UK newsbrands hit the headlines on social media

1. Analysis of date from UK newsbrands hit the headlines on social media @DailyMirror @guardian @Independent @thetimes @EveningStandard @MailOnline @Telegraph

2. Headlines • UK newsbrands drove 133.5 million social media actions* in the first five months of 2014 • Facebook: 57.6 million article likes, 30.2 million comments, 30.1 million shares • 14.2 million Twitter shares • 827k LinkedIn shares • 61k pins on Pinterest • Facebook is the most important social medium for sharing stories for all UK newsbrands – and it’s still growing • BBC much more biased to Twitter – but total UK newsbrands now rival BBC for Twitter shares *Direct activity from newsbrandurl. Excludes likes etc for newsbrand Facebook pages, Twitter following, favourites & re-tweets. Global data.

3. Global social media interactions* from UK newsbrand articles exceed 25 million monthly *Facebook likes, shares & comments; Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest shares Source: Newswhip UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk (from March 2014), thetimes.co.uk (May 2014), dailystar.co.uk (May 2014)

4. UK newsbrands closing the gap with Buzzfeed Source: Newswhip UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk (from March 2014), thetimes.co.uk (May 2014), dailystar.co.uk (May 2014)

5. UK newsbrand articles are shared around 9 million times each month on Facebook and Twitter Source: Newswhip *UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk (from March 2014), thetimes.co.uk (May 2014), dailystar.co.uk (May 2014)

6. Facebook and UK newsbrands

7. Facebook is the most important social media brand for newsbrands Source: Newswhip UK Newsbrands total interactions Jan-May 2014: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk (from March 2014), thetimes.co.uk (May 2014), dailystar.co.uk (May 2014)

8. News content on Facebook growing fast • Total interactions for news content up from 393.6m in January 2014 to 482.8m in April 2014 • Shares growing at fastest rate Source: Newswhip blog http://blog.newswhip.com/

9. Total Facebook interactions for UK newsbrands reach 23+million monthly Source: Newswhip UK Newsbrands Jan-May 2014 : dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk (from March 2014), thetimes.co.uk (May 2014), dailystar.co.uk (May 2014)

10. UK newsbrand articles’ Facebook likes increase to nearly 12.5 million monthly Source: Newswhip UK Newsbrands Jan-May 2014 : dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk (from March 2014), thetimes.co.uk (May 2014), dailystar.co.uk (May 2014)

11. US providers more reliant on Facebook Source: Newswhip Jan-May 2014

12. But UK titles are the biggest English language newspapers on Facebook in first half of 2014 Total Facebook interactions Jan-June 2014 Guardian 50.3m Daily Mail 48.5m New York Times 47.9m USA Today 25.2m W/ton Post 22.5m Source: Newswhip Jan-June 2014

13. Facebook shares higher than Twitter for most UK newsbrands Source: Newswhip Jan-May 2014 UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk (from March 2014), thetimes.co.uk (May 2014), dailystar.co.uk (May 2014)

14. Pure players more reliant on very high numbers sharing each article, especially Upworthy • UK newsbrand success more dependent on larger number of articles being shared • BUT the most shared UK newsbrands also have highest ratio of shares to articles • Optimising number of shares, particularly on Facebook is key to social media success

15. “We actually created that huge traffic jump in June producing fewer stories, not more. On the day-to-day operational side, the team has made dozens of changes that add up to the newsroom working better and more efficiently. Seemingly mundane things make a huge difference – things such as better planning, more creative story conferences, and using audience data to decide what to stop doing.” Jason Seiken

16. “At the digital first Mirror.co.uk, the four main weekday peak times, with devices, are as follows: 7am - Mobile Midday - Desktop 4.30pm - Desktop and Mobile 8pm - Mobile and Tablet To respond to these surges in expectant visitors, the Mirror’s newsroom has big refreshes of content at each of these times. Posting new stories on Facebook at these times is part of that strategy.” Newswhip sharing guide “The Mirror, which we noted entering the top 25 in June, made further gains (in July), to come in at 17th overall, their best performance yet. Their biggest stories of July were mainly sports related, such as an interactive poll which asked readers their pick of the best goalkeeper of the World Cup, which gained over 200,000 engagements on Facebook.” Newswhip blog • Source: Newswhip Jan-May 2014

17. UK newsbrands prompt more Facebook interactions than the BBC, led by Guardian and MailOnline Source: Newswhip Jan-May 2014 UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk (from March 2014), thetimes.co.uk (May 2014), dailystar.co.uk (May 2014)

18. Some top Facebook stories January 2014, MailOnline 586,250 interactions, 132,024 shares March 2014, telegraph.co.uk 489,947 interactions, 140,945 shares January 2014, MailOnline 637,245 interactions, 195,818 shares March 2014, mirror.co.uk 231,445 interactions, 129,983 shares March 2014, theguardian.com 221,542 interactions, 44,024 shares May 2014, independent.co.uk 221,542 interactions, 44,024 shares

