Facebook Privacy Lawsuit, Social Media Predictions, Newsroom Lessons in 2018, ‘The Best of Best of Lists 2018,’ TFP’s Infographic Pick
As we close out 2018, we’d like to wish all of you a happy holiday season! Here’s our latest roundup of news, stories of interest, and tips for media industry pros, including posts on Facebook’s legal troubles, social media predictions from Hootsuite’s CEO, 2018 newsroom lessons, a list of “best of” lists for 2018, and more.
Facebook is ending an embattled year facing yet more backlash over user privacy violations. This week, the attorney general for Washington, DC, filed a lawsuit against the social platform alleging its “lax oversight” enabled Cambridge Analytica to unlawfully collect the data of “tens of millions” of users, which included some 340,000 residents of Washington, according to MediaPost. Among the charges: Facebook broke consumer protection laws by not notifying users that their information could be shared with third parties without their consent; it didn’t enforce restrictions on third parties sharing that data with others; and after learning about the Cambridge Analytica data transfers, it failed to do anything about it. Also see “The 21 (and Counting) Biggest Facebook Scandals of 2018” on Wired’s site.- With all the scandal and upheaval in the social media world this past year, expect some major shifts in how businesses and publishers use social platforms in 2019, according to Fast Co., citing Hootsuite’s Social Media Trends Report. One is more “personal” engagement on social media, which will be “echoed in the type of content being shared,” the post says, pointing to the increasing use of Stories over news feeds. Another prediction? The (quiet) rise of LinkedIn: “At a time when other feeds are increasingly filled with toxic rants and viral memes, LinkedIn’s no-nonsense professionalism has a stronger appeal than ever—as witnessed by the accelerating pace of user growth,” it says.
- On Nieman Lab’s site, Ken Doctor takes stock of the news business with 18 lessons from 2018. A key one is that “the reader revenue revolution is real,” with Doctor attributing the digital subscription success of the New York Times and the Washington Post in part to their growing ranks of journalists and quality journalism. On the flip side, many native digital news sites have learned—the hard way—that growing audiences (and revenue) isn’t about clicks but reader engagement, something the so-called legacy newsrooms have excelled at this year, particularly in the Trump news cycle. Other lessons span everything from M&A and ownership to the magazine industry, local news, the role of podcasting, and more.
- And who doesn’t love a good “best of” list to wrap up the year? (Here at TFP, we do!) Many media outlets post year-end reviews, but Poynter takes it up a notch: It compiled “The Best of Best of Lists 2018,” offering readers a one-stop list of lists. From TV shows, books, and movies to music, podcasts, and video games, it provides links to “best of 2018” posts from a wide range of sites, including the New York Times, National Geographic, Variety, Thrillist, Vulture, The New Yorker, Vox, Apple, Washington Post, Slate, Vogue…and the “list of lists” goes on. Enjoy!
On the Technology for Publishing Blog
- TFP Infographic Pick: If you think human-machine collaboration is a thing of the future, think again. As this week’s post shows, AI and IoT technologies are changing the face of business and media.
- ICYMI: If you need to run older or multiple versions of InDesign, make sure to check out our latest InDesign Tip on how to manage updates and install previous versions.
Photo: Wired
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Posted by: Monica Sambataro
