Una era de servicios personalizados

Aquí está el informe completo sobre tendencias y predicciones en periodismo, medios y tecnologías relacionadas con la industria del Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism de la Universidad de Oxford. El autor es Nic Newman. Copio el sumario y los puntos principales, pero le voy avisando que no hay ninguna novedad:

Executive Summary 

This will be a critical year for technology companies as they fight a rising tide of criticism about their impact on society – and on the journalism industry. Platforms will be increasingly wary of the reputational damage that often comes with news, while many publishers will be trying to break their dependence on platforms. 2018 will also see a renewed focus on data – as the ability to collect, process, and use it effectively proves a key differentiator. Media companies will be actively moving customers from the ‘anonymous to the known’ so they can develop more loyal relationships and prepare for an era of more personalised services.

In our Survey of 194 Leading Editors, CEOs, and Digital Leaders

• Almost half of publishers (44%) say they are more worried about the power and influence of platforms than this time last year. Only 7% are less worried. Publishers feel more negatively towards Facebook and Snapchat than they do about Twitter and Google.

• Despite this, publishers also blame themselves for their ongoing difficulties. The biggest barriers to success, they say, are not tech platforms but internal factors (36%) such as resistance to change and inability to innovate.

• Almost half of publishers (44%) see subscriptions as a very important source of digital revenue in 2018 – more than digital display advertising (38%) and branded and sponsored content (39%). Expect more audio in 2018: 58% of publishers say they’ll be focusing on podcasts, with the same proportion looking at content for voice activated-speakers.

• Almost three-quarters (72%) are planning to actively experiment with artificial intelligence (AI) to support better content recommendations and to drive greater production efficiency (e.g. ‘robo-journalism’).

More Specific Predictions

• Investigations into misinformation and the role of platforms intensify, but lead to little concrete action in most countries beyond new rules for election-based advertising.

• Facebook or Google will be regularly accused of censorship this year after protectively removing content, which they feel might leave them open to fines. Fact-checking, news literacy, and transparency initiatives fail to stem the tide of misinformation and low trust.

• Publishers force users to sign-in/register for websites and apps – as well as investing heavily in data – to help deliver more personalised content and messaging.

• For the traditional media, we’ll see a growing gap between big brands successfully managing digital transition and the rest (that are struggling).

• More publishers pivot to subscription (or other forms of reader revenue) as digital display advertising declines in importance.

• A number of publishers pivot away from video (… and back to text).

• In social media, we’ll see a further move to messaging platforms and conversational interfaces.

In Technology

• Voice driven assistants emerge as the next big disrupter in technology with Amazon strengthening its hold in the home.

• AR capable phones start to unlock the possibilities of 3D and immersive mobile storytelling.

• We’ll be doing less typing on our phones this year as visual search becomes more important.

• New smart wearables include ear buds that handle instant translation and glasses that talk (and hear).

• China and India become a key focus for digital growth with innovations around payment, online identity, and artificial intelligence.