Thanks, Instagram: The Age of Organic Social Is Over

Instagram
Instagram recently announced the inevitable – it will transition away from its pure, lovable, chronological feed to an algorithmically calculated feed. There is all kinds of goodness in this simple idea. On the other hand, posts that the algorithm scores as "less interesting to you" (whatever that content may be) will be demoted or ultimately not shown. Free social at scale is an endangered species (this is not news). But with the Instagram transition, it is more endangered than ever. Continue Reading →

Twitter Is in Real Trouble

Why is Twitter in real trouble? In a world that is becoming more and more connected every day, Twitter has done the unthinkable: it has shrunk. What's worse is that Twitter gets more free TV advertising than almost any other product or service which leaves two possibilities: (1) TV advertising does not work. (2) People don’t like the product. I’ll go with number 2. Here's why ... Continue Reading →

Death by Social Media

Reuters - Stabbing in Israel
The Arabic hashtag #stab is something I'd rather not see on a social media post. Israel's UN ambassador, Danny Danon, recently showed a version of the instructional graphic that accompanied that hashtag to the UN Security Council with the English-language title, "How to Stab a Jew." Mr. Danon was making a point – but also describing a form of warfare so new it does not yet have a name. Continue Reading →