Slides with some highlights from instructors' attendance at the 2012 Online News Association conference in San Francisco. For "Trends in Communication & Information Technology," JOUR 4871-003, CU-Boulder.

1. Instructor field trip:
Trends from ONA2012
Trends in Communication & Information Technology
JOUR 4871-003

2. Last week’s crystal-ball gazers
Futurist Thomas Frey
What insights did
you gain from Frey’s Media/technology trend-spotter
Amy Webb
forecasts in terms
of impact on
NEWS and MEDIA?

3. Amy Webb: 5 Attributes of
Digital Innovation That Will Stick
1. Effortlessly blends disciplines and platform
E.g., Pinterest: incorporates blogs, images, links, social networks
2. Leverages exponentials
Pinterest: New member got 10 invites to share; only way in
3. Relies on virtuous -- and vicious -- cycles
Pinterest: Shareable, requires collaboration (virtuous); capitalizes on
vicious circle of bad-photo sharing (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr)
4. Liberates: content or data or time or ideas or staff
Pinterest: Easier to curate than anywhere else
5. Core competency elegantly simple, easy to explain
Pinterest: Very simple concept; easy to understand

4. 10 Tech Trends for 2012: Amy Webb
#1 VERIFICATION

5. 10 Tech Trends for 2012: Amy Webb
#2 VIDEO
“Instagram
for video”

6. 10 Tech Trends for 2012: Amy Webb
#3 DYNAMIC PRICING
Examples:
• Price based on algorithm’s estimation of how likely you are to pay
full price for digital content (music track, e-book) ... E.g., new e-
book purchaser = discount; repeat customer = no discount
• Price varies by time of day
• Controversial!

7. 10 Tech Trends for 2012: Amy Webb
#4 ALGORITHM-BASED NEWS
Why:
• Getting better at turning data into articles indistinguishable from
those written by human using same data
• News-company cutbacks; saves money on routine stuff (high
school sports, business/economic data, etc.)
• http://narrativescience.com

8. 10 Tech Trends for 2012: Amy Webb
#5 RESPONSIVE DESIGN

9. 10 Tech Trends for 2012: Amy Webb
#6 ATOMIC UNITS OF NEWS
Example:
• You’re an expert on “X” ... Systems to deliver highly specialized
content, news on “X” to you ... You might be motivated to pay for
it piecemeal, or a subscription

10. 10 Tech Trends for 2012: Amy Webb
#7 UTILITY-BASED APPS
Example:
• Local TV news outlets creating phone app alarm clock that wakes
you with the day’s weather forecast and top headlines

11. 10 Tech Trends for 2012: Amy Webb
#8 WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY
Examples:
• Everpurse charges your digital devices when you put them in it
• (Tom Frey) Video/changeable art on clothing
People buy clothing, t-shirts with brands (walking ads) ... What if
with wearable shirt, companies pay you to wear an ad based on
your current location?

12. 10 Tech Trends for 2012: Amy Webb
#9 AMBIENT SOCIAL NETWORKS
“If I was a reporter
this is game-changing
technology”
—Amy Webb

13. 10 Tech Trends for 2012: Amy Webb
#10 WOMEN

14. Some Other Trends Spotted at ONA2012
More and more tools for curation, innovative digital storytelling

15. Some Other Trends Spotted at ONA2012
Changes in store for social media
• Twitter: Rich content
within the tweet
• New FREE news-curation
tools coming soon from
Twitter
• More images and video in
social media ... Easier,
quicker to include ...
Beyond 140 characters of
text

16. Some Other Trends Spotted at ONA2012
More journalists, journalism grads getting jobs at tech companies
• Journalism pods within tech companies like Twitter, Facebook,
Tumblr
• Much interaction between departments (not silo’ed like in most
news organizations)
• Great benefits and office goodies (free meals, et al) ... But expect
to work longer hours than in an established news company
• WANT A JOB? USE SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICES OFTEN
TO DEMONSTRATE FAMILIARITY, UNDERSTANDING OF
CHANGING MEDIA LANDSCAPE