a few thoughts about what happened yesterday As you likely know, Facebook – along with other apps owned by the company including Instagram and Whatsapp – were offline yesterday for a bit over six hours right smack dab in the middle of the day. this is what people weren't seeing for much of monday Thankfully my … Continue reading on the great facebook outage of october 2021
Creators to Social Media Platforms: We Were On A Break!
Everyone needs some time off now and again. Social media influencers, it seems, are increasingly deciding to log off for a bit, burnt out by the time and effort needed to keep up with the schedules they’ve established for publishing new material. They know that doing so is filled with risks, as whatever success they’ve … Continue reading Creators to Social Media Platforms: We Were On A Break!
Everything Old Is Still Old
Influencers still peddling the same bromides they have been for years. I recently had the misfortune to watch a video of an influencer talking about...well...the stuff influencers talk about. This individual is someone who has been recognized as a deep thinker by various news organizations, put on important lists and given opportunities to spread his … Continue reading Everything Old Is Still Old
The Marriage of Colleges and Social Media Influencers Is Bad News
Last week a lot of people’s cages were rattled when it was revealed dozens of the nation’s wealthiest individuals had paid outrageous sums to consultants and others who would help their kids get into the most elite colleges and universities around. The situation starkly revealed the disconnect between the ideal - that an education is … Continue reading The Marriage of Colleges and Social Media Influencers Is Bad News
Medium Gives Twitter Referrals Preferential Treatment
If you’re not familiar with the details of what the term “zero rating” means you’ve likely still encountered it in some manner. The concept has been applied by wireless carriers to help lure customers concerned that streaming services, social media and so on are eating too much of their monthly data allocation. So a company … Continue reading Medium Gives Twitter Referrals Preferential Treatment
Flickr’s Changes Offer Multiple Warnings For the Future
April Glaser offers a number of good thoughts related to the impending changes to the photo-sharing site Flickr, which is about to start forcing people to pay for a Pro membership if they don’t want their pictures - at least those over 1,000 - permanently deleted. For anyone who’s been using the site for any … Continue reading Flickr’s Changes Offer Multiple Warnings For the Future
Video Lures More Media Companies
Publishing company Complex has become the latest media outlet to license original programming to a streaming service, in this case both Netflix and Hulu. The first will get six shows while the second gets 10. Complex’s situation is a bit different, as the article points out, than efforts by publishers like Vox Media and others … Continue reading Video Lures More Media Companies
No, Ethics Have Been Around For A While Now
Of all the various issues raised by the dueling documentaries - one on Hulu, one on Netflix - recounting the events of Fyre Festival, one of the most pervasive has been the actions of Jerry Media, a creative agency hired by the founders of Fyre to promote the event online. The agency, which produced the … Continue reading No, Ethics Have Been Around For A While Now
Those Systems Don’t Know Us, But Pretend To
I’ve certainly had experiences similar to what’s described in this much-shared story from a few months ago about the way the algorithms that push suggestions and notifications at us all day long are never exactly right but are also never exactly wrong. Spotify, for instance, continues to insist I’m going to enjoy Hall & Oates … Continue reading Those Systems Don’t Know Us, But Pretend To
Take the Pressure Off Social Responses
More terrible data pushing the terrible notion that brands engaging in marketing efforts via social media should feel the need to respond to each and every comment directed at them. This time it comes via a survey of U.S. adults, gauging what they feel is an appropriate response rate. Unsurprisingly, most people feel such responses … Continue reading Take the Pressure Off Social Responses