Brazil’s largest newspaper said Thursday it has stopped posting content to Facebook FB -4.77% after the social-media website overhauled its news feed last month to prioritize personal interactions over journalism and some other types of content.
Folha de S. Paulo, a São 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.
Folha De S. Paulo said it realized Facebook’s waning importance as a source of online readership even before the social-media platform changed its algorithms in January.
The newspaper said it realized Facebook’s waning significance as a source of online readership even before the social-media 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 social-media 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 advertising revenue that once flowed to media firms.
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, which tracks digital audiences. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated those percentages referred to Folha’s site.
Leave a Reply