Time for another of my irregular (*in more ways than one) posts on the world of communications:

Blue Sky? Are We Doing This Again?

There was a time when it felt like the landscape of social media platforms for communicators would remain stable: Twitter (yes, now X), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, depending on your audience and needs. New platforms come and go, so seeing a TikTok become hugely popular (and perhaps added to your priorities) should take no one by surprise.

Now, we have, maybe, a disruption – a mass migration to Bluesky from Twitter (X! It’s X!), largely because of dissatisfaction with the direction new Twitter X owner Elon Musk has taken with the platform, and more so in light of the current political environment.

Since the election (and Musk’s attachment to the President-Elect), we have seen a massive number of posts across platforms announcing “I’m leaving X, here is my Bluesky handle; see you there! But is it a true, permanent migration? Certainly not yet. First off, we heard similar things about Threads (owned by Meta, parent company of Instagram and Facebook as well), and while there is a lot of activity on Threads, there has been concern (or perhaps applause from some) that the app is de-emphasizing politics. I have seen a lot of action there in the last year, but it has not sustained in my view, and I have always had questions, particularly about the interface, which is slightly more confusing. One would think that Zuckerberg would be relentless in trying to take over the social media world, but…no. Bluesky, for all the attention it now holds, is still far smaller, but the growth trajectory, as I write this, is quite big, and the number of active users is telling.

For now.

For my part, I am keeping my X account – you never know when you need it for client work, still – but I am trying to be active across all to see which makes the most sense.

Meanwhile, I am “doughaslam” on Bluesky, since some other jerk took “dough,” which is still my handle on Twitter.

On a Side Note:

As a PR pro, I have long used Twitter X to find reporters sourcing stories, where I have found some nice success stories over that time. Lately, I have seen that far more frequently on LinkedIn. A sign of the Twitter X exodus, or am I just noticing it more? It does seem an appropriate platform.

PRxNE

I am fortunate to serve on the board of the Public Relations Society of America’s Northeast District (as well as the Boston Chapter) and had the pleasure of attending the annual district conference, PRxNE, in Syracuse November 15th. There were too many great topics to summarize, but aside from the always-great networking among public relations pros from all over New England and New York State, we were treated to a great keynote from David Sommerstein of North Country Public Radio, delivering a crucial message on the need for local journalism (and how local and national media can work with each other), along with sessions I am still digesting on data, responsible use of artificial intelligence (can’t get away from that, sorry) and what Gen Z is bringing to the table. Next year is in Boston, and you can bet I’m looking forward to that…

*Ok, that’s three. That’ll do.

Five-ish things for professional communicators right now…

Are We Really Still Debating the Press Release?

It seems only yesterday (almost 19 years ago!), when Tom Foremski’s blog post “Die! Press Release! Die! Die! Die!” helped sparked conversations about changing the press release format to something more useful (tagged sectional content, social media readiness, etc. etc.). This led to some useful, but often superficial, ideas such as the “social media press release,” which were great in the fact that they pushed some public relations folks to make press releases more usable by simplifying the format, but didn’t really address the real problem, which was not that press releases were bad, but that they were often misused.

Maybe the suggestions were lipstick on a pig; but some of us think pigs are delicious (and full of nutrients!) with or without the makeover.

Which brings me to the most recent discussion of the press release. The Axios Communicators newsletter recently published feedback from readers with varying opinions on the press release and its utility. I recommend reading it here (and signing up for the newsletter).

A fundamental flaw in the argument for killing the press release is that it is often needed for regulatory disclosure. It is part of the business record, and in many cases non-negotiable. I never understood the urge to murder it rather than using it strategically where it is warranted.

Another regular misconception is that press releases should die because they are not great PR pitches. That’s an easy one- nobody should be using them as the pitches. If your basic PR pitch is more than three lines with links to more info )including the release), you are doing it wrong anyway.

