LinkedIn and Twitter Jump on the Story Bandwagon

Beyond Social Media - Twitter & LinkedIn Stories - Episode 299

Episode 299: BL and David discuss LinkedIn and Twitter are jumping on the Story bandwagon; the City of Austin cancels SXSW over Coronavirus fears; The Office’s Kevin’s famous chili returns; a viral voicemail plays in movie theaters; The Simpsons are recreated in CSS code; AR glasses let firefighters see through smoke; Redditors fight disinformation; Heineken has a drink and drive public fridge; WHO TikToks Coronavirus …and much, much more.

Read More

Alexa’s Brand Voices

Beyond Social Media - Alexa Brand Voices - Episode 296

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..

Read More

Vindictive Valentines

Beyond Social Media - Vindictive Valentines - Episode 295

Episode 295: BL and David discuss “Cry Me A Cockroach” vindictive Valentines via San Antonio Zoo; social media savvy Astronaut Christina returns to earth; Seventh Generation’s brilliant State of the Union ad; Spotify’s podcast expansion; flirting with Tinder bots; how Netflix gets to the Oscars; Twitter squashes student’s parody, then apologizes; Planters Baby Nut banned; best and worst Super Bowl LIV ads; the Iowa Caucus debacle; hacking Google Maps; world’s worst job ad and world’s funniest resume; Clearview AI slapped with cease-and-decists; Celebrity Cruises’ clueless commercial; 2020 election disinformation wars; Edelman Trust Barometer…and much, much more.

Read More

Brand Food Fights

Beyond Social Media - Brand Food Fight - Episode 278

Episode 278: Co-hosts BL Ochman and David Erickson discuss French’s & Oscar Mayer’s ice-cream fight; the Minnesota Vikings ambassador employee; Pixel 4’s gesture control; the Oakland A’s PR investment; the global emoji culture; the great automatic advertizator that may put marketers out of work; what the top 100 Instagram influencers earn; Facebook’s fake 126 million; the great Cambridge Analytica/Facebook election hack is now a Netflix must-watch video; how you can get a Master’s Degree in Cannabis Science; the great Facebook re-naming…and much, much more.

Read More

Everything Amazon Owns

Beyond Social Media - What Amazon Owns - Episode 275

Episode 275: BL and David discuss the astounding array of businesses Amazon owns; the Area 51 search for aliens joke that 400,000 people have signed up for; major updates to Google My Business; how Pittsburgh helped power the first US Moon Landing; Pinterest adds videos; Shoelace is Google’s latest attempt at building a social network; a hilarious parody influencer apology video; Ikea’s new Soffa Sans typeface; using text messages to solicit local reviews; dangerous dongles and much, much more.

Read More

The Deep Fakes Edition

Beyond Social Media - Deep Fakes Edition - Episode 273

Episode 273: BL and David discuss the Pakistani press conference that was filtered with cat ears; 3D objects and augmented reality in Google search; YouTube’s augmented advertising; Cracker Barrel’s moral stand; a robobullying parody video of Boston Scientific robots; museums installing ‘braille art’ touchable recreations of exhibits; Spotify’s Daily Drive podcast playlist and the company’s new podcast-targeted advertising; the announcement of Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency; an AI-generated Russian spy infiltrates LinkedIn; a deep fake Rasputin sings Beyonce; deep fake videos that are as easy to create as editing text; an algorithm that can generate an accurate portrait of a speaker based only on a sample of that speaker’s voice; Google Photos goes Driveless;…and much, much more.

Read More

Facebook's Fake Privacy

Beyond Social Media - Facebook's Fake Privacy - Episode 268

Episode 268: BL and David discuss Facebook’s dubious commitment to user privacy; the increasing importance of sonic branding; Burger King’s mental burgers; Snapchat’s Holocaust survivor Stories; a clever Big Little Lies commercial; Creative Commons’ visual search emerges from Beta; LinkeIn testing a Services Offered section for profiles; Poynter’s indexing of fake news sites; YouTube Music arrives on Google Home and YouTube lands on Amazon Fire TV devices; a mockery of our smart phone addiction; how extremism spreads through alternative influence networks; Chase Bank’s poor-shaming;…and much, much more.

Read More

National Enquirer Blackmails Jeff Bezos

Beyond Social Media - National Enquirer Blackmails Jeff Bezos - Episode 258

Episode 258: BL and David discuss discuss the explosive extortion and blackmail allegations Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has leveled against AMI and The National Enquirer; a follow-up story on the viral egg; Spotify’s purchase of Gimlet Media and Anchor; Samsung’s Tinder refrigerator; 230 new emoji; Wildlife Conservation Fund’s crooning critters; Google’s auto ad agency; a visual controversy on Twitter; Amazon Echo’s URL Problem; Delta Airline & Diet Coke’s creepy napkins; a tribute to the late Representative John Dingell; Howard Schultz prefers you call him a man of means;…and much, much more.

Read More

Expanding Thanksgiving Pants & Pixar's Coco VR

Beyond Social Media - Thanksgiving Pants & Pixar Coco VR - Episode 210

Episode 210: Co-hosts B.L. Ochman and David Erickson discussed Stovetop’s Thanksgiving Dinner Pants; Disney Pixar’s Coco VR experience; the latest search ranking factors from SEMRush and Searchmetrics; Washington Post’s counterpoint AI; the New Zealand Coffin Club viral video; a pot subscription service; iPhone X’s fraudulent faces flaw; BoingBoing’s Net Neutrality popup alert; algorithmic threats to journalism; the MakeApp app; Greta Van Susteren’s sorry Sorry app; popping pimple fingernails; LG’s mosquito-repellant Phones; plus great new apps and stats you should know…and much, much more.

Read More