1. Social media success is about much more than mastering the platforms and tools. Finding a voice that resonates, developing terrific content, and building an engaged community require a culture of experimentation and continuous learning. Quartz reports how NASA developed a smart social media strategy that fueled its global reach.
2. Instagram has enabled desktop search for users, hashtags, and locations. It’s another sign that the social network is moving beyond its savvy, mobile-only origins. Its next phase of growth will require enabling consistent cross-platform experience, and driving web embeds of its wealth of user content.
3. Strategy, not technology, drives business transformation, according to this recent report from MIT Sloan. The study also found that a company’s digital depth is a hiring and retention differentiator; the vast majority of respondents of all ages reported wanting to work for digitally enabled organizations.
4. Is the web fundamentally about connecting knowledge, people, and cats; or fixing the world with software — or something else entirely? Read this presentation on the first 100 years of the web, which raises questions about the internet’s purpose and continued rate of change.
5. Curious about content marketing? This article reveals results of an experiment conducted on the Hubspot marketing blog. The idea for the experiment started with a Twitter conversation, and resulted in months of testing post frequency and type (tactical, top of the funnel, promotional for gated content, etc.). Their findings conclude with a practical summary of ways to conduct a similar test, and how to think about altering your publishing approach.

Weekend fun: If you typically wind down by reading in the evening, see Product Hunt’s new foray into books for suggestions that skew geeky. It’s way better than the social media scrolling alternative.

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.