A familiar argument is that many releases contain too much fluff: quotes with airy superlatives, self-congratulatory executive spouting, and the like. I agree. Does it matter? Again, smart PR people don’t pitch the press release itself, so I stopped worrying too much about that years ago. Also, maintaining good relations with executives who want the fluff in there is probably more valuable than fighting for cosmetic language (again, the pig is delicious with or without cosmetics). Pick your damn battles.

Some people have suggested replacing press releases with other more useful content- blog posts, fact sheets, etc. These are arguably more useful, but why replace the press release when that can be a useful conduit for the best of everything this other content provides? Why not have it all?

One more thing; there was an argument that removing press release distribution would kill impression metrics. All that means is you are measuring wrong. I have always been careful to filter out press release postings (or account for them separately) to make sure I am measuring meaningful data. That said, the wire service posts are not meaningless; don’t discount them completely.

Stop saying the press release is dead and solve real problems.

OK, one more “one more thing”: some readers brought up artificial intelligence:

“If AI can draft a perfectly acceptable press release, is this tactic really moving the needle or is it simply checking a box?”

If AI generated your press release, and you were happy with the result without significant edits, go to your room.

Soccer Team Fumbles Branding Launch, but the Name Isn’t the Problem

When the new Boston franchise in the National Women’s Soccer League launched its new name and branding campaign, people lost their minds. I won’t pile on the misguided “Too Many Balls” campaign except to say that sort of, erm, cheekiness from a brand is better earned over time where a company can establish its persona with its audience (see brands like Wendy’s and Steak-umm for examples of brands being edgy, in their cases on social media, and knowing where the line is).
As for the team’s name itself, I’m not a big fan of “Bos Nation,” but so what? That wasn’t the problem, especially in a world where the NBA thought “Miami Heat” was a great team name, and the same league decades ago moved the Lakers and Jazz to cities that have no lakes and jazz, respectively. I suspect Bos Nation (if they keep that same) team could have survived the name choice with a better thought-out campaign, but that’s just me.

Earned Branding Means You Get to Take Chances

I mentioned the likes of Wendy’s and Steak-umm as brands that have earned the ability to be edgy online without facing (much) backlash, but individuals can do that as well. I have relied for years on being snarky but without really picking fights, which I would call “safe sniping.” I don’t take it much farther than that.

There are individuals who feel they can and should go further; such people who have cultivated a combative and critical persona can get away with taking a big swipe at, say, LinkedIn’s unaddressed inability to prevent fraud and outright lying on the platform. Matt Charney (a one-time client of mine) is one such person, who has long taken nibbles at the hands feeding him; he posted this interesting tidbit this past week:

This is a great example of using an established personal brand persona to ask an important question in an entertaining way. What is LinkedIn’s answer here? Also, how would Hulu fare under Matt’s stewardship? I’m ok with it as long as he doesn’t cancel Only Murders in the Building.

Yup, that’s three things in this post. Close enough.

I first came to know Josh Bernoff in his days as an analyst for Forrester Research; since then, he has made a business of helping authors and generally dispensing great writing advice. I was surprised (and pleased) to see he mentioned me in his weekly newsletter this past week (I recommend subscribing, naturally). First: the company he placed me in is quite accomplished:

Second: I’ve seen it all? Everything? Surely that’s not possible. Granted, I have seen a lot, and I have been around long enough to edit Page 2 of my resume to simply read “None of your damn business;” but, everything?

The mention did prompt me to think back on things I have seen in public relations (and social media, content marketing, SEO, and all the disciplines I have practiced). In the spirit of this occasionally accurate Top 5 series, I thought of the following five things I definitely have seen:

• The Demise of “Spray and Pray” Media Relations

Nothing says “they’ve seen it all” like recalling the days when putting out a press release meant calling (on the phone!) every single reporter and editor in your database, no matter how relevant the news is(n’t) to them. Bonus points for calling a business editor at a daily newspaper with a minor product enhancement release while they are on deadline (yes, this happened!). Unfortunately, there are still those who insist on this tactic (I’ve seen it, recently!). It can still work in terms of getting coverage, but it is inefficient and very dangerous in terms of maintaining relationships with journalists.

