Look how far we've come

It’s here, reporters! The last month of a decade that has been tumultuous, to say the least.

I think we’re all gearing up for some chilling out, so we’ll d something chill today: What was a cool or innovative tool back in 2010? A lot of them are long dead, and a lot of mainstays hadn’t been invented yet.

Twitter was starting to go mainstream in 2010. Screenshot from Tamura Jones.

• Map embeds - instead of a static map produced by the in-house graphics team, newsrooms were starting to embed interactive maps

• Soundslides - audio slideshows had their day in the sun, but they’re not too popular anymore (from Pia)

• Fusion Tables - RIP sweet summer child. FT brought in-depth data vis to the untrained journalist masses (from Jeff)

• Google Chrome - can you believe this didn’t come out til 2008? (from someone I can’t remember, sorry dude)

• UStream - a video streaming service that predated Periscope and Facebook Live, and is apparently still around (from JC)

Oh how far we’ve come, for better or worse. If you’re looking for new, actually usable tools, check out the Tools for Reporters Top Tools of 2019.

Happy New Year, reporters! TFR will see you in 2020. 🥂