ABCNews.com Behind the Scenes

ABCNews.com Connects with Facebook During Michael Jackson Memorial

2009-07-08T18:25:28-04:00

If Charles Caleb Colton was right, then a certain web news competitor should be flattered.

No, we can’t claim to be the first to implement the super-cool technology known as Facebook Connect (that honor – and a tip of our technological cap – goes to CNN.com) but ever since we saw their nifty Inauguration coverage, we’ve been itching to take Facebook’s widget for a spin.

The international event known as Michael Jackson’s memorial service provided just such a chance – and the results, if we do say so ourselves, were more than satisfactory.

We began live streaming the funeral motorcade with an eye-in-the-sky from our affiliate KABC at 11am ET / 8am PT. And right next to the live stream sat our Facebook Connect widget, which immediately drew user interest to our special Michael Jackson section of the site.

At Noon ET, as the official Staples Center memorial service drew closer, we switched to four hours of live streaming coverage of our digital broadband channel ABC News Now and added a second, slightly shorter (hey, Home Page real estate is tight) Facebook Connect widget to the Home Page of ABCNews.com.

Here’s how Facebook Connect looked on the Home Page of ABCNews.com:

And here’s how it look on the Michael Jackson subsection:

The results were fascinating.

According to Facebook, we hosted nearly 100,000 users, sending almost 50,000 status updates. Not bad, we thought, considering we didn’t do any advance promotion (we figured it was better to have a successful experiment than overpromise and under-deliver – but next time, we pledge to boast long in advance).

It’s a testament to Facebook’s global influence – since the King of Pop’s passing, he’s quickly become the #1 most popular figure on the social networking site with over 7 million fans of his official page.

We saw updates from Japan to England, and, of course, all across the United States. Facebook has truly become the global meeting grounds – a community to connect instantly with friends, colleagues and, with innovations such as Facebook Connect, those with a common cause or experience.

“I love how there are so many people around the world watching this and commenting on here,” remarked Stephanie Eiseman from Orange County, California.

“Man, seriously, this is awesome, how cool is it that they have Facebook running along side of the live remembering michael jackson broadcast.... way to go Facebook and ABC,” said the status of one Jonathan Kyle Lara of Houston, Texas.

Seriously. We couldn’t make this stuff up.

And, while we enjoyed such compliments, a vast majority of the comments were thoughtful remembrances of a lost legend; it was a sad day for Michael Jackson fans everywhere but it was also a good day for the web.

Our sincere thanks to those who came to ABCNews.com to be a part of a communal conversation and shared experience facilitated by the ever-impressive technology of the web.

--Ed O’Keefe, Senior Producer, Special Projects & Innovation, ABCNews.com

ABCNews.com Improves Design, Navigation, Search

2009-05-20T20:13:41-04:00

We are delighted to introduce a number of improvements to ABCNews.com designed to create a more compelling, user-friendly online news experience.

We've simplified our navigation, made video more prominent, developed a better site search tool, and created a more readable, visually stunning design.

Major improvements include:

VIDEO FRONT AND CENTER

We set out to showcase our video in a unique way and our new rotating video strip does just that. You'll find more than a dozen videos at the top of our home page and other sections. We have also added a direct link to our video player at the top right of the site, and a new box on the home page featuring full episodes of all of our primetime programs.

IMPROVED NAVIGATION

We've simplified our navigation to make it much easier to find your way around ABCNews.com. Rather than having separate navigations for our topical sections and our shows, we've moved them to one, easy-to-read row -- and added a second row underneath with handy quick links. Mouse over the headings and you'll find more useful links related to each topic or show, enabling you to navigate directly to some of our best content with just one click.

We've also added useful links at the top right of the site -- to our video player, blogs, newsletters, mobile products, ABC.com and sports news on ESPN.com.

IMPROVED SITE SEARCH

We've built a new site search engine from scratch that delivers results that are much more relevant. In addition, search results are now categorized by type (stories, blog posts, videos, photos and recipes), date, show and section. After you get your search results, click on any of the links in the left column to refine your search results even more by any of these categories.

