social media

With 2017 behind us, Share Rocket is taking a look back on our data from the top 10 markets in the country to track the performance of the top local broadcasters for our fourth quarter social review. Compared to the third quarter, in which natural disasters around the country helped contribute to huge spikes in engagement, the fourth quarter saw reductions in total engagement in most of the top 10 markets as the spike subsided. Here are markets 6-10.

Twitter’s chief operating officer is leaving the social media giant to lead another company. Anthony Noto joined Twitter in July 2014 after a stint at Goldman Sachs. He has also […]

KWCH, Gray’s CBS affiliate in Wichita, Kan., is the leader in social media actions in the market over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. Shawn Hilferty, KWCH’s digital director, says one reason his station is ahead on Facebook is its digital-first approach when it comes to local news.

Rupert Murdoch on Monday called on Facebook to pay “trusted” news publishers a carriage fee, similar to the model used by cable companies. His remarks come days after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the social media company would prioritize “trustworthy” news in its feed by identifying high-quality outlets and fight misinformation.

The changes the social network recently made to its news feed have some advertisers thinking there will be opportunities for growth in video.

Snapchat parent Snap Inc. laid off roughly two dozen people across eight different teams on Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter. Most of the layoffs were in Snap’s content division, the people said, which includes editors who curate user-submitted videos for breaking news and other events. A handful of employees in New York and London were also asked to relocate to the company’s Los Angeles headquarters. Some layoffs also took place in Snap’s engineering and partnership teams.

The Senate’s Wednesday Commerce Committee hearing, which featured tough questioning of execs from Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, comes amid growing government scrutiny over misuse of social media platforms and questions about what the companies are doing to prevent it.

The Republican National Committee unveiled the “winners” of President Trump‘s “Fake News Awards” on Wednesday night with a list that includes frequent Trump targets in the media as well as a surprise website crash. The awards list New York Times columnist Paul Krugman as the top winner. Also awarded: CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times.

With 2017 behind us, Share Rocket is taking a look back on our data from the top 10 markets in the country to track the performance of the top local broadcasters for our fourth quarter social review. Compared to the third quarter, in which natural disasters around the country helped contribute to huge spikes in engagement, the fourth quarter saw reductions in total engagement in most of the top 10 markets as the spike subsided. Here are markets 1-5.

Strategic and regular use of Facebook Live has helped propel WGRZ, Tegna’s NBC affiliate in Buffalo, N.Y., to first place among the market’s social media, says Kim Degeorge-Pike, WRGZ’s digital director. WGRZ has more than 2.5 million social actions, 31% of the total engagement generated by the DMA, according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee.

A new Kantar report finds that all channels benefit from synergies, but some work particularly well together — with the strongest combinations between TV and Facebook and TV and outdoor.

In early tests in post-conflict countries, Facebook’s News Feed surfaced more news stories from friends and family — and fake news increased.

As Facebook revamps its news feed, marketers are assessing their strategies on the platform and bracing to shell out more money to get brands’ content in front of users. They worry that prioritizing posts from friends that generate engagement will reduce the reach of brands’ unpaid posts and may raise ad prices.

Zuckerberg disclosed late Thursday the billionth, and seemingly the most drastic, change to how Facebook determines what people see when they surf the social network. The stated goal is to make Facebook feel less like a depressing cesspool. (Zuckerberg didn’t put it that way.) The big glaring losers — besides investors’ delicate stomach linings — are the millions of companies that sought to build a business on Facebook.

In a heated political environment, Mark Zuckerberg moves to favor posts by friends. Will that mean a loss in audience for news outlets? 

As digital publishers bet big on video in search of advertising riches, many believe that a traditional method of media measurement isn’t keeping up.

Facebook wants to make it easier for people to find local news from vetted sources. The social network is testing a new section inside its app called “Today In,” a feed made up entirely of local news, events and announcements.

KHQ, the Cowles-owned NBC affiliate in Spokane, Wash., tops the market in social media actions over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. One of the reasons for its success is a regularly scheduled Facebook Live at around noon called Lunch Break, according to Traci Zeravica, KHQ’s news director.

A year ago, Facebook launched its Facebook Journalism Project. Led by Campbell Brown, the ex-NBC News anchor who was Facebook’s new head of news partnerships, the project was a high-profile effort to smooth relations with prominent news publishers. Critics say the initiative hasn’t delivered in meaningful ways and is a public relations exercise aimed at placating publisher critics more than anything.

The streaming music giant filed a confidential registration with the SEC in late December, with the intention of listing its shares in the first quarter of the year.

WCSC, Raycom’s CBS affiliate in Charleston, S.C., is out in front by more than a million social media actions over its next nearest competitor during the last six months. WCSC has almost 1.8 million actions on social, 27% of the total engagement generated by the DMA (No. 92), with more than 6.5 million social actions.

Publishers have a lot to gripe about when it comes to Facebook, from the platform choking off their referral traffic, dominating digital advertising and giving them whiplash with its constantly changing video strategy. But what if it got even worse? In 2018, Facebook could take a step further and separate news from the news feed. It’s not a crazy idea.

Before the 2016 election, those most likely to read “fake news” online were older and conservative, a new study finds. But even they relied most often on mainstream media.

Facebook announced that it will no longer use “Disputed Flags” — red flags next to fake news articles — to identify fake news for users. Instead it will use related articles to give people more context about a story.

CNN has ended its daily newscast designed for Snapchat users just four months after launching it. CNN and Los Angeles-based Snap Inc. said the program, called The Update, failed to generate enough advertising revenue to sustain itself.

Tom Wheeler, the former chairman of the FCC under President Obama, on Wednesday called for internet giants like Facebook and Google to be regulated. “It is time to recognize that the most powerful companies in the country should not be making their own rules,” Wheeler wrote.

Facebook may have good reasons for pursuing video, but analyst Michael Nathanson still sees some major faults and missteps in the social media platform’s current strategy. In a research report, Nathanson said that video appeals to Facebook because it could help the company capture more TV ad dollars and also it could help regrow or at least slow the decline of engagement on the platform from younger demographics.