*By Conor White*
After losing $136 billion in market cap in less than a week, Facebook is looking for ways to reinvigorate its outlook at a time of slowing ad revenue growth, [continued fallout](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-stock-crushed-after-disappointing-earnings) from the Cambridge Analytical data privacy scandal, and the [latest revelation](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/31/us/politics/facebook-political-campaign-midterms.html) Tuesday that it's detected attempts to influence this November's midterm elections.
"It's been a long 2018 for Facebook," said Madison Malone Kircher, an associate editor at New York Magazine. "Which brings us to the one thing Facebook is doing right, and that's the Stories platform. It works really well on Instagram, which Facebook owns, and they've really been trying to push to make it work on Facebook."
Instagram Stories has 400 million daily users, double the number of users of rival Snapchat, and Facebook has been trying to lure advertisers to the Stories platform.
Kircher said in an interview Tuesday with Cheddar that neither of the social media companies has figured out how to make user-generated stories on their platforms profitable.
"Snapchat, which is the creator of this style of posting, has also struggled with it," Kircher said. "They rolled out a new platform called 'Commercials' this week, which is similarly trying to figure out how to sell ads against this style of content."
In the end, Kircher said Facebook can push Stories to advertisers all it wants, but it won't be successful until it's popular with users.
"It's a two-fold problem Facebook has," Kircher said. "One, trying to convince advertisers to buy ads in this space, but first they have to figure out how to get us to use it."
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/facebook-pushing-stories-feature-to-advertisers).
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Under pressures from a slowing demand and the U.S.-China trade war, GoPro is doubling down on its core audience and engaging its existing customer base with contests and rewards.
If you thought artificial intelligence took major strides in 2018, buckle up; 2019 may well be an even bigger year for the industry. What are insiders watching ー and what will make the biggest entrance in 2019? Cheddar's Crystal Ball has generated a prediction: Open source A.I., which allows information to be shared freely across many platforms.
As Cheddar reflects on 2018, we are profiling the most innovative, flamboyant, and often-controversial entrepreneurs and corporate leaders who delivered the year's most memorable moments in business. Cheddar's Biggest Loser Award Goes to Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg.
Panera Bread is on a mission to educate the world about clean, affordable eating ー and in the process, the company is receiving an education itself, CEO Blaine Hurst told Cheddar on Friday. "We are in the relentless pursuit of clean eating, we will not give up until we actually make a true difference," Hurst said. "When people join us in the journey, it actually helps us all because it actually does make the food even more affordable."
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Dec. 14, 2018.
After a year of both digital drama and innovation, Cheddar is looking ahead to the top five gadgets to watch next year. CNET's Bridget Carey and Cheddar's Hope King gazed into Cheddar's Crystal Ball, and picked the top five gadget trends most likely to make an entrance in 2019.
The arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was an "enforcement action, not a trade-related action," according to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Ross told Cheddar's Megan Pratz that the arrest of Meng in Vancouver was a response to her flouting of sanctions ー and not a retaliatory strike or warning shot against a major Chinese telecom corporation.
As Cheddar reflects on 2018, we are profiling the most innovative, flamboyant, and often-controversial entrepreneurs and corporate leaders who delivered the year's most memorable moments in business. Of the CEO Class of 2018, who was crowned Biggest Flirt? Class Clown? Check Cheddar.com for all the Cheddar Awards and more year-end coverage.
Facebook’s blockchain group, led by David Marcus, has ambitious plans to potentially disrupt the entire payments industry with its own cryptocurrency, but the company is also running into recruiting challenges amid its many public scandals.
