Every two weeks, Vanguard distills hundreds of digital media headlines into the best “byte”- sized pieces of useful information. Each edition has news ranging from the latest Facebook algorithm changes to best practices for email marketing. Share Digital Bytes with your organization to keep your digital strategies ahead of the pack.

Digital Bytes

’Tis the season for end-of-year technology articles! In this holiday edition of Digital Bytes, read on for the top digital news from 2018 and a round-up of the best year-end content.

2018’s Biggest Digital News

Facebook Takes a Nosedive

Cambridge Analytica. George Soros. Russia. Those are just a few of the scandals that plagued Facebook this year. Without a huge leadership or PR overhaul in 2019, it’s hard to imagine that Facebook will continue its reign as the leader among social media platforms. Organizations will have to make hard decisions in 2019 about whether they will continue to engage audiences they spent almost a decade building and curating or focus efforts on newer or more niche platforms.

Europe Tackles Privacy

The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rollout happened over the summer, causing most organizations with large email lists to review and clean up how they collect and store data. Read this article from our friends at Beaconfire RED to make sure your organization is in compliance!

Down with the Bots

Twitter removed millions of fake accounts this year in an attempt to keep the site less influenced by spam and fake news. Instagram followed suit in November and announced it was removing “inauthentic” activity. Bots are sort of a “whack-a-mole” situation and Americans have trouble distinguishing them from humans.

End-of-Year Lists and Recaps

• Most Tweeted Topics and Celebrities
• 2018 Top Search Terms
• Facebook and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad 2018
• Best Tech Books of 2018
• Your internet year in review: See how you spent time online in 2018

Happy Holidays and see you in 2019!