HC+T Briefing: Is This News or Opinion?

 
From: "HC+T Update" <shel@holtz.com>
Subject: HC+T Briefing: Is This News or Opinion?
Date: August 18th 2017

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The Big Stories

Facebook shuts down anonymous employee discussion group -- During my consulting gig with the Asian Development Bank in Manila this week, the issue of anonymous employee contributions came up. It's a topic I've been discussing for at least a decade. In general, I'm not a fan of anonymity on intranets. If Tom reads something brilliant Mary wrote and wants to make a connection, he's out of luck if Mary shared her post anonymously. There are times, though, when anonymity makes sense. That was the case with a Facebook discussion group dedicated to workplace concerns and complaints. The group, Facebook Anon, began attracting right-leaning employees ahead of the 2016 presidential election, leading to potential harassment and a decision last December to shut it down. Some employees were dismayed, noting that the group gave right-leaning employees a voice. The anonymous nature of the group actually violated company policy, which requires employees to display their real names. Upon disabling the group, Facebook directed employees to other places where employees could have confidential discussions. The takeaway: Anonymity is dicey in internal discussion groups. When it makes sense, companies need to go to great lengths to make sure the purpose of the group is clear, then monitor the group (possibly with employee volunteer community moderators) to ensure posts comply with the theme). In all other cases, the company needs to be clear that posts require employees to use their real names.Read more

Work can be abusive and stressful -- Tell us something we don't know, right? A study from RAND, Harvard Medical School, and UCLA found 20% of workers have experienced verbal abuse, threats, humiliating behavior, or unwanted sexual attention at work in the past month, or bullying, harassment, or sexual harassment in the last year. Additionally, 25% say they don't have enough time to do their jobs and 50% say they do some work in their free time. Two-thirds of all workers say they often work under right deadlines or at high speed. Workers who have good bosses -- or bosses who respect, praise, and work with them, and give good feedback -- were less likely to have workers who reported verbal or physical threats. Workers mostly believe they have some autonomy on the job and are confident in their skills. Those in service jobs and without a college degree, though, say they don't have much control over their work schedules, some getting schedule changes the day of work or the day before. Nearly 80% of workers are required to show up at the workplace during regular work hours (as opposed to having the option to work remotely), and 61% of women and 53% of men say they have very good friends at work. Fifty-five percent of workers say they are exposed to physical risks at work. The takeaway: This data should rouse anyone working on recruiting, retention, or engagement. How many employee communicators have addressed harassment or bullying in the workplace? My guess: It's not a priority. If I managed employee communications, I'd start telling stories of harassment and discussing its impact. Similarly, I'd shine a light on managers whose styles limit this kind of behavior. Read more

Amazon launches a social network -- I have reported here that Amazon was planning to launch a new social network. Amazon Spark is now a reality. Don't count on discussions about presidential politics or cat videos, though. According to Amazon, Spark is "a place to discover things from people who share your interests. Whether you're looking for inspiration for home décor or seeking advice for the best long-distance running shoes, Spark makes it easy to discover—and shop—stories and ideas from a community that likes what you like." Call it a social shopping experience, with users posting items they have or want. They can run comparison polls, asking their network for input, and curate content by following interests or people. Every item you post can be tagged, which will connect consumers to the product page. Brands and businesses can't post to the network or even set up an account yet, but they're welcome to use influencers to post on their behalf. All Amazon users can access Spark but you need a Prime account to post and comment. For now, you need the iPhone app to see Spark. The takeaway: As an Android user, I can't even take a look at Spark yet, but I suspect it will become a big deal in part because of the slow, deliberate rollout. if you think Facebook is able to deliver content you care about because of the data it has about you, imagine what Amazon will be able to do with your purchase and browsing history. If it does grow, it could have an impact on Facebook and Google's advertising. Read more

News

Justice Department demands data on visitors to anti-Trump site -- The U.S. Justice Department has demanded that web host provider Dreamhost hand over data about more than 1.3 million visitors to DisruptJ20, a website opposing the Trump administration. Dreamhost is pushing back against the warrant, claiming it will let the government create a list of administration critics. The hosting company claims the warrant violates the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable search and seizure. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is representing Dreamhost, calling the order unconstitutional. The EFF said, "No plausible explanation exists for a search warrant of this breadth, other than to cast a digital dragnet as broadly as possible." Read more

