Facebook and the Poynter Institute, a leading journalism training nonprofit, have joined forces to create the Facebook for Journalists Certificate.

A Facebook blog post published Monday announced that the free, three-course certificate is designed “to make it easier for journalists to utilize Facebook and Instagram in their daily work — from newsgathering to storytelling to engaging with their followers.”

The certificate program is part of the Facebook Journalism Project, the social media giant’s endeavor to improve its relationship with the news industry.

“We’re honored, indeed, that Facebook is working with Poynter on this innovative certificate,” Poynter President Tim Franklin said in a statement. “Poynter’s prominence as a voice for independent journalism combined with our expertise in training makes us the perfect partner to provide this high-quality, relevant program.”

Social Listening

Report: Marketers turn to Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and more for social listening https://t.co/2cKitsZqiH #smm #marketing

— Kait Solomon (@KTSolomon) April 11, 2017

Speaking of social media, many organizations have expanded their social listening performance beyond Facebook and Twitter.

Ragan’s PR Daily, citing a recent Clutch survey, reports that most marketers are now performing social listening on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. A significant number of marketers also turn to Medium and Reddit for social insights.

Social media monitoring can be used to help attract new members, get feedback on content, or analyze the competition.

Other Links of Note

Successful leaders. The Moery Company shares three essential traits of top association CEOs.

New private messaging feature. Instagram rolls out an amped-up direct messaging product, according to TechCrunch.

Worried about losing data? BizTech Magazine shares ways to prevent cloud disasters.