Amazon Alexa Archives - Beyond Social Media

Augmented Reality 2.0

By David Erickson | November 22, 2020

Episode 332: BL and David discuss how Apple’s iPhone lidar technology is shaping the future of augmented reality; the wide release of Amazon’s Echo Frames; Twitter’s disappearing Fleets and potential audio chat; Midwest governors mask up for a pandemic PSA; AI software that stymies facial recognition technology; Apple Podcasts gets an embeddable player; LinkedIn’s top influencers for 2020; Frito-Lay sets up a holiday-themed merch shop; Pepsi makes an apple pie cola; Arby’s sells deep fried turkey pillows; Fake People are everywhere online; holiday eCommerce sales projections;…and much, much more.

Biden Town Hall Ratings

By David Erickson | October 17, 2020

Episode 327: BL and David discuss the viewership of the dueling Trump/Biden Town Hall forums; an array of new Zoom apps; Google Analytics version 4; Coinbase’s no-politics policy; Alexa notifications; Apple pays hackers to hack; Snapchat’s LiDAR lenses; vintage downloadable cookbooks; a social media wellness check; funeral flyers;…and much, much more.

Facebook, McDonald’s & Dinosaurs

By David Erickson | September 12, 2020

Beyond Social Media - Mythic Dinosaurs - Episode 322

Episode 322: BL and David discuss a Facebook Group battle over a dinosaur at McDonald’s; Alexa for Residential; Ron Charles acting out book reviews; PDFs are not fit for human consumption; the Wired 25 virtual conference; new LinkedIn Page features; Salem Ilese is Mad At Disney; the JabberMask; Google to limit paid keyword data; the drone delivery race heats up; your smartphone knows when you’re drunk…and much, much more.

Pandemic Care Packages

By David Erickson | April 20, 2020

Beyond Social Media Covid-19 Care Packages - Episode 304

Episode 304: BL and David discuss the Twitter food drive; Steak Umm’s brilliant tweetstorm; how top New York restaurants are selling care packages & birthday party meals; a wedding photographer’s LEGO shoot; a no-contact haircut solution; virtual reality fitness; art for gerbils; music analytics for voice data; the Whirlpool Kids’ Chore Club; the transcribers of Reddit; some great resources to keep you sane; inbox Google Meet; Discord’s noise-cancelling AI; an email template malfunction;…and much, much more.

Alexa’s Brand Voices

By David Erickson | February 15, 2020

Episode 296: BL and David discuss Google’s Project Witness that uses virtual reality to generate empathy for jailed children; Amazon’s program to create actual brand voices to play on its Echo smart speaker; ASCII art of refugee programmers; tech titans’ efforts to combat coronavirus misinformation; augmented reality Google Maps; Facebook’s bug bounty program; Chrome’s website security deadline; reviews in Google Search Console; a glaring user experience fail in Adobe Acrobat; Target’s Minnesota Badgers miscue; …and much, much more..

New Amazon Hardware

By David Erickson | September 28, 2019

Beyond Social Media - New Amazon Echo Products - Episode 282

Episode 282: BL and David discuss a satirical view of Greta Derangement Syndrome; 15 new Amazon hardware products; Twitter’s #hashtag advice for brands; a new Twitter feature that lets you interact with lists; a powerful school shooting PSA from Sandy Hook Promise; new audio applications; Food Network and Amazon stream cooking classes; Facebook moves closer to your brain; ‘Likes’ and video views go away in Facebook experiment; problems with influencers; extremely cool new tools…and much, much more.

LEGO Creativity

By David Erickson | September 20, 2019

Episode 281: Co-hosts BL Ochman and David Erickson discuss the creativity of the world’s largest display of LEGO art in New York City as well as LEGO’s new Rebuild The World campaign; the five hundred new words that were added to the dictionary; Google’s new in this video search results; John Batelle’s new Daily Recount summary of the day’s political news; the city of Grand Rapids, Minnesota’s 3D crosswalks; Descript podcasting software that lets you deep fake yourself; fears of Chinese propaganda via TikTok; the pros and cons of Echo Auto; Facebook Watch TV watching you; creating a digital will; political contributions via Amazon Echo; Facebook’s app problem;…and much, much more.

Spotting Fake Videos

By David Erickson | June 29, 2019

Episode 274: BL and David discuss Taylor Swift headlining a Prime Video live streaming concert teasing Amazon Prime Day; the Apollo 11 Augmented Reality app; a historic account of brand tweets; the periodic table of SEO success factors; Twitter and reddit’s crackdown on social media abuse; LinkedIn’s engagement algorithm update; VW’s user generated content commercial; B.L.’s viral tweets; Google’s voice strategy; a voice technology project that respects your privacy; cops commenting racial slurs; Wayfair’s employee walkout; the Google Phishing expedition; blasting emails;…and much, much more.

The State Of The Internet 2019

By David Erickson | June 15, 2019

Beyond Social Media - State of the Internet - Episode 272

Episode 272: BL and David discuss Mary Meeker’s 2019 Internet Trends Report; a deep fake of Mark Zuckerberg himself; Radiohead thwarts extortionists; Barney’s department store doubles as your dealer; Google Data Studio 101; VW takes its reputation cleanup seriously; Kraft rebrands ranch dressing as salad frosting; Internet-prompted evolution; thumbdrive hacking; the definition of hate speech; two popups too many;…and much, much more.

Spot The Robot For Sale

By David Erickson | June 8, 2019

Beyond Social Media - Boston Dynamics Spot - Episode 271

Episode 271; BL and David discuss the NYC subway landshark that went viral; drone deliveries via Amazon Prime Air; Vox Media Union reaches an agreement; Boston Dynamics’ commercial Spotbot; the Obama’s partner with Spotify; Apple Podcasts transcripts; Amazon Echo’s erase feature; Instagram’s influencer ads; Google’s new search results diversity update; Counterfeits on Amazon; fear-based social media sites like Nextdoor, Citizen, and Amazon Ring’s Neighbors; YouTube’s New Hate Speech Policy;…and much, much more.