Reading Time: 2 minWe all hear many people complaining about “the algorithms” on social media, and it’s often a legit complaint. At best, the algorithms show us a bunch of stuff we didn’t ask for. As worst, they could be affecting political outcomes. Part of the problem is the algorithms themselves, but the other part is our overall […]
Social Media
Social media is an empty vessel
Reading Time: < 1 minMany people complain about social media, and often rightfully so. While it can be an amazing tool, there are significant downsides to it. We can talk about the pros and cons of each, but I think TikTok is a unique case among all others. It’s the most vilified by politicians, but it’s also the most […]
The algorithm can make social media really weird
Reading Time: 2 minWhile it seems the digital world is becoming more real-time, traditional social media is becoming more algorithm-driven and can lead to some weird posts. For example, here is a post from a friend that I saw earlier this year. The post appeared for me a few days after it was posted, and I have literally […]
Creating “zero click” content
Reading Time: 2 minAs I mentioned a few weeks ago, a growing problem with Google is the number of “zero click” searches on there — searches that don’t lead to another click, because Google answered the question for you. It’s generally a good thing for users, but it’s a bad thing for companies wanting to get more website […]
Attention spans aren’t getting shorter
Reading Time: < 1 minIt’s popular to say that our attention spans are getting shorter (though not like a goldfish), but that may not be entirely true. Studies are mixed, but it’s not clear that they’re getting shorter. Tools like TikTok help play into this idea, where users are fed an endless stream of very short videos to help […]
Theoretically altruistic journalism
Reading Time: 2 minThe latest episode of the “You’re Wrong About” podcast focuses on phones, and makes the argument that phones are generally a good thing for people to have — even teens. Included in the show was a discussion on the potential ban of TikTok, where they shared: And it’s not about improving these systems or improving […]
If your goal is to bring people to your website, don’t immediately ask them to leave
Reading Time: 2 minAn interesting trend I’ve noticed over the last few years is for websites to include links to their social media platforms at the very top of the site. It seems counter-productive to work hard to bring users to your website, only to immediately ask them to go off to Facebook or Instagram instead. There are […]
Viral posts versus 1-on-1
Reading Time: < 1 minI’m finding Threads to be an excellent social media platform right now. It’s grown large enough to have great conversations, but not too large (yet) that it invites in all of the chaos. It’ll be interesting to see how it continues to grow, but right now it’s an excellent space to spend time in. Rand […]
There’s still a world outside these walls
Reading Time: 3 minFor those of you over 40, you can likely still remember the “good old days” on the internet, back when people set up their own places to visit, rather than relying on a handful of huge companies trying to lock your attention inside of their walls (which is very likely how you found this post). […]
The value of having social media followers is plummeting
Reading Time: 2 minOver the past few years we’ve seen a slow decline in the value of having “followers” on social media, as the algorithms continue to shift to show content to all users as they see fit. YouTube, while it’s changing quickly, is an example of the old model. More often than not, videos are shown to […]