GREAT IDEAS

CrowdTangle makes for easy social content monitoring

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Reprinted from GateHouse Newsroom

Facebook has made it easier to spot local topics trending on Facebook and monitoring the competition with its new product CrowdTangle.

The company was acquired by Facebook late last year. Poynter reported recently that it is in use now in more than 160 newsrooms. At GateHouse Media, roughly 10 newsrooms have signed up for the tool, with more gaining access in the next few weeks.

For digital editors and content producers looking to get a better handle on how their content is performing on social, CrowdTangle is an excellent tool.

Using lists he created in CrowdTangle, Engagement and Analytics Lead Producer Alan Shaw has created several stories that had great traffic.

Shaw saw this post about a lifeguard proposing to his girlfriend was performing well on the Sarasota County Emergency Services Facebook page:

So he wrote up a quick article and posted it on Facebook, which received 48 shares:

If you're a newsroom staff member who has access or who will have access shortly, here's how to take advantage of it:

  1. Set up local lists with all of your police departments, school systems and libraries. You'll be able to see how their posts are performing compared to yours. This is a good way to keep tabs on what information they are sharing as well.
  2. Do a leaderboard list with your local competitors, so you can see how their content is performing.
  3. Set up to get a viral alert so you can be notified if posts are over performing.
  4. Activate Reddit so you can see subreddits in your community. This is a great way to keep track of what's happening with your content on Reddit without having to comb through it.
  5. Activate the Chrome Extension so you can see where your links have been shared.

crowdtangle list

Keep in mind that CrowdTangle doesn't show click-through rates with what percentage of your traffic comes from social compared to other sources like search or direct.

But it does make it easy to monitor the flow of social content and act on it more effectively.

Penny Riordan manages digital content partnerships for GateHouse Media. She works out of the Center for News and Design in Austin, Texas. Prior to joining the company, she worked at Patch.com for four years, where she led social media, blogging and UGC efforts for the company. She also launched a Patch site in Maryland. Riordan also has worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Maryland and Connecticut.

Riordan, CrowdTangle
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