27th January 2019

Piece on trust and traditional media that may surprise; whilst perceptions of social media are probably less surprising – ‘According to the 19th Annual Edelman Trust Barometer 2019, consumer trust in traditional media (64%) and search (66%) are at highest ever historical levels. In contrast, trust in social media remains low, at 44%. Contributing to social media’s low trust scores is data showing that close to three-quarters (73%) of all respondents worry about false information or fake news being used as a weapon.’

I attended Nesta’s annual predictions session last night in London. Of the ten predictions presented, the winner (deemed most likely to happen) on the night was – deepfake videos get weaponised. An interesting development this year is the inception of The Good Judgement Project, an attempt to see whether crowdsourced perspectives on the future can be more accurate than the ‘experts’. It is a gamified exercise, with a leaderboard and prizes. You can sign up here.

How millennials are rebranding loneliness through memes. ‘Part of why loneliness persists is that we have this media buffet and we have all these options, and we just keep eating cotton candy and we wonder why we’re still hungry, because we’re not choosing the things that would actually sustain us.’

Ever wanted the harness the sound of warbling vireos trilling through the night for your ambient house project but never knew where the you could get a sample from? Yellowstone National Park is the answer to your prayers; as they release a massive catalogue of ambient sounds into the public domain for your sampling pleasure.

Here are Ashley Friedlein’s (Econsultancy) marketing and digital trends for 2019, and here – Shutterstock’s 2019 Creative Trends.(infographic)

(Are) the world’s biggest YouTube stars burning out because of the unrelenting pressure to post new videos?

We saw this in Her and in Ex Machina. No real surprise that this is happening in ‘real’ life. ‘When Akihiko Kondo, a 35-year-old school administrator in Tokyo, strolled down the aisle in a white tuxedo in November, his mother was not among the 40 well-wishers in attendance. For her, he said, this was not something to celebrate. You might see why. The bride, a songstress with aquamarine twin tails named Hatsune Miku,is not only a world-famous recording artist who fills up arenas throughout Japan: She is also a hologram. ‘Do You Take This Robot??’

One of the best ads, from the travel sector, that I have seen in a long time. From Aero Mexico – ‘Mexico’s first destination is America, but America’s first destination, is not Mexico….’ 

How a six-second drum solo from a 1969 b-side became the most sampled loop in music history. ‘You might not have heard The Winstons’ version of “Amen, Brother,” but you’ve definitely heard its drum solo.’

Frustrated by the fact that receivers and running backs get the spotlight for their touchdown dances, the “Late Late” host finally gives the lineman the airtime they deserve. James Corden assembles the first NFL big man dance crew. 

Fabulous. The new ad from ITV celebrates great storytelling. ‘Don’t look, can’t look, please don’t let this happen…!’  This is The Patriarch. From UnCommon Creative Studio.