The shifting landscape of social media has prompted both companies to increase their focus on giving users better access to breaking news stories in an effort to grow their member numbers and create a new revenue stream.
Twitter's Real-Time Appeal
Twitter has emerged as a favorite for breaking news stories and live updates on current events. To capitalize on its position as a real-time news provider, the company has been developing a new feature called "Project Lightning."
Once it becomes available, Project Lightning will compile tweets, images and videos from live events in one place where anyone on the web can view them.
Facebook's Instant Articles
Facebook similarly rolled out a newsier offering in May called "Instant Articles." Media outlets like the New York Times and The Atlantic are able to use the service to publish content directly to Facebook rather than linking it to their main site.
Facebook claims that this system will make it easier for users to read relevant stories as they will load much faster. The service also includes filters that give users the ability to search by topic and a "Trending" function that allows users to see which articles are most popular among their friends.
The Death Of Traditional Media?
Some news outlets are worried that the shift toward news updates via social media will eventually put them out of business. Although Facebook's current policy allows publishers to keep 100 percent of the revenue from ads they sell on their content, many worry that down the line the social media giant will have too much power.
As more and more people turn to social media for their daily news, publishers worry that they will see a decrease in the amount of traffic on their own sites.
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