NPR strategist Andy Carvin had some valuable best practices to share at a ONA-sponsored event at Facebook last night. Nieman Lab has the full write-up, but I’d like to break down a few nuggets that jumped out:
- “We have better comments on Facebook than on our own site,” Carvin said, referring to NPR’s Facebook account with 1.4 million fans. Rather than worry that the conversation has migrated away from NPR.org, Carvin encourages it.
- Before posting on Facebook, Carvin asks himself, “Will our friends want to talk about this?” It’s not a news alert service, but a conversation starter.
- NPR uses its Facebook page several times a week to find people to interview in stories, sparking hundreds of responses. This is more relevant to radio (phone interviews) than TV, but certainly handy for web stories.
- One half of Facebook’s 4.5 million monthly referrals to NPR.org come from links shared by others, not by NPR. However, fans may not post directly on NPR’s wall.
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