UK newsbrands hit the headlines on social media

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

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 newsbrand url. Excludes likes etc for newsbrand Facebook pages, Twitter following,
favourites & re-tweets. Global data.

Global social media interactions* from UK
newsbrand articles exceed 25 million monthly
25,659
000s social media interactions
25,131
29,211
26,079
27,451
Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14
*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)

UK newsbrands closing the gap with Buzzfeed
41,434
28,510
000s social media interactions
25,659 27,451
9,389 9,399
5,711 5,754
2,945
1,545
Newsbrands Buzzfeed Upworthy BBC Huffington Post
Source: Newswhip

UK newsbrand articles are shared around 9 million
times each month on Facebook and Twitter
5,990 5,840
000s shares
6,748
5,606
5,964
2,812 2,685
3,039
2,622
3,033
Facebook 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,

Facebook is the most important social media
brand for newsbrands
Share of UK newsbrand interactions by social media brand
1% 1% 1% 2% 1%
11% 11% 10% 10% 11%
25% 24% 22% 22% 21%
23% 23% 23% 21% 22%
40% 42% 43% 45% 45%
Facebook Likes Facebook Shares Facebook Comments Twitter Shares LinkedIn/Pinterest
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)

News content on Facebook growing fast
• Total interactions for news content up from
393.6m in January 2014 to 482.8m in April 2014
Total interactions Jan-April 2014
Source: Newswhip blog http://blog.newswhip.com/
Likes
927,055 m
Shares
434,874 m
Comments
381,901 m
+ 26% Apr vs Jan
+ 30% Apr vs Jan
+ 8% Apr vs Jan
• Shares growing at fastest rate

Total Facebook interactions for UK newsbrands
reach 23+million monthly
22,666
22,264
000s
25,883
23,032
24,126
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)

UK newsbrand articles’ Facebook likes
increase to nearly 12.5 million monthly
10,340 10,495
000s
12,679
11,616
12,468
6,336
5,929
6,456
5,810 5,695
Facebook likes Facebook comments
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)

US providers more reliant on Facebook
99.8%
97.2%
95.5%
94.1%
92.8%
89.5%
89.0%
86.7%
83.4%
78.5%
77.0%
64.8%
0.1%
1.9%
4.3%
5.5%
6.1%
10.3%
10.7%
12.1%
15.8%
19.9%
21.1%
33.9%
upworthy.com
buzzfeed.com
metro.co.uk
huffingtonpost.co.uk
dailymail.co.uk
mirror.co.uk
express.co.uk
theguardian.com
independent.co.uk
telegraph.co.uk
standard.co.uk
bbc.co.uk
Share of interactions by social media brand
Facebook likes, shares and comments Twitter shares
Source: Newswhip Jan-May 2014

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

Facebook shares higher than Twitter for most
UK newsbrands
Shares only – Facebook vs Twitter
99.6%
93.0%
82.8%
79.9%
79.7%
69.0%
65.7%
64.9%
58.1%
51.6%
43.7%
40.1%
0.4%
7.0%
17.2%
20.1%
20.3%
31.0%
34.3%
35.1%
41.9%
48.4%
56.3%
59.9%
upworthy.com
buzzfeed.com
metro.co.uk
huffingtonpost.co.uk
dailymail.co.uk
mirror.co.uk
express.co.uk
theguardian.com
independent.co.uk
telegraph.co.uk
standard.co.uk
bbc.co.uk
Facebook shares Twitter shares

• 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

“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

1,152
Total Facebook interactions 000’s
Mirror.co.uk
2,086 2,039 2,073
2,701
3,609
5,916
Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14 Jun-14 Jul-14
“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

UK newsbrands prompt more Facebook interactions
than the BBC, led by Guardian and MailOnline
22,666 22,264
000s shares, likes & comments
25,883
23,032
24,126
6,596
5,659
4,947 4,661
5,645
7,199
8,051 7,805
8,462
9,251
9,592
7,617
8,296
7,380
7,076
Newsbrands bbc.co.uk theguardian.com dailymail.co.uk

Some top Facebook stories
January 2014, MailOnline
586,250 interactions, 132,024 shares
March 2014, telegraph.co.uk
January 2014, MailOnline
March 2014, mirror.co.uk
May 2014, independent.co.uk
March 2014, theguardian.com

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

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 feature on NSA revelations, totalling 4,000+ words

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)

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

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

UK newsbrand Twitter shares similar to BBC
2,812
2,685
000s shares
3,039
2,622
3,033
2,704
2,490
2,729
2,876
3,607
756 846 855 864 782
98 113 115 97 108
UK newsbrands BBC Buzzfeed Huffington Post

Some top Twitter shares
Jan 2014, theguardian.com
9,732 shares
Jan 2014, independent.co.uk
16,330 shares
Feb 2014, theguardian.com
15,714 shares
May 2014, MailOnline
23,801 shares
Mar 2014, telegraph.co.uk
7,868 shares
Feb 2014, mirror.co.uk
5,838 shares

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

How many follow UK newsbrands
35%
17%
49%
59%
Follow newspaper
brand
Follow newspaper sub-brand
Follow newspaper
journalist
Any of these
% Twitter users
Source: You Gov January 2014
Base: All UK Twitter Users (1266)

Twitter adds four core benefits as a news
Gossip/Banter
I want to relax and enjoy myself
Twitter has a unique humorous side to news
stories. It’s a backstage pass into the lives of
celebrities and allows me to be part of the
gossip.
Knowledge
I want to be the first to know
Twitter gives me instant access to the news
and is where news stories tend to break first.
It’s the best place to follow news stories as
they develop during the day.
Community
Interaction with the
news on Twitter
I want to find out about things I care about
Twitter gives me the chance to engage with
stories relevant to me with a community of
like-minded people. Discovering people with
shared interests I wouldn’t otherwise meet
through shared news interests.
Opinion
I want to know what people think
Twitter is a way of discovering different points
of opinion and commentary on news stories.
More personal opinions of celebrities/writers.
platform for users…
Source: #NewsOnTheTweet 2014

Newsbrands underpin these 4 key benefits
Gossip/Banter
Witty and celebrity columnists
Newsbrands are responsible for some of the
most popular individual tweeters. Individual
journalists are key contributors to the humour
content on Twitter.
Knowledge
Trusted instant updates
Newsbrand handles provide legitimacy and
authority when news is breaking on Twitter.
They also provide journalists that offer
quicker, more accurate instant updates on
stories as they happen.
Community
An opportunity to connect with like-minded
content and people
Through their sub-section handles and the
overarching strength of newsbrand identities
newsbrands offer users the opportunity to
discover more content that is relevant to
them and engage with other people through
these communities.
Opinion
Honest and expert opinions and debate
Newsbrands offer expert opinion pieces and
the individual journalists offer honest and
frank opinions as well as engaging with
followers.
Interaction with the
news on Twitter
Source: #NewsOnTheTweet 2014

The whole is stronger than the sum
of the parts
Newspaper brands provide an
authoritative viewpoint and
offer verified news in a user
generated content world.
Twitter helps newspaper
brands to become part of
breaking news in people’s
minds through instant
updates
Newspaper brands provide
detailed analysis behind 140
character Tweets
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
Twitter enables newspaper
readers to connect with
newsbrands and content in a
more direct dialogue

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

Newsbrands are also big content providers for
LinkedIn and Pinterest
120
109
000s interactions
196 199 203
61
72
94
226
89
LinkedIn Pinterest

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

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

methodology
What Are NewsWhip’s Social Rankings?
Each month, NewsWhip publishes 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.

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