Reuters adds Twitter widget

Posted on 26. Aug, 2009 by Andrew in Twitter, Widgets

The Reuters UK blog has added a Twitter widget to their sidebar.

A few months ago we might have presented this news as evidence of the impact Twitter is having on the media. Not today. Today my first thought was that this was a good move as it helps convince readers that the @reuters_co_uk Twitter account and its suspicious pigeon are real and valid.

Reuters UK still have a long way to go in collecting even a fraction of either the BBC and CNN’s followers. The reason they’re so far behind is nothing to do with the quality of news from Reuters and everything to do with them being more of a business-to-business brand rather than a more widely known business-to-consumer brand.

Expansion into Twitter makes sense for Reuters as it is a great way to strength the brand and get closer to the “consumer”, in other words, get closer to people. Reuters often breaks some great stories and a strong Twitter presence will help credit the news agency with these successes.

What do you think about the widget itself, though? Too stark a contrast to the rest of the blog design? Does it load swiftly enough for you?

Tags: reuters, Twitter