2023 was a year of great and important events for the entire Congregation and the Salesian Family; and consequently also for the Salesian iNfo Agency (ANS Here is some information about everything that has been done to raise awareness, as Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major of the Salesians has often requested: "the good that is done".
Editorial content shared on the site
During the year under review, ANS demonstrated a significant commitment to the production of editorial content, publishing a total of 2,734 articles of all kinds (news, photo news, interviews, insights...) on its website offered in the vast majority of cases in the six most spoken languages in the Congregation (Italian, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Polish).
In addition, the Agency has enriched its multimedia content with 556 photo galleries that have completed the textual content of the articles with images; and a total of 73 videos, published in different languages, published on the site – including the monthly "ANS News Video" and the annual summary video "Salesians 2023", which have provided a complete and engaging coverage of the events that took place in all corners of the Salesian world.
Data on the site and on our readers
This strong commitment was rewarded by readers: the statistics on the site and on the interaction with its visitors reflect a remarkable involvement, with a total of 766,975 users and 1,234,300 page views.
The distribution of access devices shows a clear predominance of mobile use (58.87%). While the 5 main countries that follow the site are:
– Italy (18.72%)
– United States (8.53%)
– Spain (6.66%)
– Brazil (5.39%)
– Poland (4.37%).
The demographic analysis of users also shows a strong presence of young people, with 61% of users between the ages of 18 and 34, and a rather gender-balanced presence (54% men and 46% women).
Topics of most interest
As an information agency, ANS was primarily concerned with "recounting the daily situation" of the thousands of Salesian works and missions scattered over 135 countries on Earth. At the same time, its editorial calendar has also included several "special publications" relating either to specific topics or to highly topical subjects, which have offered readers an in-depth perspective on specific topics and provided added value to readers.
Belonging to the first group:
- 10 insights on the figure of Don Bosco, in view of his feast (31 January);
- 9 insights on devotion to Mary Help of Christians, in view of her Feast (May 24);
- 24 interviews with the departing missionaries in the Salesian Missionary Expedition;
- 21 articles dedicated to Salesians who have become cardinals, to prepare the ground for the creation of the Rector Major as Cardinal;
- and 12 articles on the meaning of the Strenna for the various Rectors Major, in preparation for the release of the final Strenna of the Rector Major Á.F. Artime.
While the second segment includes:
- 71 articles dedicated to World Youth Day (from preparation in the months prior to the days of the event in Lisbon, to post-event considerations);
- 45 articles dedicated to the activities or Magisterium of the Pope Francis;
- 35 articles on Integral Ecology, care for Creation and respect for the environment;
- 34 articles dedicated to conflicts or situations of violence in different countries where Salesians are to be found;
- 19 articles especially dedicated to following the Synod of Bishops on synodality.
Presence in social networks
For many years ANS has found completion through posts on various social networks, which are fundamental channels to reach and inform even more people. The fundamental channels are Facebook, which to date has more than 63,500 followers; YouTube, with almost 24,000 subscribers to the different language channels (and 2,600 videos uploaded, of which over 600 in 2023 alone); and X (formerly Twitter), with more than 11,000 followers.
Even on social networks, attention was high in 2023, thanks to over 11,000 contents shared only on Facebook and X. And the ANS Facebook page, in particular, during specific events, also had significant audience peaks, as in the case of the creation of the Rector Major as Cardinal (with over 370,000 accesses) or the feast of Don Bosco (over 250,000).
Not to mention environments such as Instagram – with an average of about 200 daily visits – or Flickr, which since 2015 has collected 46,800 photos, viewed in total by over 15 million people.
Looking to the future
In summary, the data indicate a dynamic and engaging online presence on the part of the Salesian iNfo Agency, with a wide range of editorial content provided to meet the different needs of the online community and in support of the Salesian mission.
That is why, looking to the future, the Salesian iNfo Agency goes forward with great hope, launched on a path of modernisation and development aimed at providing an increasingly creative and effective service, in line with new kinds of technology.
