DFM chat on journalism metrics in a fragmented environment

Spike in reach or boa constrictor
digesting an elephant?

Digital First Media friends and other journalists, members of the community and fans of journalism are invited to take part in a Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time, to talk about all things journalism.

Today we are talking about metrics. What to use and how to use it in a way to further your journalistic goals. But further, how do you measure success in such a fragmented environment? How do you quantify other endeavors like alerts, newsletters, social videos or podcasts? And when do you pull the plug when something isn't quite working out?

If you want to be in the post chat archive, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

DFM chat on social media metrics that matter

No idea what this is

Journalists, Digital First Media peeps, anyone who wants to are going to be taking part on our Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time, to talk about all things journalism.

Today we are talking about social media metrics that matter. How do you leverage reach and impressions for impact? How much should journalists focus on link clicks or engagement? (spoiler: it depends!). How do you know how much impact are you having?
Bring your pica poles and your #realtalk. Let's get some numbers down.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

DFM chat on the ethical implications of showing graphic content

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we are talking about the ethical implications of showing graphic content online and in social media. What are the ethical justifications for showing such content? And if so, what are the proper ways of doing so?

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

DFM chat on how reporters can use metrics

Why is this even here?

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we are talking about how reporters can use metrics to improve their craft. What can reporters really do with page views, clicktroughs, and time on site? Should they even care? Why? Bring your numbers, tools, and #realtalk.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

DFM chat on responsible aggregation

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we are revisiting what seems to be a perennial topic: Aggregation.

How much block-quoting is too much? Are there instances where using large parts of someone else's work OK, like, say, annotations? What about tweeted photos of large parts of text, even if highlighted? What is the proper way to use someone else's content, like photos, online?

The feed is posted below. You can also check out past chats over here.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

DFM chat: How local news organizations can build digital audiences

Facebook reach?
Or boa constrictor digesting an elephant?

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we are talking about how local news organizations can build their online communities. This comes on the heels of a study that pretty much concludes we're doing a terrible job at it. The solution?

In order to grow their audiences, Hindman says local newspapers must answer two related questions: How can they make news “stickier” compared to all the other content on the web? And how can local news sites attract some of the audience that currently only reads national news sites?

Well, let's try answer those questions. Shall we?

The feed is posted below. You can also check out past chats over here.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

DFM chat: Should news organizations post their directly content to Facebook?

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we are talking about posting content to social media. Not links. The stuff.
Facebook is reportedly preparing a partnership with news organizations to host their content there. What are the benefits and risks of such partnerships? What should other news organizations do in the meantime?
The feed is posted below. You can also check out past chats over here.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

DFM chat: Do metrics guide your decisions? How?

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we are revisiting metrics (meta factoid: metrics show it's a popular topic). How do you measure a good user experience? What are the trappings of not using metrics properly? How do you avoid the race for pageviews?
The feed is posted below. You can also check out past chats over here.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

How to make the most of social media analytics

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat at noon, Eastern Time.  

Today we're talking about how to make the most of social media metrics, using Twitter Analitics and Facebook Insights, with a focus on how to improve your social media presence, engagement, and showing how some approaches can improve what you do. Also, how does any of this help journalism?  Bring your insights, links and your #REALTALK.

The feed is posted below. You can also check out past chats over here.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

DFM chat on metrics in journalism

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we're revisiting metrics beyond unique visitors and page views. What are the real metrics that matter? Why? How do you measure that? What can journalists do with this data? As always, there will be #realtalk.

You can check out past chats over here. If you use Tweetchat you don't have to type the hashtag.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

What happened to the QR codes in the Freeman?

Late last year, I began experimenting with quick response (QR) codes in the print edition of the Daily Freeman.


I created a Likify code and placed it at the bottom of the front page. I stayed there for a month. After gathering eight 'Likes' for our Facebook page, I decided to discontinue its run, at least on the front page, as it was using too much coveted 'real estate,' as we say in the biz (because, apparently, we want to be Realtors or something).

That was strike one for the code. I believe that if it was placed somewhere more permanently - like a flier or at distribution boxes around town, it couldn't hurt to have them (since it doesn't cost anything to maintain them, so there's no loss).

What worked against it was the fact that, most likely, you had to download a QR reader and then scan the thing to be send to a page to click the like button and then have to login to your Facebook account on your phone's browser, which probably looks like crap, because it doesn't work with Facebook apps. So instead of making it easier, it seemed to make it even more complicated for early users. My hat's off to those eight we went through it.

If you want to go through this yourself, here's a quick way of doing this.

