Facebook may be one of the best services on the web to keep in touch with people from around the world, but it may not be the go-to service if you want to read the latest news. Twitter is much more popular for that, it is undeniably one of the most strongest online sources for real-time news. Facebook has been trying to change that and over the past few months it has launched several features to do just that. However today, with the launch of Facebook Newswire, the folks at Menlo Park are making a statement that they’re serious about being in the news business.
Media organizations now source a lot of content from social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Even if its just to get the population’s response to a certain event, tweets and Facebook posts are now commonly highlighted in media reports. With Newswire, Facebook aims to make it easier for journalists and newsrooms to “find, share and embed newsworthy content” from Facebook.
It will be powered by Storyful which is well known for social content discovery and verification for newsrooms. Newswire will aggregate newsworthy content that has been shared publicly on Facebook by individuals and organizations. So if you don’t want your status update about any particular issue being potentially used by a news organization, better keep those privacy settings in check.
Content provided through Facebook Newswire will include original photos, videos, status updates posted by people “on the front lines of major events like protests, elections and sporting events.” Facebook Newswire can be accessed through www.facebook.com/FBNewswire as well as on Twitter at the @FBNewswire handle.
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