Are Facebook Instant Articles a faustian pact for publishers?
Facebook has launched its Instant Articles product to encourage publishers to post articles to the site. Matt Rowley looks at what it means, and asks whether it is a ‘faustian pact’.
This week Facebook and nine of the world’s top publishers including The New York Times, Buzzfeed, the BBC and The Guardian launched Instant Articles.
I believe they have the power to be a user experience breakthrough for Facebook and to transform publishing – for better or eventually for worse.
First, here are three things you need to know about instant articles.
It might affect the publishers ‘reputations’…
“I see my discourse leaves you cold;
Dear kids, I do not take offense;
Recall: the Devil, he is old,
Grow old yourselves, and he’ll make sense!”
Having run my business effectively on Facebook for three years, I’ve seen first-hand how crippling it is to get the candy for free and then have the price jacked up. This is a nightmare waiting to happen.
I am too lazy to properly research this for myself, but my understanding is that everything loaded to FB I becomes the property of FB to do with as it pleases?
So it seems to me…. The mags and content providers are giving their IP away, AND paying FB for the privilege ???
What am I missing here?
To Cannes(d) Laughter: Official response rom FB, no the user owns the content that it places on Facebook.