Social Networks

Fake news is a global concern says BBC survey

Neville Hobson Leave a comment Communication, Mainstream Media, Online Media, Public Relations, Reputation, Social Media, Social Networks, Society, Trends, Web

To many people, the phenomenon known as fake news is something that’s moved beyond just a news item itself and into the realm of trust. With so much reporting and commentary about fake news, it’s no surprise that we’re placing greater importance on verifying the truthfulness of what we read, listen to and watch that is called ‘news.’ Whether it’s online or via the traditional mainstream media, or from companies, governments and others, we want to feel assured that what we encounter as news is real and not fake or propaganda. Take the image above, a snapshot from the news I saw earlier today in the BBC News app on my Android tablet. To me, some of the news items […]

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Perspectives on blogging in the UK

Neville Hobson Leave a comment Advertising, Blogging, Business, Communication, Experiences, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, Social Networks, Trends, Web, Weblogs

Blogging for business and pleasure is alive and flourishing in the UK, according to the second annual survey of UK bloggers carried out by Vuelio UK in conjunction with Canterbury Christ Church University. The survey was conducted in February 2017 to explore how bloggers work, their activities and views about their relationship with PR professionals and the future commercialisation of their work. Published last week, the results present a useful snapshot of the UK blogosphere. Whether you’re a blogger or someone wanting to understand and connect with bloggers, there’s much of interest in the report. Ten highlights: Although a majority (34%) of survey respondents said they blog for personal reasons, there is continuing growth in professional blogging with more interest […]

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For Immediate Release 100: Locked and Loaded

Neville Hobson Leave a comment Artificial Intelligence, Business, Communication, Ethics, For Immediate Release, Marketing, Politics, Public Relations, Reputation, Social Media, Social Networks, Society, Technology, Trends, Web
Using Twitter

In the August episode of The Hobson & Holtz Report, Shel and I talked about these topics: The Society for New Communications Research has launched an initiative to assess options for the communications industry to address fake news. An artificial intelligence bot can detect plagiarism (85% of the time). Supporters of US President Donald Trump are amplifying their tweets through a little-known Twitter feature that lets you create and name a Direct Message group. And let’s talk about that twice-daily folder the president gets filled with only positive coverage about him. Agencies are cropping up that focus exclusively on Generation Z. The Westin hotel in Buffalo, NY, is putting an Amazon Echo in every room. Ask Alexa for a toothbrush […]

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For Immediate Release 96: The crisis that keeps on giving

Neville Hobson Leave a comment Artificial Intelligence, Business, Communication, Employee Communication, For Immediate Release, Marketing, Public Relations, Reputation, Social Media, Social Networks, Technology, Trends, Workplace

In the July installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report, Shel and I talked about these topics: A 15-year-old participating in a work experience program took over the Twitter account of the beleaguered Southern Rail in the UK. The response to #AskEddie was undoubtedly a welcome break for Southern Rail’s social media team, but what did it ultimately accomplish? The online publication Quartz experiments with display-type ads in the text of stories that let users ask an artificial intelligence-based chatbot named Hugo for more information about just the stuff you’re interested in. Will artificial intelligence eventually take over the creative side of content marketing? Takata’s air bag crisis is in its second decade, leading ultimately to the once-mighty company’s bankruptcy. […]

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SDF podcast 9: Either back to the future or fast forward to a new normal

Neville Hobson Leave a comment Business, Communication, Mainstream Media, Marketing, Politics, Public Relations, Small Data Forum, Social Media, Social Networks, Society, Technology, Trends, Web
Thought / via Pixabay CC0

In the latest episode 9 of The Small Data Forum podcast, hosted by Thomas Stoeckle in conversation with regulars Sam Knowles and me, we enjoyed a wide-ranging, lively conversation over the course of 45 minutes on topics as diverse as the 2017 general election campaign (what went wrong for Theresa May and the Conservatives with a clear focus on the politics) and the latest global communications report from the Annenberg School of Communications (we focused especially on PR and AVE). Writer of the show notes for this episode is Sam: News is neither a fixed nor a finite entity. There are some periods in history when it feels like there’s just more happening than at others. I’m not talking about […]

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