BuzzFeed, NYT, HuffPost: Which Media Giants Win at Social Engagement? [New Data]

Social media has become the frontline for digital attention, and nowhere is the battle fiercer than among major media publishers. With readers increasingly discovering content through feeds and shares rather than visiting homepage directly, optimizing for social engagement is now a business imperative.

But which top media sites are truly winning hearts, minds, and thumbs? A new study by Fractl and BuzzStream set out to answer that question. By analyzing social sharing data on over 30,000 articles across verticals, the research reveals key insights about what resonates with audiences.

As content marketers, we‘re always seeking to understand what makes people tick (and click) on social media. This data provides a valuable window into those preferences and behaviors. Let‘s unpack six of the most important takeaways, along with tips to apply them in your own strategy.

Finding #1: BuzzFeed and HuffPost Are Engagement Powerhouses

To determine the social media heavyweight champs, Fractl and BuzzStream looked at the total shares earned by articles across five verticals: women, politics, business/finance, science, and technology.

Key findings on the top overall performers:

• BuzzFeed claimed the #2 spot for most total shares in 3 of 5 verticals (women, business/finance, and science). Its quirky blend of pop culture, humor, and emotion clearly resonates across a range of topics.

• The Huffington Post flexed its muscle as the only publisher to rank in the top 10 for all five verticals studied. HuffPost‘s combination of a broad content, a liberal-leaning lens, and snackable formats produces reliable reach.

• The New York Times earned a top 5 spot in 3 verticals, driven by its prestigious brand and in-depth reportage. While it unsurprisingly led in business/finance, The Times also performed well in the women and science categories.

What‘s the common thread? All three of these publishing giants have established strong brand identities and voices that carry across verticals. They‘ve honed their ability to craft irresistible headlines and imagery that demand engagement.

Of course, it helps to have a massive existing audience across social channels. But smaller publishers can still learn from their relentless focus on audience-centric, share-worthy content. Audit your own publishing strategies and look for opportunities to dial up the attributes that spur engagement: emotional resonance, timeliness, unique takes, and visual polish.

Finding #2: Women‘s Content Is Social Catnip

Speaking of BuzzFeed, the Fractl/BuzzStream analysis showed the women‘s vertical drove far and away the most total social shares — 3-4X more than even the second-place vertical (politics). Take a look at the count of total shares for the top publisher in each category:

Vertical	Top Publisher	Total Shares
Women	The Huffington Post	3,249,533
Politics	Western Journalism	3,030,445
Business/Finance	Forbes	1,659,938
Science	IFLScience	3,051,871
Tech	The Huffington Post	700,191

A few possible reasons for the outsized social traction of women-focused content:

1. Demographics — Women are power users of social media across all major platforms. Female-skewing content has a larger potential audience to tap into.

2. Emotional resonance — Many of the most shared articles in the women‘s vertical touch on highly relatable themes like relationships, self-esteem, parenting challenges, etc. This type of content forges strong personal connections.

3. Positivity bias — Research shows social media users tend to engage more with positive, inspirational content. The women‘s category is full of uplifting messages around empowerment, self-care, and more.

The lesson here is not that every brand should suddenly pivot to women‘s content. Rather, consider the underlying triggers that make this content so sharable and look for ways to adapt them to your own niche and audience.

Finding #3: Political Content Is a Partisan Battlefield

On the flip side, the politics vertical revealed an incredibly polarized audience, with conservative-leaning publishers like Western Journalism and The Daily Caller claiming over 85% of total shares.

This suggests content that takes a strong ideological stance tends to generate more engagement from readers whose views it reinforces. Politically moderate or balanced takes, on the other hand, may struggle to cut through and inspire sharing.

For most brands, the smart play is probably to avoid overtly partisan political content, unless you have a specific strategic reason to court controversy. Instead, focus on issues and topics adjacent to your business where you can stake out a relevant, authentic point of view that won‘t directly alienate huge swaths of people.

Finding #4: A Rising Tide of Sponsored Content

One of the most fascinating findings in the study was just how well paid/sponsored content performed in certain verticals.