19. It’s not just trivia, lists and snippets… • In July 2014 this story helped the Guardian break the 10m monthly Facebook interactions barrier for the first time July 2014, theguardian.com 250,000 Facebook interactions

20. It’s not just trivia, lists and snippets • Story length is no barrier to sharing • Analysis of top 10 most shared stories for 5 big publishers on Facebook showed that long form, high quality writing and interesting editorials make up the bulk of the big hits (except BBC) • The Guardian’s top stories averaged 1,740 words and included a six-part multimedia featureon NSA revelations, totalling 4,000+ words

21. It’s not just trivia, lists and snippets • Biggest UK newsbrand stories, Facebook May 2014: • 31 UK and world news, current affairs and comment • 6 sport • 3 showbiz • 3 video links • 2 science • 2 books • 1 beauty • and just 3 lists or quizzes (though this was the most shared)

22. Headlines/pics from most shared stories Actual front page Source: Newswhip experiment

23. Headlines/pics from most shared stories Actual front page Source: Newswhip experiment

24. Twitter

25. UK newsbrand Twitter shares similar to BBC UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk (from March 2014), thetimes.co.uk (May 2014), dailystar.co.uk (May 2014)

26. Some top Twitter shares May 2014, MailOnline 23,801 shares Jan 2014, independent.co.uk16,330 shares Feb 2014, theguardian.com 15,714 shares Jan 2014, theguardian.com 9,732 shares Feb 2014, mirror.co.uk 5,838 shares Mar 2014, telegraph.co.uk 7,868 shares

27. Top 10 most shared UK newsbrand stories each month on Twitter are almost all in top 35 of Facebook shares – usually with higher interactions on Facebook But top Facebook stories are not always big on Twitter: • timing of story? • demographics? • Twitter more biased towards quality sector and serious news • Source: Newswhip Jan-May 2014

28. How many follow UK newsbrands Source: You Gov January 2014 Base: All UK Twitter Users (1266)

29. Twitter adds four core benefits as a news platform for users… • Source: #NewsOnTheTweet2014

30. Newsbrands underpin these 4 key benefits • Source: #NewsOnTheTweet2014

31. The whole is stronger than the sum of the parts Twitter helps newspaper brands to become part of breaking news in people’s minds through instant updates Newspaper brands provide an authoritative viewpoint and offer verified news in a user generated content world. Newspaper brands provide detailed analysis behind 140 character Tweets Twitter enables newspaper readers to connect with newsbrands and content in a more direct dialogue Twitter provides opportunities for users to engage with newspaper brands that they wouldn’t normally read in other formats. Newspaper brands offer content and recognisable brands that can bring people together through shared interests

32. For further information see: http://www.newsworks.org.uk/newsonthetweet

33. Newsbrands are also big content providers for LinkedIn and Pinterest UK Newsbrands: dailymail.co.uk, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, telegraph.co.uk, mirror.co.uk, express.co.uk, standard.co.uk, metro.co.uk (from March 2014), thetimes.co.uk (May 2014), dailystar.co.uk (May 2014)

34. 190,715 followers* 2,548,816 followers* 1,025,531 likes 3,581,538 likes @TheSunNewspaper @DailyMirror 233,811 followers* @guardian @Independent @thetimes 256,377 likes 587,468 followers* 1,600,951 likes @EveningStandard 760,647 followers* 2,432,175 likes @MailOnline @Telegraph 18,105 followers* 582,163 followers* 275,712 likes 1,723,859 likes 673,968 followers* 2,009,489 likes *excluding sub-brands and journalists

35. Summary and implications • UK newsbrands are highly influential social media activators, delivering more than 25 million social interactions every month • Massive shared audiences on a daily basis • Facebook sharing is increasing audiences to UK newsbrands and is vital to social media velocity • Wide range of stories to tap into for advertisers

36. methodology What Are NewsWhip’s Social Rankings? Each month, NewsWhippublishes lists of the top social publishers of the previous month, covering Twitter, Facebook and sometimes LinkedIn and Pinterest. The rankings are based on the number of shares, tweets, comments and other interactions accrued to content published by each site in the relevant month. What content is covered? For Facebook, NewsWhip combines the total number of likes, shares and comments on content published during that month alone. For Facebook, if someone on a site uses an on-site share button to share an article to their timeline, that action counts as one share. If someone copy-pastes the link directly to Facebook, that share will count in the exact same way. The rankings have nothing to do with the number of people who ‘like’ a publication’s Facebook page that month, although that may have some effect on how engaged the audience is with the content. A publisher with many “likes” has better audience access and may have access needed to drive more activity around their content. For Twitter, NewsWhip counts the total number of tweets that include links to each publisher’s articles (that includes re-tweets) from that month. Twitter favourites are not currently included. For all sites, the figures relate solely to content published during the month in question alone. Older content that continued going viral, or archived material posted without a new URL is not taken into account. Where does the data come from? All the data comes from Spike, which monitors about 50,000 publications in 12 languages, categorising content from each one by country, topic and publisher, and gathering data on topics, authors, and videos associated with each story. Spike tracks the speed at which each story spreads on Facebook and Twitter.