Look for opportunities to productively challenge trollish comments. It respects the participation of the more constructive commenters. Also, explicitly state what gives your brand or your staff members credibility.
This post got 3,500+ shares. Shares are often highest when information is seen as being in the public interest. (Also, try suggesting specific types of friends users might want to share with, in terms of demographics, interests, opinions, etc.) News consumers do not always give journalists credit for having a public service mission. The trust-building language turned this story from a simple day turn about a food recall into public service information that was helping keep the community healthy and safe.
Everyone’s an expert in their own experience. Look for opportunities to invite conversation around those. Also, stay involved in the conversation you host.
Look for opportunities to productively challenge trollish comments. It respects the participation of the more constructive commenters and reminds people that you support civil conversations.
Consider using video instead of text or links to get across quick facts. This post performed more highly than the newsrooms that addressed Facebook’s algorithm changes in other ways.
Watch how users share your posts. Sometimes the best conversation happens on their shares, not on the original post. Also, questions that are personal or especially controversial work best if your users already are used to talking to you. You might need to build up to these conversations if you want them to be constructive.
Some issues are easy to have an opinion on and are a natural starting point if you want to train your users to talk to you. How can you tap into their outrage, pride or excitement?
Some users value being a source of information for their friends. It can be effective to emphasize when you have news people will be eager to hear or practical information that will be especially useful.
News consumers do not always give journalists credit for having a public service mission. You can encourage sharing and reinforce your mission by emphasizing how your news is in the public interest.
627 likes on a comment! Look for opportunities to explain your process, especially when you see commenters asking questions about it. This comment shows a thoughtfulness behind word choices that not all news consumers would assume journalists have. This example also shows the value of staying involved in the conversations we host and participating in them.
Some users value being a source of information for their friends. It can be effective to emphasize when you have news people will be eager to hear or practical information that will be especially useful.
When you share content, include what about that content provides value to users. Demonstrate your commitment, expertise, values, etc. Also, invite people into your reporting process.
KLRU created a Facebook group for community conversation. Consider how you could invite people to interact with your journalists and with each other in a new way.
