.The Economist is hoping to attract 500,000 fans on Facebook and 750,000 followers on Twitter in the next six months, reports the Financial Times.
Following in the footsteps of braodcasters such as Sky and ITV, as well as publishers like The Guardian and New York Times, The Economist is looking to online social media to bring in new readers and increased web traffic, by offering users the opportunity to post comments on the site through their Facebook pages.
Ben Edwards, publisher of Economist.com, told the FT: “We have a mission online of being the foremost destination for global discussion and debate, which is a social proposition.” The site, which currently has 180,000 Facebook fans, intends to acquire new readers and develop “a deeper sense of engagement” with existing ones.
The changes are expected to be introduced within four months.
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