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In February’s long-form Hobson and Holtz Report, Neville and Shel spend more than half the show with news and commentary about a variety of Web3 elements, including the metaverse, NFTs, DAOs, cryptocurrency, and blockchain — all of it from the perspective of the impact these fast-emerging technologies will have on public relations and organizational communication. In the first part of the episode, the focus is on three non-Web3 stories:

• How to make a good first digital impression
• The communication industry’s responsibility for addressing non-binary and trans matters
• The UK’s online safety law undergoing revisions to stamp out illegal content

In his Tech Report, Dan York reports on “static videos” becoming a thing on Instagram, a British band’s protest against Spotify’s algorithm, a Twitter test to send DMs by bypassing the DM button on your profile, Wired’s review of the messaging app Telegram, the release of WordPress 5.9, and a new project Dan’s working on.

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, March 21, 2022.

We are hosting a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday 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.

Links from this episode:

• Your digital impression is your first impression, here’s how to make it count
• The industry has a problem with binaries
• Trans and Non-Binary Representation is Going Mainstream in Advertising
• TikTok Bars Deadnaming, Updates Rules on Hate Speech
• Five Ways Communications Professionals Can Support Their Transgender Colleagues When They Come Out in the Workplace
• Gender-Neutral Marketing
• Exclusive: 2022 could be most anti-trans legislative years in history, report says
• Online safety law to be strengthened to stamp out illegal content
• Online Safety Bill: UK’s new porn age verification plans explained
• Wikipedia Listing: Online Safety Bill

Links from Web3 Report

Metaverse

• Foo Fighters to Perform Exclusive Concert in VR in Horizon Venues After Super Bowl LVI on Sunday
• The Brooklyn Nets Debut Metaverse Technology
• A New Way to Watch Hoops
• The Metaverse Isn’t Quite a CX Revolution Yet
• Three Brands Making Metaverse Moves with Their Own Virtual Destinations
• YouTube Set for the Metaverse World, Beginning with Gaming
• Have You Meta? A Guide to Social Climbing in the Digital Age
• Decentraland Hosts First Metaverse Fashion Week
• What Fashion Week Looks Like in the Metaverse
• McDonald’s is Planning to Open Restaurants in the Metaverse
• Chinese Metaverse to Look Different Than the Rest of the Worlds

NFTs

• Neville’s NFT Auction (ends February 14)
• Disney Is Looking for a Business Developer with NFT Experience
• Coachella Will Sell Lifetime Festival Passes with NFTs
• This Tampa Bay Home is Being Sold as an NFT
• The world’s first NFT house has been sold for more than $500,000
• Super Bowl 2022 Tickets Will Come with NFTs
• GameStop launches NFT marketplace on Immutable X, creates $100M dev fund
• Pak NFT Sold to Benefit Julian Assange Goes for $52.7 M.
• Wealthy NFT Owners Are Taking Out Loans Backed by Bored Apes, CryptoPunks
• New Alfa Romeo SUV Equipped with NFT Blockchain Technology
• Why Formula One is Embracing NFTs Despite the Critics
• Gibson Planning to Sell NFTs of Its Most Famous Guitars
• NFT Group Buys Copy of Dune for $266 Million Believing It Gives Them Copyright
• How Brands Are Using NFTs: A Continually Updated List

NFTs and Trust

• NFTs Have a Trust Problem and It Needs to Be Fixed
• NFTs: 4 Piracy and Copyright Essentials for Buyers and Sellers
• Web3: Solving Trust Issues with Math

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)

• DAOs Aren’t a Fad — They’re A Platform
• VITA Dao

Blockchain

• BlockScan Chat

Cryptocurrency

• Maybe There’s A Use for Crypto After All

Miscellaneous

• JUMP, the Discord group for marketers, advertising professionals, and creators to learn Web3

Links from Dan York’s Report

• Why static video memes are all over Instagram
• Spotify: British band to release 1,000-track album of 30-second songs in royalty rate protest
• Meta adds 3D avatars to Instagram Stories, with updates for Messenger and Facebook
• Twitter’s direct DM test is a terrible idea
• How Telegram Became the Anti-Facebook
• WordPress 5.9 “Josephine”
• What Is a LEO Satellite System—and Can It Help Build a Bigger Internet?

About Shel Holtz

Shel Holtz, ABC (Accredited Business Communicator), is director of Internal Communications at Webcor, a commercial general contractor headquartered in San Francisco. Before joining Webcor, Shel spent 21 years as principal of Holtz Communication + Technology. In addition to integrating technology into communications strategies, his expertise includes strategic communications planning, change management, organizational culture, business initiatives and communications research. Full bio

About Neville Hobson

Neville Hobson is a communicator, social strategist, consultant, digital change agent, writer, and podcaster. He is co-founder and co-host of the 'For Immediate Release' podcast. Since 2000, his career has focused on working with organisations globally to help them leverage his experiences, knowledge and subject-matter expertise of social networks, social media marketing, analytics and insights reporting, to create and build foundations for authentic engagement and to expand online reach and influence. Full bio