Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, recently announced that Facebook News is going away next month in the United States and Australia. It’s already gone in The United Kingdom, France and Germany.
So what does this mean? Facebook users will no longer see the News tab. What this doesn’t mean is that news will disappear from Facebook. [Insert loud announcer voice] – so local news outlets and editorial teams, use this change to your advantage!
“News publishers will continue to have access to their Facebook accounts and Pages,” Meta said. “They can post links to their stories and direct people to their websites, in the same way any other individual or organization can.”
Ok, great! So instead of users diverting to the News tab to scan and read news headlines, have them come across your content in their Feed.
Whether you’re in news, government, education, healthcare, etc. – CONTENT remains king. And with that at the top of mind, make sure that your content published on social media continues to be meaningful, accurate and authentic.
Heck – why not use the Social News Desk Publishing Calendar to collaborate and plan content in advance?! Use this tool to find out what’s on deck, quickly rearrange posts or leave planning Notes for your team.
As for what Facebook plans to prioritize now, the company said it will “focus our time and resources on things people tell us they want to see more of on the platform, including short form video.”
Considering this, remember that original content, especially video, tends to perform better. The guidelines for news on Facebook haven’t changed, so this might be a good time to review Facebook’s Content Distribution Guidelines.
If you have more questions about this change, get in touch with our Client Success Team at support@socialnewsdesk.com.
