Facebook acquires social analytics site CrowdTangle

Facebook will acquire CrowdTangle, a social analytics service used by publishers to monitor trending stories online, the company revealed Friday.

In a statement, CrowdTangle notes the “full support and resources” of the social media giant as a reason for the deal.

“Our platform is only going to get more powerful,” reads a portion of CrowdTangle’s statement. “All of our partners can not only expect the same quality of product, level of support, and pace of innovation they have come to expect from us, but they can and should expect even more from us going forward.”

Launched in 2011, CrowdTangle is an analytics tool used by publishers to measure how well stories perform on social networks such as Facebook or Twitter. USA TODAY is among the publishers using CrowdTangle.

“Publishers around the world turn to CrowdTangle to surface stories that matter, measure their social performance and identify influencers,” reads a statement from Facebook. “We are excited to work with CrowdTangle to deliver these, and more insights to more publishers.”

The acquisition follows CEO Mark Zuckerberg defending Facebook’s ability to influence public opinion during the 2016 election. Facebook has been criticised for failing to stop the spread of fake news through its social network.

“To think it influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea,” said Zuckerberg during the Techonomy conference in Half Moon Bay, California.