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Feb. 14, 2023, 12:58 p.m.
Audience & Social

The Boston Globe’s Instagram valentines are actually good

Why do they work? They’re about Boston, not about The Boston Globe.

I learned about The Boston Globe’s Instagram valentines not from a PR person or a news nerd, but (gasp) from a friend who doesn’t work in news and just sent it to me because she came across it on Instagram and thought it was funny.

This counts as a pretty strong audience engagement effort by a local news organization, if you ask me! The Valentines work because they’re about Boston — Dunks, T fires, Ben Affleck — and not about how great the Boston Globe itself is.

The Valentines were an audience team effort, said Heather Ciras, the Globe’s senior assistant managing editor for audience — from the Globe’s Ryan Huddle, Cecilia Mazanec, and Steve Annear. Readers have been suggesting plenty more (“Are you the orange line? — because I’ve been waiting for you for forever 💅🏻❣️), which the Globe’s audience team will turn into additional Valentines and post later today.

The Boston Globe isn’t the only news organization making Valentines today. Here are some more.

Laura Hazard Owen is the editor of Nieman Lab. You can reach her via email (laura_owen@harvard.edu) or Twitter DM (@laurahazardowen).
POSTED     Feb. 14, 2023, 12:58 p.m.
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