Facebook disrupts influencer marketing in a big way -- Facebook has introduced a feature that lets influencers tag they brands they're working with, after which the brands can pay to boost those posts without having to share them first. Brands will be able to choose which content creators can tag them. Stats will inform them about the reach, engagement, total spend, and CPM to assess how effective the influencers were at spreading their posts. Marketers are worried that Facebook will suppress influencers' posts if the brands don't pay to boost them, which would make it very expensive to run an influencer campaign. So far, the change affects only Facebook, but given that Facebook owns Instagram -- the top venue for influencer marketing -- you can expect the same feature to appear there soon. Read more

Facebook fights click bait video -- Spammers have employed an insidious bit of deceit to trick people into clicking. Their articles include an image with a play button. Share the article and people who see it will think it's a video, but when they click, they are taken instead to the ad. I have reported before about the trick of posting a static image in video format as a way to get around Facebook's video-favoring algorithm. Now Facebook is using AI to analyze visual content and identify these deceptive practices, saying "publishers that rely on these intentionally deceptive practices should expect the distribution of those click bait stories to markedly decrease." Read more

Court tells LinkedIn it can't stop bots -- A third-party service called HiQ Labs has been using bots to scrape public data from LinkedIn, leading the business-focused social network to send the company a cease-and-desist letter. Now, a court has found HiQ is doing nothing illegal and ordered the company to remove any technical blocks it has put in place to keep the company from grabbing users' data. HiQ uses the data to help clients "determine skills gaps or turnover risks months ahead of time, and a platform that shows you how and where to focus your efforts." Read more

Brand tie-ins may eclipse the actual eclipse -- The total eclipse of the sun doesn't happen until Monday, but I'm already tired of hearing what so many brands will do to leverage the astronomical event. Among the companies with advertising tie-ins: Dunkin' Donuts, Krispy Creme, Denny's Cracker Barrel, Malibu Rum, Royal Caribbean, The Weather Channel, Airbnb, and Warby Parker. Read morefs

Snap execs are selling their shares -- As Snap's share price continues to fall and the post-IPO lockup has expired, at least three executives have sold their shares. The co-founders have not after committing during the most recent earnings call to hang on to their shares for the rest of the year. Read more

Those Snap Spectacles aren't a success -- Snap Spectacles, the glasses that let you take Snap photos and videos, may have generated a lot of buzz, but they haven't produced the sales to go with it. They have sold only 41,500 pairs in its most recent quarter, compared to 64,000 in the first quarter, a decline of about 35%. That's not good news for Snap, which calls itself a camera company. Read more

Snapchat shares fall 17% -- More bad news for Snap: Its shares fell 17% after its most recent quarterly results fell short of Wall Street expectations. Losses quadrupled compared to the same period a year ago and investors are worried about Snapchat's growth prospects. As of this writing, Snap has recovered a bit, up to $14.01 from the $12 it hit on August 10. That's still $5 short of its $17 IPO price. Read more

Facebook knows what you do on your phone -- A report from claims Facebook has gathered data from 24 million users of a free VPN app created by a Facebook-owned company. The data has allowed Facebook to gain insights into people's app and website habits, including the apps they use, how often they use them, and how long they use them for. Facebook is reportedly using this data to shape the company's product road map. For instance, the data led the company to acquire WhatsApp and to add a Stories feature to Instagram. The data is so precise, Facebook knew how many Snapchat snaps users sent every day. Read more

Bill Gates joins Instagram -- Bill Gates became an Instagram user while in Tanzania, sharing a couple photos related to his work on behalf of his foundation. Those three photos remain the only ones on the account, but he has gained more than a quarter million followers since sharing them. Read more

Charlottesville and its Aftermath

Obama's tweet is the most-liked ever -- Given U.S. President Donald Trump's Twitter obsession, he must be seething over one Barack Obama tweet in response to Charlottesville, which became the most-liked tweet ever with 3.4 million likes. Obama "now holds over half the positions on the list of the top five most-liked tweets." Read more

Internet firms take action -- With white supremacists flexing violent muscles, Internet companies are joining the backlash against them. Twitter, LinkedIn, Spotify, Facebook, and GoDaddy have all taken steps to block or cut off hate groups and remove their material. The Nazi site Daily Stormer was dropped by GoDaddy, which had hosted the site, and CloudFlare, which protects sites from denial-of-service attacks, stopped protecting the site. Twitter has suspended accounts liked to Daily Stormer, and Facebook has been removing pages from Facebook and Instagram associated with hate speech or hate organizations. Reddit closed down a discussion community that supported the Charlottesville rally and Spotify removed musical acts that have been identified as racist "hate bands" by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Read more

