Google My Business app revamp challenges Facebook Pages
Google is giving its business customers a new way to reach their customers. The company is today starting the rollout of a revamped Google My Business mobile application for iOS and Android that will offer new tools for viewing customer info – including followers, reviews and messages – as well as a way to quickly […]
Source: Google My Business app revamp challenges Facebook Pages | TechCrunch
Facebook’s Lasso App Tries To Win Teens Back With Music and Video
Facebook continues its Myspace-esque quest of injecting social media with video and music, this time with a TikTok imitator.
Source: Facebook’s Lasso App Tries To Win Teens Back With Music and Video – Rolling Stone
The Instagrammers Next Door, Plugging Brands for Peanuts (or Shampoo)
Influencers are so 2014. And microinfluencers are so last week. Now advertisers see value in people with as few as 1,000 followers: the nanoinfluencers.
Source: The Instagrammers Next Door, Plugging Brands for Peanuts (or Shampoo) – The New York Times
Now Netflix Wants to Conquer Prestige Movies—and the Oscars. Why?
The streaming service’s latest original film, the historical epic ‘Outlaw King,’ looks and sounds like a classic awards-friendly drama. Is it meant to be a jewel in the crown of the fastest-growing empire in entertainment or simply a hood ornament?
Source: Now Netflix Wants to Conquer Prestige Movies—and the Oscars. Why? – The Ringer
The one graph that Facebook didn’t present to investors and Wall Street last week proves it is dying
Facebook is dying. At the moment, it’s a slow death, but at some point, it will accelerate. That’s what social networks do. They grow engagement, until they don’t. Interestingly, Facebook blames the drop on engagement on the fact that they are trying to stop people from being able to do the thing people like to do most on Facebook . . . read fake news.
Apple’s iPads Are Officially More Interesting Than Its MacBooks
The MacBook Air looks like a great computer. But it’s not what a great computer will look like in the future.
Source: Apple’s iPads Are Officially More Interesting Than Its MacBooks | WIRED
How Many People in the US Use Snapchat
This year, 84.8 million people in the US—or roughly a quarter of the population—will use Snapchat, a 7.1% increase from 2017, according to eMarketer estimates.
Source: How Many People in the US Use Snapchat – eMarketer Trends, Forecasts & Statistics
Watch Me Play excerpt: What a workday is like for a professional Twitch streamer.
Game livestreaming has entered into popular culture in a big way. Twitch, a platform that boasts having millions of broadcasters producing programs for tens of millions of visitors each day, offers up all kinds of live content 24/7 to viewers around the world. The site hosts a range of shows, from “variety” streamers who broadcast different types of games to massive esports tournaments that pull in hundreds of thousands of viewers over the course of a weekend. You can also find live broadcasts of people making cosplay outfits, cooking, or just streaming everyday life. Livestreaming has become not just a part of game culture, but of our everyday media worlds more broadly. And while a tremendous amount of creative production is happening on the site, big issues remain regarding the governance, regulation, and monetization of user-generated content. While playing games for an enthusiastic audience may seem like a dream job, it can be incredibly hard work that requires a tremendous amount of self-training, skill-up, and hustle. Livestreamers are not only changing the face of gaming and giving us a glimpse into the future of media production, their one-person production studios—and businesses—operated out of their homes sync up all too well with broader trends around labor, online platforms, and the future of work.
Source: Watch Me Play excerpt: What a workday is like for a professional Twitch streamer.
Minorities Who ‘Whiten’ Job Resumes Get More Interviews
African American and Asian job applicants who mask their race on resumes seem to have better success getting job interviews, according to research by Katherine DeCelles and colleagues.
Source: Minorities Who ‘Whiten’ Job Resumes Get More Interviews
With Project xCloud, Xbox Wants to Bring Gaming Anywhere You Are
Game streaming is a long-held dream, but with Project xCloud, Xbox is harnessing the power of Microsoft to make it happen—for real this time.
Source: With Project xCloud, Xbox Wants to Bring Gaming Anywhere You Are | WIRED
Delete Your Account Now: A Conversation with Jaron Lanier
JARON LANIER IS ONE of the leading philosophers of the digital age, as well as a computer scientist and avant-garde composer. His previous books include Dawn of the New Everything: Encounters with Reality and Virtual Reality, Who Owns the Future?, and the seminal You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto. His latest book bears a self-explanatory title: Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now.
