College newspapers continue to not take Facebook seriously as a way to reach their target audience. This is my third month of tracking college newspapers on Facebook, and the start of the spring semester didn’t do much to grow newspaper audiences on Facebook.
Only four newspapers saw an increase of 200 or more fans in the past month. They were: Iowa State Daily, Florida State FSView, North Carolina Daily Tar Heel and South Carolina Daily Gamecock.
Also, only 16 newspapers have more than 2,000 fans on Facebook (Note: If you know of a college newspaper that should be added to my list, please let me know in the comments area below).
What’s the easiest way to reverse this trend? Add a Facebook like box to your newspaper home page.
Top 25
Here’s a look at the college newspapers with the most likes on Facebook as of Feb. 7, 2011:
| Rank | ACC | Newspaper | Fans 2/11 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina | Daily Tar Heel | 6,230 |
| 2 | Penn State | Daily Collegian | 5,164 |
| 3 | Indiana | Indiana Daily Student | 4,992 |
| 4 | Central Michigan | Central Michigan Life | 4,009 |
| 5 | Ohio State | The Lantern | 3,951 |
| 6 | Alabama | Crimson White | 3,840 |
| 7 | Iowa State | Iowa State Daily | 3,323 |
| 8 | LSU | Daily Reveille | 3,264 |
| 9 | California | Daily Californian | 3,161 |
| 10 | South Carolina | Daily Gamecock | 2,658 |
| 11 | Michigan | Michigan Daily | 2,604 |
| 12 | Washington | The Daily | 2,276 |
| 13 | Arizona | Daily Wildcat | 2,235 |
| 14 | Kentucky | Kentucky Kernel | 2,130 |
| 15 | Illinois | Daily Illini | 2,016 |
| 16 | Arizona State | State Press | 2,003 |
| 17 | Texas | Daily Texan | 1,885 |
| 18 | Georgia | Red and Black | 1,885 |
| 19 | South Florida | The Oracle | 1,828 |
| 20 | Minnesota | Minnesota Daily | 1,818 |
| 21 | Colorado | Colorado Daily | 1,785 |
| 22 | Texas A&M | The Batalion | 1,728 |
| 23 | Michigan State | State News | 1,723 |
| 24 | Cincinnati | The News Record | 1,719 |
| 25 | USC | Daily Trojan | 1,573 |
Biggest gainers
Here are the schools with the biggest gain in likes from January to February:
Iowa State Daily – 457
South Carolina Daily Gamecock – 273
North Carolina Daily Tar Heel – 224
Florida State FSView – 201
Illinois Daily Illini – 192
Washington The Daily – 183
Ohio State The Lantern – 158
Central Michigan Life – 156
Michigan State State News – 150
Penn State Daily Collegian – 146
All the schools
| ACC | Newspaper | Fans 1/11 | Fans 2/11 | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston College | The Heights | 1,215 | 1,222 | 7 |
| Clemson | The Tiger | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Duke | The Chronicle | 1,556 | 1,564 | 8 |
| Florida State | FSView | 1,278 | 1,479 | 201 |
| Georgia Tech | Technique | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maryland | The Diamondback | 598 | 620 | 22 |
| Miami (FL) | The Miami Hurricane | 871 | 886 | 15 |
| North Carolina | Daily Tar Heel | 6,006 | 6,230 | 224 |
| North Carolina State | Technician | 1,249 | 1,293 | 44 |
| Virginia | Cavalier Daily | 214 | 222 | 8 |
| Virginia Tech | Collegiate Times | 1,226 | 1,266 | 40 |
| Wake Forest | Old Gold & Black | 257 | 266 | 9 |
| Big 12 | Newspaper | Fans 1/11 | Fans 2/11 | Growth |
