User Experience Archives - Beyond Social Media

White House Valentines Display

By David Erickson | February 14, 2021 |

Beyond Social Media - Presidential Valentines Display - Episode 338

BL and David discuss Dr. Jill Biden’s White House Valentines display; stellar Thank You page examples; the American Shame Card collection of gun-control advocacy postcards; fact checker bylines; the explosive growth of social audio; Microsoft’s AI voices; Lincoln TV; Duolingo’s singable commercial; Super Bowl Social Media; conference sounds for livestreaming waiting room; Twitter gets into the newsletter game; Google News analytics courtesy of Google Search Console; Norton’s prying eyes and listening ears commercial…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.

New Twitter Features

By David Erickson | May 10, 2020 |

Episode 307: BL and David discuss Twitter’s new moderation tool and potential new features for business profiles; Google’s podcast analytics; Google’s Web Vitals metrics; Facebook’s oversight board; Ryan Reynold’s Mint Mobile commercial; Wendy’s online scavenger hunt; Progressive Insurance works from home; Amazon’s new show, Upload; augmented reality that copy and pastes from real life; Google Lens’ new copy to desktop feature; Jimmy Kimmel’s screw up; 28,000 GoDaddy hosting accounts compromised;..and much, much more.

Coronavirus Visuals

By David Erickson | April 27, 2020 |

Episode 305: BL and David discuss Twitter’s new COVID-19 misinformation protection measures; free Google Shopping Listings; Google’s new identity verification requirements for advertisers; a clever tactic for retaining unsubscribing customers; an app that will broadcast family videos for tech-averse elders; COVID Nursery Rhymes; alternatives to “unprecedented”; free resources for marketers; vintage pandemic posters; TV show posters reimagined for COVID-19; a Coronavirus Rhapsody; MinneAnalytics Monday; two-faced Facebook; mobile voting efforts; dangerous Amazon working conditions; the public companies taking small business loans;…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..

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.

Bud Light Inebriates Aliens

By David Erickson | July 20, 2019 |

Episode 276: BL and David discuss Bud Light’s offer to aliens escaping Area 51 of a specialty brew; NASA’s release of a video recreating the moon landing; Oscar Meyer Air BnB-rentable Weinermobile; The VOID’s immersive movie experiences; Twitter’s desktop redesign; Pampers smart diapers; lifestyle content on LinkedIn; Amazon pays users for their data; browser extensions leaking personal data; the Russian FaceApp; newsletter signup clutter; the Spearphone attack; copy and paste websites; 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.

Online Outrage

By David Erickson | January 29, 2019

Episode 256: BL and David discuss the self-fueling bonfire that is online outrage; WordPress’ new NewsPack platform; The Atlantic’s video in honor of International Holocaust Day of Remembrance; the Tree VR installation at Davos that allows you to experience what it’s like to be a tree in a rainforest; Kia’s Super Bowl scholarship; Aspiration Bank’s hyper-focused Millennial messaging; YouTube’s crackdown on pranks and challenges; a comedian’s daily joke-writing tips; Twitter’s new marketing calendar; stupid dad jokes; …and much, much more.

Historical Barbies & Jurassic World Alive AR

By David Erickson | March 8, 2018 |

Beyond Social Media - Historical Barbies - Episode 220

Episode 220: BL and David discuss Mattel’s new line of historic Barbies; made up holidays; the Philando Castille crowdfunding effort that fed a school district; brilliant billboards; Techmeme’s new Ride Home podcast; how to write good error messages; the Jurassic World Alive AR app; Mall of America’s mallbot; Amazon’s creepy, laughing Echo; thought transfer technology; facial recognition in interviews; a brainwave-powered exoskeleton; voice optimization for Amazon Alexa; and much, much more.