In both the business/finance and science categories, the single most-shared article was a piece of sponsored content:

• Business/Finance: A New York Times paid post for Credit Suisse racked up over 587,000 shares, accounting for more than one-third of NYT‘s total shares in that vertical.

• Science: A paid post on NPR by the science news site Ozy drove nearly 635,000 shares, vaulting NPR to the #4 spot among publishers in the vertical.

This doesn‘t mean audiences are suddenly clamoring for ads over editorial. Both of these sponsored content examples featured substantive, valuable information presented in a non-salesy way.

The key takeaway is that readers will engage with sponsored content when it delivers the same quality and utility they expect from regular editorial. As a marketer, you should absolutely experiment with paid content amplification — but make sure you‘re putting sufficient time and money into the creative itself, not just the media placement.

Finding #5: Timing Matters for Social Traction

The Fractl/BuzzStream data also served up some interesting insights around when to publish and promote content for maximum impact:

• Avoid the weekends — Across all five verticals, articles published on Saturdays and Sundays earned significantly fewer shares on average. Stick to weekdays for your big campaigns and announcements.

• Wednesday wins for tech — In the technology vertical, content published midweek (especially Wednesdays) generated over 5X as many shares vs. the weekend. Consider making Wednesday your anchor day for major launches.

• Mix it up by vertical — Different audiences seem to have different daily usage patterns on social. Experiment to determine when your content gets the most visibility and engagement.

Of course, these are averages across many publishers and posts. Your mileage may vary based on the specifics of your brand, audience, and content. As with everything in marketing, use industry benchmarks to inform hypotheses — then test to discover what works best for your situation.

Finding #6: Shares Don‘t Tell the Whole Story

While the raw volume of social shares is a helpful engagement indicator, it only shows part of the picture. Fractl and BuzzStream also looked at the percentage breakdown of shares by social channel (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+) for each vertical.

A few highlights:

• Facebook dominated across the board, driving 70-90%+ of shares in each vertical. No surprise there given its huge user base.

• The tech and business verticals had the most relative diversity, with Twitter and LinkedIn playing an outsized role vs. the other categories.

• Pinterest barely registered any shares in these categories, suggesting it‘s better suited for other niches (fashion, food, travel, etc.).

Understanding which social channels contribute most to your industry‘s content engagement can help you prioritize and tailor your publishing and promotion. Go all-in on the networks where your audience is most active and receptive. And make sure you‘re optimizing content formats and copy (headlines, descriptions, images, etc.) for each channel‘s nuances.

Bonus Finding: Simple Hacks to Boost Shares

Beyond the high-level strategic takeaways, the Fractl/BuzzStream research also highlighted some specific tactical levers for goosing your content‘s social engagement:

• Use more images — Articles with at least one image generated 2.3X as many shares on average as those with none. Visuals matter.

• Aim for longer content — Longform content of 2,000+ words earned 56% more shares on average than short-form posts under 1,000 words. Don‘t sacrifice substance for snackability.

• Embrace list posts — Articles with titles that include a number (e.g. "10 Ways to XX") had 2X as many shares on average. Listicles for the win.

Obviously, you shouldn‘t blindly chase these attributes at the expense of quality, brand appropriateness, and audience value. But used judiciously, these simple techniques can complement and amplify your core content assets.

Conclusion: Different Strokes for Different Social Folks

The Fractl/BuzzStream data illuminates the stark differences in how audiences discover, consume, and spread content on social media across verticals. What flies for women‘s lifestyle may flop for B2B tech (and vice versa).

The common keys to sustaining engagement, though, are 1) knowing your specific audience inside and out, and 2) consistently delivering compelling, valuable content that connects with their needs and wants.

Use the insights from this research to spark ideas and shape your strategies. But also invest in your own experimentation and analysis to uncover what makes your community tick.

As the social media landscape keeps fragmenting and recombining, the brands and publishers that will survive and thrive must be relentlessly audience-first. Everything else is just details.