Nick Kristof: Facebook Subscribers Are More Valuable Than Twitter Users [VIDEO]
Mashable’s Davos coverage is presented by BMW i, a new concept dedicated to providing mobility solutions for the urban environment.
Mashable CEO and founder Pete Cashmore sat down at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof to talk about the future of journalism, his favorite social media tools and how he’s using social games to increase activism.
Kristof, who is very active on social media, talked about how he engages with his large following, and also said that since the implementation of Facebook Subscribe, he’s seen a big change in the value of Facebook. Kristof says he has 1.2 million Twitter followers, but his Facebook subscribers, who are only a fourth of that number, are more engaged.
“The Facebook people spend much more time on Facebook, and I think they are real,” Kristof said. “My sense is that every Facebook subscriber is worth four Twitter followers.”
But, Kristof said Twitter still has a huge value, and it’s where he turns to post breaking news. On the subject of Google+, Kristof said he was originally skeptical, but has only seen the value in the past two weeks or so. “It’s really going to go mainstream,” he said.
Kristof also told a story about he and his wife’s new book Half the Sky, and said they had come upon a dilemma. Those who would read the book would already have some knowledge or interest in the subject, and you’d be “preaching to the choir.”
“We want to get beyond that choir; we want to build that choir,” Kristof said. “We decided to go into gaming, because games can go viral. They can also have a very low barrier to entry, if they aren’t didactic, but fun. It will bring people into these issues and expose them to it.” (See Also: FarmVille for Change: Times Columnist Set to Launch Social Game.)
Kristof says that it would be a “mistake” for them to miss the potential benefits of gaming. The game, as well as a PBS documentary, will come out after the 2012 presidential election this year.
Watch the entire interview above to hear more from Kristof. Do you agree with what he says? Tell us in the comments.
Image courtesy of Erica Gannett for IRL Productions.
Documented@Davos
Mashable is working with Scribd on a program called Documented@Davos, where we’ll be interviewing young leaders, technology pioneers and forward-thinking organizations to share the important issues being discussed at Davos with everyone online. You can follow along with the hashtag #DavosDocs.
Here’s the lineup of leaders who will be interviewed for Documented@Davos:
Coverage presented by BMW i
Mashable’s Davos coverage is presented by BMW i, a new concept dedicated to providing mobility solutions for the urban environment.
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