The next time you ride the bus or step into a coffee shop, look around and count how many people are reading a newspaper. Perhaps a handful" Now look around for cell phones and you?ll see it?s no secret that people are glued to their smartphone screens.
While they may not be holding a newspaper, a quick peek at your neighbor?s screen and you?ll likely find them reading a blog post or news article on social media. In fact, this year, 62 percent of U.S. adults reported they get their news on a social networking site, a 26 percent increase from 2012. And with millennials reporting that they are more likely to turn to social media for news than TV, these numbers are likely to continue to increase.
As people consume more of their news on social networking sites, these platforms offer brands new and different opportunities to engage audiences, resulting in higher profits through advertising revenue. In its third-quarter-2016 earnings report, Facebook reported $6.8 billion in ad revenue, a 130 percent increase from the third quarter of 2014. In the U.S. overall, social ad revenue is estimated to surpass $30 billion by 2021.
How social platforms are becoming media companies
As more people consume their news directly on social media sites, social platforms will continue to capitalize on this by behaving like media companies and offering ways for publishers to monetize. Let?s look at a couple examples that demonstrate this shift.
A prime example is Instant Articles, Facebook?s m...