Source: Delete Your Account Now: A Conversation with Jaron Lanier – Los Angeles Review of Books
Pandora, Snapchat Pair Up
Radio streaming service Pandora and popular photo sharing platform Snapchat recently unveiled an exciting new partnership where users of both platforms will be able to share their Pandora listening habits over Snapchat, all in hopes of increasing engagement.
Spotify Turns 10: Is It Friend Or Foe?
Spotify turns 10 years old this Sunday October 7th. On that day, T.I.’s “Whatever You Like” was the #1 song, Metallica’s “Death Magnetic” the #1 album and a Scandinavian startup had just launched a service that would change music and the music industry forever.
The Inscrutable Rise of the Online ‘Influencer’
‘Influencing’ online has something to do with money, power, and popularity, with brand identities and likes. But when you get down to it, the influencer is pretty hard to picture.
Video Streaming Now Makes Up 58% Of Internet Usage Worldwide
Netflix alone takes up about 15% of all downstream traffic worldwide.
Source: Video Streaming Now Makes Up 58% Of Internet Usage Worldwide – Digg
At what point is a skinny bundle no longer skinny?
Skinny bundles of TV channels have emerged in the last few years as a cheap, streamlined alternative to the bloated and expensive cable packages of old. But those bundles have started to put on a few pounds lately.
Source: At what point is a skinny bundle no longer skinny? – CNN
The web is broken, so its founder is taking another stab at it
Tim Berners-Lee has a new venture.
Source: Tim Berners-Lee’s Solid and Inrupt let people control their own data — Quartz
Use of internet, social media, digital devices plateaus in US
The shares of U.S. adults who say they use the internet, use social media, own a smartphone or own a tablet computer are all nearly identical to the shares who said so in 2016.
Source: Use of internet, social media, digital devices plateaus in US | Pew Research Center
Instagram Is Too Big Not to Mess With
With the photo app’s founders gone, Facebook is likely to change it significantly.
Source: Opinion | Instagram Is Too Big Not to Mess With – The New York Times
Are Second Screens Distracting TV Viewers?
Marketers say that users’ fragmented media consumption is disrupting their TV advertising approach.
Source: Are Second Screens Distracting TV Viewers? – eMarketer Trends, Forecasts & Statistics
How Connected Is Your Community to Everywhere Else in America?
America is often described as a place of great divides — between red and blue, big cities and rural towns, the coasts and the heartland. But our social lives are shaped by a much stronger force that ignores many of these lines: distance.
In the millions of ties on Facebook that connect relatives, co-workers, classmates and friends, Americans are far more likely to know people nearby than in distant communities that share their politics or mirror their demographics. The dominant picture in data analyzed by economists at Facebook, Harvard, Princeton and New York University is not that like-minded places are linked; rather, people in counties close to one another are.
Even in the age of the internet, distance matters immensely in determining whom — and, as a result, what — we know.
Source: How Connected Is Your Community to Everywhere Else in America? – The New York Times
The Dangers of Digital Activism
Social media has been a significant tool for activists in the Middle East. But do the risks now outweigh the benefits?
Source: Opinion | The Dangers of Digital Activism – The New York Times
News Use Across Social Meda
Most Americans continue to get news on social media, even though many have concerns about its accuracy.
Source: News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2018 | Pew Research Center
Four reasons Snap’s stock price is at an all-time low
Snap’s stock price hit an all-time low as a public company this week, closing last Friday under $10 per share — more than 60 percent below the company’s first day of trading 18 months ago.
Source: Four reasons Snap’s stock price is at an all-time low – Recode
Spotify, Nielsen Deal May Mean More Money For Artists
One of the most valuable types of data for artists and labels is demographic information on exactly who is listening to their music. This is why a new deal being struck between Spotify and Nielsen Research could have implications for not just advertisers, but also artists.
Source: Spotify, Nielsen Deal May Mean More Money For Artists – hypebot
Facebook beats Twitter at fighting fake news, a new study found
But there’s still plenty of it on both platforms
Source: Facebook beats Twitter at fighting fake news, a new study found – The Verge
The future of Apple is the Apple Watch
The future of Apple is the Apple Watch — the smartwatch that plays right into the company’s new focus on fitness and health.
Source: The future of Apple is the Apple Watch – Business Insider
Hooking up brains to machines could be the ‘next big thing’ for gaming
It may sound like science fiction, but brain-machine interfaces will eventually be a part of our lives. It’s just a matter of time for gaming.