Google shuts down Daily Stormer domain and YouTube site -- Google has withdrawn domain registration support for the neo-Nazi site, The Daily Stormer, and shut down its YouTube channel. After GoDaddy pulled the plug on The Daily Stormer, it moved to Google Domains but lasted only a few hours there before Google revoked its registration. Google asserted the content violated its terms of service that prohibit content that incites violence. Read more

PayPal pulls services from hate sites -- Payment site PayPal is pulling its services that accept payments or raise funds to promote hate, violence, and intolerance. In a statement, the company said, "We work to ensure that our services are not used to accept payments or donations for activities that promote hate, violence, or racial intolerance. This includes organizations that advocate racist views, such as the KKK, white supremacist groups, or Nazi groups." Read more

Crowdsourced Google Doc lists Confederate monuments -- A Google Sheets document from Mic asked users to list Confederate monuments they know about that sit on public U.S. land and to list whether they still stand, have been removed, or have a protest movement in place. Nearly 200 statues have been listed in 20 states, 10 of which have already been removed. Another Google Doc -- the 17-page "Things You Can Do," includes details on how to report hate crimes, the best organizations for contributions, how to monitor upcoming rallies, and more. Read more

Even Twitter has trouble knowing when not to tweet -- Events in Charlottesville should have led marketers to suspend any frivolous or light-hearted campaigning, but even Twitter's marketing team had trouble knowing it shouldn't have asked users how they were spending "National Relaxation Day." The comments were brutal, the result (one social media executive said) of "Twitter being tone-deaf on their own platform." A number of brands that promoted tweets in the wake of the rally -- tweets that wouldn't have raised an eyebrow if shared during non-politically-charged times -- provoked stinging rebukes. A co-working/co-living startup shared a photo that wasn't exactly racially diverse to introduce its service, leading to one response that said, "Either you're a whites-only club or you need to rethink your ad imagery." To their credit, the company replied quickly, tweeting, "Absolutely not -- really appreciate the feedback here, and we'll definitely be reconsidering using this photo in future ads." Read more

An opportunity for communicators to take action -- Josh Bernoff, author and former Forrester executive, asks what communicators are doing to fight racists and Nazis and invites them to take the "pro bono pledge." Bernoff suggests communicators share this language on their social accounts: "I offer my services pro bono to any group fighting hatred and intolerance." Bernoff actually invites any kind of freelancer or specialist to take the pledge, noting, "You probably don’t have the time or financial resources to quit your job and become full-time anti-hate activist or lobbyist. But you can help the people who do." Read more

Tools

Trending News coming to Facebook's mobile apps -- A "Trending News" section with its own link in the main navigation menu is coming to Facebook's mobile apps. It's available now for iPhone users in the U.S. and is coming soon to Android users.Trending News items come from publications, not individual users, and include a headline, photo, the name of the outlet reporting it, and how many other sources are reporting on the same topic (e.g., "Reuters and 100+ other sources"). Read more

Snap introduces "Crowd Surf" feature for Stories -- The latest salvo in the Stories wars was fired by Snap, which introduced a new feature that employs machine learning to stitch snaps submitted to Our Story into a video. Crowd Surf is designed to emulate a live event experience, using time stamp and geolocation information. The more snaps users submit the better these videos will be. If they work out, they could drive more views to Our Story, differentiate Snap from Instagram Stories, and result in partnerships between Snap and artists and music festivals and other events. Read more

Google Docs gets a big update -- New version-control features are part of a Google Docs update designed to improve on better and faster collaboration on Docs, Sheets, and Slides. For example, you can give different names to versions of a document, which changes to each version available for tracking under version history. Users can approve or reject all edit suggestions at once. Read more

Readability redesigns for Facebook and Instagram apps -- A redesign is meant to make Facebook and Instagram's news feeds more legible, clickable, and commentable. On Facebook, the redesign makes it easier to see where threads start and end in comments, while on Instagram, comment reels are now threaded, making it easy to have sub-conversations. Read more

LinkedIn lets you create video in its mobile app -- There's now a video creation tool in the LinkedIn mobile app. Only frequent contributors can see the tool now, but it will roll out broadly in the next few weeks. "LinkedIn recommends creating videos for work hacks that will increase your productivity, front row seats at a conference, an insider's perspective on the day's new, or whatever else you think your professional network might like." You can also share a video from your phone's gallery. Read more

