Neville Hobson

Welcome to my website. I’m a believer in an Internet for everyone, decentralized and accessible to all. Yet still half the planet has no access. I’m an early adopter and player with social media, yet mostly seeing how it works to benefit platforms and advertisers who show little genuine care for the rights and privacy of the users of those platforms. And I’m an experimenter with Web 3, trying to balance the enormous possibilities with the risks in order to see what’s next.

Here – at the intersection of business, communication and technology – I analyze and discuss trends, behaviours and practices in social and digital communication to help you (and I) understand the new landscapes and what they mean for each of us. Thanks for visiting.

Latest Articles

  • Whether scraping data for generative AI training infringes copyright is a matter for debate
    A thorny issue in the broad area of generative AI concerns copyright and how or whether it applies in activities involving the gathering of data about images, texts and other content for use by AI publishers. Specifically, such use would be using the data gathered, with permission if required, as…
  • A podcasting journey evolves: meet the Podnosticators
    Podcasting is an activity that I love. From my first steps into this field in late 2004, I now host and co-host three business podcasts. One of these is The Small Data Forum monthly podcast that started in May 2016. Nearly seven years and 74 episodes later, Sam Knowles, Thomas…
  • It looks like PR has its head in the sand about AI
    [This topic is proving to be one attracting great interest with other people publishing opinion and insight on AI and PR. I’ll update this content periodically: see ‘Updated’ links at the end of this article.] While attention on and interest in artificial intelligence as a tool to aid and amplify…
  • As Bing AI search joins the chatbot space let’s look at some realism amongst the excitement
    In the latest monthly episode of the For Immediate Release podcast, Shel Holtz and I take a deep dive into some of the stories behind some of the extraordinary headlines over the past 30 days about artificial intelligence, chatbots, Mastodon, the metaverse, and much more. Mainstream and social media alike…
  • Renewable Energy: Taking aim at Net Zero
    As the world increasingly turns its attention to sustainable energy sources, renewable energy has become a necessary part of achieving the goal of net zero emissions. Net zero is the ultimate aim when it comes to addressing climate change, and renewable energy provides an essential tool in reaching that goal.…
  • Perspectives on a Twitter-Mastodon tweetup-tootup
    A few weeks ago, a small handful of people got together in a coffee shop in Reading to enjoy some good coffee and talk about the state of social media and developments with social networks. The conversation was clearly focused on Mastodon and Twitter. This was the Twitter-Mastodon Open House…
  • Mastodon is becoming experiential
    When people obsess about numbers, it looks like either success or failure must be imminent. So it is at the moment with Mastodon, the much talked-about potential alternative to Twitter as the latter continues its path through turmoil towards an unknown future. By some accounts, the bubble has burst on…
  • Illustrating innovation
    In May 2022, the first episode of Ideas to Innovation podcast Season 2 from Clarivate brought into sharp focus the devastating impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on scientific research and innovation in that country. In December, episode 9 shone a spotlight on the work of two highly-cited researchers…
  • The new face of Twitter verification
    Last week Twitter relaunched Twitter Blue, its new subscription service that offers premium features like account verification and a range of services such as greater prominence for your tweets, the ability to edit your tweets after publication, and to see less ads. It costs $8 per month ($11 per month…

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Podcasts

For Immediate Release
The Small Data Forum Podcast
Ideas to Innovation Season 2
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