Prothom Alo’s Facebook page has achieved two milestones. On 20 September the number of likes on the daily’s verified Facebook page (fb.com/DailyProthomAlo) reached 15,003,000 (1 crore 50 lakh 3 thousand). And its followers total 15,675,000 (1 crore 56 lakh 75 thousand). And so now Prothom Alo ranks among the world’s top ten news media in world.
Prothom Alo’s large number of Facebook followers is ascribed to the authenticity of its news. The daily has always been ahead when it comes to engagement with its readers. And not just in Bangladesh, but globally.
Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the world. In Bangladesh too it is the most popular social media platform and according to internet world status statistics, till June this year the number of Facebook users here stood at 33,713,000 (3 crore 71 lakh 3000).
With this huge number of users, Facebook is a vital source of news. A survey carried out last year by the US-based Pew Research Centre stated that over half of the adults in the US received news through Facebook. It is more or less the same for Bangladeshis.
Prothom Alo’s large number of Facebook followers is ascribed to the authenticity of its news. The daily has always been ahead when it comes to engagement with its readers. And not just in Bangladesh, but globally.
Prothom Alo among Top Ten
Now Prothom Alo stands among the world’s top ten newspapers and news media Facebook pages. In the ‘daily news’ category of South Asia, Prothom Alo stands second only to India’s Hindi language news portal and channel Aaj Tak, according to the social media research platform Socialbakers’.
First on the global Top Ten list is China’s People’s Daily followed by China’s Global Times, India’s Aaj Tak, Myanmar’s 7Day News and Eleven Media Group, Egypt’s Youm7, America’s New York Times, UK’s Daily Mail, Morocco’s Hespress and, at No. 10, Bangladesh’s Prothom Alo.
On Socialbaker’s global list of all Facebook pages, Prothom Alo stands at 510. Topping this list is the page of Portugal’s footballer Christiano Ronaldo, Spanish football club Real Madrid, China’s news portal CGTN, Spanish football club Barcelona and the Colombian singer Shakira.
Newspapers, periodicals, journals, media organisations, news agencies, radio, social media, sports media, TV channels and web portals are placed in Facebook’s media category. Prothom Alo ranks at 67 in this category. The top five include China’s television network CGTN, YouTube, People’s Daily, Instagram and China’s tabloid Global Times. In this media category in South Asia, India’s Aaj Tak is at the top, followed by ABP News. Next is Pakistan’s ARI News and PTV Sports. Bangladesh’s Prothom Alo ranks at 5.
Fast gaining ground
Prothom Alo’s Facebook page started in November 2010. Its verified page started on 22 January 2014. On 28 January the same year it reached the 1 million follower milestone. On 17 September 2016 it crossed the 10 million follower milestone. Alongside the main Facebook page, Prothom Alo has Facebook pages for its feature page, sports and its English edition. These pages have good readership.
The media mantra now is ‘Mobile First’... Bangla readers around the world are receiving more news now from Prothom Alo through Facebook and other social media. Prothom Alo now ranks among the world’s Top Ten media pages of Facebook in terms of likes. This is great news for us.Matiur Rahman, Editor, Prothom Alo
Not just Facebook
Prothom Alo is surging ahead in other social media platforms too. According to Socialbackers, Prothom Alo ranks at 3 among Bangladesh’s Twitter accounts and first in its Bangladesh media accounts. Prothom Alo has 1,660,000 followers on Twitter and 413,000 followers in Instagram. And on YouTube Prothom Alo has 2,250,000 subscribers.
Prothom Alo’s website, www.prothomalo.com ranks at No. 1 among Bangladeshi websites and Bangla language websites. Over 12,000,000 (1 crore 20 lakh) readers from over 120 countries around the world read Prothom Alo regularly online.
According to the US web traffic analysis company Alexa, in readership and ranking, Prothom Alo is at No. 4 in Bangladesh and 454 on the world. Above Prothom Alo in Bangladesh is Google, YouTube and Facebook.
Prothom Alo’s editor Matiur Rahman says, “The media mantra now is ‘Mobile First’. We want to reach closer to people through the digital medium. Bangla readers around the world are receiving more news now from Prothom Alo through Facebook and other social media. Prothom Alo now ranks among the world’s Top Ten media pages of Facebook in terms of likes. This is great news for us.”