Facebook’s Media Econ 101

December 23, 2011 | By Digiday Editors

Each day we provide a roundup of five stories from around the Web that our editors read and found noteworthy. Follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day @digiday.

Facebook Gives Users Media 101: There’s a tendency in the ad industry to complain that most people don’t understand how the business works. At its most basic level, people trade their attention to advertising (and increasingly use of their data to tailor it to their interests) in exchange for free content and services. It might seem obvious, but it often isn’t to civilians. Facebook, to its credit, is hoping to educate its 800 million-plus users on just how it works as a business. I got a link when I logged in yesterday to a page that lays out how Facebook advertising works and, crucially, how it doesn’t. A quick 90-second video walks viewers through a basic description of its ad system that supports the $1 billion it costs to run Facebook. This sort of basic media education is going to be important, particularly as Facebook pioneers an ad system native to its environment. Facebook — Brian Morrissey @bmorrissey

Nintendo’s Staying Power: The Nintendo Wii was supposed to be over, right? The gaming console upturned the industry, with its low price and mass appeal gaming system — and its wireless, motion-sensitive controllers. A few years ago, people were lining up at Best Buys on Sunday mornings to try and find a Wii in stock. Then came Xbox Kinect and Sony Motion and Call of Duty 9 or whatever, and the Wii seemed to lose all steam. Word was, Nintendo wasn’t even interested in launching a second version of the console. Well, according to All Things D, Nintendo sold 520,000 Wiis on Black Friday, six years into its product life. With that sort of staying power and penetration, it’s hard to dismiss the Wii in the console wars for the living room. So, one wonders, with Xbox partnering with the likes of Comcast and Sony PlayStation rumored to be taking on cable down the road, will Nintendo ever get serious about being a media player? All Things D — Mike Shields @digitalshields

News Corp. Plays Santa With Apps: Hoping to capitalize on the raft of tablets and smartphones that’ll be gifted this weekend, News Corp. is offering free access to the Android and iPad versions of its UK-based Sunday Times publication. It’ll be the first time in the paper’s history that it will publish on Christmas Day, but the company hopes the move will drive sales of the apps following the free taster, at £1.99 per issue. PaidContent — Jack Marshall @JackMarshall

Stick a Pinterest in that Website Please: Pinterest, a social networking and pinborading site on which members collect photos and links to products that they especially like, has been growing like a weed. New data from Hitwise demonstrates the uptick: Pinterest attracted 11 million visits, up almost 40-fold from just six months ago and is now one of the top 10 social networking sites Hitwise tracks. The site has become a daily habit for many of its users who skew female, between 25 and 44 years old. TechCrunch — Anne Sherber @annesherber

Wall Street Doesn’t Buy the Hype: It might seem Wall Street loves all tech stocks, but it’s down on some. Check out the online advertising company stocks that Goldman Sachs is betting against. SeekingAlpha –Carla Rover @carlarover

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