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Pew came out with an interesting study this week titled "social networking sites and our lives." There's a bunch of good data in the study including info on users, trust and more. One of the significant headlines for newspapers has to do with political content.
The survey found that "Facebook users are much more politically engaged than most people."
The survey was conducted after the 2010 November election. The following stats show that a Facebook user is:
• 2 1/2 more times likely to attend a political rally than other social media and Internet users
• Fifty seven percent more likely to persuade someone to vote than other social media and Internet users
• 43 percent more likely to vote in an election than other social media and Internet users
Those statistics show a real appetite from Facebook users for political content. Not only do Facebook users want to read political content, they likely want to participate in conversations on politics.
So, here's what newspapers should think about doing on their Facebook page with political content:
• City council and county government meeting stories and issue oriented stories should be posted to Facebook. Of course, the meeting or issue should have relevantly important content and not be content that would be buried inside a local section. It should be front page or section front political content.
• If lawmakers write columns in your newspaper, whether local or statewide, you should post links to those on Facebook. Those political-savy Facebook readers want that information.
• If you run a preview for political meetings or even the agenda, try posting it to Facebook and ask readers what issue matters most to them?
• Because politically-savy readers not only want to read the news, but they also want to participate in the conversation, newspapers should pose questions, as often as they can, in political stories they post. Editors may even want to consider a weekly state or national political topic they pose to readers on their Facebook page, understanding that this audience wants to debate politics, not just read about it.
• If you post a poll to Facebook, consider how it could be political in nature, whether that issue is local, state or national.
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David Arkin is the Vice President of Content & Audience for GateHouse Media. He oversees all matters related to print and online content, strategy, and online development and support related to the company’s content management system. From 2007-2011 he served as the executive director of the News & Interactive Division for GateHouse Media. Prior to that, he served as the executive editor of Greater Niagara Newspapers (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) and served as the top editor for the Cullman Times (Ala.), the Porterville Recorder (Calif.) and the Huntsville Item (Texas).
