The document summarizes the results of a survey of NPR's Facebook fans conducted in July 2010. It finds that almost all respondents access Facebook daily, most get news online or through NPR's radio broadcasts, and 3/4 agree Facebook is a major way to receive news from NPR. While comments on NPR's Facebook page are seen as generally polite and civil, only a minority of respondents often leave comments themselves. Respondents prefer NPR posts stories about offbeat news, hard news, and international events, rather than sports or celebrity stories.

1. Audience Insight and Research NPR on Facebook(Overview) Preferences and Habits of NPR’s Facebook Fans July 2010 Prepared for NPR’s Social Media Desk Report by Noel Cody

2. Methodology The NPR Facebook Survey was conducted online and deployed July 12-19, 2010. Respondents were recruited through messages posted on NPR’s Facebook page. A total of 40,043 respondents began the survey; about 33,304 respondents completed all of the questions within the survey. Respondents were self-selected and the resulting sample is non-random -- therefore a margin of error cannot be calculated, and the survey results cannot be projected to any population other than the sample itself. Breakdown of Respondents by Age and Gender Note: This demographic breakdown is very similar to the demographic breakdown of “active” NPR Facebook fans. Note: Respondents under 18 were instructed to leave this question blank, and so are not included here Source: NPR Facebook Survey, July 2010; Facebook Insights, July 2010

3. Facebook Use and Online Behavior Frequency of Facebook Use Almost all respondents (96%) access Facebook at least once per day. How Fans Access NPR: About 3 of every 4 respondents listen to NPR on the radio. 1 of every 5 respondents uses the iPhone app. Almost 3 in 10 listen to NPR podcasts. Fewerthan 1 in 10 follow NPR on Twitter. Time Spent with NPR About 4 of every 5 access NPR for less than 3 hours per day (includes radio listening). For many of the charts in this summary, a given question’s most popular response will be highlighted with a green bar. Note: For the above question, respondents could choose more than one response. Source: NPR Facebook Survey, July 2010

4. Facebook Use and Online Behavior Facebook is a major way for me to receive news and information from NPR. News online About 3 of every 5 respondents get most or all of their news online. News on Facebook 3 of every 4 agree that Facebook is a major way in which they receive news and information from NPR. About halfagree that Facebook is a major way for them to receive information from news organizations in general. NPR stories on Facebook 84% have indicated that they often click through to NPR stories that are posted on Facebook. Facebook is a major way for me to receive news and information from news organizations in general. Source: NPR Facebook Survey, July 2010

5. General Behavior: Comments, “Likes”, and Engagement I often "Like" or leave comments for NPR stories on Facebook that I enjoy. Leaving Facebook Comments Some fans leave Facebook comments on NPR stories they enjoy, while others do not: 22% strongly indicated that they leave comments for these stories, while 34% strongly indicated that they do not. The majority do not leave Facebook comments on NPR stories that they dislike. The Value in Accumulating Comments Amajority of respondentssay that a large number of “Likes” or Facebook comments on an NPR story does not make them more likely to read that story. I'm more likely to check out NPR stories with many "Likes" or Facebook comments than ones with few "Likes" or comments. Source: NPR Facebook Survey, July 2010

7. The majority of respondentsdo not read a story’s Facebook comments before reading the story itself.

8. Almost half indicate that they sometimes read comments on a story’s link on Facebookafterreading the story itself.

9. Other Forms of Engagement

10. The majority have not shared an NPR story via Twitter in the past five months, but have shared an NPR story via Facebook.

11. The majority of respondents have not left a comment on NPR.org in the last five months.In the past five months, have you… Source: NPR Facebook Survey, July 2010

12. Perception of Comments I think the comments left by other users on NPR's Facebook posts are generally: General Perceptions User comments are generally perceived to be lively, polite, and civil. Just as importantly, comments are rarely considered to be vulgar. Segmentation by Like/Dislike of Comments Not surprisingly, those fans who indicated that they likecomments (43% of respondents) have a more positive perception of the tone those comments than those who indicated that they do not like comments (14% of respondents). Both respondents who liked comments and those who did not both agreed that comments were “lively”, but those who liked comments agreed slightly more strongly. Neither Agree nor Disagree Strongly Disagree Somewhat Agree Agree Strongly Agree Disagree Somewhat Disagree Note: This chart was calculated using the mean response for each adjective. Source: NPR Facebook Survey, July 2010

14. Only 6% of respondents think that NPR posts too many stories each day, while about 7 of every 10 think that NPR posts just the right amount. About 1 of every 5 respondents thinks that NPR should post more stories each day.

15. General Preferences

16. Most popular story types: Offbeat stories, hard news/breaking news, stories that update fans on what’s happening with events that are in progress, and stories about international news and issues.

17. Least popular story types: Stories about sports, stories about rich, powerful, famous, or infamous people.

18. Segmentation by Preference

19. Fans who want to read more hard news stories generally also want to read more offbeat stories, and visa versa. This indicates thatNPR fans appreciate a wide variety of stories on Facebook.Story Preferences NPR should post more of these NPR posts just the right amount of these NPR should post less of these Source: NPR Facebook Survey, July 2010

20. Friends and Recommendations It's important that the stories that NPR posts on Facebook give me something to talk about with my friends. Sharing with Friends More respondents agree than disagree that NPR should give them something to talk about with friends: 24% strongly indicated that this is important to them, while 13% have strongly indicated that it is not. The majority expect their friends to share links to interesting information and news stories with them online. Facebook Recommendations on NPR.org The majority of respondents would not like to see their Facebook friends’ recommendations when they visit NPR.org. However, of those who would, 2/3rds would rather the recommendations be opt-in rather than automatically displayed. Would you prefer if these recommendations were displayed automatically, or would you prefer if NPR.org asked your permission before displaying the recommendations? Source: NPR Facebook Survey, July 2010