14th February 2015
How one stupid tweet ruined a life. A really interesting piece from NYT that looks back on the demise of Justine Sacco, ex senior director of corporate communications at IAC , following a tweet sent out to just 170 followers, but which was picked up and went viral. The article also looks at other individuals who have met the same fate and draws out some interesting overall observations.
‘Perhaps ( Sacco) …. had now come to understand that her shaming wasn’t really about her at all. Social media is so perfectly designed to manipulate our desire for approval, and that is what led to her undoing. Her tormentors were instantly congratulated as they took Sacco down, bit by bit, and so they continued to do so. Their motivation was much the same as Sacco’s own – a bid for the attention of strangers ……hoping to amuse people she couldn’t see.’
2) Warby Parker are, apparently, the most innovative company of 2015.Apple are second…..
Who are Warby Parker ? Well…. they are an American brand of prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses founded in 2010. Warby Parker sells online and has a limited number of showrooms in the United States.
But here, The Big Apple is definitely number one – Apples’ market valuation now stands above $700bn – – $300bn more than Exxon Mobil – the second biggest company in the world and it exceeds the combined value of Google and Microsoft.
3) The wonderful Jon Stewart has stepped down from The Daily Show after 17 years. I particularly liked the piece he did ( rather gleefully ) on the departure of George Bush from office. Nearly always amusing here are some moments ( video ) when he wasn’t being funny – includes his piece after 9 11.
4) Ten Years of Google Maps ‘Nobody knew what would come of online maps, or how they would become such a crucial aspect of daily lives in the Internet-connected world’.
5) This is a short but really poignant piece from @willsh – The Certainty of Delivery.
‘Because we could grab pictures and videos and snippets of conversation of whatever it was we saw, and drop them in to the mighty social stream, where we knew everyone would see them… “I’ve Found This, And Thought Of You All”. There was a promise of delivery from our social networks. Post this up here, and your friends will see it. That’s kind of fallen by the wayside. You post things up, and people might see them, maybe, if you’re lucky. Or if they really, really look. That wasn’t the promise when we signed up’.
6) After 10 years, How You Tube has Changed The World. From the piece, its impact on Advertising :
‘The truth is, on YouTube, people are not interested in brands at all,” … “The clever brands have worked out that to connect with people on YouTube you have to find a shared passion with them – Red Bull with their extreme sports, for example, or Nike with football’.
7) Very sad to hear of the sudden death of David Carr , columnist of the New York Times. A fabulous writer who beat a serious drug addiction to re-invent himself in later life. Here are some of his best quotes. Carr came to mainstream prominence via the excellent documentary about the New York Times Page One.
8) The transfer of power from old media to new media ,reaches an entirely different level as Buzzfeed announces that its Editor, Ben Smith, is to interview Obama.
9) Great piece from the FT ( subscription needed) The Internet Is Not The Answer.
‘The inventors of the internet thought it would build a better society. But as author and agitator Andrew Keen tells the FT , the hopes of the founding fathers are a long way from reality. The web has spawned technologies that exploit rather than empower us’.
10) An amazing 10K time-lapse video of Rio de Janeiro – put together to showcase the extreme resolution of the PhaseOne IQ180 camera . Worth watching all the way through and ideally on a big screen.