Should newsrooms seek more Facebook fans, or better ones?

When it comes to newsroom Facebook fans, it quality more important than quantity? The blog Journalistics offers some pros and cons.

On the one hand, more fans means more a story can spread across more networks and reach more eyeballs (good for attracting advertisers). More fans also means more conversation in the comments section. The example Journalistics gives: two newsrooms posted the same question on the anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster (a variation on Where were you when the disaster happened). The network with 18,000 fans received 114 comments, the network with 5,000 fans received 8.)

But what do newsrooms value more? Quality fans, on the other hand, offer higher quality interaction — you’ll get less comments, but they’ll be more relevant and interesting. You’ll also get a lot less spam, as spammers are more inclined to dump their product on your page if they know a lot of people will see them.