• PR is Now Content, Don’t Try to Hide From It

For years, I took jobs focused on content production – social media and content marketing, among other things – rather than media relations. My background in journalism and appetite for innovations in business communications fed this direction, and it has served me well. Since I returned to a media relations role, I have found that this role has become, in large part, a content creation job too. Have a great idea for a site editor? Great, they will ask you to produce an article for them on the topic. It is the nature of the business now, one that I feel reflects the nature of the media business and is a natural extension of all of the roles I have filled over time.

• Social Media is Not a Practice, It’s a Platform

In the early days of social media (remember, I’ve seen it all!), different departments fought for years over who “owned” social media as a practice. Was it PR, who could message properly? Marketing or advertising, who could harness the channels for revenue? Or maybe IT, who could incorporate the technical aspects of social media seamlessly into a brand presence (remember, I’ve seen everything)? The answer, of course, is “yes.” Companies and agencies have taken elements of social media channels and integrated them into their practices, often alongside each other. This is an oversimplification, but social media, rather than being a separate discipline it tried to be for years, is a platform – a tool, even – that can lay across several departments.

• PR People Still Have No Idea How to Measure Their Work

For years, PR relied on “thud factor” (the sound a thick printed clip book makes when you drop it on the conference room table, for you digital natives) to measure their work. That is, the volume of placements, regardless of quality was the measurement. Another (terrible) method was AVE, or Ad Value Equivalency, the idea being that an editorial article was worth what you would have paid for the same space in advertising. Efforts such as the Barcelona Principles have tried to get PR professionals to measure efforts in more meaningful ways correlating to business success, but frankly I don’t see a lot of innovation, especially when some clients still ask for AVE (why??). I have even seen marketers still promoting it like it’s a normal, logical thing to do.

• Are PR Agencies Even Necessary?

Of course the answer is “yes.” Agencies can provide a combined expertise to clients, if they present and execute well. Having seen things from the client side as well, though, I can’t help but notice there are a lot of times that the right internal person (another thing I have seen- but also done) can get the results that an agency should be producing, but often doesn’t. It is up to the agency teams to add value that matches what they are charging, and to figure out what brings that value. As so many shoot-from-the-hip PR pundits say in their series of obvious truths on Twitter* and LinkedIn, it really is a partnership. Whichever side of the relationship I am on, I am looking at how the agency complements the internal team.

When I have seen that happen consistently, then I will have seen everything.

*I’m still calling it Twitter, deal with it.

This past week, I had the pleasure of attending the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Yankee Chapter’s event, “AI and PR: Sparking Curiosity, Removing Fear,” hosted at the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Yeah, everybody is writing about AI, pushing AI products, or bragging about how they have integrated AI into existing products, but I put aside my usual distaste for things everyone else is into (I call it the “Grateful Dead Effect”) to dive into a very informative and necessary session.

Rather than recap everything said (why be boring?) I’ll drop a few of my personal impressions here, but first, a nod to the speakers:

• Mark McClennan, APR, Fellow PRSA, a former colleague from my beginning days in public relations, spoke about AI strategies and ethics (listen to his podcast, Ethical Voices).
• Rebecca Emery, APR gave a great overall of AI tools and strategies for using them (she has more at SeacoastAI.com).
• Jim Schachter of New Hampshire Public Radio gave the media perspective, joining the above and moderator Todd Van Hoosear in a panel to cap off the event.

