This week:
- An Australian “futurist” predict the end of printed newspapers within 12 years
- Germany legislates to stop employers from auditing potential employees on Facebook
- Sports stars are banned from Twitter
Twelve years left for newspapers?
Australian media strategist Ross Dawson has predicted that newspapers will be irrelevant in Australia by 2022. He argues that the socialisation of content means the current media organisations and journalists will need to reinvent to share any future spoils. He doesn’t argue that newspapers will cease to exist, but that the current model will change significantly. He points to an iPad style news reader future where ideas are crowd sourced and the best journalists oversee conversations. This is already happening and it is likely there will be both victors and victims, as some adapt and share the profits of doing so, and others who either refuse to or are unable to adapt.
German Facebook users get a reprieve
Politicians in Germany are legislating to prevent employers from checking the Facebook profiles of future employees. The proposed law will allow employers to check the profiles of prospective employees through professional networking sites such as LinkedIn, but not through “social” sites like Facebook. Individuals have always been able to restrict the content on their profile though most do not. For those of us not protected by legislation the advice is to restrict access to your profile, or just don’t let anyone take compromising photos of you in the first place.
Sports stars banned from Twitter
There have been numerous examples of sports team news being leaked by players on Twitter before any official announcement. Others have sought to hit out at perceived injustices from their employers. Rather late in the day several sporting bodies have reacted by banning their players from tweeting while on official duty. England’s cricketers have been banned, Leicester’s rugby team have suffered the same fate. These sporting bodies are facing the same challenges as many organisations. They are no longer able to control the message or the content. In the past there would only be a very small coterie of official spokespeople. Now anyone with a phone can broadcast to the world with bored sportsmen having more time than most. Closing ranks is no longer possible and a different approach will have to be adopted as a social media generation won’t accept being cut off.
