The logos of the Telegram, Facebook messenger and the WhatsApp apps. News publishers should move with speed and create story formats and business models that deliver world-class journalism on the platforms.
Dark social, also known as dark traffic, is a mysterious social media interaction with content that can’t be traced by third parties or marketers through web analytics,
By switching to ‘private mode’, they deny publishers the much-needed data to inform content plans, publishing and marketing decisions.
Most publishers ask for names and email addresses as others—amid mounting data privacy concerns—stop at social media addresses.
While those are big concerns for an industry struggling to build direct business relationships with consumers following the collapse of the advertising model, there is even a more disturbing reveal: the rising role of dark social media in news consumption, especially in Africa.