| Baylor | The Lariat | 339 | 392 | 53 |
| Colorado | Colorado Daily | 1,665 | 1,785 | 120 |
| Colorado | CU Independent | 1,251 | 1,263 | 12 |
| Iowa State | Iowa State Daily | 2,866 | 3,323 | 457 |
| Kansas | Kansan | 1,415 | 1,486 | 71 |
| Kansas State | Collegian | 372 | 376 | 4 |
| Missouri | Maneater | 1,233 | 1,249 | 16 |
| Nebraska | Daily Nebraskan | 605 | 631 | 26 |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma Daily | 1,024 | 1,054 | 30 |
| Oklahoma State | Daily O’Collegian | 470 | 539 | 69 |
| Texas | Daily Texan | 1,772 | 1,885 | 113 |
| Texas A&M | The Batalion | 1,659 | 1,728 | 69 |
| Texas Tech | Daily Toreador | 434 | 452 | 18 |
| Big East | Newspaper | Fans 1/11 | Fans 2/11 | Growth |
| Cincinnati | The News Record | 1,712 | 1,719 | 7 |
| Connecticut | The Daily Campus | 322 | 329 | 7 |
| Louisville | Cardinal | 925 | 934 | 9 |
| Pittsburgh | Pitt News | 284 | 292 | 8 |
| Rutgers | Daily Targum | 1,030 | 1,041 | 11 |
| South Florida | The Oracle | 1,783 | 1,828 | 45 |
| Syracuse | Daily Orange | 966 | 1,019 | 53 |
| West Virginia | Daily Athenaeum | 444 | 463 | 19 |
| Big Ten | Newspaper | Fans 1/11 | Fans 2/11 | Growth |
| Illinois | Daily Illini | 1,824 | 2,016 | 192 |
| Indiana | Indiana Daily Student | 4,909 | 4,992 | 83 |
| Iowa | Daily Iowan | 1,122 | 1,148 | 26 |
| Michigan | Michigan Daily | 2,505 | 2,604 | 99 |
| Michigan State | State News | 1,573 | 1,723 | 150 |
| Minnesota | Minnesota Daily | 1,780 | 1,818 | 38 |
| Northwestern | Daily Northwestern | 1,207 | 1,238 | 31 |
| Ohio State | The Lantern | 3,793 | 3,951 | 158 |
| Penn State | Daily Collegian | 5,018 | 5,164 | 146 |
| Purdue | Exponent | 675 | 726 | 51 |
| Wisconsin | Badger Herald | 1,252 | 1,267 | 15 |
| Wisconsin | Daily Cardinal | 260 | 265 | 5 |
| Pac 10 | Newspaper | Fans 1/11 | Fans 2/11 | Growth |
| Arizona | Daily Wildcat | 2,137 | 2,235 | 98 |
| Arizona State | State Press | 1,928 | 2,003 | 75 |
| California | Daily Californian | 3,138 | 3,161 | 23 |
| Oregon | Daily Emerald | 160 | 249 | 89 |
| Oregon State | Daily Barometer | 278 | 277 | -1 |
| Stanford | Stanford Daily | 848 | 880 | 32 |
| UCLA | Daily Bruin | 882 | 919 | 37 |
| USC | Daily Trojan | 1,510 | 1,573 | 63 |
| Washington | The Daily | 2,093 | 2,276 | 183 |
| Washington State | Daily Evergreen | 825 | 832 | 7 |
| SEC | Newspaper | Fans 1/11 | Fans 2/11 | Growth |
| Alabama | Crimson White | 3,762 | 3,840 | 78 |
| Arkansas | Arkansas Traveler | 351 | 388 | 37 |
| Auburn | Auburn Plainsman | 161 | 185 | 24 |
| Florida | Florida Alligator | 1,510 | 1,535 | 25 |
| Georgia | Red and Black | 1,775 | 1,885 | 110 |
| Kentucky | Kentucky Kernel | 2,093 | 2,130 | 37 |
| LSU | Daily Reveille | 3,183 | 3,264 | 81 |
| Mississippi | Daily Mississippian | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi State | The Reflector | 1,332 | 1,349 | 17 |
| South Carolina | Daily Gamecock | 2,385 | 2,658 | 273 |
| Tennessee | Daily Beacon | 439 | 488 | 49 |
| Vanderbilt | Vanderbilt Hustler | 544 | 561 | 17 |
| Other | Newspaper | Fans 1/11 | Fans 2/11 | Growth |
| Central Michigan | Central Michigan Life | 3853 | 4,009 | 156 |
| Drake University | Times-Delphic | 1062 | 1,080 | 18 |
| Ball State | Daily News | 1,828 |