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. Well, that didn’t last long
I wrote about Twitter launching Fleets in a previous My Five. It doesn’t feel that long ago because……. errrr……. it wasn’t that long ago.
I wasn’t gushing with enthusiasm at the time as it didn’t feel as though we needed yet another stories clone. I don’t really think that I should win any awards for my incredible psychic powers, nor should you offer to pay me to read your tarot cards, but guess what was announced yesterday?
Straight from the horse’s bird’s mouth:
https://twitter.com/Twitter/status/1415362679095635970
Personally, I think it was always going to be a long shot and Twitter misjudged its core user base but I admire them for their ‘fail fast’ approach. There is no shame in trying things and it is usually braver to admit defeat sooner rather than later, so we should not be too scathing.
2. Direct to consumer sport
This week has been a big one in sport, with the culmination of both the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament and the Wimbledon tennis tournament headlining a number of major sporting events.
Sport is fantastic entertainment and the great run of the English team has created a lot of joy after what has been a very troubled 18mths. Sport is also big business. Eye-wateringly big business for certain sports and this can get in the way of the concept of noble competition. The failed launch of the European Super League for football is the most obvious example of this – a blatant money grab at the expense of loyal fans and those clubs not admitted to a super elite club. I am not really a football fan, but I was very pleased that it collapsed even faster than Twitter’s Fleets as it just smacked of greed and financial gain.
There should be no doubt, however, that sport is changing and that commercial models for all those involved will evolve. The potential for clubs to get closer to their fans, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, is an extremely interesting area that is explored in a really interesting post at https://econsultancy.com/how-sport-is-pivoting-to-a-direct-to-fan-offering/ which explores some of the direct to consumer models that have been made possible by over the top (OTT) media platforms. A good read and worth 5mins of your time if you are interested in sport.
3. Twitter outing
With what felt like a depressing predicability, England lost yet another penalty shoot out last Sunday.
Being 100% honest, I actually felt as though Italy deserved the win over 120mins of very watchable football but there is no doubt that it is tough to lose on penalties, despite some epic saves by Pickford. What, however, was much more depressing and predictable, was the subsequent display of moronic racism by those who blamed the penalty misses on the colour of skin.
It is at times like this that I really question social media and the fact that it gives total idiots a voice that really doesn’t need to be heard. Thankfully, my faith in humanity was restored (a little) by a subsequent demonstration of how social media can be a positive force.
I was pleased to see a very public outing / humiliation of the perpetrators of such vile abuse in the form of posts calling out individuals, such as this:
Another racist who lives in Manchester with the company @Savills
Lets expose these idiots. pic.twitter.com/1AvpsJ4n4y
— United 4Fans (@United4fans) July 12, 2021
If ever I have seen a better example of being hoisted by your own petard, I cannot recall it. A keyboard bully has unleashed vitriol on Twitter and has subsequently been judged by a very democratic jury that is not going to accept his behaviour. By involving his employer, these twits have really thrown in the hand grenade. There is no way that such a public outing, for such a vile post, can be ignored by Savills. True people power that simply would not be possible without social media.
Whilst I acknowledge that all *may* not be as clear cut as it seems, Savills has launched an investigation and has suspended a certain Andrew Bone. Although social media gave the racist idiots a voice, it is encouraging to see that it then bit back and ultimately took that voice away.
4.Personal branding on Twitter?
There has been talk of business profiles on Twitter for a while now.
It would seem as though this is taking steps towards being unleashed to all users, as a ‘convert to professional’ option was seen in the wild this week:
Twitter is working on “Twitter for Professionals”, try it out:https://t.co/zri7wH4cUi
(open it in browser if it didn’t work)
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) July 14, 2021
I don’t know about you, but I ran into the same problems as a lot of users and the ‘conversion’ didn’t actually do anything, but it would suggest that professional profiles are not a million miles away. Twitter describes the professional profiles as:
“..a new tool that will allow businesses, non-profits, publishers, and creators – anyone who uses Twitter for work – to display specific information about their business directly on their profile. We’re starting with a small pool of businesses in the U.S. and will give more accounts access to Professional Profiles in the coming months.”
One to keep an eye out on.
5. A very happy dog having a bath
There is an unofficial tradition of sharing photos of dogs in our My Fives. I somehow came across a brilliant video of a dog being washed by his chimpanzee friends this week. It is brilliant.
Click on the image below to see the video on Instagram to enjoy possibly the happiest dog you will see today:
It looks as though the sun will be out this weekend, so enjoy a bbq weekend!
