Everything You Need to Know About Bulletin, Facebook’s Platform for Independent Writers

Facebook issued a Bulletin Tuesday, officially rolling out the platform for independent writers that it initially discussed in March. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said while introducing Bulletin via the social network’s new Live Audio Rooms feature, “This is something that we've been working on for a while … The goal here across the company is to support people making a living doing creative work … (Bulletin is) a new set of publishing and subscription tools, and Bulletin.com is live now as we speak. And if you go there, you'll see an initial list of some of the writers we're launching with today. We're starting with a small group, and in the coming weeks, we're going to add a lot more.” Facebook vice president of global news partnerships Campbell Brown and product manager for news Anthea Watson Strong said in a blog post that Bulletin will provide tools that enable creators to start their own publications and write long-form articles. Each creator on the platform will have a standalone website under their own brand, and they will be able to customize the color palette, logo and name of their publications, as well as customizing their articles with multimedia embeds and other styling options. "We've been trying to figure out the best way to support journalists, including a number of partnerships with larger media companies,” Zuckerberg said in the Live Audio Room “This is the first time that we've built a product that is directly for journalists and individual writers. And one of the reasons we're doing this is a response to what we're seeing and what's happening in the media ecosystem. More and more independent writers are discovering ways to use their voice and make money through other avenues, similar to the ones we're introducing here. So, we're trying to elevate and support those writers and creators who are already producing high-quality work … (Bulletin) can be another great tool for writers and creators to have in their toolbox." Bulletin writers will start under multiyear licensing deals and keep all subscription revenue for the length of their partnerships with Facebook, and they will be able to take their subscriber lists and content with them. Zuckerberg said, “Even if writers choose to move to different platforms in the future, they're going to own content and email subscriber lists. We think that this concept of portability is extremely important for the creator economy … where the best creators are going to the platforms that give them the best tools that help them build the best businesses, and ultimately that give them the most freedom.” Subscription payments are securely handled via Facebook Pay, enabling readers to pay with a credit card, debit card or PayPal account. Writers on the Bulletin platform can offer a range of subscription-based features, including commenting abilities, exclusive content and groups available only to subscribers. Analytics tools will help those writers understand their audiences and grow their subscriber base. Content from Bulletin will be eligible for distribution via Facebook News and other discovery surfaces, and Brown and Strong said tools enabling creators to distribute podcasts, including externally hosted podcasts, and other audio features will be added soon. Bulletin will also integrate with creators’ pages, enabling publishing across various multimedia formats. Zuckerberg said, “I think what sets Bulletin apart is the integration with Facebook pages that enables you to publish across a number of different places. The work that's created by Bulletin writers is going to be eligible for distribution in Facebook News. We're going to enable additional ways to help audiences who are going to be interested easily find those stories and subscribe, so there will be extra distribution features and extra ability to grow your audience and subscriptions. We're going to include a set of tools to help creators complement their writing work with audio from podcasts to Live Audio Rooms like one that we're doing here.” On the community building front, writers on Bulletin can create Facebook groups, either free or subscriber-only, and they also have the option of creating subscriber-only content or conversations within those groups. Other Facebook tools, such as Facebook Live and Live Audio Rooms, can be leveraged to continue the discussion. Comment moderation tools will give writers control over who can comment, such as paid subscribers only, or the option of turning off comments altogether. Third-party perks will be extended to Bulletin writers, including design support, financial services and legal resources. Brown and Strong wrote, “We respect the work of writers and want to be clear that anyone who partners with us will have complete editorial independence.” Finally, throughout the year, Facebook will introduce new investments, products and services aimed at supporting more independent experts and writers, such as working on ways for writers to differentiate their publications through additional design options, promote their work across other platforms outside of Facebook and collaborate with other creators. The first group of writers on Bulletin is: Mitch Albom, Life at the Orphanage: Albom writes about running an orphanage in impoverished Port-au-Prince, Haiti; his kids, their hardships, laughs and challenges; and the life lessons he's learned there every day.Erin Andrews, The Real Deal With Erin Andrews: Emmy Award-nominated sports broadcaster, founder of Wear by Erin Andrews and co-host of Calm Down with Erin and Charissa.Raven Baxter, Science and the Culture: The doctor discusses science, culture, society and their intersections through critical thought pieces, captivating storytelling and factual reporting of current events in science and beyond.Ron Claiborne, Second Acts: Claiborne spent 40 years in news, the last 32 as a correspondent and news reader at ABC News. Some say he is retired, while he says he’s an explorer. Second Acts is where he will share those explorations.Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution: Dim sum for the mind. An eclectic blend of economics, politics, the arts and more. Something new every day.Tan France, Tan France's Real Reality: There’s so much more to France than meets the (Queer) eye. Follow along for the behind-the-scenes of his real life.Malcolm Gladwell, Oh, MG: Gladwell answers your burning questions and his own.Adam Grant, Adam Grant Thinks Again (coming soon): New insights from the organizational psychologist and bestselling author to rethink how we work, lead and live.Dorie Greenspan, xoxo Dorie: Stories and recipes, food, travel and great conversations from here, there and around the table.James Hamblin, The Body: A community exploring the science of medicine and art of being well.Jane Wells, Wells Street: Every story is a money story, even the crazy ones. Wells Street reports on the good, the bad and the super ugly from Wall Street to Main Street, with an occasional detour to federal prison.Jessica Yellin, News Not Noise: Breaking down the biggest stories, with context and facts. Separating the news from the noise so that you get information, not a panic attack. Campbell said during the Live Audio Room, “We've really seen this trend emerge over the last couple of years where writers and reporters who are really knowledgeable about certain subjects, from science to sports, are finding that there's an audience out there that really does want to go deeper with them on the subjects that they're experts in and that people are really passionate about. And I have to say, as a former journalist myself, I am super-excited that we're supporting them.” Zuckerberg said, “There are also going to be a bunch of local news writers joining Bulletin soon, too. Local news is, is another really important area of journalism … What I think we can try to do here is try to make a real investment in local news, and see if Bulletin can be a way that local news writers can serve their communities and give people the kind of local information that is important to our lives, as well.” And Campbell added, “During Covid, we were looking at communities that … did not have a local paper or any local news outlet at this exact moment when people were so desperate for news about their community. So, I really do think Bulletin has the potential to get just one local writer in their community the opportunity to fill that gap, and I just love that piece of it.”