After long-time rumors, Facebook launched the Bulletin . It is a newsletter platform, through which the social network wants to stand up to popular services such as Substack and Revue. The alternative was launched in the last hours, after the announcement made by Mark Zuckerberg in a live audio room.
Bulletin offers both free and paid content. In principle, the newsletters available correspond to a group of content creators selected by Facebook. In fact, the company would be paying them to adopt the platform and start creating a fan base.
It is not yet known when or in what way the possibility will be opened for “common users” to publish through this tool. What Facebook has mentioned is that, in principle at least, it does not take a cut of the income generated by subscriptions purchased by the public.
In addition, Bulletin will allow writers to take their publications and subscriber lists to other platforms , if they so decide in the future.
With Bulletin, Facebook wants to measure itself with Substack in the field of newsletters
Just by entering the Bulletin we realize that it is a service that still lacks maturity. In fact, the translation of the interface into Spanish is not even complete. In addition, the content available is mostly in English, taking into account that practically all the journalists and writers chosen for the launch are from the United States.
An interesting point of the Bulletin is that works independently of Facebook as a website , but it takes several elements of integration. For example, to comment on a publication you need to log in with our Facebook account. For its part, the purchase of subscriptions is made through Facebook Pay. Meanwhile, the authors can integrate the content of the newsletter to their profile on the social network.
It is worth noting that users who purchase subscriptions to the available newsletters receive “premium benefits” such as badges and access to exclusive Facebook groups . Will Bulletin be an attractive project for creators and the public alike? Zuckerberg argues that the platform is his company's response “to what is happening with the media ecosystem.”
