2nd June 2017
Great piece in Wired, regarding teenagers social media habits. ‘How Streaks, Deep Likes and Ghosting are defining millions of lives’. These are Social Media’s Teenage Kicks
Mary Meeker is back with an even bigger compendium of informationon the current state of the web and digital ecosystem – 355 slides in all. Luckily for us, Recode has highlighted 8 takeaways we can pick up straight away.
How publishers are drawing on the serialisation strategy employed by Charles Dickens, to get readers to read (rather than doing a multitude of other things) on their mobile devices.
From nymag.com, an interesting article – ‘How the self-esteem craze took over America and why the hype was irresistible.’ The self-esteem craze changed how countless organisations were run, how an entire generation —millennials — was educated, and how that generation went on to perceive itself (quite favourably). As it turned out, the central claim underlying the trend, that there’s a causal relationship between self-esteem and various positive outcomes, was almost certainly inaccurate.’
In a related area, I really liked this piece from The Economist , on why Donald Trump (perhaps surprisingly?) is so popular with Evangelical Americans. ”Mr Trump’s language is filled with echoes of a much-mocked but potent American religious movement with millions of followers, known by such labels as “positive thinking” or the “prosperity gospel”.
As virtual reality grows in popularity, so will the scare stories surrounding it. ‘Look back to the birth of other new forms of media and you’ll see how quickly public sentiment shifts into moral panic. Victorians embraced telegrams for the purposes of commerce and government, then panicked at the idea of women sending telegrams to clandestine lovers. The rapid adoption of the telephone in the early 1900s was followed by fears it would lead to the demise of the “old practice of visiting friends”. When games consoles became commonplace in the 90s, that lead to hand-wringing that they could incite violence in young men. It’s time to prepare yourself for ‘VR panic’.
The 50 best TV theme tunes of all time (?)
Rather lovely editorial piece in Borough Market Magazine this month, on the ‘Social Life of Markets’ . ‘Since time immemorial, market squares have provided a focal point for towns and villages, and they can do much the same now, even in a vast modern city, by offering a lively hub in which countless interactions play out every day. It is through these interactions that ideas take shape, preconceptions fall apart, relationships are forged and new businesses are started. That busy energy streams out into the wider area, with an impact that can be felt for miles around.’ Amen to that.
This is how a self driving car sees the road (short video).
Inside the cut throat world of Toddler Bike Racing. ‘The kids kick their bikes up to speeds that would make most adults uncomfortable, and carve through the course’s maze of sharp corners with tenacity and grace. A few kids don’t make it.‘