Web values human news

The most popular news stories are rarely those considered most important by journalists. The instant feedback possible in web news shows us that apparently trivial stories are often most popular.

• Cats 'exploit' humans by purring is currently top of the most shared on the BBC
• Twitter is not for teens is top of the Guardian's most viewed
• Monster fish killed after terrorising swimmers and
• Photographer captures the moment a bubble bursts are two and three on the Telegraph's most viewed

Traditional news values would value other stories higher than these:

• Thousands honour repatriated soldiers;
• Elderly face £20,000 shake-up in social care;
• Swine flu vaccine months away.

Traditional news values used in judging the most significant stories include:

• Newness
• Relevance to reader
• Scale
• Impact

But web audiences seem to rank other factors more highly (although there other factors at play, including the fact that they are more likely to have already seen the big stories in other media):

• The visual (a picture of a bubble bursting)
• The (overly) dramatic (monster fish)
• The I've-always-kind-of-suspected-that story (cats exploit humans)
• That's someone like me (Twitter not for teens)
• The quirky, weird, surprising and downright bizarre (all the above)

Now that reader response can be measured, serious news providers are having to include stories judged by the second set of news values. They will never outweigh the big news stories but we shouldn't be snooty about them. They have their place.