It’s only a vision at this point, but technology companies like Facebook are aiming to make the metaverse the setting for many online activities, including work, play, studying and shopping. How do we ensure everyone has a say in how it develops? It's a question Shel and I considered in the primary discussion in the August episode of The Hobson & Holtz Report aka episode 210 of the For Immediate Release podcast published on August 23. We started with a definition. Wikipedia's is … [Read more...] about Considering the forthcoming metaverse
Trends
Unpicking the vicious cycle of anger, hostility, and outrage on social networks
If you've been wondering why footballers get racially abused online all the time, why some people make disgusting death threats on social networks, or why presumably otherwise sensible celebrities say offensive things in their tweets about other people, a new book may well provide the light bulb of clarity you've been seeking. It's certainly something I've wondered about: why, in the past few years, has there been such a significant and notable increase in vile behaviours online where people … [Read more...] about Unpicking the vicious cycle of anger, hostility, and outrage on social networks
Moving the podcast market
News that Apple's new podcast subscription service is being delayed until June because Apple needs to tweak the Apple Podcasts app is a good reminder of how important the user experience is and ensuring it delivers on expectations. It's also a great illustration of how a market moved. In the early homebrew days of podcasting, it was common for many podcasts to sound like they'd been recorded in the back of a garden shed on a rainy day, or the recording was somehow transmitted from the far … [Read more...] about Moving the podcast market
Subscribe or Follow a podcast: What’s in a word?
I subscribe to a lot of podcasts. Until now, I've never thought much about the word 'subscribe' and its meaning in the context of podcasts. To get a podcast, you subscribe to it. That's the way it's been since the dawn of podcasting back in the early 00s when we spoke of using a podcatcher to get your content. We needed to know about things like RSS feeds, the prime method for enabling your podcatcher to get a podcast each time one is published. While these things made it relatively easy … [Read more...] about Subscribe or Follow a podcast: What’s in a word?
Get to know ‘non-fungible tokens,’ NFT for short
A phrase you'll probably be hearing or reading about quite a bit in the coming weeks and months is 'non-fungible tokens.' I'd not come across it until I read a Reuters report about a guy who sold a 10-second video artwork by the digital artist known as Beeple for $6.6 million at a Christies auction in Florida last month. He'd bought it last October for just $67 thousand. Nice ROI! While this in itself is an interesting tale, what makes it a notable one is two things: The video clip was … [Read more...] about Get to know ‘non-fungible tokens,’ NFT for short
The Internet and a brighter future
Most people would agree that what we have experienced over the past 12 months has changed - in a lasting manner - the ways in which we share information and communicate with each other, whether for business or for pleasure. Indeed, the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated far-reaching change in ways that no one could accurately have predicted in 2019. Communications technology and the Internet are central to all of this and are at the heart of discussion I had in late January with Paul … [Read more...] about The Internet and a brighter future
SDF 43: The wearing away of trust
In the first episode in 2021 of our monthly Small Data Forum podcast, Thomas, Sam, and I discussed the big picture of Trump and what's next for him, Joe Biden and America post-Trump, and in the context of our predictions in episode 42 in December. Those predictions weren't that shabby, as it turns out. We considered what social media is: platform, publisher, or leech, which provoked some lively and trenchant opinion. We pondered the consequences and outcomes of the Capitol riots or … [Read more...] about SDF 43: The wearing away of trust
FIR 202: We Regret any Inconvenience
Of all the topics Shel and I discussed in the December episode of The Hobson & Holtz Report aka FIR 202, published last week, two in particular stand out for me. The first addresses the way in which organisations make apologies to their customers and other stakeholders. With lockdowns, shutdowns and economic gloominess everywhere, the current pandemic provides so many opportunities to do it and do it right. Unfortunately, while the pandemic has sparked an outbreak of corporate … [Read more...] about FIR 202: We Regret any Inconvenience