Facebook’s Signal Is A News-Finding Tool For Journalists

In order to take on Twitter, Facebook has recently rolled a new tool. Dubbed as Signal, the new service is expected to help journalists to search and file stories from the wide array of topics available on Facebook and Instagram. It can apparently “monitor which topics are trending and then quickly display related content that has been shared publicly.”

“We’ve heard from journalists that they want an easy way to make Facebook a more vital part of their newsgathering with the ability to surface relevant trends, photos, videos, and posts on Facebook and Instagram for use in their storytelling and reporting,” Facebook’s Andy Mitchell wrote in a blog post.

“Today we’re excited to introduce Signal, for Facebook and Instagram, a free discovery and curation tool for journalists who want to source, gather, and embed newsworthy content from Facebook and Instagram, across news, culture, entertainment, sports, and more — all in one place.”

Mitchell further confirms that that this tool would help journalists to identify the people most talked about in a social network. Reporters can also engage in real-time conversations involving celebrities such as politicians, actors, musicians, authors and athletes.

“This is a first step in helping journalists use Facebook and Instagram more effectively and we’ll gather feedback and iterate to make Signal as useful as possible for industry professionals.” confirms Mitchell.