Content Catchup: Social Sharing Up, FTC Native Ad Crackdown, Facebook’s Master Plan

Holiday party season is upon us. And you know what that means: You finally get to ask your coworkers all those inappropriate questions you’ve been storing up all year with complete, boozy immunity. But during the buildup to those inebriated inquiries, you’ll inevitably have to talk about work-related subjects. Read these stories, and you’ll dazzle ’em, Tiger.

(See what I did there, calling you Tiger? Kind of inappropriate. I’m getting warmed up.)

New Sharing Stats Every Content Marketer Needs To Know

ShareThis’s Q3 Consumer Sharing Report found that Pinterest sharing is up 19%, Linkedin’s up 15%, Facebook’s up 15% and — sad trombone — Twitter is down 8%. These findings confirm several trends we’ve analyzed in recent months. Click to find out more.

I Used These 3 Content Marketing Buzzwords Interchangeably. Until I Realized They Meant Different Things.

2013 was the year that everyone fell in love with content marketing. Or maybe it was the year native advertising became big business. Or was it the year that brand journalism grew up? GMD Studios Founder Brian Clark explains how these terms get mixed up like crazy. Chances are, you’re using one of them incorrectly.

Facebook’s Algorithm Change All Part Of Its Native Ad Master Plan

This week, the media world has been abuzz about Facebook’s early Christmas gift to publishers: Articles are being given a higher priority in its Newsfeed algorithm, and publishers are seeing a serious increase in traffic. If you look closely, you’ll see that it’s all part of Facebook’s master plan to dominate content distribution.

The FTC Says Some Native Ads Are Unlawful. How Should Brand Publishers React?

This week, the FTC held workshops to crack down on sponsored content practices. It’s a big deal for brand publishers. Here’s what you need to know.

This Data Scientist Spent A Year Deep Inside The New York Times. Here’s What He Discovered.

“If, as I’ve been led to believe, this is a post-pageview world, then we must be living in a zombie apocalypse, as I’m relentlessly haunted by the metric’s lifeless corpse.”

Those are the words of Brian Abelson, a data scientist and the 2013 OpenNews Fellow at The New York Times, who spent the last year at The Times using data and analytics to understand Times content. In an interview with The Strategist, he dishes some stunning insights.

Best of Branded Content: Patagonia’s Anti-Consumerism Film

Everyone knows that the key to Black Friday promotion is to invite your shoppers to view an anti-consumerist short-film that pretty much begs them not to shop. Wait, what?

That’s what Pantagonia did, and, incredibly, it worked brilliantly.

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