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Pundits are proclaiming social media dead (or dying), and they have data to back up their beliefs. If it’s true, what does it mean — for society, for networking, and for business? Neville and Shel examine the evidence and trends and discuss the implications at the 7:03 mark of the monthly long-form episode for November. Also in this episode:

• ChatGPT pauses new signups and other news (32:25)
• A look at ChatGPT’s GPT Builder (38:57)
• The state of news on social media (1:00:42)
• Generative AI and journalism (1:12:54)
• A high-profile executive’s fake Twitter accounts (1:17:07)
• In his Tech Report, Dan York talks about Twitter’s woes, WhatsApp news, Automattic backing off Tumblr growth, and the Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year (51:28)

Join our Discord! Email fircomments@gmail.com for an invite.

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, November 20.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email 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. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog. Neville’s Asides blog is also available.

Links from this episode:

• Is Social Media Dying? What That Could Mean for Marketers
• First-Gen Social Media Users Have Nowhere to Go
• The Age of Social Media Is Ending
• Social media is doomed to die
• Sam Altman (@sama) on X
• OpenAI Status – Incident History
• OpenAI pauses ChatGPT Plus sign-ups as capacity exceeded
• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman departs the company and leaves its board after a board review found he wasn’t “consistently candid in his communications with the board”
• Neville Hobson (@nevillehobson) on Threads
• OpenAI has put ChatGPT Plus sign-ups on pause
• Introducing GPTs
• With GPT Builder you can create your own personalised ChatGPT
• Neville Hobson on LinkedIn: With GPT Builder you can create your own personalised ChatGPT
• Personalized A.I. Agents Are Here. Is the World Ready for Them?
• The Best of OpenAI’s New GPTs, Ranked
• The 23 Best GPTs of 2023 (Weekly Updates)
• Is Threads winning the war with X?
• Twitter’s decentralized offshoot Bluesky now has 2 million users
• Social media traffic to top news sites craters
• Instagram head says Threads is ‘not going to amplify news on the platform’
• Blue-Checked, ‘Verified’ Users on X Produce 74 Percent of the Platform’s Most Viral False or Unsubstantiated Claims Relating to the Israel-Hamas War
• The hate speech problem on X: a test of conscience for users and brands
• Telegraph journalists told use of ChatGPT will result in same sanctions as plagiarism
• ChatGPT six months on: Insight from 12 news leaders on generative AI and journalism
• Global State of the Media Report from Cision (PDF)
• HBO Chief Casey Bloys Concedes Fake Twitter Accounts Were a “Very Dumb Idea”
• HBO Bosses Used ‘Secret’ Fake Accounts to Troll TV Critics
• The Hand That Controls the Sock Puppet Could Get Slapped (Published 2007)

Links from Dan York’s Report

• How 13 news publishers are using WhatsApp Channels
• WhatsApp Privacy Checkup: Know the features and how to use it
• WhatsApp releases new security features to protect users’ IP addresses
• WhatsApp is adding a new way to voice chat with large groups
• WhatsApp Adds New Audio Chat Option for Groups
• Mark Zuckerberg Taps the Strengths of WhatsApp
• Mark Zuckerberg says WhatsApp is the ‘next chapter’ for Meta and could become a bedrock for business messaging
• Tumblr is betting big on going small
• Tumblr is downscaling after failing to ‘turn around’ the site
• ‘Hallucinate’ chosen as Cambridge dictionary’s word of the year
• Hallucinate is Cambridge Dictionary AI-inspired word of 2023

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