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GenZers are recording their firings and layoffs, and the videos are going viral on TikTok and elsewhere. This is shining a harsh spotlight on organizations’ approach to letting people go, and it’s not pretty. What’s worse is how some companies plot to avoid being subjects of these videos. Also, in this episode:

• Bluesky has taken its first big steps into the fediverse as two protocols battle it out for supremacy in the 21st century of the VHS-Betamax wars, but there may be alternatives in play.
• Most big legacy news organizations are blocking the crawlers OpenAI sends out onto the web to collect content to train its models. This has implications for AI’s ability to deliver news in response to prompts, but it also has implications for journalism.
• The ethics ratings of virtually every profession have fallen in the U.S., regardless of the industries in which these professionals might work. Does this put the onus for strengthening ethical behavior on professional associations, and what, exactly, can they do about it?
• LinkedIn offers users an “Open to Work” badge to let others know you’re seeking new employment. Does it work, and are there other consequences for showing so blatantly that you’re looking for a job?
• The Apple Vision Pro is out, and while marketers are exploring ways to deliver their messages in mixed-reality environments, a lot of people are sending their headsets back to Apple and looking for a refund.
• In his Tech Report, Dan York shares his thoughts on the Bluesky announcement. He also discusses how Google is killing independent websites, Google’s $60-million payout to Reddit so it can train its models on Reddit’s content, Reddit’s plans to go public, and WhatsApp’s introduction of markdown-style formatting.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays 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.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this podcast are Shel’s and Neville’s and do not reflect the views of their employers and/or clients.

Links from this episode:

• OpenAI’s Sora text-to-video tool
• YouTube video featuring all of OpenAI’s Sora demo videos
• Bluesky opens up federation, letting anyone run their own server | TechCrunch
• Dave Lee (@davelee.bsky.social)
• bluesky (@bluesky) on X
• bluesky (@bluesky) on X
• Bluesky and Mastodon users are having a fight that could shape the next generation of social media | TechCrunch
• Can’t decide between Bluesky, Mastodon and Nostr? Nootti’s new app lets you post to all three. | TechCrunch
• Twitterrific’s team is back with Tapestry, an app for tracking social media, news, RSS and more
• Gen Zers are recording themselves getting fired in growing TikTok trend
• Ted Merz, CFA on LinkedIn: A friend told me a story about a guy in finance who recently got… | 167 comments (LinkedIn)
• “Watch Me Get Fired” Videos Are Going Viral: 7 Tips for Employers to Navigate New Trend | JD Supra
• A corporate employee sparked a workplace-etiquette debate after posting a 10-minute TikTok seemingly showing herself getting fired
• Viral layoff videos reflect a sea change in work culture
• Most big legacy news publishers across 10 countries are blocking OpenAI’s crawlers, report finds
• How many news websites block AI crawlers?
• Neville Hobson (@nevillehobson) on Threads
• Ethics Ratings of Nearly All Professions Down in U.S.
• Which professions have the most honest people, poll results may surprise you
• Disillusioned Americans are losing faith in almost every profession
• How to improve ethics in the workplace ¦ cHRysos HR Solutions
• What You Can Do to Improve Ethics at Your Company
• Is Using LinkedIn’s ‘Open to Work’ Badge Helping or Hurting Your Job Search?
• Apple Vision Pro and digital marketing—how brands can win on a new frontier
• Why So Many People Are Returning the Apple Vision Pro
• Apple Vision Pro vs. Meta Quest—how marketers view the competing headsets
• Council Post: What Apple’s Vision Pro Means For AR And VR Advertising
• Revolutionizing Media Marketing: The Impact of Apple Vision Pro
• I recorded spatial videos to view on Vision Pro and Quest 3 and you can download them

Links from Dan York’s Report

• How Google is killing independent sites like ours – HouseFresh
• Google working on new ‘content-forward’ ways to surface more Reddit
• Reddit files to list IPO on NYSE under the ticker RDDT
• WhatsApp adds new text formatting options to improve messaging

About Shel Holtz

Shel Holtz, SCMP, ABC, IABC Fellow, is senior director of 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