The Weekly Spark: 2/19/19 Edition

By Chelsea

The Weekly Spark is here to kickstart your week. This issue is brought to you by Chelsea, Jules, and Kate.

(1) Not just users and audiences, but people.

Do the words we use to describe the people we serve ever bother you? Here’s one UX designer who is no longer calling people “users.” [Medium Design]

(2) The 2019 Nonprofit Employment Report is out.

In terms of national employment rate, it’s pretty easy to see how the #1 and #2 spots would go to retail trade and accommodation and food services. But #3 is the nonprofit industry? That’s a lot of value to the US economy. [Fast Company]

(3) Make sure to caption your videos. Here’s how.

Not all captioning and transcription services are equal. It’s good to know best practices for video transcriptions, captions, and subtitles. [Rev]

(4) Do you rely on individual donors for support?

When member-first funding models shift in any industry, that impact ripples out to every industry. That’s why you should be paying attention to these developments at Slate. [Nieman Lab]

(5) The rise in sales of printed books teaches us about real-life importance.

Unlike the iPhone, sales of printed, physical books — that you can hold and dogear pages — have been rising steadily since 2013. As technologists, we’re here to amplify an important message: Pay attention to your organization’s IRL, tangible strategies for outreach and development. [The Printing Report]

(6) When “not moderating” means the exact opposite…with scary consequences.

Tech companies continually claim they are not moderating user posts and content. This article not only says otherwise, it gives alarming insight into how messy — and life-threatening — a job Facebook is actually doing. [The New York Times]

(7) There’s an app for everything, right?

The app marketplace was built by and designed for those with disposable income and time. There’s a big opportunity for more apps to solve social problems — and a huge challenge with financial backing and sustainability. We need incubators for social+tech like this one. [The New York Times]

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