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

How is the government shutdown affecting the digital space? According to The Washington Post, 130 government websites now have outdated security certificates with no one on staff available to update them. As the shutdown keeps going, other security lapses that are easily avoidable with regular website maintenance could occur.

In other news …

• Cool. Cool. Cool. Another data breach has exposed 773 million emails and 21 million passwords.
• Snapchat use is declining slightly each quarter, but it’s still extremely popular with people ages 13 to 24. The trouble is that the company keeps getting more volatile — the Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating Snap’s alleged misleading of investors. Also, its CFO left after only eight months on the job.
• In multimillion dollar donation news, Facebook says it’s going to support journalism with a hefty $300 million donation and Microsoft is donating $500 million to Seattle’s homelessness crisis.
• Netflix shared that it now accounts for 10 percent of TV viewing time in the U.S.
• This is another reminder that “private” accounts on social media don’t really exist. Twitter announced this week that a security flaw for Android users made protected tweets public for years.

Fun Resources

• The New Yorker’s email marketing lead has a new newsletter about email best practices that lives on … Google Docs!
• Recently, I’ve found a lot of great digital tips from Facebook groups. Below are a few of my favorites, in case you want to join: The Daily Carnage, DC Social Media, Social Media Managers and Nonprofit Communications Professionals.

Finally …

According to the Pew Research Center, 74 percent of Americans have no idea how Facebook ad targeting works. I really hope this is a wake-up call for public schools to begin teaching advanced media literacy courses. As this Vox article reminds us, “When a product is free, you’re the product.”