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The August installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report includes reports on these stories:
- Whatever it turns out to be, the metaverse is absolutely coming as the next iteration of the internet
- An update on NFTs: They have more staying power than we originally predicted
- Unpacking the vicious cycle of anger, hostility, and outrage on social networks
- Internal communicators need to get more involved in how managers manage
- Shades of Dooced! How a boss discovering a secret blog changed an employee at a company in Belgium
Our FIR recording sessions are now being streamed live, because why not? We already stream it in order to capture a backup recording on YouTube; we’ve just been making these restricted streams. We have decided to make them public so you can watch and comment. Our next recording is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, September 22 at noon ET. You’ll see our pre-recording conversation as well as seeing how the sausage gets made. Watch live here.
(You can watch the video of the making of this episode, though it’s clearly too late to share comments we can read right into the show.)
We are hosting an FIR Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday during the stay-at-home period at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly or request the credentials in our Facebook group or send an email to fircomments@gmail.com.
Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.
You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Neville’s link blog, Outbox, is available, as well.
Host Notes
- Neville is participating in an “unhurried conversation” with Johnny Moore about social warming, a topic covered in this episode of FIR: “Is technology making us too vehement? How can we steer away from instant outrage online?” Join Neville and Johnny at 11 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, September 1, and join in the conversation. Register for free
- On Wednesday, August 25, Shel will join cybersecurity and ransomware extortion expert JD Myers to discuss the chilling, widespread impact of cybersecurity threats. We’ll also share expert advice for strategic preparation to mitigate risk, and communication tactics should the worst-case scenario occur. Learn how professional communicators and executives can prepare for impact as the threat of ransomware extortion increases at a pandemic frenzy worldwide. Hosted by IABC DC Metro, this Zoom event is free to IABC members and $10 for non-members. Register
- Join Shel’s internal communication BEAM (a short-form social audio service)
Links from This Month’s Episode
- Wikipedia’s entry on the metaverse
- What is the metaverse? 2 experts explain
- Facebook launches VR remote work app, calling it a step to the ‘metaverse’
- Mark in the Metaverse: Facebook’s CEO on why the social network is becoming ‘a metaverse company’
- The coming battle over the metaverse
- Why Silicon Valley is betting on making this dystopian sci-fi idea a reality
- Are We in the Metaverse Yet?
- How the Virtual World “Second Life” is a Showcase of the Metaverse – My Thoughts about Doug Antin’s Article on Medium
- Facebook, Roblox See the ‘Metaverse’ as Key to the Internet’s Next Phase
- Inside Facebook’s Metaverse for Work
- Unity’s John Riccitiello is a strong believer in the metaverse
- A peek into the metaverse: How to prevent a virtual world from becoming a dystopian nightmare
- NFT Sector Snapshot
- 5 brands that are experimenting with NFTs
- Times Square Set to Host Digital Billboard Featuring NFT Content
- Unpicking the vicious cycle of anger, hostility, and outrage on social networks
- SOCIAL WARMING: THE DANGEROUS AND POLARISING EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA
- ‘Likes’ and ‘shares’ teach people to express more outrage online
- Young Workers Want Good Communication, Not Perks
- Coaching is in, but managers aren’t ready, Forrester says
- The Effect of Respect: Respectful Communication at Work Drives Resiliency, Engagement, and Job Satisfaction among Early Career Employees
- A moment that changed me: my boss discovered my secret blog
- Emma Beddington’s Twitter Account
- Urban Dictionary: Dooced
- Wikipedia entry for Heather Armstrong’s Dooced
Links from Dan York’s Report
- Twitter Spaces updates make it easier to share and discover live audio
- Twitter Spaces tweet on updates
- In growing battle with TikTok, Facebook to test “Facebook Reels” in the US
- Reddit is quietly rolling out a TikTok-like video feed button on iOS
- TikTok is testing a Snapchat-style stories feature
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About Shel Holtz
Back when I got online in 1985, BITNET Relay was populated almost exclusively by undergrads at computer schools and their somewhat-older counterparts who worked for campus IT support. Some of those channels were pretty no-holds-barred–people really believed they were anonymous. (One of the guys who was often using the mainframe when I was pretended to be female so he’d get more attention.) Usenet in the 1990s was notorious for its flame wars.
But that actually pales in comparison to the newspapers of the late 19th and early 20th century in small-town America, which published outright lies to stir up lynch mobs and burn down black-owned businesses. I don’t know when journalistic ethics was invented, but it must have been pretty recently, and it would have been very tough to do any fact-checking if anyone had actually been interested in knowing the facts.
Social media has provided that kind of platform to a lot more people–though in fact, only people with a lot of followers, who usually had a platform already, can incite mob-sized mobs. But humans are predators and we are attracted to the scent of blood the way sharks are.
I’m not sure that the ability to like and share things would lead to inciting riots all by itself, but the business model of social networks does. The algorithms feed us more of what we engage with so we’ll stick around to be exposed to their ads, and we engage with things that scandalize and outrage us. There’s no economic incentive to leave the scandal and outrage neglected and promote thoughtful discussions.