The Guardian reports on a rise in complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the UK advertising regulator, who says ‘influencers’ on social media sites such as Instagram and Twitter fail to declare that they are being paid to publicise products. The newspaper defines 'influencers' thus: Social media celebrities who have large and engaged followings online. They get paid money to publicise products and can command tens of thousands for one post. This is about disclosure where … [Read more...] about Social media stars breaching rules on promoting brands, watchdog says
For Immediate Release 100: Locked and Loaded
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 … [Read more...] about For Immediate Release 100: Locked and Loaded
For Immediate Release 96: The crisis that keeps on giving
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 … [Read more...] about For Immediate Release 96: The crisis that keeps on giving
Instagramming NYFW
A frequent topic over the past year on the FIR podcast that my co-host Shel Holtz and I have pondered and discussed is the rise of visual communication. A key reference point for us was the interview we did in August 2012 with Brian McNely on Instagram as a medium for image-power and his research with case histories on what brands do with Instagram. Today, video has come up alongside static images with tools like Vine and Instagram's video feature that make it incredibly easy and simple … [Read more...] about Instagramming NYFW
Instagram ups the game with video
The stakes in the market for quick-video apps on mobile devices were raised a few bars yesterday with the release of a new version of Instagram that enables you to record video clips. Twitter-owned quick-video app Vine captured imaginations when it launched earlier this year for iPhones with the ability it gives to anyone to record short six-second videos of anything their smartphone camera sees. Business-focused users were quick to see its potential in marketing communication, with many … [Read more...] about Instagram ups the game with video