1. If you are responsible for a high-volume brand homepage, be sure to read this Nieman Lab take on the Atlantic re-design. I particularly like this framing from Bob Cohn: “In an age of social traffic, a homepage is less about traffic triage — directing lots of direct visitors to the content of their choice — than about presenting an image of your brand.”
2. Back when the “Mobile-friendly” text first appeared on Google search results on mobile browsers, many assumed this was a first step toward an algorithm change rewarding mobile-first design. Mobilegeddon is here without any apparent, major fallout to date, but Moz has listed some potential big losers.
3. While Facebook continues to court news publishers, this week’s algorithm changes favor content created by family and friends in the news feed. Facebook has a delicate balancing act: the need to broadcast content for publishers who drive revenue, while remaining aligned with its mission to forge and reinforce social connection.
4. Are you interested in the technical, moral, and legal issues surrounding the use of algorithms as they affect your daily life? The Berkman Center at Harvard has published a free case study [account required] for those seeking a deep dive into both practice and policy.
5. User experience has come a long way as a discipline since 1999, the first year it appeared on my business card at Harcourt, Inc. Whether you’re a manager or in an individual contributor role, here are some useful tips for how to become a UX leader.

Weekend fun: Are you a damsel in distress, an action girl, or a missing mom? Tropes are familiar conventions that a writer can rely on as present in the audience’s minds — explore their use in TV and movies  through Stereotropes, an interactive experiment created by technology firm Boucoup.

Every Friday, find five, highly subjective pointers to compelling technologies, emerging trends, and interesting ideas that affect how we live and work digitally. Try out the Friday 5 archive, or sign up for a weekly email.