Categories: Social Media

Facebook’s subscribe feature is proving very popular, especially among journalists

Vadim Lavrusik - Journalist Program Manager at Facebook

Facebook’s subscribe button, which can be suitably compared to Twitter’s follow button, is proving very popular indeed, allowing users to subscribe to the public updates of prominent figures and personalities on Facebook.

Facebook Subscribe first launched in September 2011 and allows ordinary Facebook users receive public updates from prominent users that have enabled the feature, without the need to add as a friend – much like users would follow celebrity or journalist accounts on Twitter.

The feature has proved especially popular among journalists according to Facebook’s own analysis of a sample of 25 newshounds who enabled the feature upon launch. Since November 2011, the average journalist has experienced a 320% increase in subscriber numbers.

News organisations leading the way on Facebook include the Washington Post with over 90 journalists using Subscribe, and The New York Times with over 50 journalists using the feature.

Facebook users discover journalists and other prominent figures to subscribe to in a number of different ways; through friends’ activities, Facebook search and through recommendations suggested by Facebook. I suspect the latter is the most influential method of gaining subscribers.

Facebook’s analysis found that, unsurprisingly, posts posing questions, posts with links and posts that contained a call to action like “read my link” or “check out my interview” received more comments, likes and shares. Posts with photos received 50% more likes.

Many journalists have been able to amass subscribers at a much faster rate that they would Twitter followers, potentially convincing them to spend less time on other networks like Twitter and Google+ to a lesser extent, in favour of greater audiences and public Facebook updates.

Meanwhile, I have nine subscribers on Facebook. Why not join me?

Albizu Garcia

Albizu Garcia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Gain -- a marketing technology company that automates the social media and content publishing workflow for agencies and social media managers, their clients and anyone working in teams.

Recent Posts

Club of Rome launches joint taskforce that would restrict your food, travel & ownership choices

The 'Materials and Consumption Taskforce' is an attempt to micro-manage all aspects of your life:…

3 days ago

As the tech talent shortage continues, Ness Digital Engineering nurtures its rising stars

Talent in the tech industry has long been a hot commodity. Yet in today's world,…

3 days ago

Prezent launches My Workspace to ensure AI-powered presentation software works as tool, not a burden

In an ideal scenario, professionals in 2025 should be able to leverage a personal suite…

4 days ago

NTT’s simultaneous Kabuki performance shows photonics connectivity is more than a song and dance

In a fusion of tradition and technology, Japanese tech firm NTT unveiled the capabilities of…

5 days ago

UN finalizes neurotech ethics draft, to be adopted at General Conference

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) finalizes its "Recommendation on the Ethics…

1 week ago

Inside the Dead Internet Theory: Profits in a World Run by Bots

The dead internet theory is a conspiracy theory that goes: Most of the content we…

2 weeks ago