Visual Communications Archives - Beyond Social Media

Google For Creators

By David Erickson | October 24, 2021

BL and David discuss Google’s push to court creators; LinkedIn closes the chapter on Stories; Instagram allows desktop uploads; Journalists prefer Zoom interviews; Australia pitches Chris Helmsworth; A sign language Metallica video; Facebook by another name; Apple’s privacy protection posing; Walmart’s crypto ATMs; and much, much more.

Brand Damage From NFL Anti-Vaxxers

By David Erickson | August 16, 2021

Beyond Social Media - Anti-Vax Doctors - Episode 359

BL and David discuss doctors spreading vaccine misinformation to other doctors on Doximity; a TikTok campaign in real life; Yelp’s COVID labels; Instagram’s new blocking feature; a brain/computer interface that inputs full sentences from your thoughts; Twitter’s redesign; Twitter Spaces’ new multihosting feature; Snopes forced to retract plagiarized articles; Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins anti-vax PR fiasco; Twitter’s cropping bias; a survey of content entrepreneurs;…and much, much more.

Disaster Girl Cashes In

By David Erickson | May 2, 2021

Beyond Social Media - Disaster Girl - Episode 348

BL and David discuss Disaster Girl’s big payday; Nerf’s new chief TikTok officer; Clubhouse’s NFL draft partnership; Clubmarket’s Clubhouse influencer exchange; digital product placement; Spotify’s paid podcast subscriptions; Flipboard flips to sponsored newsletters; vaccination public service tweets; Punch Pizza’s recruiting marketing email; a clever social media and visual communication tactic; Facebook’s failure; slander for profit; Basecamp’s ban; Apple’s privacy sanctimony exposed;…and much, much more.

Clubhouse Competition

By David Erickson | April 3, 2021

BL and David discuss LinkedIn and Spotify going after Clubhouse and a Clubhouse tutorial; a mafioso whose YouTube channel gave him away; new stoner emoji coming for Apple’s iOS; an AI-powered service that animates still headshots; the forthcoming Brave privacy-focused search engine; NFT brand stunts generating publicity; Facebook is removing analytics; Lil Nas X’s satanic shoes; Volkswagen’s April Fools prank backlash; a massive Facebook user data leak; Krispy Kreme’s anti-vaxxer Mondays; Mars candy’s pesterbot;…and much, much more.

New Social Media Features

By David Erickson | March 7, 2021

BL and David discuss how Amazon Prime and Netflix are grokking TikTok; the TikTok trend of creating fake album covers out of random camera roll photos; potential new Twitter features could include super followers, an undo button, and shoppable tweets; LinkedIn’s new freelancer marketplace, Stories for Pages, and Swipe-ups; LinkedIn recommending newsletter subscriptions; YouTube Shorts; Taco Bell To Go concept restaurants; Microsoft’s hacked email servers; …and much, much more.

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.

We Voted

By David Erickson | November 8, 2020

Episode 330: BL and David discuss Van Jones’ on-air tears of joy over the presidential election result; the ROI of I Voted stickers; Cheese Boy wins the internet with a successful fondue fountain; a PR agency’s superb election survival kit branding; Shopify and TikTok partner on shoppable ads; Calm’s clever election night sponsorship; Typosquatting; a photo credit backlink scam; The Gap can’t bridge the divide;…and much, much more.

Estee Lauder’s Cosmic Product Shoot

By David Erickson | October 5, 2020

Beyond Social Media - Estee Lauder Product Shoot - Episode 325

BL and David discuss NASA’s space toilet and Estée Lauder’s cosmic product shoot; Google’s plan to pay publishers; Cloudflare’s service to speed up WordPress sites; Google Assistant will sit on hold for you; the paparazzi turn to social media stars (who knew?); Ring’s home surveillance drone; Russian hackers breach federal agencies; the Los Angeles Police Department’s citizen surveillance system; Twitter’s racist crop;…and much, much more.

Walmart + Microsoft = TikTok?

By David Erickson | August 29, 2020

Beyond Social Media - Walmart Plus Microsoft Equals TikTok - Episode 321

Episode 321: BL and David discuss Walmart and Microsoft tagging up to acquire TikTok; American Family Insurance’s perfectly targeted commercial; The Humanity Lab’s anti-racism efforts; KFC is finger lickin’ good no more; Instagram infographics; Spotify virtual events; COVID 19 gag rules; a fond farewell to Izzy’s Ice Cream; PPE vending machines…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.