CBC.ca Takes the Cake for Social Media
A study that looks at the online buzz generated by Canada’s top media outlets has CBC ahead by a mile.
The study looks at online mentions and comments posted on blogs, forums, social networks and social media sites like Twitter, YouTube, Myspace and many others. CBC’s web sites generated both the most mentions and the most comments.
The CBC site received almost double the number of mentions of it’s closest competitor, the Globe and Mail, with 2,858 mentions, versus the Globe’s 1,501 mentions.
But it was in the comments that cbc.ca really excelled. The site received almost four times the number of comments of its nearest competitor.
CBC.ca leads the pack in social media buzz
| Site | Mentions | Comments |
| cbc.ca | 2,858 | 5,727 |
| GlobeandMail.com | 1,501 | 432 |
| TheStar.com | 1,449 | 1,363 |
| NationalPost.com | 549 | 1540 |
| Macleans.ca | 223 | 926 |
The authors of the study, Chicago-based Cision, said comments to the links are relevant because it shows that people who use social networking features on the web are engaged with the content.
Jay Krall, Cision’s manager of Internet media research, said while ad budgets shrink, blogs and other buzz-generating online content like video are the future in news.
“Any advertiser who’s looking at social metrics is already a step ahead,” he says. While traditional measuring of eyeballs and clicks is still relevant, the social media ranking provides more information as to the engagement and reach of online content, he adds.
The research was done for Media in Canada, you can read more about it here.
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Great news! I integrate social media into every site I produce here at CBC and the benefits are increased traffic and repeat visitors.
well.. ok… but I wonder how much of that is the fury of conversations that ensued when radio2 was gutted? No other media outlets had mini-protest marches over it, in this past year.
Well, the Canadiens are more progessive than the US in healthcare why shouldn’t they be more advanced in media??
I hope the study looked at the actual context of the comments and mentions. It’s hardly a good thing if most of CBC’s comments are things like “Their TV shows suck” and “What a waste of taxpayer dollars” and such.
I can haz huge staff and seemingly limitless budgets without having to care about ratings too?
I agree with Nancy (aka money coach). I got a huge amount of traffic on my blog posts dealing with the gutting of CBC2.
One posting I wrote, entitled ‘The Death of CBC Radio 2′ has gotten 2,185 page-views and has accrued 85 comments, the last left January 31, 2009!
Strange, I do not see any social media links on this page such as Digg…
Where is your post about Russ Germain’s passing? Haven’t visited the site in a while so maybe it’s not in your mandate, but I came here to see what you had and….
Hey Prod,
I’d fallen behind today. The post is up now. p.
Some people have made the argument that the CBC is popular in social media only from negative mentions, but I think that certain parts of the CBC do a great job at embracing social media. Take a look at CBC Radio 3, and certain CBC radio shows (like Search Engine) that have developed a vibrant online community.
One major gripe though: CBC news comment system is outdated. They should try something closer to IntenseDebate, which was used by Obama’s transition website.
the CBC has come a long way from being that boring old news station with crappy shows, where Sesame Street and Mr. Dressup were the only things worth watching.
i don’t know when the transition started, but i think it’s around the time when they gave Georgie Stroumbo his own show. following that, the radio programs got better, but even that isn’t what drove me to check out the site and include it in my online ramblings.
the fact that all the essentials are available via podcast make a HUGE difference.
and now, with shows like The Border, Being Erica, and Wild Roses, that are all available via the website, i can easily say that CBC has become my prime media and entertainment outlet.
i only say good things about the CBC because i think it has made phenomenal improvements and is making much better use of tax dollars. it’s not perfect, but it’s so much better than other competeing broadcasters.
that being said, CBC News doesn’t attract as intellengent of a commenter base as the Globe and Mail. maybe they could work on that.