Social media traffic to news outlets collapses as platforms change links

NEW DATA SHOWS AMERICA IS A COUNTRY THAT CONSUMES **HEADLINE NEWS –

MEANING RIGHT NOW –

 

AN INCREASING NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO SEE THIS STORY ON FACEBOOK OR X -–

WON’T EVEN CLICK IN TO SEE THIS VIDEO.

THEY WILL LOOK AT THE HEADLINE AND CAPTION – THEN CONTINUE SCROLLING.

 

THE NUMBER OF CLICKS ON NEWS LINKS HAS DROPPED BY AS MUCH AS **80 PERCENT SINCE 20-20.

 

ON FACEBOOK – TRAFFIC TO NEWS WEBSITES DRAMATICALLY FELL BY NEARLY 100 MILLION.

ON TWITTER – IT WAS A SIMILAR TREND.

A SHARP DECLINE IN USERS CLICKING EXTERNAL LINKS.

AS A RESULT – NEWS ORGANIZATIONS ARE  RE-THINKING THEIR MODEL IN ORDER TO REACH AN AUDIENCE.

 

WHILE **MOST PEOPLE STILL RECEIVE THEIR NEWS FROM SOCIAL MEDIA –

THAT REACH HAS BEEN REELED IN BY BIG TECH.

FACEBOOK – WAS TIRED OF THE POLITICS.

QUITE LITERALLY.

ACCORDING TO THE WALL STREET JOURNAL’S REVIEW OF INTERNAL EMAILS –

AFTER “ENDLESS CLAIMS ABOUT POLITICAL BIAS AND CENSORSHIP” ON FACEBOOK – CEO MARK ZUCKERBERG TOLD HIS TEAM TO “DEMOTE” **NEWS CONTENT VISIBILITY IN 20-21.

 

AS ALGORITHMS CHANGED –

SO DID THE NUMBER OF NEWS CLICKS WITH VISIBILITY OF LINKS SHRINKING.

ACCORDING TO META’S MOST RECENT QUARTERLY “CONTENT REPORT” –

 

93-POINT-8 PERCENT OF ALL POSTS VIEWED DURING THE FIRST QUARTER OF THIS YEAR DID **NOT INCLUDE A LINK TO A SOURCE OUTSIDE FACEBOOK.

6-POINT-2 PERCENT OF POSTS SEEN IN NEWS FEEDS INCLUDED AN OUTSIDE LINK.

 

WHILE FACEBOOK STEERS AWAY FROM POLITICAL NEWS CONTENT –

X – IS TAKING A DIFFERENT APPROACH.

EARLIER THIS YEAR – FOR THE FIRST TIME –

MORE PEOPLE WERE CLICKING ON NEWS CONTENT ON ‘X’ THAN THEY WERE ON FACEBOOK.

ELON MUSK HAS SAID– 

HE WANTS TO CAPITALIZE ON PEOPLE COMING TO X FOR NEWS.

BUT AT THE SAME TIME – HIS GOAL IS TO**KEEP HIS USERS ON THE PLATFORM RATHER THAN HAVE THEM FOLLOW EXTERNAL LINKS.

IF NEWS ORGANIZATIONS THOUGHT THEY WEREN’T GETTING ANY WEB TRAFFIC FROM SOCIAL MEDIA REFERRALS NOW –

MUSK WANTS TO SEE THOSE NUMBERS GO EVEN LOWER.

 

EARLIER THIS MONTH – X **REMOVED NEWS HEADLINES FROM POSTS.

THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT NEWS LINKS **USED TO LOOK LIKE 

AFTER THE UPDATE –

YOU CAN SEE THE PHOTO OF A LINK AND A CAPTION.

AND THE WEBPAGE IT’S COMING FROM.

BUT **NO HEADLINE.

MUSK SAYS THIS IS TO OPTIMIZE TIME SPENT ON X –

WHICH HELPS HIS BUSINESS.

BUT HURTS NEWS ORGANIZATIONS RELIANT ON CLICKS FOR TRAFFIC –

AND – **REVENUE.

MUSK IS ALSO ENCOURAGING USERS TO BECOME “CITIZEN JOURNALISTS” BY LIVESTREAMING ON HIS PLATFORM – SO PEOPLE BECOME LESS RELIANT ON TRADITIONAL NEWS.

 

WHILE SOCIAL MEDIA USERS MIGHT HAVE STOPPED **CLICKING ON NEWS LINKS –

THEY ARE STILL **SHARING THEM.

BOTH ON FACEBOOK AND X.

A STUDY BY COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY FOUND 59-PERCENT OF NEWS LINKS SHARED IN POSTS – ARE NEVER EVEN LOOKED AT BY THE PERSON WHO SHARED IT.

 

THE MEDIA IS TRYING TO FIND ITS FOOTING IN A SHIFTING LANDSCAPE..

SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS ARE LIMITING THEIR REACH –

AND THE NEWS THAT USERS DO SEE ON SOCIAL MEDIA – THEY’RE NOT EVEN READING.

 

IF YOU MADE IT TO THE END OF *THIS VIDEO –

YOU DON’T FIT THE TREND OF AMERICANS ONLY LOOKING FOR HEADLINE NEWS.

WE ALSO DON’T FIT THE TREND OF YOUR TYPICAL news ORGANIZATION.

OUR MISSION IS TO BRING OUR AUDIENCE “UNBIASED STRAIGHT FACTS’ –

EVEN WHEN ITS CRITICAL OF OUR OWN INDUSTRY.

STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS IS ON A MISSION TO BRING BACK UNBIASED, FACT-BASED REPORTING – EVEN IF ITS ABOUT OUR OWN INDUSTRY. 

 

THE INDUSTRY – IS FEELING IT.

 

THERE’S ALREADY BEEN A RECORD NUMBER OF “MEDIA JOB LAYOFFS” **THIS YEAR.

ANDBUT WITH NEXT YEAR BEING A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION – IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN IF VOTERS WILL CHOOSE TO VISIT NEWS SITES – OR IF THIS TREND WILL CONTINUE.

WILL VOTERS BE INFORMED BY VISITING NEWS SITES OR WILL THE TREND CONTINUE –

OF HEADLINES NEWS BEING SUFFICIENT ENOUGH.

IT’S ONE OF MANY QUESTIONS AS THE WORLD TRIES TO NAVIGATE THE COMPLEXITIES THAT COME WITH A NEW DIGITAL AGE.