Trends

Experts weigh in on the future of trust -- Trust is not in good shape; just check this year's Edelman Trust Barometer. The Pew Research Center canvassed a large swath of "technologists, scholars, practitioners, strategic thinkers, and other leaders" to assess the future of trust. Overall, 48% said trust will be strengthened in the near future, 28% think it will stay the same, and 24% said it will deteriorate further. Six overall themes emerged from the research. One finds that trust will improve because systems and people will adapt. Another finds little agreement on whether blockchain will help build trust. Overall, this lengthy article -- featuring commentary by study participants -- is a fascinating read. Read more

Ghosting gets real for Snapchat -- The word was new to me: It's the practice of ending a personal relationship with someone by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication." Users are ghosting Snapchat, with a 22% drop in downloads over April and May. In one survey, Snapchat got 0% of influencers rating it as their top platform for generating revenue. Blogging came in first (which is noteworthy in its own right). "When ranking the second-biggest source of income, only 2% said Snapcht, while 50% said Instagram and 43% said Facebook." Read more

Are tech and media converging? -- The Financial Times has assigned a reporter to cover the intersection of tech and entertainment, such as the Disney announcement that it would launch a streaming service to compete with Netflix. Other recent stories suggesting that media and technology are becoming the same beat include Facebook's plan to make shows with news and entertainment companies (discoverable via the "watch" tab), and Vice's partnership with Airbnb for a series of travel "experiences." Read more

What do influencers hate about the marketers who pay them? -- According to Snapfluence, the most common complaints they hear are that marketers have unrealistic expectations about how quickly they expect influencers to create and post content, marketers fail to communicate all of the directions, they require content approvals, they try to force overly salesy or spammy messaging, and they try to avoid disclosures. Read more

Blockchain could upend digital advertising -- Micropayments and smart contracts -- key elements of blockchain technology -- could help online ad companies regain the trust of brands that are withdrawing over issues like ad fraud, brand safety, and non-transparency. "That shift would, in turn, cause a lot of disruption, and shake up an agency and ad tech space that's repeatedly had trouble catching up with the demands of digital transformation and a quickly fragmenting media landscape." Read more

Research

It's hard to tell news from opinion -- A study of 49 publications by Duke Reporters' Lab found "inconsistent terminology and a lack of labeling" of articles, making it hard for readers to determine what's news, analysis, and opinion. "Some organizations provide a mix of labels that conflate article types such as news and opinion with topic labels such as local, politics, and sports. The result for readers is a jumbled labeling approach that fails to consistently distinguish different types of journalism." Of the 20 organizations that label their article types, 16 used them only in their opinion sections. Read more

What's your Facebook type? -- You're one of four Facebook types, according to a study conducted by Brigham Young University researchers? You're either a relationship builder, a window shopper, a town crier, or a selfie. Read more

Who listens to podcasts? -- Recent data from GfK MRI finds 8.6% of U.S. adults (about 21 million people) interacted with a podcast during the last 30-day period, a 7% bump from the same period a year ago. They're educated, professional, and 45% were aged 18-34. They're active online but also big readers of print magazines. Seventy percent consider the smartphones to be sources of entertainment. They regularly visit news websites, and 20% are influencers. Read more

AI, Chatbots, and Smart Audio

Now you can make phone calls on Google Home -- Hands-free calling is now3 a feature of the Google Home smart speaker. "OK Google, call..." will place the call for free over WiFi. Because Google Home can recognize different voices, when you say, "Call my mom," it will know to call your mom and not your spouse or partner's. You also won't need to know the number of a business to place a call. If you ask to call the nearest pizzeria, Google will use your location to figure out which pizzeria is nearest. Consider this one more nail in the land line's coffin. Read more

Vote brings September issue to Google Home -- Vogue's September issue will be available via the Google Home smart speaker, prompting consumers to ask questions about celebrity coverage. Google and Vogue have created audio content, working with writers of the issue's articles. One example, you can say, "OK Google, tell me more about Jennifer Lawrence." Cover story author Jason gay will then talk about interviewing the actress. Read more

Amazon will reward Alexa Skills developers -- Developers of new Alexa Skills will earn revenue based on the engagement their voice apps generate. This makes Amazon the first of the tech companies that offer AI assistants to introduce a program to reward developers based on the engagement their apps deliver. Read more

Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality

Visit an Audi showroom for a VR experience -- Visits to automobile showrooms have declined as consumers have been doing their research online. To bring those consumers back, Audi has introduced a VR experience that lets visitors "see how different customizable options look on their cars before they make the purchase." With hundreds of millions of possible configurations, the VR experience is the only way consumers can see any option they're interested in. Read more

