1st May 2015
1) Not a great week for Social Media as LinkedIn becomes the third company this week to lose as much as a quarter of its valuation after reporting a weaker outlook. Some $7bn was wiped off its market cap in after-hours trading on the warning that sales in the current quarter would be $45m below Wall Street forecasts of $670-675m – partly because of currency fluctuations. This comes after Twitter shares dropped as much as 26 per cent on missed revenue expectations and lower forecasts and Yelp closed 23 per cent lower yesterday after missing revenue and earnings forecasts’.
2) And in the same vein Secret has closed The founder David Byttow said: “I believe in honest, open communication and creative expression, and anonymity is a great device to achieve it. But it’s also the ultimate double-edged sword, which must be wielded with great respect and care’.
Somewhat in tune with this sentiment, this is what I said about anonymous social media channels last year – Whisper and our World of withering comminications.
3) Seems almost astonishing how quickly attitudes have changed in the US, in relation to marriage equality – This Is How Fast America Changes it’s Mind.
One of the reasons for this, has been the tireless afforts of Evan Wolfson who has been fighting for same-sex marriage since the 1980’s. From Slate – The Marriage Mastermind.
However, according to this piece from This American Life , it is actually quite rare for people to change their perspectives – The Incredible Rarity of Changing Your Mind.
4) The BBC goes global with it’s chat app strategy : “The BBC’s latest effort comes via chat app Viber, which the broadcaster is using to send news and information to Nepali people affected by this week’s earthquake. The alerts, which the BBC experts to change over time information, have so far included news, information and safety advice.”
5) The very smart and very entertaining @Faris has a book out –Definitely worth a look.
‘Paid Attention is a guide to modern advertising ideas: what they are, why they are evolving and how to have them. Spanning communication theory, neuroscience, creativity and innovation, media history, branding and emerging technologies, it explores the strategic creation process and how to package ideas to attract the most attention in the advertising industry’
6) Great Idea – using technology to re-imagine reality and engage young people with the great outdoors. Minecraft fans invited to design Australia’s perfect national park.
7) Love this – in an age when we struggle to cope with an overload of information, here is (another) clever ad from Honda that challenges us, even forces us to pay attention.
8) Your Imaginery relationship with a Celebrity – “In a highly connected era where fans can easily and directly interact with famous people online, long-standing parasocial relationships have intensified and become increasingly complex to navigate”.
9) A piece of shameless self promotion – we are presenting atDigital Shoreditch – 11.50am in Shoreditch Town Hall on Monday 11th May. Our chosen subject will be The Geography of Ideas. Do come along if you can.
10) We had to see this coming right? This selfie stick is arm shaped to make you look less like a loner….
..and this is even better. An entrepreneurial graffiti artist , who isn’t Banksy but sounds very similar, has taken to spray paining shapes around pot holes in Manchester. The nature of the shapes has encouraged the local council to mend the holes at an astounding rate.