments to
articIes in app
If you read an articIe via the app it wiII
automaticaIIy be posted to your
%icker/WaII/%imeIine, friends wiII see it, etc.
What's in it for a newspaper?
Awareness raising to wider / younger / new
readers
%raffic to the website = more ad revenues
Serve ads through the app = increase in
revenues
Access to rich dataset about app subscribers
- think of aII the things you teII Facebook in
your profiIe (apps shouId cIearIy state what
data they have access to and how they use it)
Conversion to other newspaper services
Assessing newspaper apps so far
I examined and tested four newspaper apps to
understand how they worked and what happened
to my WaII, %icker and if others became annoyed
or read articIes as a resuIt. I aIso tweeted my
findings as I went.
%he Guardian
%he Independent
New York %imes
Washington Post
%he Guardian - easiIy found via the
Guardian Facebook Page
Adding the app - you get given a description of
how it works and options for who wiII see activity
(this is standard for the Iatest post F8 apps)
Logged into the Guardian Facebook
App Page
It Iooks a bit boring at the top but is
prettier when you scroII down a bit
But. the Guardian use an iFrame so they
can dispIay their own adverts and make
some money from those who do go to the
app page
When you cIick on an articIe you remain within the
Facebook app. What other friends have read
appears to the right - encouraging expIoration
A sense of how popuIar articIes are
and option to remove from %imeIine
%he Guardian has cIear privacy, FAQ
and terms of service pages
%hese describe how the app works answer
generaI questions and aIso describe what how
they use reader's data.
%his is best practice and gives reassurance to
readers.
%he Guardian - takeaways
Ensure your app is easiIy findabIe on your
existing Facebook Page
Use iFrames if you wouId Iike to serve your
own adverts through the app to increase
revenue
%he downside of this is that the ads can take
up vaIuabIe space and make the 'home page'
Iook duII. Understand and examine your
anaIytics to see to what extent this matters
(the Guardian app has over 1miIIion users)
Have cIear privacy poIicies
%he Independent
%he Independent don't mention or Iink to their
app on their Facebook Page - at Ieast not that I
found or saw.
So I tried using Facebook Search to find the
app.
%he Independent - app Ianding page
It is caIIed RecentIy Read btw and can be
found here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/recentIyread
It took me two or three times to
figure out that it was a) the app
joining page b) how to add the app
Note: you cIick the tiny bIue 'Log in'
button.
Which is a bit counter-intuitive
No indication at the top of the page that you're
Iogged in to the app and sharing what you read
automaticaIIy
Where does it appear on the website?
%he Independent - take-aways
Mention and Iink to your app on your Facebook Page
Name your app with your newspaper brand at the start
if you want it to be found via Facebook Search
Most immediate controI of deIeting what you've read
of aII the apps (untiI %imeIine is roIIed out perhaps?)
Listings of what you've read and option to deIete can
be controIIed via the Independent website
Consider how you expIain your app on your website
and make reaIIy obvious how to add/Iog-in the app.
Use images where possibIe and try not to use too
much text to expIain how the app works (compare with
Washington Post)
New York %imes
So much easier to
find!
%he app page
It's a bit bare and doesn't teII me very much other
than the number of users (210,000)
On pressing 'Go to app'
Ah.
AII the other newspaper apps I tested
supported secure browsing, as this
prevents my account from too easiIy being
hacked or taken over (particuIarIy on open
wifi networks). As I have this feature
permanentIy on (as shouId you)..
. I skipped this app.
New York %imes take-aways
Make the add app page more attractive and incIude
more information about what it does (cf. Guardian)
Ensure your app works for secure browsing
(ie. https://facebook.com)
%his matters as these apps are designed to be used in
the background to be used reguIarIy on a persistent
basis, incIuding when the reader is expIoring the
newspaper website.
WhiIst not everyone has secure browsing switched on
as a responsibIe pubIisher this is something you'd
want to encourage not undermine.
Washington Post
Sign up via: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sociaIreader
etaiIs about what it does before
pressing 'add' - this is best practice
Washington Post: what does it Iook
Iike once signed up?
It's refreshingIy nice Iooking
Looks purposefuIIy designed
%houghtfuI use of the space and interaction design
Creates an immediate desire to Iook around and
expIore
oesn't Iook or feeI Iike a standard Facebook Page
ArticIes dispIay within Facebook
Washington Post: what's worth noting?
Washington Post take-aways
%he design and user experience makes aII the
difference. Here I wanted to pIay and expIore -
Other peopIe signed up to the app as a resuIt of
my %weets and Facebook %icker stream.
%ake-away: take time to consider the design,
incIude caIIs to action and other ways to show
what eIse is being read via the app in an
attractive manner.
Make it feeI Iike a good experience from the start
and that there is more to expIore on the website.
AII apps feature ways to aIter how the auto-
status update is viewed once posted
You can controI and aIter who sees your app
postings via your Privacy and Account Settings
OveraII impIications for journaIism
Understand the technoIogy and best practice - there are Iots of
possibiIities but aIso many areas for mistakes.
Ensure you have a good deveIoper who is aware of the
chaIIenges and can keep up with the API changes
Privacy - both in terms of what data you have access to and how
you handIe it but aIso how users may forget the app is on and
mistakenIy share things they shouIdn't
Spamming and over-sharing - consider what your app wiII share
%hese apps aren't for everyone - understand who of your
readers might appreciate an app - a particuIar demographic or
group
on't put aII your eggs in one basket and reIy on Facebook for
your business modeI - it may not be here in a few years
Consider who needs the app more - you or Facebook. PubIishers
and content creators need to understand how powerfuI and
necessary they reaIIy are
Consider how you wiII grow your reIationship with your readers,
and how to ensure it goes beyond Facebook
Put more simpIy
Newspapers and journaIists are often
trusted brands (even though most days it
doesn't feeI that way).
Aim not to betray that trust in how
technoIogy is appIied and used.
What none of the apps do
Show me other ways I can get updates or
different ways to find content on their sites
aiIy emaiI updates
A daiIy/weekIy Facebook message with the Iatest
headIines in my area of interest
Incentivise me to teII my friends
Give me a share in the advertising generated by
my activity - I'm
Make what gets shared more granuIar rather
than on/off to set contacts or deIeted. Eg. Shared
with specific friends, shared by topic
%ime for questions
%hank you!
%hese slides will be available at
www.KathrynCorrick.co.uk
%witter - @kcorrick