Facebook launches a new 'best of' page for media companies

Facebook has launched a new “Facebook Media” page today that’s intended to show off media companies and public figures that use the social service most effectively.

The move shows that Facebook definitely puts value in its relationships with media companies, news organizations, and others in the public eye. But it makes us wonder why this has been released now — and how much of it has to do with Facebook’s promoted updates business:

The social network allows organizations with a page to pay money for increased visibility of a particular status update, which in turn drives page views if a link is included. Many media organizations — especially those that produce written news — have come to rely on Facebook for as much as a third of all traffic referrals.

But back in July, the company changed how it delivered updates to its users’ news feeds, resulting in a huge decline in traffic for news organizations such as Gawker. It wouldn’t be surprising if some of those news organizations paid a bit more to promote its content on Facebook, thus ensuring a high number of referrals to news posts, plus the ads that accompany those articles.

As for the Facebook Media page itself, the company describes it as a way for media companies to get new ideas for promoting themselves on the social network as well as highlighting good practices on how best to do that. It’s similar to what the company has previously done for businesses, too.

Here’s an official explanation from Facebook direct of media partnerships Nick Grudin:

Every day, content creators around the world — from digital publishers, to public figures, to video producers — use Facebook to connect with their audiences in innovative ways. They reach new fans, start conversations and drive discovery of new stories. In the process, they make Facebook more vibrant.  At Facebook, we are committed to building a platform to make these connections broader, richer and more dynamic.