US: Newspaper looks to draw young readers with Facebook page

Posted by Rosemary D'Amour on December 2, 2008 at 10:40 AM
In an attempt to draw young readers to its website, the Register-Mail has created a page on social networking site Facebook, according to editor Tom Martin.

The page is aimed at some of the audience who do not check the paper's website every day, but may check Facebook multiple times per day. 
The paper will still maintain its website, but will use Facebook to feed news and sports, including a photo and story link for the biggest story from the paper's website.  The page also hosts video, links to photo galleries, and sends updates to its 81 current "fans."

The page, features editor Jane Carlson reports, for the most part "spread on its own," although they did promote the feature on its web site and through existing staff members on Facebook.

The paper's online audience is strong, according to Martin, who claims that people read the newspaper online more at work than at home, with the highest Internet traffic from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.  The paper sees a decline in online visits during the weekend, but has a large print readership, as is expected.

The paper also did not switch to printing as a morning newspaper, and still delivers in the afternoon/evening, according to Martin.

Source:  Galesburg.com

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