Anyway, on to my thoughts:

• The highlight of Mark’s presentation was a list of “rules” (not commandments, for the non-religious) for AI in PR. A pervasive theme was not to put confidential or proprietary information into AI chat prompts (for example, if you want AI help writing a press release, don’t put the unannounced news in there!). It seems simple, but the fact that fully half of these rules covered a variation of that point bears repeating. And repeating.
• One of the rules was not to rely on AI for translations. I agree with that, but it brought a question to mind: what if AI tools get so good at translation that people universally deem it to be reliable? Can we change the rule then? Could this apply to other guidelines and guardrails we put around AI? (For the record, Mark was open to changing rules as circumstances change.)
• One last thought on ethics and AI. In public relations, do we have “ethical use” properly defined?

Rebecca Emery focused on strategies for AI as well; we need to be prepared that employers and clients will ask us to use them for campaigns. In particular, she reminded us to shape our prompts to consider our precise audiences, and to use AI to ask you questions back to shape better outcomes.

Helpfully, her presentation focused more on the tools available and their differences, rather than the dos and don’ts. Unsaid was that most of us probably dabble in ChatGPT, and are exposed to tools like Microsoft Copilot or Google’s Gemini because they are pushed on us via their flagship products, but there is a whole roster of tools with different features, such as:

• ChatGPT
• Anthropic Claude (interesting as it does not retain data and does not access the internet, making it a better choice to retain privacy)
• Perplexity AI (a “conversational search engine”)
• Microsoft Copilot (I believe this was once known as Bing Chat, but it’s probably for the best that the Bing branding is gone)
• Google Gemini (once known as Bard)
• PI AI (billed as “emotionally intelligent” AI).

Rather than trying to recreate Rebecca’s talk, I will just encourage all to experiment with these different tools for different use cases. That’s what I will be doing.

As a very useful aside, my former employer, Eric Enge (author of “The Art of SEO), conducted a study to compare four of these (ChatGPT, Google, Microsoft, and Claude). The results published in January – and, I suspect, likely to be updated- are worth reading.

AI and PR Measurement

For at least the last five years, I have viewed artificial intelligence through the lens of practical applications. Back then, AI conjured fears of robots taking our jobs, or Temrinators becoming self-aware and destroying civilization (there is a facet of the AI community referred to as “Doomers” who do fear a less Schwarzeneggarian view of that outcome). Those fears still exist, but the practical applications have come at us fast, thanks to the likes of Open.ai and others, as well as AI being baked into technology we already know (heck, it’s been informing Google searches for even longer than that, depending how you define RankBrain’s machine learning algorithm).

Everybody writes about AI now, which makes it a challenge to find something truly interesting. Thanks to my friend Gini Dietrich, I found it. She recently wrote about AI use for public relations measurement, via a tool called Coverage Impact. I am intrigued, for two reasons:

1. This is a targeted use of AI, not a vague toy or a widely-used application (like chatbots, or the ChatGPT writing prompts that are either helping us write better or creating brain cell-killing word pollution). It is looking at a particular problem, and creating a way to get to some actual (potential) ways to measure PR, which brings me to…
2. PR measurement has been a huge problem in the industry for years. The Barcelona Principles have tried to set us on the road to measuring the effect of public relations, but so few have embraced it to date, in part because they are not sure how to express the effect on business outcomes (whether by cause or correlation), or they are lazy and feed executives meaningless (or near-meaningless) metrics like Ad Value Equivalency or “potential eyeballs.” This tool aims to cut through the inability to see direct effects and outcomes, much as ChatGPT cuts through writer’s block. My only question is whether it can incorporate other simultaneous marketing efforts so that the PR outcomes can be seen in the context of overall marketing efforts. I should think that would be possible.

I look forward to seeing this in action and hope people who use this will share their results. Maybe this will be part (even a small one) of a new push for the PR industry to get serious about measuring their efforts properly

Slop-py AI Language

There is, it appears, a new term for unwanted AI content: it’s called “slop.” We’ll see if it sticks. Certainly, it’s a fine term; I didn’t know we need it. What I am wondering is if we should have a term for unrequested new word coinages. I say yes. Does anyone remember “Bacn?” Do you use it? Me neither. Another example I’m still laughing about is from years ago when a friend tried to coin a word for linkbait on Twitter (“Twinkbait.” That one may have been taken, but I wouldn’t really know, and you probably shouldn’t Google it).

