The hybrid media system extends well beyond web trafic and “likes,” encompassing the operational logics of platforms and the players involved. Similar to how users reorient their social media behavior to accommodate the algorithmic logics of platforms, as was discussed in the previous chapter, the news professionals in this chapter note how algorithmic logics increasingly also inform journalistic practices. Ingeborg Volan at Adresseavisen observes how journalists in many ways have to orient themselves toward the algorithmic logic of external players like Facebook. Volan emphasizes how vital it has become to be good at playing Facebook’s game. Becoming more atuned to the algorithmic logic of Facebook is now a necessary ingredient in reaching as many existing and new readers as possible. This does not mean, however, that you simply “dismiss all your journalistic principles and just follow Facebook blindly,” says Volan. The question is whether you can find ways of “gaming Facebook’s algorithms to serve your own journalistic purpose.” The tricky part, Volan adds, is finding good ways of adhering to the “things we know Facebook will reward but without compromising journalistic principles.” If you want your audience to come to your own site to watch a particular video, you do not put the whole video up on Facebook. What you do, instead, is share a “teaser” on Facebook, which directs people to your own site, according to Volan. However, producing videos also makes sense from the perspective of the operational logics of platforms. Given that Facebook’s algorithms privilege videos over text, Volan suggests, they make sure to publish more videos on Facebook in order to be prioritized by the algorithm (Interview 4, August 2016).
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