Brazil’s biggest daily ends Facebook postings
RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazil's largest newspaper said it has stopped posting content to Facebook after the socialmedia website overhauled its news feed last month to prioritize personal interactions over journalism and some other types of content.
Folha de S. Paulo, a Sao Paulo daily with 285,000 print and online subscribers, said the decision came as a result of "internal discussions about the best ways to get its content to readers." While Facebook users will still be able to share Folha stories, the newspaper said it would no longer publish content on its Facebook page, which has 5.76 million followers.
The decision is among the most visible responses yet by a traditional publisher to the newsfeed shake-up in one of Facebook's most important countries, where 122 million users log into the website a month.
The newspaper said it realized Facebook's waning significance as a source of online readership even before the socialmedia platform changed its algorithms in January to prioritize users' posts, photos and videos. In less than a year, Facebook's share of referrals to news websites has fallen from more than 40% to less than 23%, according to Parse.ly, a company that tracks digital audiences for many news organizations.
Camila Marques, Folha's audience editor, said Facebook's contribution to Folha's online traffic had fallen but is "way less" than the general number provided by Parse.ly, noting that the socialmedia company isn't among the top five sources of referrals to Folha's site. As Facebook's share has dropped, Google and other search engines have become an increasingly important source of traffic to news websites.
Folha's move Thursday was the latest sign of tension between newspapers and internet companies like Google and Facebook, which are drawing advertisSAN ing revenue that once flowed to media firms.
In an editorial, Folha accused Facebook of attempting to "co-opt" media companies into its Instant Articles program, in which publishers transfer content to the social network for free in exchange for speedier page loading and access to advertising revenue. The newspaper also highlighted concerns that Facebook's newsfeed changes would "reinforce users' tendency to increasingly consume content for which they have an affinity, creating bubbles of opinions and convictions, and propagating 'fake news.'"
In a statement, Facebook said it is "taking decisive steps to make sure the news people see...is informative and high quality."
"We are committed to building an informed community, and we continue to work with publishers in Latin America so they can leverage our platform to connect with their audiences in meaningful ways," the company said.
Brazilians' reaction to Folha's announcement, which it posted to Facebook, as animated and included thousands of comments that reflect increasingly polarized views about politics, the news media and social networks.