Mastodon: How the ‘federated’ network works and why it won’t be a new Twitter
Twitter users who are fleeing to the social media platform Mastodon are finding it to be a different animal In the wake of Elon Musk’s noisy takeover of Twitter, people… (more)
Social media use is declining (with the exception of TikTok)
The State of Social Media in Canada 2022: TikTok’s popularity continues to rise, while other social media networks have seen a decline. In September, the Wall Street Journal reported that Instagram is faltering… (more)
How corporate takeovers are fundamentally changing podcasting
One of the recent shifts in podcasting has been the introduction of paywalls and exclusive content At first glance, it may seem as though Big Tech can’t figure out how… (more)
“News-academic partnerships”: How college students can help save local news
Partnerships between universities and local media outlets are key ways to sustain local news where coverage is diminishing Local news outlets across the U.S. are struggling to bring in advertising and… (more)
Publishers: New forms of advertising raise questions about integrity
Mainstream news media outlets have, in recent years, begun to create advertisements that look like news articles on their websites and on social media. My research raises questions about whether this modern form of… (more)
How to pay for reliable information: New strategies and initiatives
Journalism globally faces a sustainability crisis. It largely stems from declining advertising revenue, loss of revenue to technology giants, control of news media by political actors and individuals with business interests, disinformation and… (more)
Wordle: How a simple game of letters became part of the New York Times’ business plan
The publishers aim to have 10 million subscriptions by 2025, so buying a popular game to help in this quest makes good commercial sense. In just a few months, a… (more)
News outlets should offer disagreement checks as well as fact checks
Entering the new year, Americans are increasingly divided. They clash not only over differing opinions on COVID-19 risk or abortion, but basic facts like election counts and whether vaccines work.… (more)
6 big digital trends to watch in 2022
According to recent McKinsey research, 2021 was a year of transformation: people, corporations and society began to look ahead to influencing their futures rather than just surviving the present. It was… (more)
Disinformation is spreading beyond the realm of spycraft to become a shady industry: Lessons from South Korea
Disinformation, the practice of blending real and fake information with the goal of duping a government or influencing public opinion, has its origins in the Soviet Union. But disinformation is… (more)
A new study sounds like good news about screen time: Does it mean we can all stop worrying?
"I hope the myth 'Screens=bad' will die. What you do behind those screens matters." A newly published study in the journal PLoS ONE suggests spending time on screens is unlikely to be… (more)
Facebook relaunches itself as ‘Meta’ in a clear bid to dominate “the next major computing platform”
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has announced the company will change its name to Meta, saying the move reflects the fact the company is now much broader than just the social… (more)
From lions on the savanna to likes on Facebook: The problem with engagement-led algorithms
An internal Facebook report found that the social media platform’s algorithms – the rules its computers follow in deciding the content that you see – enabled disinformation campaigns based in… (more)
Facebook’s ‘Ray-Ban Stories’ smart glasses: What you need to know
Users will be able to share content on Facebook and other Facebook-owned platforms, as well as non-Facebook apps such as Twitter, TikTok and SnapChat. In partnership with eyewear brand Ray-Ban,… (more)
Australian High Court rules media are liable for Facebook comments on their stories: Here’s what that means for publishers
A publisher can be held responsible for defamatory comments readers leave on its Facebook pages, the High Court ruled today, in a decision that could have far-reaching consequences for social media… (more)
Facebook and the metaverse: What you need to know
What is the metaverse? 2 media and information experts explain The metaverse is a network of always-on virtual environments in which many people can interact with one another and digital objects… (more)
Twitter’s user-driven experiment to tackle misinformation
Is it actually false, or do you just disagree? It's complicated Over the past year, we’ve seen how dramatically misinformation can impact the lives of people, communities and entire countries.… (more)
Dark patterns: What publishers need to know
Increasing trust, by avoiding deceptive design practices What are dark patterns? Dark patterns are design elements that deliberately obscure, mislead, coerce and/or deceive website visitors into making unintended and possibly… (more)
Trust in news is up significantly: New research
For many publishers, COVID-19 has also accelerated plans to get readers to pay for content online More than a year after it began, the pandemic continues to cast a dark… (more)
“Infodemic”: Does fake news actually changes people’s behaviour?
“The spread of COVID-19 is linked to 5G mobile networks.” “Place a halved onion in the corner of your room to catch the COVID-19 germs.” “Sunny weather protects you from COVID-19.” These fake news… (more)
