Oct 29, 2010

LANG likes Facebook, mobile apps

The nine newspapers in the Los Angeles Newspaper Group (LANG) plan to use Facebook's commenting system. Readers will have to sign into their Facebook accounts to leave a message at the bottom of a story. The system should make it easy to offer a comment, as long as the reader has a Facebook account; editors also hope to the system discourages people from leaving nasty comments since Facebook provides a link on the person's Facebook page.

Here's part of the memo from San Bernardino Sun/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin editor Frank Pine:
Just a heads up that we’re planning to make a fairly significant change to all of our websites in the very near future: We’ll be switching our commenting functions from Topix to Facebook. BANG is already doing this on insidebayarea.com, and it’s a substantial improvement over what we have here in that it makes commenting much easier, and by linking the comments to users’ Facebook accounts, it cuts down the more objectionable anonymous comments. While the traditional thinking is that requiring registration or real names with comments reduces traffic, insidebayarea.com has actually seen an increase in traffic and referral traffic from Facebook.
The memo goes on to say LANG is working on mobile phone apps for each of the newspapers and will soon get started on apps for computer tablets.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good news.

Anonymous said...

Welcome news indeed.

Although the papers have allegedly been "working on mobile phone apps" for well over a year now with nothing to show for it.

There's a good change that whatever is rolled out will have been created by the online advertising boobs and will be all but worthless to readers.

Anonymous said...

now now you of little faith, the langs boobs are stellar in their effort to transform the newspaper business. how about a little credit here.

Anonymous said...

Is it possible that someone over there finally realized they do not have the skill or resources to reinvent this wheel and finally did what they had too?

Other publications are well ahead of LANG in the area of Apps and comment system.

From what I understand, the bosses at The Bulletin and the Sun used to brag about the superior web presence.

Was it true then? Because at this point it sounds like it could have been another one of their cute little exaggerations.

Anonymous said...

no it is not possible. let's take a look at it when the pudding hardens.

Anonymous said...

who will look? their audience must be huge. lord knows all the smart folks in silicone valley are really shaking now.

Anonymous said...

Lang use to like margins in the 20 percent plus range too. I guess they don't any longer

Anonymous said...

I downloaded the prep sports app they're promoting on the home page of the Whittier Daily News. It doesn't work for me. Apparently, based upon the reviews, it doesn't work for most other people, either.

I'll withhold the snarky comments and let the facts of the situation speak for themselves.

Anonymous said...

snarky comments are about is good as it gets for this group of non performers.

Anonymous said...

We're having puddin'?

Anonymous said...

Yep, we are havin puddin, don't ask me how its made.

Anonymous said...

That Frank Pine seems to me that he is just a parrot repeating what he was told from above.

Anonymous said...

Really? Another management toady repeats a rhyme...how original those boys and girls in the leadership circle at LANG are.