We're also adding quick links to hot topics above the search box at the top of the site.

We will continue to improve the search experience. Our goal is to make it as easy as possible to find the content you want.

VISUALLY STUNNING DESIGN

We're using larger images to create more visual impact, and shifting to 16x9 widescreen images to create a more modern look, reflective of the move toward widescreen televisions and computer monitors.

MORE READABLE FONTS

We've changed our fonts sizes, styles and colors across our site to make our headlines and stories more readable.

GOOD MORNING AMERICA RECIPES

You can search our exclusive GMA recipes database and find quick links to popular recipes and chefs directly from our Recipes widget on our homepage. And you can even embed it on your iGoogle or Facebook pages, or on your personal website or blog. (More about our new Recipes section, which we launched last month, here.)

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

You'll find new boxes on our homepage highlighting exclusive content from Good Morning America, the Blotter and Investigative Team, our exceptional politics team that includes George Stephanopoulos and Jake Tapper, and our original web-only video series, the Quick Fix.

We've been gradually rolling out these new features over the past month and fine-tuning them -- and we will continue to improve upon them as we move forward. We also have more enhancements planned, so stay tuned!

Our team at ABCNews.com is dedicated to bringing you the best news experience online.

We hope you enjoy the improvements!

- Jonathan Dube
Vice President, ABCNews.com

ABCNews.com Joins Slate's Double X in Web Content Exchange

2009-05-12T10:04:41-04:00

Why is a "Y" writing about Slate's Double X? Because the wise guys at ABCNews.com know the web's best ideas come from women.

We're delighted to announce that ABCNews.com will be collaborating with Double X, the smart, savvy, and sophisticated spin-off of the uber-popular XX Factor blog.

Double X, mostly created by, for and about women, aims to engage women writers and readers on the web in a conversation about news, politics, culture, family, parenting, work and life at large.

"There's no web site out there like Double X," said Meghan O'Rourke, one of three editors who co-founded the site, in a press release announcing their debut. "We'll be thoughtful without being earnest, funny without being snarky. We'll offer a feminist viewpoint without restricting ourselves to any sort of party line. And it will be the kind of conversation men will want to eavesdrop on."

We couldn't agree more - and hope our relationship with Double X will allow our readers to get a slice of their unique, thought-provoking conversation on ABCNews.com.

Double X will be sending us their content every day -- and we'll do the same in exchange. We hope the readers who come to enjoy Double X as much as they loved the original XX Factor will appreciate our stories, blogs, and video as well.

Whether it's a riff on the challenges of parenting from "Good Morning America" contributor Anita Renfroe, a hot recipe from one of the world renown chefs who contribute to our brand new Recipes section, or job advice for women and families facing tough economic times from Tory Johnson, we think Double X readers will enjoy what ABCNews.com has to offer.

My Mom always told me the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand the rules the world; it should be no surprise that includes the web too!

Best of luck to the ladies of Double X - give them a click and we hope you join the conversation on ABCNews.com as well.

-Ed O'Keefe, Senior Producer, Special Projects & Innovation

Nightline Teams Up With Twitter for New Web Show

2009-05-11T17:34:00-04:00

"Nightline" is expanding its ongoing relationship with Twitter to develop "NightTline," a new half-hour digital program hosted by the show's anchors and correspondents that provides a forum for viewers to simultaneously discuss and debate the news of the day through the prism of Twitter.

Join the Conversation With Nightline Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. ET

It will be available for viewing on the "Nightline" page at ABCNEWS.com. It can also be viewed on ABC News Now, the network's 24-hour digital channel. New, unique visualization of Twitter using Pixel touch screen technology will be employed for the first time on the site.

"Nightline" has been a pioneer in its embrace of Twitter," said James Goldston, "Nightline's" executive producer. "This new collaboration provides an ideal venue for news and Twitter enthusiasts alike."

Episodes will take on the program's popular "Face-Off" model, a live debate on issues being discussed on the national stage, which "Nightline" has made successful in its recent on air programming.

