Just yesterday, Facebook announced the launch of its new product, Bulletin, which is a newsletter platform that allows writers on Facebook to publish and send out newsletters to their subscribers who do not necessarily have to be on Facebook.
These newsletters can either be free or paid and creators have the options of sharing their content directly with readers, on the web or across Facebook, using a set of publishing and subscription tools offered by Bulletin.
Built separately from Facebook, Bulletin “enables creators to grow their audience in ways that are not exclusively dependent on the Facebook platform”, says Facebook’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
According to Facebook, writers present at launch who partner with Bulletin will not be paying a fee and will be able retain full ownership of their works and subscription.
During a live video of the launch, Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg stated that Bulletin is looking to empower independent writers in order to help them reach new audiences and power their businesses. It is part of Facebook’s mission to continue growing its creator monetization tools.
“The goal here across the company is to support eventually millions of people doing creative work”, said Mark.
At the launch of the product, Facebook signed up Malcolm Gladwell, Tan France, and Erin Andrews, among others to cover a range of topics, making it a fair competition against the growing popularity of substack (used by a number of major writers, including Glenn Greenwald and Anne Helen Petersen) and many other newsletter platforms.
With time, Facebook hopes to add more features and services to Bulletin including legal resources, assistance with financial services through third parties and design support.
