Five things worth sharing from the last week or so, brought to you by a different member of the Browser Media team every Friday.
This week’s My Five is by Joe.
1) What did people search for in 2016?
It is that time of year again. Wrap ups of 2016 are appearing thick and fast. It was interesting, and sometimes a bit depressing, to see what the most popular searches were in the UK throughout the year.
Why depressing? Personally, I find it a bit worrying that more people were trying to understand what Brexit means after the referendum than before it…
Google has also released a fairly nostalgic video that summarises key search interests across the year, although it is very much US focused:
2) Gatebox – a more freaky Alexa
Virtual assistants are all the rage these days.
Personally, I haven’t felt the urge to go to Amazon, tool up with an echo device and then talk to it (without feeling like a muppet). Horses for courses and I know I am old school in a number of areas, but the discovery of Gatebox this week has taken my disbelief to new levels:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kq7HN0aTFE
You can always trust the Japanese to take oddball to higher levels but Gatebox is amazing. What is the world coming to when your best friend is a 3D character stuck in a glass tube?
3) Memes are not funny for everyone
Who doesn’t like to chuckle at a good meme?
For the most part, they are harmless fun but this week has seen a very thought provoking campaign from Lizzie Velasquez, who found herself being used in a meme that is brutal about the way that she looks. I think that it is a very brave move and she makes a very good point with dignity. It is fantastic to see that she has attracted a lot of very justified support.
Shall we stick to cats in the future?
4) Sorry for the inconvenience
In an era where Twitter is increasingly a customer support (rather than acquisition) channel and a week where a lot of London commuters endured strike-enduced misery, it was very timely to see the launch of Sorry for the Inconvenience – a website that tracks the number of apologies made by transport operators.
A simple idea that has been executed well. It is fairly depressing reading though if you are unfortunate enough to be a regular commuter on some of the networks that are featured.
Personally, I can’t believe that Ryanair is only saying sorry 4 times a day?! More reflective of a ‘we don’t give a shite’ attitude than the lack of need to apologise?
5) And finally…
Actually, I am cheating on this one as this is actually 3yrs old, but I managed to miss it and only discovered it this week (that must mean it is OK?) but this ad really made me laugh:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT4ikdAS-P0
Have a great weekend everyone!