To date, "Nightline" and its anchors and correspondents have more than 1 million Twitter followers.

Click Here to sign up for Tweets from the "Nightline" team and participate in the program.

ABCNews.com launches new Recipes section

2009-04-10T09:40:00-04:00

We're delighted to tell you that we've launched a new Good Morning America Recipes section on ABCNews.com, providing access to 1000+ recipes by top chefs such as Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, Paula Deen, Sara Moulton, Rachel Ray and others.

The site includes:

Recipes, food tips, anchor favorites, challenge and "how-to" videos
A shareable and embeddable search widget, which allows visitors to search for recipes by chef, course, ingredients and dietary characteristics
The ability to print recipes as a 3x5 or 4x6 index card
A new design for our recipe newsletter, which relaunched today

http://abcnews.com/recipes

Watch Emeril Lagasse demonstrate the new site in this video:

Nightline Now to Cover President's Press Conference Using Twitter

2009-03-24T08:11:00-04:00

Tonight, ABC News' "Nightline" provides in-depth analysis of President Obama's primetime press conference as part of a new venture on the Web.

"Nightline" will team with ABCNews.com, ABC News Now and Twitter for a shared conversation to take place online and on television. As Obama addresses the nation, Web users will be invited to post their reactions to the president's press conference on Twitter and have them appear on ABCNews.com. Additionally, beginning at 8 p.m. ET, ABCNews.com will live stream ABC News Now's coverage of the press conference.

Beginning at 9 p.m. ET, "Nightline" correspondent John Donvan will appear live on ABCNews.com and ABC News Now to respond to viewer comments, tweets and messages. Viewer reaction will be uploaded onto the "Nightline" and "Politics" pages of ABCNews.com and discussed simultaneously on ABC News Now.

Click Here to sign up for Tweets from John Donvan and "Nightline" during the press conference.

ABC News White House correspondent Yunji de Nies and senior political reporter and author of "The Note" Rick Klein will join Donvan in the analysis.

"Nightline" will cover the president's press conference during the show's broadcast at 11:35 p.m. ET.

"Twitterview" With Sen. John McCain

2009-03-13T08:28:00-04:00

ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent and "This Week" Host George Stephanopoulos is going to "twitterview" with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Tuesday, March 17 at 12 noon ET on Twitter.

On his blog, Stephanopoulos says:

We're going to attempt to conduct a full interview exclusively on Twitter -- complete with the 140-character limit!

All a part of exploring new ways to connect with our "This Week" viewers online.

This week I "tweeted" with Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., about her vote against the omnibus legislation on Twitter. And I've been enjoying replying to viewers' questions online.

So, if you have any suggested questions for me to ask Sen. McCain -- in 140 characters or less -- "twitter" me!

'Good Morning America's' Big Adventure on Twitter

2009-03-05T08:37:00-05:00

Join "Good Morning America" next week as we travel around the world to see the biggest, most incredible sites, both natural and manmade, in the world.

Each day a "GMA" anchor will be live in one of the most exotic, exciting and plain biggest spots on Earth -- and they'll be Twittering their real-time, behind-the-scenes observations and insights.

You can follow along with "GMA's" Twitter page by clicking here.

For the uninitiated, Twitter is essentially an Internet site that lets you share your thoughts and activities with the world in near real time. Users get 140 characters -- that's not much -- to say what they are doing.

Be sure to tune in to -- or tweet with -- "GMA" for a very BIG week!

'Nightline Now' to Cover President's Address to Congress Using Twitter

2009-02-23T07:46:00-05:00

On Tuesday, Feb. 24, as President Barack Obama addresses a joint session of Congress, ABC News' "Nightline" will provide in-depth analysis of the speech as part of the launch of a new and unprecedented venture on the Web.

"Nightline" will team up with ABCNews.com, ABC News NOW and Twitter for a shared conversation to take place online and on television. As Obama addresses Congress, Web users will be invited to post their reactions to the president's speech on Twitter and have them appear on ABCNews.com. Additionally, beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET, ABCNews.com will live stream ABC News NOW's coverage of the president's address.

Beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET, "Nightline" co-anchor Terry Moran will appear live on ABCNews.com and ABC News NOW to respond to viewer comments, tweets, and messages. Viewer reaction will uploaded onto the homepage of ABCNews.com and discussed simultaneously on ABC News NOW.

CLICK HERE to sign up for Tweets from Terry Moran and "Nightline" during the president's address.

ABC's White House correspondent Yunji de Nies will moderate the discussion. "Politics Live" anchor Sam Donaldson, along with senior political reporter Rick Klein, will join Moran in the analysis.

Moran will continue to share viewer reaction to the speech during "Nightline" at 11:35 p.m. ET and later at 12:05 a.m. ET on ABCNews.com. This new online shared user experience is part of "Nightline's" commitment to building its audience through its growing presence on the Web.

Barack Obama's Inauguration Day on ABCNews.com

2009-01-16T19:43:34-05:00

Two years, 24 candidates, over 30 debates, 54 primaries and caucuses and one election night later, we have a new president. On Tuesday, January 20, Sen. Barack Obama will take the oath-of-office, becoming the 44th president in our nation's history.

For those of us who covered the election -- reporters, producers, editors, bloggers, web developers, engineers, and more -- the moment represents the end of a journey, perhaps not as long or as arduous as the candidate's path to the White House but it's been an enormous and gratifying challenge nonetheless.

It seems an appropriate time to launch our new blog -- ABCNews.com Behind-the-Scenes -- in advance of this historic day when the nation looks forward to talk about what we here on ABC News' digital team will be doing in and for the future of our business.

Over the next few days, there will be no more anticipated event than Barack Obama's oath of office and inaugural address. In recognition of that moment, we here at ABCNews.com have a simple goal: provide the best, highest quality video of the moment in the easiest way for the user.

To that end, for the first time, we're put a live, 16:9 widescreen feed of the Inauguration embedded right at the top of our home page. No clicks, no video players, just the live event delivered straight to the user on http://abcnews.com. And we tip our collective hats to the leader of our web development team Marc Rullo for tackling this project (despite post-election exhaustion).

Our 16:9 live embedded player is presented by Audi, but it's not the only feature you'll find on the big day or the weekend leading up to it.

Check our "Guide to the Inauguration" where you can find out all about ABC News' coverage both online and on-air throughout the weekend -- from Barack Obama and Joe Biden's train ride into Washington on Saturday, the star-studded "We Are One" celebration on Sunday, to the volunteer activities in honor of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday.

On inauguration day itself, ABCNews reporters will be out in force to bring the very latest reporting and analysis on the official events and the historic crowds expected to descend on our nation's capital (and endure the cold).

ABC's Juju Chang will be looking at it all from a slightly different perspective, as she roams the city, attempting to experience the inauguration from multiple vantage points - armed with a Flip video camera, an i-Phone, a Blackberry and a laptop. She'll be blogging on her new blog, Juju Jugles, Twittering and updating her Facebook page all day - sign up and follow Juju and find out what the experience is like in the thick of it and who she meets along the way.

One our excellent web producers, Nitya Venkataraman, has put together two special sections packed with stories, slideshows, and videos in a special section: President 44: Inauguration of Barack Obama. and a look back at the outgoing President in the Bush Legacy.

Lindsey Ellerson, our video producer in Washington, also worked with Brian Canova and our video team in New York to pull together every Inaugural video dating back to JFK.

We'll have a whole lot more -- full stories, live blogging from ABC's John Berman, three additional live streams including wall-to-wall coverage on ABC News Now (link to News Now index or sked), Twittering from George Stephanopoulos and Jake Tapper and video, video, video from the Inaugural, parades, celebrity-packed balls, and so much more.

We hope you'll join us on-air and online for this historic event; it's been a long road and it's going to an incredible day.

--Ed O'Keefe & Sara Just, ABCNews.com