June 13, 2024
June 13, 2024
In this week's edition: The attention pattern spectrum, misinformation "pre-bunking", shaking up industry events, our continuing addiction to Twitter, culture curators, and much more...
Was watching the results of the EU elections this week and this old “Bloom County” comic came to mind:
Get the Message: The Attention Pattern Spectrum - According to the authors, “our attention patterns haven’t just got shorter - they’ve got longer as well.” (Storythings)
Debunking misinformation failed. Welcome to ‘pre-bunking’ - “Election officials around the world are adopting “prebunking” campaigns, as AI and other threats jeopardize voting.” (Washington Post)
Purpose sets up brands for backlash - “Somewhat inevitably, the ubiquity of brand purpose triggered scepticism and fatigue. People woke up to corporate washing and Bud Light learned the hard way that being seen to promote progressive ideals can provoke a backlash (and that hastily abandoning those ideals only makes it worse).” See Jon Stewart’s scathing commentary on brand purpose here. (Contagious)
My open letter to a proponent of an ‘AI-enhanced executive brand’ (and the proponent’s open response) - David Murray and David Armano debate the “AI-ification of exec comms.” (Writing Boots)
State of the Global Workplace - “In 2023, global employee engagement stagnated, and overall employee wellbeing declined. While both measures are at or near record highs, their lack of improvement is notable, as they follow multiple years of steady gains. The result is that the majority of the world’s employees continue to struggle at work and in life, with direct consequences for organizational productivity.” (Gallup)
Shaking Up Industry Events To Drive Impact - “Weber Shandwick's Katherine Docampo wants to revolutionise conferences, advocating for more innovative formats fostering genuine collaboration and change.” (Creative Salon)
Reputation Repair: The Potential and Limits of Boeing’s Next CEO - “The job of the next CEO will be to steer the badly off-course company and rebuild trust on multiple fronts, with employees, shareholders and an increasingly wary global flying public.” (PR News)
PwC asks for silence from departing staff in programme of UK job cuts - “PwC has launched a round of “silent lay-offs” in the UK, with affected staff told they must not inform colleagues why they are leaving and have to follow a “suggested wording” if they want to send goodbye messages.” (FT - Subscription may be required)
The internet will soon need warnings for AI-generated content - “AI’s strength is automating high-volume, short-term marketing activity, which means social media could become a cesspool of synthetic content.” (MarketingWeek)
Google still recommends glue for your pizza - “Every time someone like me reports on Google’s AI getting something wrong, we’re training the AI to be wronger.” (The Verge)
A national network of local news sites is publishing AI-written articles under fake bylines. Experts are raising alarm - “A closer look at the bylines populating the local site and a national network of others — Sarah Kim, Jake Rodriguez, Mitch M. Rosenthal — reveals a tiny badge with the words “AI.” These are not real bylines. In fact, the names don’t even belong to real humans. The articles were written with the use of artificial intelligence.” More on this topic here. (CNN)
It’s 2024. Elon Musk Rules X. And the Political World Is Still Addicted - “Paid ads for political candidates are all over the platform, and politics insiders are secretly buying blue checks.” (Notus)
Facebook and Instagram are officially video platforms - “But users are still spending more time watching TikToks, according to eMarketer.” (Marketing Brew)
The New Generation of Online Culture Curators - “In a digital landscape overrun by algorithms and A.I., we need human guides to help us decide what’s worth paying attention,” (New Yorker via Matt)
And finally, the most popular article from last week was Post Social Media by the SETI Institute. And until next time, “May your coffee be strong, and your Wi-Fi stronger.”