#29 What a week

W/C 7 November

Hello and welcome to #29. What a week. ‘Social’ platforms seem to be going through the biggest shift in their history, perhaps an identity crisis (see also, ad /creative agencies).

Not only Twitter right now either, Meta announced 11,000 job cuts and that felt like a huge moment. I feel for many of the people I know there and at Twitter who have been impacted. There is a great shift in what social platforms are doing and their purpose. My theory has long been that the social era is over and that these platforms now figuring out what is next, media is probably my bet. Social space is now your favourite game, your whatsapp private group, your discord or perhaps even face to face. But nicher (isn’t a word, should be). But something has changed. Few links below are a bit of a preamble this week, but important.

This feels like a good pre-read on the state of social too, if not a little conceptual.

Oh and this, ‘Social media is just a thing that happens.’

Finally, The Elephant in the room is worth your time.

Now, on to the #content.

1. Elon x Twitter

So much to say, yet so much has been said already. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? I’m not going to add much to the commentary but here are some things I’ve read on what’s going on. Good luck to everyone there.

1. Some lessons on pricing - from the current issues.

2. Mondelez pulls out of Twitter.

3. Are Twitter users interchangeable?

4. How fact checking at twitter is currently working.

5. An interesting viewpoint.

6. Whatever comes next won’t be the same.

7. A product view.

8. An ad view.

🔗 2. Is your brand stuck on a plateau?

The Internet and social has changed the pace of the world, I genuinely believe that. From politics to sports to every industry (apart from surveyors when you’re trying to buy a house in my experience). I think this extends to what a brand *is* and indeed what advertising and brand strategy is. This is a good piece, especially for performance-led brands.

🔗 3. YouTube Shorts are a big deal

34 of the 50 fastest-growing YouTube channels were shorts. Shorts are the real deal right now. I’ll never bet against YouTube either. Creators are moving to them and I imagine they’re going to build out the product quicker. If Twitch didn’t scare YT enough 7-8 years ago, Tik Tok certainly is.

A tweet.

This thread on resilience made me rethink the word.

Naomi Fisher @naomicfisher

'Be More Resilient'. As a psychologist, it was a surprise to me when parents started telling me how much they hated the word 'resilience'. To me it sounded like a good word, an empowering one. Not to them. Here's what they tell me. (with @_MissingTheMark) 1/

Smart contextual creative.

Two Tik Tok Trends.

1. Taylor Swift - obvs, which is fun til it isn’t?

2. The song behind the coming back for you Trend.

Odds and ends, basic links. Pure linkage.

• Tik Tok news movement comes to London. Search, news, entertainment, Tik Tok is doing it all.

• How Washington Post uses Tik Tok. They are good.

• NBA investing in startups. Smart.

• Whatsapp rolling out communities. Finally.

• Why inclusive leaders are good and how to become one.

• I don’t prescribe to this, but what if Crypto just…dies?

• 2000s are back, Uggs too.

• 1980s are back. Leg warmers too.

🫣😬🧐

Paul McCallion @OrangePaulp

Frida sweetie I am so sorry

Bonus.

Mythic Quest S3 is out this week, it seemed to go under the radar but it’s light, fun and actually more relatable to the world it is set than it seems. Mosquito Coast, (Justin Theroux is so handsome) is also back. Catch up before the new series, both on Apple TV.

All the spelling and grammatical mistakes in this Substack are on purpose to test you, actually. Well done. You got them all. No, I don’t need to know about them, you have that kudos.