The horror from Christchurch, New Zealand, that exploded across newspaper pages and television, computer and smartphone screens this weekend captured imaginations in ways that no one could possibly have imagined beforehand. The fact that one individual armed with a semi-automatic rifle could visit such an outrage upon people worshipping in a place of religion isn't the worst of it, awful and distressing though this event is with at least 50 people shot dead and scores wounded, some in … [Read more...] about The fork in the road for social media and our society
Mainstream Media
SDF Podcast 20: GDPR, ePrivacy, copyright and antitrust:
the EU’s long game
Show notes for this episode written by Thomas Stoeckle.
“If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” A modern version of this 18th century thought experiment by the philosopher and cleric George Berkeley might read: “If the EU fines a big tech firm billions of dollars, and no one has the power to enforce it, has it actually happened?”
A recent opinion piece on AdExchanger discussed the connection between Google’s $5bn antitrust fine, and the … [Read more...] about SDF Podcast 20: GDPR, ePrivacy, copyright and antitrust:
the EU’s long game
SDF Podcast 16 – Trust, communication clarity, balanced news and tech heretics
Yet again, the Three SDF Podcasteers Neville Hobson, Sam Knowles and Thomas Stoeckle tackle a range of related themes, from trust in society to clarity in corporate messages, global attitudes towards news, and Silicon Valley’s growing number of critical voices. This episode's show notes were written by Thomas Stoeckle. The 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer finds China and the US poles apart, with the US in last place, experiencing its largest drop in the survey’s history, and China on top with … [Read more...] about SDF Podcast 16 – Trust, communication clarity, balanced news and tech heretics
SDF Podcast 15 – Reining in tech: responsibility, regulation and education
Our Christmas episode was recorded under the auspices of Janus, the god of all things related to time. Now into the month named after him, the SmallDataForum reviews its predictions and looks at the year ahead. Will Europe ‘take back control’, or will commercial pressures curb big tech's enthusiasm? Will 2018 be the breakthrough year for chatbots and DPAs (digital personal assistants), both in business and personal use? How will continuous technological and economic transformations affect … [Read more...] about SDF Podcast 15 – Reining in tech: responsibility, regulation and education
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