Yes, only two again– I’m not changing the post title

I’ll still call these posts “Top 5” even though I’m only doing two. I’m easing back into it, plus I want to keep things humanely brief. One of these items is something nice I saw online recently, the other item is not that.

• How do we train the next generation of communications pros?

Since I joined the PR profession after years in radio, I have always been fascinated by how people get into the business. There are many former journalists like me, who may not have had formal education in the mystical PR arts (my degree from Emerson College was in radio). I did notice that in times of bulk hiring, there were certain schools that seemed to churn out young PR pros, ready to be shaped (for better or worse) by agencies in entry-level jobs. Over the years, working with Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) groups at varying schools, I got a closer look at how these young folks were being shaped, and got to know a number of the educators (largely here in the Boston area) along the way.

One thing that intrigued me was the practical part of the education. Just as in radio, where we would produce and edit our own programs and audio projects, PR students go outside the textbooks to get a taste of the real work, practicing their skills not just in mock (or real) entrepreneurial exercises.

Even better, though, are stories like this one on students at St/ John’s University. Why do a hypothetical plan, or even a real pro bono plan for a small company, when you can instill a sense of purpose by promoting campus sustainability, or some other (ok, I’m going to say it, and not in the pejorative) social justice campaign?

New professionals do not need to go right into non-profit or other “social cause” work, but if they bring that mindset to jobs at all sorts of companies, from large corporations in any industry to startups and agencies, we will all be better off in the long term.

• It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your ad creatives are?

My main profession has been public relations (and social media/content/SEO/etc.), but I never truly had anything against the paid media world. Occasionally, though, I have to scratch my dang head, asking how on earth a certain ad was approved. Normally, my complaint about an ad is that the creatives think far too much of their own cleverness and forget to sell the product. This was not the case with the new iPad ad from Apple.

In 1984, the “1984”-themed ad for Macintosh was legendary, depicting a new computing system that destroyed the old, rigid, “totalitarian” regime. There was no mistaking its brilliance. Now? We use skinny tech to destroy everything we love (rather than, say, using it to recreate and enhance those wonderful things instead of destroying them, which many people, I am sure, use iPads for anyway, aside from streaming “peak TV” shows that you can watch just as easily on a $100 Kindle. But that’s not the point).

Another win for PR, by default.

Since the last time I published here regularly, I took up the hobby of submitting entries in the New Yorker‘s Cartoon Caption Contest. Recently, I won it – for the second time! I guess that means I’m funny now, but it has taken at least a few hundred entries to score these wins; still, it’s gratifying.
If you would like to see the cartoon and my entry (I believe copyright prevents me from reproducing the artwork here), you can check out this database on the judging of the entries for the week I won (my winning caption was “You say “flood” like it’s a bad thing.”).

For reference, my first win is represented on this page (my winning caption there was “I sent my wife up an hour ago about the noise. Have you seen her?”).

Early in my attempts, I captioned a cartoon depicting a ship’s captain petting a cat; my caption had the sailor say “He calls it Ishmael.” So very highbrow. My wife suggested I change it to “Ishmeow,” which I rejected as too corny. Of course, someone submitted “Ishmeow” and won. I had been determined to win ever since.

To make up for the lack of images in a post about winning a cartoon caption contest and get around copyright issues, I did have AI (Craiyon.com) make an attempt at a “New Yorker Cartoon.” Here’s the result; feel free to submit your own caption.

