Reading Time: < 1 min People talk about “the algorithm” incessantly, and for good reason. If you’re sharing content online you want it to be seen, and the algorithm is a big piece of that in many cases. Chasing the algorithm is one way to approach business, and it’s one that we certainly take from time to time. Depending on […]
Social Media
Almost all word of mouth is still offline
Reading Time: 2 min There are a lot of influences in our lives, but word of mouth is still the top reason why people buy products and services. Ads are important, marketing is important, but people buy most often based on what other people have to say. Of that word of mouth, how much happens online? Most people guess […]
Just a little bit can ruin your day
Reading Time: < 1 min It’s amazing how little it can take to put us in a bad mood. This can come from other people, but it can also come from just a bit of negative news. In his book “Big Potential“, author Shawn Achor shares this surprising bit of insight: “Indeed, we found that just a few minutes spent […]
You can escape the algorithms, but you need to work for it
Reading Time: 2 min We all hear many people complaining about “the algorithms” on social media, and it’s often a legit complaint. At best, the algorithms show us a bunch of stuff we didn’t ask for. As worst, they could be affecting political outcomes. Part of the problem is the algorithms themselves, but the other part is our overall […]
Social media is an empty vessel
Reading Time: < 1 min Many people complain about social media, and often rightfully so. While it can be an amazing tool, there are significant downsides to it. We can talk about the pros and cons of each, but I think TikTok is a unique case among all others. It’s the most vilified by politicians, but it’s also the most […]
The algorithm can make social media really weird
Reading Time: 2 min While it seems the digital world is becoming more real-time, traditional social media is becoming more algorithm-driven and can lead to some weird posts. For example, here is a post from a friend that I saw earlier this year. The post appeared for me a few days after it was posted, and I have literally […]
Creating “zero click” content
Reading Time: 2 min As I mentioned a few weeks ago, a growing problem with Google is the number of “zero click” searches on there — searches that don’t lead to another click, because Google answered the question for you. It’s generally a good thing for users, but it’s a bad thing for companies wanting to get more website […]
Attention spans aren’t getting shorter
Reading Time: < 1 min It’s popular to say that our attention spans are getting shorter (though not like a goldfish), but that may not be entirely true. Studies are mixed, but it’s not clear that they’re getting shorter. Tools like TikTok help play into this idea, where users are fed an endless stream of very short videos to help […]
Theoretically altruistic journalism
Reading Time: 2 min The latest episode of the “You’re Wrong About” podcast focuses on phones, and makes the argument that phones are generally a good thing for people to have — even teens. Included in the show was a discussion on the potential ban of TikTok, where they shared: And it’s not about improving these systems or improving […]
If your goal is to bring people to your website, don’t immediately ask them to leave
Reading Time: 2 min An interesting trend I’ve noticed over the last few years is for websites to include links to their social media platforms at the very top of the site. It seems counter-productive to work hard to bring users to your website, only to immediately ask them to go off to Facebook or Instagram instead. There are […]