Pro Tips Archives - Beyond Social Media

Tulsa Race Massacre

By David Erickson | June 7, 2021

BL and David discuss media coverage of the Tulsa Race Massacre, 100 years after the fact; Oreo’s offering to aliens; the soft power of brands; Amazon supports marijuana legalization; Dunkin’ sells paint; Apple’s privacy commercial; Amazon Sidewalk risks; Hootsuite jacks long-time customers; Twitter reinstates certifications; Stetson disowns hatWRKS; music streaming; influencers’ earnings…and much, much more.

TikTok Surveillance

By David Erickson | August 15, 2020

Episode 319: BL and David discuss TikTok’s clandestine surveillance of its users; precisely targeted direct mail; warm and cuddly artificially intelligent pet robots; Twitter’s new Reply Guy feature; the power of video recommendations; LinkedIn Sells SlideShare to Scribd; Planter’s Baby Nut grows up; Apple redirects search users to its Apple News+ app;…and much, much more.

Video Conferencing Revolution

By David Erickson | July 13, 2020

Episode 314: BL and David discuss the amazing Mmhmm video conferencing app; the tech pushback against Chinese data requests; new evidence for Subscription Twitter; pinnable Instagram comments; Google acquires an augmented reality glasses company; Google Assistant Continuous Mode; the FaceApp #WhatItWouldBeLike campaign; YouTube’s new affinity metrics; a Google Project Loon update; Jimmy Johns employees post racist video; Mark Zuckerberg fails to impress civil rights leaders; the Ayn Rand Institute grabs PPP money; Anti-mask masks for sale; another PR pitch from hell;..and much, much more.

Apple Developers Conference Updates

By David Erickson | June 26, 2020

BL and David discuss the most siginficant announcements to come out of Apple’s 2020 Developer Conference; Keen, Google’s new social collaboration tool; Google Images fact checks; Patagonia joins the growing Facebook advertising boycott; Devin Nunes’ Cow wins in court; YouTube introduces shoppable commercials; Pandora introduces analytics for podcasters; Facebook continues to harbor hate; some Covid-19 masks that are creepy AF; mobile messaging app stats;..and much, much more.

Spotify’s Playlists for Dogs

By David Erickson | January 22, 2020

Episode 262: BL and David discuss Bing’s new business and persona pages; new LinkedIn features; Spotify podcast and playlists for dogs; Google allowing branding in search; TuneIn’s new sonic logo; clever UX; the return of Gary Larson’s Far Side; Fleeceware in Google Play; e-ticketing brings the end of paper tickets; Kohler’s creepy bathroom guy…and much, much more.

Everything Amazon Owns

By David Erickson | July 15, 2019

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.

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.

Apple Services & AMPed For Email

By David Erickson | March 31, 2019

Beyond Social Media - Apple Services - Episode 264

Episode 264: David discusses Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Apple AirPods 2, Apple Card; audio content marketing; Arizona State University’s science fiction anthology about future solar power; Twitter video subtitles; LinkedIn Lookalike audiences; Google’s AMP for Email; Intel’s Vaunt smart glasses; the unwinnable fight against Russian trolls; the authoritarians’ digital mercenaries; Boston Dynamics’ stacking bot; idiot humans and their fatalgrams;…and much, much more.

Spotify & LinkedIn Launch New Podcasts

By David Erickson | March 11, 2019

Episode 262: BL and David discuss discuss Spotify’s major embrace of podcasts with The Story of The Clash; LinkedIn’s new Hello Monday podcast; April the Giraffe’s pregnant again..and David could not give a rip; Tesla’s Easter Egg troll; BBC’s article chatbots; Buffer’s vertical video report; a Texas school teacher’s Facebook Live bedtime stories; Apple’s AR Glasses; Microsoft’s HoloLens 2; pharmafluencers; Sealioning; The Great Toilet Paper Controversy of 2019 featuring Walmart and Cottonelle; racist self-driving cars; deceptive from fields;…and much, much more.

Martha Stewart, Baked

By David Erickson | March 3, 2019

Episode 261: BL and David discuss discuss Martha Stewart joining cannabis company Canopy Growth; Neuroscientist Uri Hasson’s research demonstrating humans are hardwired for stories; the New York Times’ new In Her Words newsletter; Twitter’s new hashtag data; Farmers Insurance’s Dr. Seuss campaign; LinkedIn’s new features for job seekers; Alexandria Ocasio Cortez as a comic book super hero; a data visualization of brand value; small businesses without websites; airline seat cameras; influencers and their discontents;…and much, much more.