Facebook Wants To Save You A Click By Hosting External News Content On-Site

Not content with being your source for news about friends and family, Facebook is pushing to become your source for all news. The company is reportedly wooing major news outlets to place their content directly on Facebook, rather than clicking through to their respective sites. However, Facebook may be getting some resistance from organizations that are reluctant to publish their content on Facebook, rather than on their own websites. Apparently, they’re not familiar with that old Borg saying. 

As it stands right now, many Facebook users are already getting their news from Facebook. They liked their favorite national and local newspapers and they scan the headlines that appear in Facebook’s newsfeed. Some newspapers have even terminated their own comments systems, letting Facebook carry the burden of hosting reader comments for stories.

The problem for Facebook is that the link for a story takes the reader to the newspaper’s website when, understandably, Facebook would rather keep them on the social network. Facebook’s talks with the media organizations are likely centered around finding a way for both sites to benefit. The benefits for Facebook are obvious, but finding ways to satisfy various newspapers and websites may be more complex, as business models vary.

Facebook’s move makes sense, but so do the fears of newspapers and other media outlets that putting their content on Facebook could hurt them in the long run. As it happens, Facebook’s recent emphasis on video appears to be hurting traffic for some news organizations, according to The New York Times.