The coronavirus is proving to be big business for Facebook news

The coronavirus is all anybody is talking about right now, as the global pandemic wraps itself around every aspect of our lives. Stuck in self-quarantine, many people are turning to the internet to keep them up to date with the health crisis’ latest developments.

So, of course, it’s Facebook’s time to shine.

An internal Facebook report obtained by The New York Times found users have been reading more news articles on the site than usual, with over half of that traffic flowing to articles on the coronavirus. Interest in the pandemic has boosted traffic from Facebook to external websites by over 50 percent over the past two weeks, reviving the social media site as a popular resource for discovering and sharing news.

Facebook hasn’t had the best track record when it comes to the spread of misinformation on the site. As such, it is now keeping an eye on what Power News Consumers and Discussers read in an attempt to ensure the information they share is factual and accurate. These users read and comment on articles at a significantly higher rate than average, and are responsible for over 90 percent of Facebook’s burst of traffic to coronavirus content.

“These users are having an extraordinary impact on the coronavirus information diet of other Facebook users,” said the report, via The New York Times.

Fortunately, whether through Facebook’s efforts at steering traffic or by their own inclinations, more readers are now choosing reputable, well-respected publications for information on the coronavirus and the illness it causes, COVID-19. 

Facebook’s report found many are going to mainstream news outlets such as The Washington Post, The Times, The Atlantic, and NBC News, all of which have seen traffic from Facebook increase by over 100 percent. 

However, tabloid The Daily Mirror and Ben Shapiro’s conservative website The Daily Wire are still among Facebook’s top three most clicked English-language news publishers — ahead of The Washington Post, the BBC, and CNN. Traffic to the two sites may have dropped by 28 and 20 percent respectively, but it hasn’t been enough to unseat them even with the boost to other publications.

Facebook traffic has also fallen dramatically for websites offering specific or specialised coverage unrelated to the coronavirus, such as Sports Illustrated and, well, Mashable. With numerous sporting and tech events cancelled due to the pandemic, there’s simply less to report on in many areas.

However, considering the threat of the coronavirus, this is a much lesser evil.

One piece of good news is that local news publishers — which have struggled as the News Feed algorithm took over online sharing — are also getting more traffic, as readers seek out information on how the global pandemic is affecting their local communities.