Top trends to watch in 2011

In terms of new delivery devices, 2010 has undoubtedly been the year of Apple's iPad, which was launched in late January. Countless publications have launched iPad-specific apps, and many are charging for them, seeing a new stream of revenue from the product, although it is possible that app sales are cannibalising print sales.

E-readers have somewhat faded into the background in terms of publisher excitement, though many devices are still selling strong. 

Expect to see in 2011: competition in the tablet market. Will 2011 be a less Apple-dominated year? Other devices have already been released: the Samsung Galaxy Tab or the Arcos range for example, which both run on Google's Android OS, but they are yet to have anything close to the impact of the iPad. Tablets from Blackberry, HP, Microsoft and others are expected in 2011: which, if any, will stand up to the iPad?

In terms of apps, FlipBoard, which displays social media and other feeds in a magazine-style format, was named Apple's iPad app of the year, and other third party content apps such as Pulse have done very well: will publishers learn from these? 

The Daily, the first tablet-only newspaper from News Corp, is due to launch in early 2011. Will it be something really different and truly take advantage of the medium? Will more publications specific to platforms emerge?

We have just started to see the app vs browser debate take off: the iPad and other tablets offer easy and efficient web browsing, so is it necessary to focus just on apps? Die Zeit, for one, thinks not. 

In 2011 we may well see an HTML5 explosion: it's versatile, huge capabilities and unlike Adobe's Flash, it's compatible with Apple products. As the Centre for Public Integrity showed a couple of months ago, it can create sites which look like apps and work smoothly on the web, and on phones or tablets. 

Google's Chrome browser, and upcoming OS, are set to further blur the line between apps and browser with their web-based apps.

Social media

While Twitter was the big story of 2009, in 2010 Facebook's incredible growth rate has pushed it to the forefront. The official active user figure is "more than 500 million:" other estimates put it at above 600 million. Facebook accounts for one in four page views in the US. More than 30 billion pieces of content are shared each month, and the average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events. And, the social network is sending more and more traffic to news sites.

It is now imperative for news organisations to have a Facebook presence as well as a well thought out Twitter strategy, and some have created multiple pages targeting different niches.

The role of a social media editor in the newsroom has become more common: somebody who is dedicated to cultivating and curating the publication's presence on these platforms.

Expect to see in 2011: more innovative attempts to harness the power of Facebook, as an increased understanding of the 'fan' relationship and the potential of this develops. It's all very well to have a million fans, but how do you use your pages to actually up their loyalty? And how can you use them to better improve your product and your service to them?
 
The New York Times just folded the responsibilities of its social media editor Jennifer Preston into its Interactive News Unit, and what we may well see on a wider scale in 2011 is an integration of social media interaction into the jobs of all journalists, rather than have it as the responsibility of one person.

Social gaming, through the use of 'badges,' similar to those used by FourSquare and by some publications such as the Huffington Post and Philly.com, might become more common.

Will SEO (search engine optimisation) evolve into SMO (social media optimisation) as there is growing recognition of the power of personal recommendation in sending traffic to news sites?

Data journalism

2010 has seen significant growth in the use of data journalism: data is being used as the basis for stories, and news organisations have been finding innovative and interactive ways to make the data itself accessible to the public.

Investigative journalism nonprofit ProPublica has been a leader in the area, not only publishing many data-inspired stories but also publishing the data itself and creating abundant tools with which the public can explore it.

The Guardian has also expressed faith in data, recently launching a section of its site dedicated to data journalism and visualisations. On more than one occasion, the paper has also invited the public to share in analysing the data.

Data journalism has been taking off in Canada, for example with the launch of the Toronto open data initiative.

Expect to see in 2011: data skills further integrated into the work of non-specialist reporters, although resistance among many is likely to continue.
 
"Journalists need to be data-savvy," said world wide web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee in November, arguing that the responsibility for keeping track of governments via analysing data should be a central part of a journalist's job.

Automated journalism with computer crafted text based on data is already in action for sports results: this field may well expand into other areas. Its limitations mean it is unlikely to directly threaten the work of reporters, but it could allow them to refine their areas of coverage.

Content farms

2010 has seen the rise of so-called 'content farms' and subsequent opposition from many in the new industry who see the mass content producers as a threat to traditional news organisations. Demand Media, the most prolific of these content farms, and others insist that they are not competing with news organisations, as most of their articles are in the 'how to' category, rather than news. However, a feeling remains that such enterprises risk lowering the value of journalism.

Expect to see in 2011: hopefully, an attempt by news organisations to learn from the SEO efforts of content farms and try to beat them with high quality content rather than fear them.

Wikileaks and co

WikiLeaks made its arguably indelible mark on the news industry in 2010: regardless of whether you think its criminal or the new face of democracy, it is unlikely that the phenomenon is going to quietly slip away. Already, various other sites offering their services to those who want to leak documents have emerged.

Expect in 2011: competition for WikiLeaks - maybe the first major leak from a competitor. Continuing drama featuring Julian Assange and an extended debate over protection of sources. Will governments become more secretive or more transparent as a result?

For more on 2011 trends please see our sister publication www.sfnblog.com