It’s a new world; one where the old media must merge with new media to survive and thrive. It’s important for newspapers to get with the social program by sharing, messaging, interacting, etc. That’s why we’ve assembled a list of the year’s most social American newspapers.
To determine which newspapers deserve to be on the list, we determined to focus on a newspaper’s central social media accounts only, leaving out additional accounts that may cater to specific sections or star writers. We analyzed the number of Twitter followers, tweets, and Facebook fans, combining the data together to form one ranking number. If the newspaper gave social media a prime presence on its homepage, it gained three or five bonus points, depending on the prominence given.
So without further ado:
10. Chicago Tribune.
The Chicago Tribune scored 28 points total. Despite keeping the hideous default fluffy blue background for its Twitter feed, the newspaper has managed to find and keep 21,000 followers with 4,000 tweets. It’s gained 3,000 fans on Facebook.
9. Denver Post.
The Denver Post scored 30 points total. The paper would have come in tenth place had it not been for the prominent links to its social sites on DenverPost.com, which boosted its placement. The Denver Post also has one of the most creative Twitter backgrounds to catch the eyes of its 8,000 followers who have tuned in for 15,000 tweets. The paper has 2,000 fans on Facebook.
8. Plain Dealer.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer scored 32 points total. It’s the smallest city on the list but also provides small links to its social branches at Cleveland.com. It too keeps the ugliness of Twitter’s default background for its 5,000 followers. The Plain Dealer has posted 22,000 tweets but only has 2,000 fans on Facebook.
7. Post-Dispatch.
The St. Louis Post Dispatch has the lowest number of followers (3,000) and fans (500) but makes up for it in tweets (32,000- more than any other newspaper except the NYT). It scores 35 points total. The Post-Dispatch is also the lowest-circulation newspaper on the list.
6. Boston Globe.
The Boston Globe also scored 40 points total. It’s the only newspaper in the top ten to feature a large Facebook fan box on its homepage, featuring 8,000 fans. But it has a hard time beating name squatters. “Boston Globe” comes up with false results on Twitter and Facebook. Despite that, the paper has 11,000 followers on Twitter reading its 16,000 tweets.
5. USA TODAY.
USA TODAY scores 48 points, with 32,000 Twitter followers, 5,000 fans, and 11,000 tweets.
4. LA Times.
The Los Angeles Times climbs to 58 points. With 43,000 followers and 7,000 tweets, it also boasts an eye-catching Twitter page, but only has 5,000 fans. Only half of the top ten papers advertise their social media on their homepage, and the LA Times is one of them.
3. Â Washington Post.
The Washington Post scores 69 total. Despite having the second-largest collection of Facebook fans (30,000) and 36,000 followers on Twitter, the paper is the most conservative when it comes to actually sending out updates, totaling only 3,000 tweets.
2. Wall Street Journal.
The Wall Street Journal scores more than double that of the Post, coming in at a total of 144. The paper has 102,000 followers, 14,000 tweets and 25,000 Facebook fans.
1. New York Times.
Of course. The New York Times blows away the social competition with a grand score of 2,550. Off. The. Charts. The paper has an astonishing 479,000 Facebook fans, or in other words, all the news that’s fit to feed. It’s also pushed 34,000 tweets to a mind-blowing 2,037,000 followers.
*Numbers have been rounded to the nearest thousandth.
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