GE adopts Google Glass, a turning point for AR -- the return of Google Glass as an enterprise tool has been making waves, with GE's use of the Augmented Reality device demonstrating how the technology "has finally hit a maturity level where major enterprises can feel confident it's worth the investment." One application: By adding a torque wrench into the process, "GE mechanics working on plane engines ensure they were torquing every fitting correctly to the specifications. Meanwhile, the mechanics were able to reference the specifications they needed to adhere to via Google Glass, without having to get up and check a reference manual." As a result, the company has reduced errors, a potential savings of millions of dollars for the company and its customers. Team efficiency rose 8-12%, and mechanics reported that they liked working with the glasses. Read more

Facebook acquires AR company that can remove objects from live video -- German company Fayteq builds software add-ons for video editing that can remove or add whole objects captured on video. Facebook has acquired the company in order to add its technology to its live-streaming platforms. Facebook already has an AR feature in its camera. Read more

Case Studies

Teen Vogue's political newsletter takes off thanks to Instagram Stories -- "Woke Letter" is a weekly news-and-politics email newsletter from Teen Vogue that has been adding subscribers thanks to Instagram Stories, which it uses to encourage sign-ups. The Stories include images from the articles and enticing headlines, like "This 11-year-old trans military kid is standing up for her health care: Blue Girven is taking her story to Congress." These posts have gotten more engagements than other lifestyle publishers, up 93% year-over-year with a high of more than 3.5 million engagements in June. Read more

Luggage company crowdsources its Instagram feed -- Direct-to-consumer luggage company Away hasnearly 100,000 followers on Instagram thanks to crowdsourcing. Of 671 posts on its Instagram account, 600 were user-generated; they have reached 15 million users organically. Read more

-- August 18, 2017
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The latest from the FIR Podcast Network

  • The August Hobson & Holtz Report (and episode 100 of FIR) features conversation about a SNCR initiative to address fake news, an AI bot that detects plagiarism, a little-known Twitter feature that’s helping Trump supporters amplify their messages, a new crop of agencies targeted Generation Z, and a Buffalo hotel adding Amazon Echoes to every room. Dan York’s Tech Report covers Soundcloud and new features in Instagram and Facebook. Listen
  • Facebook Watch: Whether you get dreck or something better says a lot about you. And Voice Search should enable you to say a lot. It's all on episode 484 of Inside PR. Listen
  • On episode 114 of Digital India: How to set up Google ads quickly without any technical expertise. Listen
  • Communicating research visually can be challenging. Higher Education host Kevin Anselmo has struggled to find really compelling examples of academics/researchers who are effective at using Instagram to communicate research. Then he came across the world of Paige Jarreau, a science communication specialist for the Louisiana State College of Science and previously a postdoctoral researcher studying and teaching science communication. She also leads Instagram training workshops, and on episode 66 of FIR on Higher Education, Kevin interviewed her to discuss best practice and tips to consider. Listen
  • In the latest Thought Leader Life episode, Mitchell Levy, the AHA Guy at AHAthat, and Brett Labit, Chief Empowerment Officer of WEVO Global, exchange insights with #ThoughtLeader John King, founder of The Cultural Hero Project and the founding partner and CEO of Cultural Architecture. This TLL episode focuses on shifting from the old paradigm to the new paradigm and how success can be achieved by collaboration, teamwork, and one’s willingness to let go of having to control someone and be dominant. Listen
  • Episode 122 of Young PR Pros talks about the importance of exercising your brain through deep work, as well we discuss the damage of multitasking. Listen

On the Calendar

  • On September 17, I'll give a talk at the Association of Women Communicators national conference in Dallas.
  • I'm speaking at an Igloo Software user's conference in Nashville on September 20.
  • I'm giving multiple presentations at the Professional Speechwriter's Association on how speechwriters can use social and digital media. It's set for Washington, D.C. on October 16. I'm speaking at the Social Media #Mashup at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, which will be held October 23-25.
  • On November 1, I'll present a preconference session on the four key focus areas from my new employee communication model at the Great Places to Work conference at Genentech in South San Francisco.
  • On November 16, I'll present the opening keynote address as well as a breakout session at the Library Marketing and Communication Conference in Dallas.
  • On December 4, I'll be in Cambridge, MA, speaking at an Intranet Best Practices conferences at IBM's offices.

Rethink your employee communication strategy

I will spend a day with your internal communication team introducing you to my new model and helping your team rethink the current strategy in order to deliver more meaningful results to the organization. Get in touch with me to discuss this program, which is custom-tailored for each organization.
HC+T provides a full range of services for large organizations, from speaking and training to communication audits and strategic plan development.

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