Care About Local News? Facebook Does Too.
While we all care about what’s going on around the world, it’s clear that local news is something that directly affects us and that we want to see before we go off and read about the latest in what’s going on across the ocean.
In January of 2018, Facebook announced that it would be committing to a larger focus on displaying localized news in their news feed. As of March, this update has been released and applies to Facebook users all around the globe.
For users this is a convenient addition, but for those publishing the news it’s something else entirely. If you’re a publisher with multiple locations your release will be focused in on those cities rather than outside of them.
But I’m an International Content Producer!
With most news being online now, the idea of your content being localized to the city you publish out of may sound like a disturbing one, but that’s not exactly how it’s going to work. When you publish content and it goes out into the world, locations in which it’s most read will receive a boost in organic reach.
To create an example, say you write about a viral Instagram post someone made in Toronto. Since the content references Toronto directly, you’re going to gain more reach in that city and in turn you’ll have a brand-new reader base in Toronto that you didn’t have before.
But Why?
If you’re wondering why this change came about, look to the ever-popular topic of “fake news”. When this announcement was first released in January, it was with the aim to prevent posts from businesses, brands, and media that are more commercially driven and take away from genuine news that, “leads us to connect more with each other”.
The full release of the update arrived on the heels of the Cambridge Analytica scandal as Facebook is seen to be attempting to slow the spread of fake news, and handle consumer data with more respect and security.
Increasing Internet Accuracy
It seems that the Internet as a whole is making a big push towards increased Internet accuracy. As more and more people sign on and start using the World Wide Web on a daily basis it becomes more and more chaotic, and it is the job of large companies like Google and Facebook to do their best to keep information accurate.
Like Google’s aim for quality content that’s free of spam and operates under peer approval through SEO tactics like backlinking, Facebook is now attempting to keep their corner of the net free of false information and low-quality content.
A good move overall!
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Hi Jasmin!
Thanks for reading – we’re glad you enjoyed our post. We tend to keep these posts pretty short but if you’re interested in our longer posts, you might enjoy our other blog. You can find it at https://linknow.com/blog/. There you’ll find much more detailed (and simplified) explanations about the SEO concepts we use in our everyday work.
Thanks again!
Aubrey