After looking at both the New York Times website and facebook page, I have a better idea of what the "most popular" stories, and genres of stories, that are resonating most with readers. I found that sports, human interest/ human drama, and political stories were the most shared and viewed on both of these social media outlets.
Sports stories ranged anywhere from "How Yoga Won The West" to "Homecoming Queen and Field Goal on the Same Night". These stories were generally "feel-good" and incorporated both sports analysis and coverage as well as a human-interest aspect to attract readers who aren't typically sports readers. The focus was not so much on sports stories about games or scores, but rather a more universal story that would attract all demographics and geographic locations.
Another story that was almost impossible to ignore from both media outlets was the upcoming release of the newest version of the iPhone. From stories like "iPhone Gets its Upgrade, All Under the Hood," which attracted technologically-savvy readers, to "You Love Your Phone, Literally," which were aimed at popular-culture demographics, the stories were attracting all types of readers surrounding this same topic. Stories about the iPhone were among the most shared, e-mailed, and viewed- not many others could compete with that.
Among the other most popular, breaking news human interest stories were frequent. The Amanda Knox freeing from Italian court story attracted thousands of viewers from the Facebook page alone. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced that "it is not his time" to run for president, which has generated a good amount of buzz and disappointment from readers.
What I gather from these trends in readership is that people read things that stir their emotions. There are always certain groups of people that will read the technology or the arts stories no matter what, but those stories aren't the ones that bring in the masses. If you are a reporter aiming for optimal readership or a spot on the New York Times "Most Popular" page, it's important to write a story that appeals to more than just the subject you are writing on. This relates back to the 10 Questions we talked about in class, that a story needs to be fleshed out enough that someone who doesn't know or care for the subject can still be drawn into it. For example, the story about the iPhone being designed to evoke the emotions of love and compassion, in addition to information about its latest software updates and installations- that's a good story because there's something there for everyone.
Sports stories ranged anywhere from "How Yoga Won The West" to "Homecoming Queen and Field Goal on the Same Night". These stories were generally "feel-good" and incorporated both sports analysis and coverage as well as a human-interest aspect to attract readers who aren't typically sports readers. The focus was not so much on sports stories about games or scores, but rather a more universal story that would attract all demographics and geographic locations.
Another story that was almost impossible to ignore from both media outlets was the upcoming release of the newest version of the iPhone. From stories like "iPhone Gets its Upgrade, All Under the Hood," which attracted technologically-savvy readers, to "You Love Your Phone, Literally," which were aimed at popular-culture demographics, the stories were attracting all types of readers surrounding this same topic. Stories about the iPhone were among the most shared, e-mailed, and viewed- not many others could compete with that.
Among the other most popular, breaking news human interest stories were frequent. The Amanda Knox freeing from Italian court story attracted thousands of viewers from the Facebook page alone. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced that "it is not his time" to run for president, which has generated a good amount of buzz and disappointment from readers.
What I gather from these trends in readership is that people read things that stir their emotions. There are always certain groups of people that will read the technology or the arts stories no matter what, but those stories aren't the ones that bring in the masses. If you are a reporter aiming for optimal readership or a spot on the New York Times "Most Popular" page, it's important to write a story that appeals to more than just the subject you are writing on. This relates back to the 10 Questions we talked about in class, that a story needs to be fleshed out enough that someone who doesn't know or care for the subject can still be drawn into it. For example, the story about the iPhone being designed to evoke the emotions of love and compassion, in addition to information about its latest software updates and installations- that's a good story because there's something there for everyone.
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