Source: Hooking up brains to machines could be the ‘next big thing’ for gaming
Apple has hit a dead end with iPhone names
This year, Apple reached the end of its iPhone X (read: ten) names. Next year remains a mystery.
Source: Apple has hit a dead end with iPhone names – The Verge
The Hacking of America
Political and technological destabilization have fed off each other since the nation’s founding. Now they are dangerously out of whack.
Source: Opinion | The Hacking of America – The New York Times
The new iPhone’s here, so Google wants to talk Pixel 3
In the off chance you haven’t already had your fill of phone news for the week, Google just offered up a few friendly reminders that it’s got its own handset coming out in the not so distant future. The company’s event isn’t happening until early next month, but Google’s started with the teasers.
Source: The new iPhone’s here, so Google wants to talk Pixel 3 | TechCrunch
iOS 12 makes your old iPhone feel new
Like most Apple events, last Wednesday’s big iPhone and Apple Watch reveal was a master class in manufacturing desire. For nearly two hours, Apple executives spoke of larger and more vibrant screens, faster processors, and better cameras, all in service of making your current iPhone or Apple Watch seem like stale bread.
So it was a bit jarring when Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives, took the stage and subtly suggested that you might not need a new iPhone after all. During her five-minute presentation on Apple’s sustainability efforts, Jackson claimed that iPhones are built to last, thereby reducing the environmental impact of making new ones.“Because they last longer, you can keep using them,” Jackson said. “And keeping using them is the best thing for the planet.”
DC Comics releases new streaming service, DC Universe
DC Comics has released its new streaming service, DC Universe. The subscription service costs $7.99 per month or $74.99 annually, and will feature original live action and animated series from the world of DC Comics, along with digital comics and classic TV series and films.
Source: DC Comics releases new streaming service, DC Universe – Business Insider
Everything you need to know about Nintendo’s online Switch service
What to expect from Nintendo starting on September 18th
Source: Everything you need to know about Nintendo’s online Switch service – The Verge
Smartwatches to rule nearly half of wearables market by 2022, says IDC
But good old wristbands will still have their place.
Source: Smartwatches to rule nearly half of wearables market by 2022, says IDC – CNET
Fans Are Spoofing Spotify With “Fake Plays,” And That’s A Problem For Music Charts
The spoofing could erode the veracity of widely respected Billboard chart metrics, especially since the fan campaigns appear to be getting more sophisticated.
Source: Fans Are Spoofing Spotify With “Fake Plays,” And That’s A Problem For Music Charts
Why Technology Favors Tyranny
Artificial intelligence could erase many practical advantages of democracy, and erode the ideals of liberty and equality. It will further concentrate the power among a small elite if we don’t take steps to stop it.
Source: Yuval Noah Harari on Why Technology Favors Tyranny – The Atlantic
Teens are hooked on social media. But how does it make them feel about themselves?
Broadly, teens seem aware of the negative consequences of too much social media use:
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Nearly three-quarters of teens believe that tech companies are manipulating users to spend more time glued to their devices.
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More than half of social media users say it distracts them from doing homework or paying attention to the people they’re with.
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Some 21 percent of teens say using social media makes them feel more popular, 20 percent said more confident, and 18 percent said it makes them feel better about themselves.
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A quarter said it makes them feel less lonely, and 16 percent said it makes them feel less depressed.
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Some 8 percent said it makes them feel more anxious, but 12 percent said less anxious.
Source: Teens are hooked on social media. But how does it make them feel about themselves? – Recode
The Safebook extension removes all the content from Facebook
Treat yourself to a benign cruise through blue-gray boxes, with nary a notification in sight.
Source: The Safebook extension removes all the content from Facebook
Will we ever get tired of buying iPhones?
On the one hand, especially after last year’s price increase for the flagship model, the iPhone is a luxury item. People save up to buy it, and they measure their social and economic standing through it. In a sea of smartphones that do roughly the same thing, Apple’s particular smartphone commands a prestige premium. This is a familiar description for fashion or jewelry brands and products, but it finds few parallels in the tech industry.
The other side of the iPhone coin is that we keep replacing it like it’s a basic consumption good. If I buy a luxury watch for $1,000, I’d expect to have it for a decade or longer, whereas Apple somehow keeps enticing people to buy a pricey new iPhone every two or three years. It’s like the company is selling sneakers but charging the price of dress shoes.
Source: Will we ever get tired of buying iPhones? – The Verge