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Facebook plans to offer newsletter tools to freelance journalists and writers, The New York Times reports. These are believed to include features to help writers build a following using the social network, organize their mailing lists, and manage their paid subscriptions. While work on the project is in its early stages, executives are hopeful that the features could launch as early as this summer.
The news comes as interest in newsletters is booming. The Substack newsletter service had more than 250,000 paid subscribers on its service in September of last year, and this week Twitter acquired rival Revue. A number of high profile journalists have left traditional publications to launch independent newsletters, drawn by the promise of complete editorial control over their work and the opportunity to profit more directly from the subscription revenue they earn.
Facebook has tried to better highlight the sources of information on its platform. Its News tab is a section of the service featuring content from partner media organizations, some of which are paid for the inclusion of their articles. While the News tab has seen Facebook improve its relationships with traditional publishers, newsletter tools are seen as an attempt to woo individual writers.
In a statement made to NOW, a Facebook spokesperson did not directly confirm the report, but said the company was working on ways to support independent journalists. “We want to do more to support independent journalists and the experts who build businesses and audiences online,” said Facebook vice president for global news partnerships Campbell Brown. “We’re exploring ways to help them benefit from the news products we’ve created, like Facebook News and subscriptions, while creating new tools to complement what journalists already find useful.”
Given the explosion in popularity of newsletters, it was only a matter of time before Facebook began to explore the region. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly told his team to make the project a priority after noticing the trend. But jumping on the bandwagon is unlikely to appeal to Facebook critics. As Kara Swisher put it in a tweet, “Does Facebook have a new idea or does it have to sweep them all away?”
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