CNN is the worldwide leader in news and information delivery online, so it makes sense that CNN also has a social media footprint that is unrivaled by any other news organization. When it comes to breaking news, nearly six and a half million Twitter users around the globe depend on @CNNbrk to learn the facts quickly, along with links to images or videos to accurately report what is happening around the world. On Facebook it is the same with almost four million users interacting and engaging with CNN on Facebook. Whether it is during a breaking news event like the death of Osama bin Laden, coverage of a news event like the Royal Wedding, or CNN special coverage of a Republican debate -- the world relies on CNN's not only on television -- but also on social media. With nearly 1 million more fans than Fox News and eight times as many fans as MSNBC, CNN’s Facebook fan page has the most followers of any news brand. It was announced that ‘10’ CNN.com stories were the most shared on Facebook in 2011 and an amazing ‘3’ of the top ‘5’ most shared articles on Facebook. On Twitter, @CNNbrk and @CNN have a combined total of over 9.6 million followers. @CNNbrk, with over 6 million followers, is the No. 1 news account on Twitter, 1.9 million more followers than its closest competitor, The New York Times and more than 2.6 million more followers than MSNBC’s @BreakingNews. @CNNBRK ranks as one of the top 25 accounts on all of Twitter. @CNN’s most popular tweet of 2011 (the death of Osama bin Laden) was re-tweeted more than 10,000 times. (Source: Twitter Analytics) Additionally, CNN specific or CNN-related hashtags are consistently on the worldwide list of trending topics on Twitter. CNN coverage like GOP Debates invite the audience to join the conversation by using the hashtags like #CNNDebate and #CNNTeaParty. CNN shows like Piers Morgan Tonight have created trending topics with hashtags like #BeyonceonCNN or #OnlyOnTwitter. Finally hashtags like #CNNTV have trended worldwide during CNN’s coverage of news events like the Royal Wedding or most recently #WhitneyCNN trended during CNN's special coverage of the homegoing service of the legendary singer.
The Next Web: The most shared articles of 2011 on Facebook were... http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2011/11/29/the-most-shared-articles-of-2011-on-facebook-were/ Mashable: “Piers Morgan Tonight" Turns to Social Media to Build Buzz for CNN Premiere http://mashable.com/2011/01/17/piers-morgan-social-media/ Poynter: Social media to play major role in CNN’s Republican presidential debate Monday night http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/media-lab/social-media/135679/social-media-to-play-major-role-in-cnns-republican-presidential-debate-monday-night/
