While generalist outlets fight for survival, a new type of news brand is taking over the Internet—the verticals. Before the digital era, verticals were just called news sections. It was as simple as that. With the print product, the reader would go through the whole paper—call it New York magazine, for example—before turning its attention […]
Social media decentralization reaches 2020
Just a couple weeks ago, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that the company was setting up a team to create a decentralized standard for social media. With it, Twitter is joining the existing efforts to develop decentralized frameworks through which the platforms themselves do not hold the information or the power to act as referees. […]
Tik Tok, the video app that’s defining our zeitgeist
If you have not checked out Tik Tok, it’s about time you do. The 15-to-60-second video feel-good app has fascinated United States adolescents in a way that’s only comparable to Snapchat in 2014. The Chinese app already has 1.5 billion users, and with its fun and entertaining offer, it is changing the way social media […]
Quartz, what to change when the market’s changing
Quartz was launched in 2012 as a free business news publication. At the time, the news outlet was innovative, with its mobile-first strategy and its specificity targeting high-earning and highly educated readers. Advertising was its bread and butter. Seven years later, the publication can no longer live off commercials and is strengthening the relationship with […]
Facebook, a veteran media outlet
Facebook has finally rolled out a feature that will change its relationship with the media industry—Facebook News. The new section will allow users to read the main headlines of the day and access those news stories through the app. In exchange for the ‘free’ content, the tech company is willing to pay some publishers. News […]
Google News changes its algorithm, and with it, the media industry
In early September, Google announced it had changed its news algorithm to highlight original reporting on the web. When Richard Gringas, vice president for Google News, published the change on a blog post, a wave of reactions surged for and against the measure. In online news, it’s hard to break a story and easy to […]
Advertisers are coming to your favorite messaging app, WhatsApp
Most of our dear social media services belong to one single company, Facebook. Facebook owns its “blue” platform, Facebook, the picture app it bought for $1 billion in 2012, Instagram, and its more recent $19 billion acquisition: WhatsApp, bought in 2014. However, these social media services differ in one fundamental thing—while Instagram and Facebook present […]
The deepfake, both beauty and beast
Last May, Nancy Pelosi appeared on a video slurring her words during a speech at the Center for American Progress. Although she sounded drunk, she wasn’t—the video was distorted and had been slowed down. As with Pelosi, thousands of other videos online are the result of video editing skills. They are fake, but it is […]
Nintendo Switch proves content is still king
Video gaming is no longer for the few, but the many. With a portable console and dozens of games online, Nintendo is proving that anyone can play video games any time at any place. With excellent quality content and mobile design, Nintendo Switch has dominated the market this year, and it was the best-selling console […]
What Facebook’s latest attempt to court the media means
Just after Apple revealed its grand plan to ‘save’ the media with its News+ offering, Facebook returns to the fold. This week, The Wall Street Journal reported the tech company is in conversations with publishers to relaunch yet another Facebook News Tab. The Menlo Park-based company will pay publishers as much as $3 million to […]
