social facebook

Facebook

Like it or not, Facebook also deserves to be on this list – and not just because it finally released a pretty good iPad app, putting an end to a long wait.  The reason why we listed it? Its transformation into a media platform (see our round-up post about F8).

As you may have noticed if you’re one of the million people who use Facebook on a daily basis, it is now much more than a social network. Instead, it also lets you listen to music and share it with your friends, and the same goes for movies.



But what interests us the most is Facebook’s impact on news; people are increasingly getting their news by looking at what their friends have been sharing on social networks. These ‘friends’ can include media outlets, and those which decided to jump onboard are already seeing impressive results; as we reported, The Guardian’s Facebook app has been installed by over 4 million people in two months. In other words, it seems that audacity pays off.

From partnering with Facebook to saying no to Apple’s rules, risk-taking strategies have brought rewards to prestigious sources such as the FT and The Guardian, and could inspire other media outlets to follow the trend.

No matter what they decide, there is one thing they need to be aware of: the future of media will be social.