Facebook Reveals the Future of All Media

Facebook! People use it a lot; therefore, publishers want to be a part of it. Everyone wants to know: How can our publication succeed in this strange new media landscape? How can we get Facebook users to come to our site, instead of all the other sites? Today, in a post called “How to Drive Referrals to your Digital Properties” — wait, no, it’s just called “Drive Referrals to your Digital Properties” — Facebook posted some advice:

First, the basics:

1. Post frequently
2. Share links, photos, and a variety of content

Then, go native. Be social!

3. Upload videos to Facebook with a call to action
4. Create content with social context in mind
5. Tag other pages in your Facebook posts
6. Host a Q&A;

Finally, for advanced users:

7. Build around your stars — whether TV talent or writers or public figures
8. Use Trending to find popular topics on Facebook and post about them
9. Embed Facebook or Instagram posts in your website

Followed by the obligatory hard sell:

10. Add the Like and Share buttons to your website and mobile apps
11. Add Open Graph and App Links tags
12. Add Facebook Comments to your website

As recommendations, these are fairly broad. Use Facebook more. Think like a Facebook user! Publishers know this stuff already (or at least employ a few people who do). But what does this look like in action? What kind of stories does Facebook link to, as examples, in this instructional guide?

Here’s one: Next to “Post frequently” is this Bleacher Report story called “Mesut Ozil Used His World Cup Money to Pay for 23 Surgeries for Brazilian Kids.” It is comprised mostly of an embedded Facebook post, in which Mesut Özil explains that he is using his World Cup money to pay for 23 surgeries for Brazilian kids.

Mesut Özil’s original Facebook update was shared twice as many times as Bleacher Report’s version, which, to its credit, did link to a story debunking a false report about Özil, which had previously gone viral, of course, on Facebook:

So, there! It’s clear: Use Facebook to create content which you can then share with Facebook. Now enjoy a few “Success Stories” to distract you from the gathering realization that all your most cynical assumptions about how the ravaged viral internet are turning out to be correct.