Facebook has developed a new feature in collaboration with publishers across the globe to let users link their Facebook account with news subscriptions. This option will save users from repeatedly signing in to their account while reading articles on Facebook.
The feature has been under testing for the past one year. The publishers that Facebook has partnered with include the Winnipeg Free Press, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The Athletic. The account-linking tool will take a user to a news organization's original site.
The idea behind Facebook's new tool is that when a site detects that a Facebook user has subscribed to one of Facebook's publisher partners, Facebook will invite the user to link their news subscription account to their Facebook account. The connection of the accounts will enable the user to read articles by news organizations that they encounter on Facebook's platform without having to log in again to access the content.
For users in the U.S. specifically, Facebook says that it will display more content from the relative publisher in the Facebook News section. The company has also revealed that it plans to roll out other new features in the future to enhance subscriber experiences.
According to results of a test run by Facebook, subscribers who linked their accounts in June had an average of 111% article clicks as compared to those who were not part of the test group.
According to the social media company, its ultimate goal of is to help news publishers strengthen their relationship with subscribers. Their testing up until now is proving to be effective for both content distribution and subscriber engagement.
The Atheltic's VP of product marketing, Charlotte Winthrop, stated that account-linking with Facebook has helped subscribers of The Athletic to access the organization's content more conveniently, hence improving their subscription experience.
Moreover, Facebook is currently working on its News tab that the company is rolling out to more countries now. Other news-related features that Facebook previously launched include support for subscriptions in Instant Articles and a Local News Subscription Accelerator to fund journalism.
