Category: social media

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You just need to look it up!

Peaceful protests, demonstrations, rioting and looting…all are forms of speech but not all are protected by the 1st Amendment to the Constitution. If you’re a journalists, it is important that you understand what is, and what isn’t, protected speech. If you don’t you risk having some ramen noodle-eating dude call you out on TikTok.

@justsomedude187

someone should let them know about the amendments

♬ original sound – J-Dizzle

So how exactly did CNN anchor Chris Cuomo get it so wrong? As much as you might support the cause of BLM and as passionate as you might be about the evil of police brutality, “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (emphasis added, but unnecessary) is pretty obvious to even the casual reader of the Bill of Rights.

While I share no sympathy for Confederate generals and the flag that has become a symbol of white supremacy, I also respect the rule of law that protects the rights of those who see that same flag as a symbol of their heritage. Hate speech is not (yet) a crime, and the 1st Amendment protects the rights of some pretty awful people who hold on to some very bad ideas.

So what about the destruction of monuments in recent days? Should protesters be allowed to tear down images that they oppose or should they patiently wait for due process to run its course? We might argue that we’ve waited too long already, and now is the time for action. But you can also imagine an unruly mob of protesters in the future tearing down a statue or memorial that celebrates a person or a cause that you support. Would you respect those protesters and their “right” to express themselves?

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‘Some Good News’ Goes Big Time

If you haven’t seen the eight episodes of Some Good News, produced, directed and starring John Krasinski, you owe it to yourself to check them out. Go ahead, we’ll wait.

The series, produced under the “stay at home” directive, is just one example of the many creative efforts that were hatched in people’s basements and living rooms during the Covid-19 spring of 2020. But unlike some of the less-inspired efforts, e.g. Imagine, this one was a huge success. BTW, I explore the Imagine fiasco in a bit more detail here.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, SGN racked up more than 2.5 million subscribers on YouTube, with some episodes topping 17 million views. That’s nothing to sneeze about, and that’s why ViacomCBS recently dropped a boat-load of cash on Krasinski for the rights to make SNG into a brand with the full support of a major media network.

According to THR, “CBS All Access, which will be rebranded this summer and bolstered with more originals from across the ViacomCBS portfolio, will have the first window for the new episodes before they move to a number of the company’s linear networks. While Krasinski will continue to be involved as an executive producer, he will not host the new episodes. A new host will be named at a later date, though Krasinski will have some sort of on-air presence.”

The success of SGN should come as no surprise. In a time with non-stop terrible news some GOOD news felt so right; even necessary. Krasinski not only had the kind of affable personality to pull it off, he had a veritable host of A-list celebs and stars willing to make guest appearances. Friends from The Office, the cast of Hamilton, Steven Spielberg, Jon Stewart, Oprah, and even the Red Sox got in on the deal.

Whether “good news” continues to be a big draw once this season of “bad news” comes to an end remains to be seen. But I know that I will continue to look for positive and affirming content when I need a little pick-me-up. And I won’t even feel guilty about it.

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Happy Quinceanera to YouTube

YouTube is turning 15, and to celebrate, the Morning Brew put together this nice package of stats:

It’s been 15 years to the day since YouTube cofounder Jawed Karim uploaded the platform’s first-ever video, 18 seconds of him pontificating about elephant trunks at the San Diego Zoo. Here’s a brief timeline on what’s happened since:

2005: YouTube launches its public beta in May, and with $3.5 million from Sequoia Capital it goes beyond beta by the end of the year. 

2006: Google acquires YouTube for $1.7 billion.

2007: “Charlie bit my finger” becomes the first viral video, proving babies are cuter than cats, and YouTube goes mobile-friendly the same month the first iPhone hits stores. 

2008: “Evolution of Dance” gets a record-breaking 100 million views.

2009: Justin Bieber. Vevo. The music world is never the same. 

2012: Psy’s “Gangnam Style” gets a historic 1 billion views.

2014: Susan Wojcicki becomes YouTube’s third CEO.

2017: The “Adpocalypse” and “Elsagate” throw the platform under public scrutiny.

As of last year, 500 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube…every minute. There’s no sign of that number going down, especially amid COVID-19.

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Deep thoughts from…Steak-Umm?

If you’re not following @steak_umm on Twitter, you’re missing out on some amazing takes on promoting thinly sliced beef. Their tagline might as well be, “come for the social media marketing, stay for the science.”

Here’s just a sampling of some of the tweets, and responses from readers:

When your product is thinly-sliced beef, delivering your product wrapped in scientific wisdom and philosophical musings turns out to be not such a terrible idea.

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The Coronavirus “Infodemic” and Social Media “distancing”

What travels faster and farther than a new virus that causes sickness and even death? Answer: Fear and panic about said virus. Below is a chart that illustrates our current situation.

And guess what viral story about Covid-19 generated the most engagement (likes, comments, shares): a story from Vice about how some people think the virus has a connection to Corona beer. Just for the record, the article’s premise does not appear to be supported by data and is, sadly, another example of hype outperforming credible reporting. And don’t even get me started about ingesting bleach or colloidal silver as a remedy.

Here’s what we do know. The new virus, which is related to the common cold and flu, was first discovered in Wuhan province in China at the end of 2019 and has since spread to dozens of countries, including the hard-hit nations of Italy, S. Korea, and Iran. Because of global trade and travel, the virus quickly began spreading illness, and even death, around the world. The most vulnerable populations are seniors and those with underlying health conditions. But unlike the seasonal flu, with which we’re relatively familiar (even comfortable), this new virus “feels” much more dangerous and has incited widespread panic.