Content creation can be a strange thing; since the spread of social media (jeez, that phrasing makes it sound pandemic-adjacent), it has been easy to use blogs and other platforms to experiment, hone our communications skills, or simply to express ourselves. I never gave in to the “I’m going to be a blogebrity” (yeah, that was a word adult humans used at one point) craze but I got over the fear that nobody wants to read my musings (fact check: nobody wants to read my musings) to publish regularly over the years- just to do it.

This blog has survived so many upheavals in that time, from the extreme changes in public relations and social media tools and practices to the increased sophistication and variety of publishing platforms, to the whimsical decision by Google to update Analytics – for the better, but it did reek of Google wanting to throw some steep learning curves at people who were getting complacent (or something like that- maybe they just get antsy if they haven’t sunsetted a product in a while).

Why did I stop blogging? Upheaval. I took on jobs in new industries where I felt more student than expert (a good thing, but no excuse to be holding off here); the pandemic changed our priorities, in life and employment; and I spent a little time educating myself on the intricacies of the medical industry.

All that stops now; based on a survey sample of 0, nobody told me I shouldn’t start blogging again, so I will take that as a mandate. To keep some sort of continuity, I revert to my favorite “Top 5” format, and refine a post I put up on LinkedIn last week about the pros and cons of stopping and starting a blog. Upcoming posts will look at more current issues and trends in communications, as in the past. So, just to get things warmed up…

Top 5 Reasons I Stopped Blogging (2)….

1. Burnout: writing just for my own benefit (and a few site visitors who clearly got lost on the Internet) takes time and energy. Sometimes you just need to recharge, though I was alarmed it has been five years; the last several years have simply been crazy for all of us. I shall, however, refuse to call this phenomenon “blogxiety.”
2. Career Shift: I call BS on myself for this one. I got over the transition to working in SEO to keep writing years ago; I stuck with what I knew best, rather than pretending to be an SEO expert, and it was fine! (I wasn’t so bad at SEO either, particularly the content side– take that, imposter syndrome!)

and Compelling Reasons to Return (3)

1. It’s simply the best way to keep sharp: forcing oneself to produce keeps the mind sharp, and begets more productivity in other areas of life and work. It’s not about getting audience (though it can be) or making money on a blog or other platform (again, knock yourself out, influencer), but it is motivating, regardless of the outcomes.
2. Over the years, I have found this the best way to keep up on trends in my chosen profession; I force myself to actively seek out articles, and comment on new tools and trends (or make fun of them; that’s my prerogative). I have some catching up to do; during my self-exile, we have seen the rise of AI as a common tool, the continued trend in hyperlocal news, and a bunch of other stuff I need to force myself to find articles about. (By the way, I came across the image in this blog post by experimenting with different basic AI image generators. The image came with no attribution if there is any source material it drew from– I was just looking for a generic representation of a frustrated writer, so it did the job).
3. Confidence-Building: I refer, of course, to summoning the strength and gravitas to once again take up the fight against calling a “blog post” a “blog.” This is a hill I will fall ill on (not worth dying for).

More to come

Google+, We Hardly Knew (What To Do With) Ye

That disturbance in the Force you felt last week was the sound of thousands (millions?) of dormant Google+ accounts crying out, then falling forever silent. Google+, as of April 2, is no more.

Yes, some of us mocked Google+ on its launch, but we tried it out anyway. Speaking for myself, my skepticism was based on part on the over-enthusiastic response by some consultants in the industry to a brand-new platform that nobody was yet using (or in the case of Google+ for Business, an extension of the platform that was not yet live when some of the over-exuberant promotion kicked off). You might say I was…
…wait for it…
non-Plussed.

My skepticism was also of the “wait and see” variety, as I wondered if enough people, even people with Google accounts, would bolt firmly-entrenched social networks like Facebook for this “upstart.” Remember, G+ launched before the worries about Facebook’s data privacy policies and manipulation by “fake news” farmers got to an orange (if not red) alert status.

