Welcome To 4th Grade & Kardashians Instagram

Beyond Social Media Show, Episode 155

BL and David discuss a welcome video to an Illinois teacher’s fourth grade class that went viral; the Kardashian’s lack of sponsor disclosure on their Instagram accounts; President Obama’s venture into virtual reality; WhatsApp’s privacy reversal; YouTube’s social ambitions with Backstage; Vogue’s Photoshop fiasco; Twitter’s portable Direct Messaging; a transgender Ken Doll cake controversy; Google’s policy of punishable popups; Uber’s lickable breathalizer cards; the WizKid Science YouTube channel; a Minnesota dog that was elected mayor; and much, much more.

This video of the episode is time-stamped. Click on the time – in brackets – beside any description and the video will jump directly to that segment.

Worst Digital Cases

WhatsApp will share your phone number with Facebook

The move is a moneymaking strategy that strays from its promise that little would change when the app was acquired by the social network in 2014.

What Google Wants, Google Gets

Google is planning to punish websites that use popups and interstitials on the mobile versions of their sites by suppressing their visibility in mobile search results. Google argues the move is an attempt to improve website usability.

Vogue Makes Models Amputees

Photos were digitally altered to replicate the disabilities of Paralympic table tennis player Bruna Alexandre and sitting volleyball player Renato Leite.
Alexandre had her right arm amputated at the age of three months, while Leite has a prosthetic leg. Both were present at the photo shoot, expecting to be the models.

Paralympic_Athletes_with_Vogue-modelsVogue-Makes-Models-Amputees

Scofflaw Kardashians

The group Truth In Advertising has accused the Kardashians of ignoring FTC guidelines for disclosing financial relationships with sponsors on social media.

Transgender Ken Doll Cake Sparks Outrage

A popular bakery in Northern California was caught at the center of a heated debate on social media over a transgender “Ken doll cake” that it said it made for a customer.

Transgender-Ken-Doll

Best Digital Cases

Welcome To The Fourth Grade

An Illinois student teacher has created a trailer video to welcome his new students to the fourth grade and get them excited for a new school year. The video has gone viral.

Uber Hands Out Lickable Breathalyzers in Bar

As Gabriel Beltrone observed in Adweek: “Then again, anyone who needs to drool on a piece of paper to see how responsibly they’ve been drinking should probably just take the cab anyway.”

YouTube Backstage

YouTube is reportedly going to get much more social and it has nothing to do with Google+.

This WhizKid may be the coolest kid on the Internet

This soon-to-be-famous 11 year-old WhizKid creates videos. His name is Aiden. He lives in Canada. He adds new videos to his three YouTube channels every Saturday.
His top video, “How to make How to Make Slime” has had 2.4 million+ views.

Twitter Direct Messaging Goes Portable

Twitter has rolled out a new widget that allows site owners to embed Direct Message functionality within their own sites.

Dog Elected Mayor Of Cormorant, Minnesota — Again – in Landslide

Duke, a 7 year-old Great Pyrenees dog, won his third term for Mayor of Cormorant, MN, by a landslide. He’s the country’s fluffiest Mayor and he’s Making America Great Pyranees Again.


You Can Hang Out With President Barack Obama in Virtual Reality

“Through the Ages” is a stunning 10-minute 360 degree VR experience with President Barack Obama and his family. It commemorates the 100th Anniversary of America’s magnificent National Parks.

Shiny New Stuff

Alively

Facebook’s product manager for Live, Vadim Lavrusik, defected from the social network to start his own video streaming iOS app called Alively.

Facebook Ad Preferences

See how Facebook slices and dices your behavior on the site for advertisers to target you. You need to be logged into your Facebook account.

Emojipedia

A comprehensive index to find emojis and the copy and paste code to use them.

Malwarebytes

Apple recommends this free app for detecting and elimninating malware and viruses on your Mac. They suggest that you run it monthly or any time your computer slows down or acts strangely.

MalwareBytes-App

Projects

B.L. and Benny are featured with 12 pet bloggers discussing what we feed our dogs.
BL-Benny-Pawfun

Daily Numbers

US Religious Affiliations

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BEYOND SOCIAL MEDIA HOSTS

David Erickson

B.L. Ochman