Because of the fact that this coronavirus appears to spread rapidly via droplets (sneezing and coughing), and that a vaccine is likely 12-18 months away, people are justifiably concerned. However, the fear and panic that has accompanied the outbreak is frequently driven by the mis- and dis-information spread via social media.

But here’s where we can have a positive effect. Instead of paying attention to speculation and rumors, and instead of sharing headlines that may be misleading, let’s try to be as careful with our social media behavior as we are with our personal hygiene.

Bottom line: 1) engage in personal hygiene and social distancing to minimize spreading the virus, and 2) on social media take care to “distance” yourself from fear mongering and misinformation. We owe it to each other to do the right thing.

Here are a list of websites providing reliable information:

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Bloomberg Buys Instagram Influencers

Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Former NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg is a candidate in the Democratic primary for the 2020 Presidential race. Having built a fortune of more than $60 Billion with his financial news business, Bloomberg is financing his own campaign and has already spent more than $400 Million of his own money. To give you some perspective, the chart below, from the Guardian newspaper, shows you how many advertising impressions each of the candidates have purchased on Facebook in the first six weeks of 2020.

Drawing fire from all sides, Bloomberg is accused of trying to buy the election and that fear was amplified last week when news organizations reported that his campaign is paying Instagram influencers $150 a pop to post memes that will make him look “cool.” Using influencer marketing on social media is nothing new, and is certainly a powerful way to reach younger demographics, but is has never been used at this level for presidential political campaigns.

The huge media buy leading up to Super Tuesday gives every impression that money is no object for this billionaire businessman. So if you have a lot of followers on IG, and want to cash in some of that “juice,” this presidential candidate with deep pockets may want to make you an offer.

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The Cost of Personal Privacy and Security

If you’re the richest man in the world you would think that you could afford the highest level of security for your personal data and information. And if you’re Jeff Bezos, you would hope that your phone would be safe from hacking by enemies wanting to expose your secret affairs.

According to allegations by United Nations investigators, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may be behind the hack of Bezos’ iPhone gaining access through the WhatsApp messaging service. Possible motivation for the hack is the fact that Bezos owns the Washington Post newspaper, who employed writer and columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a staunch critic of the Crown Prince. Despite denials by the Saudi Prince, the alleged murder of Khashoggi in October of 2018 is believed to have been carried out by hit men employed by bin Salman.

There are multiple stories and plot lines of interest to Hollywood producers, but also for those of us interested in the intersection of media, politics, and technology. As our phones become more and more intertwined with our moment-by-moment activities and our most private and intimate actions, they leave us vulnerable to commercial manipulations and privacy violations. No one is safe. WhatsApp, one of the most popular encrypted messaging apps in the world, prides itself in a high level of security. According to their website, “Privacy and security is in our DNA.” 

According to Vox, “The alleged hack shows that security online is never guaranteed, even on this very popular Facebook-owned encrypted messaging app. And that’s something to keep in mind even if you aren’t a billionaire.”

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YouTube Takes Action to Protect Children

If you have children of your own, a younger sibling, or nephews and nieces, there’s a good chance that they spend a good amount of time online, and often that time is spent on YouTube. For preteens, YouTube is the top destination for streaming media content. And why not? It’s free, constantly updated with fresh content, and a lot of it is pretty entertaining.

But in recent years YouTube has attracted criticism for not sufficiently protecting children from potentially harmful content. They’ve also been criticized for profiting off of children’s personal data. In 2019 that led to a $170M fine from the FTC for a violation of COPPA (the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act).

In response, YouTube has just rolled out new policies to limit the downside for children and (let’s be honest) to minimize YouTube’s exposure to future fines and litigation.

Starting today YouTube will require content creators to identify content designed for a younger audience. That content will no longer allow commenting, live chats, push notifications, and the ability to save videos to a playlist. All of these changes are designed to reduce the amount of data that YouTube collects on its younger audience members. YouTube is also eliminating targeted ads around this content.

While this is a great first step, critics say that more needs to be done to ensure that YouTube is a safe environment for children. One options for parents is to use the separate app, YouTube Kids. This app provides more parental control features and its content is more carefully curated by YouTube.

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Makeup Tips, With a Side of Political Activism

New Jersey teenager and Afghan immigrant Feroza Aziz offers beauty tips online…or does she? In the following clip you can watch a portion of the video that led to her account being suspended by TikTok.

After its initial action censoring Feroza, TikTok backtracked and claimed that her account was suspended for a different video. But few are believing that explanation. TikTok has already drawn scrutiny because of concerns over its political ties to China and this incident is being offered as an example of what happens when free speech and religious freedoms are compromised for political ends.

In this short interview the 17-year-old says that “anyone can do it” (raise awareness) and that she’s not scared of TikTok.

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Meth, We’re On It!

People are wondering if South Dakota’s sharpest minds knew what they were doing when they approved an advertising campaign designed to draw attention to the methamphetamine problem. Like many states, SD is struggling with a serious meth problem and public health officials are trying to find solutions. Public information campaigns like this are part of the solution by raising awareness about the problem and where to seek help.

But social media took the opportunity to mock the effort and the agency behind it.

But the governor is standing behind the campaign and arguing that the very fact that social media is talking about the meth problem is, in fact, evidence that the information campaign is working.

According to an NPR interview with the Social Services Secretary for the State, “that slogan was specifically designed to be provocative and to get awareness of the issue of meth. Really, meth is all of our problem in South Dakota, and it specifically is meaning – you know, we’ve got a lot of things that are coming together, a lot of people that have issues revolving around meth. Together this is our problem, and we’re on it. We’re on the solution. We need to work on this together.”

What do YOU think? Is it working?

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