In its favor, Google+ was easier to use (especially compared to other tools like Google Wave), better looking (in my opinion), and did, indeed, integrate with my already-busy Google accounts. Our industry did have a fun time in the land rush to branded accounts as well, but people, outside of some dedicated communities, never rushed to take part. Perhaps more people would have been looking for an alternative now versus several years ago. Instead, Google+ has been swept into the dustbin of no-longer-prioritized Google side projects, so we’ll never know.

Fit Small Business Influencer List

Yes, I like to mock or at least ignore “influencer” lists, as they are often shameless linkbait back-slapping the same old people that we are really sick of seeing in lists.

Yes, I do my best not to seek out such “honors,” as I expect like-minded colleagues to carry the same attitude.

However, when an organization I trust – in this case, Fit Small Business – puts me on a list of PR Influencers I never asked to be on, alongside a group of people who are far from the usual suspects (for the most part, and the people I do know- like Lee Odden – are people I respect, which only makes me feel better about the company I find myself keeping), I accept it.

As to the above-mentioned “trust” – Fits Small Business is a site I have known about and read for years, and had forged a content relationship with them through my content marketing teams at Stone Temple Consulting. They would know my team members, but were unlikely to have dealt with me by name- all the more reason to be surprised and pleased.

Thank you to Fit Small Business for an honor. I will continue to fail at submitting myself for recognition, so this stands out.

How Not to Be A Spokesperson

In a time where nascent marijuana legalization, and how it should roll out, has been on the minds of many communities – certainly here in Massachusetts – I found this story amusing, in a horrifying way. As a PR person, I need to be mindful of image, message, but most importantly, truth. If I’m promoting a recreational marijuana business, then I probably think it’s great, and want everyone else to as well. What I would not do, as the shop in Toronto in the above-linked story apparently did, is have aPR spokesperson pose as the “first customer.” It’s hard enough to gain the trust of the community in such a business. I guess this PR method is called…astroweeding?

Just three this time…

Whoops MySpace

For how many years have I and several other industry colleagues stressed the importance of owning your content, and that storing them on someone else’s platform isn’t good enough? 

Now we hear the MySpace has accidentally deleted all content prior to 2016. 
I’ll wait while you go make jokes about how MySpace is irrelevant and all the old content is terrible….

…
Ok. people put stuff up there. Especially music, no matter how awful or good. If they didn’t have copies, they have nothing now. So MySpace isn’t relevant? Imagine that happening to Facebook, or Instagram, or YouTube, by accident or through some hostile act. 

Copy your stuff and store it somewhere safe, even if you think it’s not important. And definitely do not trust a social platform with the safekeeping of your precious content.

Facebook/Instagram Outage: Owning Your Stuff, Part Infinity

Owning and controlling your online presence extends to paid media as well. When Facebook and Instagram suffered a widespread outage earlier this month, it was more than an annoyance (or an opportunity to do things categorized generally as “not being on Facebook”) to marketers: it was a temporary disaster for advertising and influencer campaigns, as long-planned and scheduled posts went unseen.

That revenue loss is a bigger problem for Facebook et al and their advertisers than a temporary loss of cat photo posts and Instagrams of your lunch.

Least Surprising News Ever- Tumblr Tumbles

Remember when Tumblr recently banned porn and people like me joked, “what else does Tumblr have?” According to many visitors, not much else, judging by the subsequent huge traffic loss. Did Tumblr cut off its “female-presenting nipple” to spite its face?

Ed note: I would have written that users fled for “bluer pastures” rather than “greener” in the Verge article I linked. Opportunity missed.

Bad PR Pitch

There is trying to get attention in unconventional ways, and there is being a completely incompetent dummy. “She opened the email” is not a success metric if Nicole’s response is (presumably) hostile, and she (definitely) posted the NSFW pitch online for all to scorn.

I don’t usually jump on the “bad PR pitch” bandwagon, but this is comically/tragically terrible:

Tweet of the Week

Matt rarely disappoints.