Jordan Times fan base on Facebook surpasses 200,000

AMMAN – The number of likes for The Jordan Times Facebook page surpassed 200,000 on Thursday.

Almost half of this fan base is from Jordan, while the rest are from various parts of the world. 

The newspaper, which also has around 110,000 followers on Twitter, uses social networking sites not only to post news published in its print or online editions, but also to allow for more reader interaction and involvement.

The Kingdom’s sole English daily, which celebrated its 40th anniversary on October 27, launched a revamped website earlier this year to allow for a wider range of content, more frequent updates and better interaction with readers.

The Facebook page is not only used to push news via the website, but is also an important platform for the daily as a source of news and photos for events happening across the Kingdom.

In addition, it allows readers to contribute their input whether in terms of news, commentary, photos or videos, as was witnessed during this month’s rainstorm and floods or last year’s snowstorms that blocked roads and made it impossible for journalists to access many parts of Jordan.

The Jordan Times, as many newspapers around the world, was struggling to make up for the drop in the print readership only to gain many more by attracting tens of thousands of online readers from around the world, utilising its website and social media platforms in the process.

“We will continue these efforts to the best of our ability, to reflect happenings in Jordan in an objective and professional manner, while allowing our readers to make their great contributions to our work, whether in terms of news or other types of content,” The Jordan Times Editor-in-Chief Samir Barhoum said.

“Our readers, fans and followers will continue to be not only the focus of our work, but will also be able to shape our content through the interactive social media and our news website,” he added.