For many people in the UK and elsewhere, today is the last working day before Christmas Day which falls on a Monday this year. I've spent most of today wrapping up work-related matters in order to have a clean slate, as it were, for the fast-approaching Christmas break. Like many of you, I'll be largely in rest and relaxation mode until the first week of January in the New Year. Christmas is a time to reflect on the wider matters that concern us, beyond the daily trials and tribulations we … [Read more...] about Goodwill 2017
Archives for 2017
For Immediate Release 118: Longer tweets, creepy tweets, and tweetstorms
Shel Holtz and I recorded the December edition of the monthly Hobson & Holtz Report podcast. It is the final FIR episode of 2017: FIR will return on January 8, 2018, in an all-new format. Listen to this episode for details! This month’s topics: A group of UK newspapers using robots to help write stories Research that found higher engagement for tweets that took advantage of the new 280 character count Storify, a great curation tool aimed at journalists, is shutting down … [Read more...] about For Immediate Release 118: Longer tweets, creepy tweets, and tweetstorms
2018: the year of chatbots, AI and digital personal assistants
2017 was the year that artificial intelligence (AI) generally gained a greater consciousness in the public mind as well as in the minds of many professionals, not the least being those in the broad communication business – especially public relations, advertising, marketing and employee communication. Every time we see a robot mentioned in the mainstream media, there's either a photo of the Terminator or some human-looking machine which feeds our fear – adding to the uncertainty and doubt … [Read more...] about 2018: the year of chatbots, AI and digital personal assistants
SDF Podcast 14: Looking forward by looking back
As the Small Data Forum progresses through its early teenage years – our latest podcast is episode 14 already – regular co-hosts Thomas Stoeckle, Neville Hobson, and Sam Knowles are taking the opportunity to look forward by looking back. Patients of our own medicine, you might say, we’re using the year end and what we’ve observed and learned in 2017 to enter the predictive analytics business. We take our inspiration from Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, transitions, and time, after whom … [Read more...] about SDF Podcast 14: Looking forward by looking back
SNCR fake news study: high stakes for marketers in survey findings
You can summarise what marketers think about fake news with this - they are ambivalent about what ought to change, and are reluctant to alter their own business practices. That's a key finding from the results of an online survey-based research study carried out between August-November 2017 by The Society for New Communications Research of The Conference Board (SNCR). Led by SNCR Fellow Jeff Pundyk, a former Senior Vice President at The Economist, the prime purpose of the research project … [Read more...] about SNCR fake news study: high stakes for marketers in survey findings
New Report on Change Agents: the Unsung Heroes in Digital Transformation
According to Brian Solis, the real (often untold) stories about digital transformation are the human struggles "change agents" face as they try to modernize their organizations. There are always colleagues, managers and others who don't get it. Solis - futurist, best-selling business-book author and principal analyst at Prophet's Altimeter Group - has written a 29-page report that examines how the people behind digital transformation lead change from within their organizations. From the … [Read more...] about New Report on Change Agents: the Unsung Heroes in Digital Transformation
Should you place your trust in the mainstream media?
The results of a survey published last month suggest that journalists believe fake news is creating new trust in traditional media around the world. According to the 2017 Ogilvy Media Influence survey, traditional media was found to be the most trusted news source globally by 52 percent of journalists surveyed across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The reporters and producers reflected on the role of social media, company websites and other factors in the importance of … [Read more...] about Should you place your trust in the mainstream media?
A closer look at Creative Commons licenses
One of the great things about social media and social networks is the ability they offer to anyone to share a thought, an idea, or an expression, with anyone else who has a connection to the global internet. Take the photo above, for instance. It's of the Trevi Fountain in Rome on a beautiful sunny late autumn day and I took the photo on a visit there in 2016. I've not widely shared it before now although it's been in my Flickr stream since then, and now it's embedded in this post. What if … [Read more...] about A closer look at Creative Commons licenses