How do you get your news? If you’re like me, probably through alternative media and social media sites like Facebook. Facebook is catching on and wants to help alternative media givers and receivers alike.
This is where Facebook instant articles comes in. Now any publisher, whether you’re the New York Times or a struggling author in your mother’s basement, can publish articles on their new app. Effective today, the only publishers involved right now are the big boys: National Geographic, Buzz Feed, NBC News, BBC News. But don’t go rushing to publish articles just yet. While they’re not calling this ‘an experiment’, that’s how they’re treating it. There are other concerns: If they publish their articles on Facebook, will Facebook automatically own the articles? That’s a valid concern. But if you do publish an instant article, it’s expected to load immediately on the Apple app. You can use your own tools, though they have some really cool ones, like the Paper app. Here’s the part publishers will really like: they keep all the revenue made from Instant Articles. And if they have unsold merchandise, Facebook will sale if for you and you still get 70% of the pie. Publishers control most of the look and content of the article. Facebook leaders assure publishers this is strictly to give users a better reading experience, not to start their own publishing company. Should we believe them?
From what see now, I do believe them. It answers the question I had in the last paragraph…for now. Facebook can always tighten up the rules and gain more control; I hope they don’t. Facebook instant articles can go a long way if they just let the publishers be themselves and control their content, so long as the publishers exercise some responsibility and respect. Could the next big author or publisher be discovered through Facebook instant articles?