JRC Chat at noon discusses metrics in journalism

As it is now becoming tradition, members of the Journal Register Company Idealab (yours included) and anyone interested are going to be holding the weekly Twitter chat at noon.

Today will be talking about metrics in journalism: Why should journalists care? Why are they important (and/or how much should journalists pay attention to them?) along with best practices and whatever else we can fit in one hour.
The feed is posted below.

As always, you are welcome to participate and chime in anytime you want.

The Daily Freeman's 10 most popular stories of 2010

This (downer of a) list only includes full stories and omits wire stories and listicles (election results, news briefs, etc.)

1. Head of Ulster County drug prevention program caught with heroin, chief says
2. $1 million welfare scam busted in Kingston
3. Computer parts company appears to be closing; 100+ jobs in jeopardy
4. Man kills self at town of Ulster convenience store
5. Friends mourn teen who died in cliff accident
6. Man, 21, shot dead on Kingston street
7. Saugerties girl, 13, critically injured in Catskill crash
8. Woman dies in head-on crash with school van
9. Kingston homicides still stir painful memories after 15 years
10.  Felony charges for woman accused of deliberately sending children to wrong school district

Why is a 2008 story still one of the most popular today again?

As I wrote before, because you're clicking on it.

But "Anonymous" begs to differ.

In a libelous post I had to erase because of, you know, it was full of libel and all, a poster wrote:

If you are Going to write a Blog about Life You should Know something about it first ......

Particularly if you are going to do so in a Public Forum like a Media, such as the Daily Freeman. The reason this Story was given such attention has NOTHING to do with the reasons you surmised. Nobody stumbled across it Online.

If you are able to discern you will learn that these were direct hits not ones that were picked up off your most popular place. So Y'all over there at the Freeman might as well open up Your Most Popular counter again cause It's NOT gonna stop.

Then comes the libelous part. (This blog is open, so you can post whatever you want. But once I notice something is afoul, I have to take action, hence the deletion). The writer says the initial clicks came because the case in question is due in court soon.

...That is why it has received attention NOT Randomly, as you have assumed.
... But you did have one thing right it was posted on Facebook because Facebook is a Nationwide [acually World wide] Community where people can come together and Help one another in a Variety of ways, .....

Although the writer might be correct as to the reasons for the initial post, he or she (or it?) is incorrect about the rest.

We know people are clicking on the item because we can see when people click on links. (Yes, we can see you, stop picking at your nose)

Let me show you today's Most Clicked tab, how I see it:

The color code shows us what's 'hot' and it tells us exactly how many hits we are getting.

With our metrics engine, we can also tell where they come from. There are, as of Saturday morning, 339 entries through Facebook. The more than 2,000 other clicks in the last days came from the "Most Popular" tab. One thing is true: metrics numbers don't tell us why people originally clicked on the story.


P.S. As I said before, feel free to post whatever you want in this forum. But, if you want your comment to stay, you can't libel people. Something about innocent until proven guilty and all that.

Why is a Dec. 2008 story the most popular today?

Because you're clicking on it.

To be fair, you're clicking on it because it's in the "Most Popular" section of the website. And it's a pretty compelling story, one that any reader would assume is from today.

Why else would it be there, right?

Actually, this is why:

At around 9 p.m. Thursday, a Freeman reader stumbled upon the story online, and it was shared on Facebook. By 3 a.m., it had been 'Recommended' or 'Liked' dozens of times, and it had accumulated 90 views. That's not much, but it is enough to be automatically placed it in the 'Most Popular' stories box for the day, because today's stories actually published at 3 a.m.

So by 3 a.m., today's stories had no hits. But that one had dozens.

So you come in the Freeman's site this morning, scroll down, read "Blind, deaf dog shot, beheaded," say "HOLY S*%@" and click on it. One more hit.

Are we doing this on purpose? No.

It's an automated featured on the site. I asked the powers that be down the rabbit hole if this can be corrected.

It can't.

"The date setting on this feature is the time range of the hits/views regardless of when the story was posted," was the response from the Masters Of All Things Web Except When it Comes to Old Stories Popping Up Years Later.


Incidentally, this has happened before. It happened with "Bard prof busted for pot plants" and "Worker dies at 'American Chopper site in Orange County."

If you can sense a pattern here is because there is one.  All these examples share the same characteristics: They're highly compelling stories; they are somehow optimized for search (Google "Bard" and "pot" to see what I mean); and once they are found, they go mini-viral on Facebook.

In conclusion, I hope you don't get caught Googling "Bard" and "pot" at work.