Spotify testing freemium e-learning video courses
E-learning video courses are Spotify’s next offering as the service pushes for better subscriber retention and growth. Third parties like Skillshare and BBC Maestro are on board and a freemium model will generate new revenue – if people take to the idea. Remember when Spotify was purely a music streaming...
Current in Social
New research finds Gen Z prefer social video over TV
Streaming giants such as Netflix, Disney +, and Paramount could be facing problems in the future, as a new study finds Gen Zers prefer social video and live streaming over traditional television shows. Remember the days when your family would settle down for the evening, turn on the TV,...
Will calls to ban smartphones for children be answered?
A new poll suggests that most parents want smartphones to be banned amongst children. Could it happen? Are our beloved smartphones addictive? I think we all know that the answer is yes, but a large proportion of people are now going as far as labelling them ‘electronic drugs’ which young people...
Facebook sees Gen Z boost after relaunching ‘poke’ feature
Once a staple of Millennial internet use, Facebook has reintroduced the long-defunct ‘poke’ feature to its platform, allowing users to mildly annoy one another at their leisure. If you’re a Millennial, you probably know exactly what we mean when discussing Facebook’s long lost ‘poke’ feature. Although simple, the ‘poke’ button allowed...
YouTube launches #WomenofYouTube mentorships for Shorts creators
YouTube has announced a new #WomenofYouTube mentorship program which will foster collaboration between female creators on the platform’s Shorts feature. As we celebrate Women’s History Month, YouTube is looking ahead to the future and ways in which it can further elevate its female creator base. At the forefront of this mission...
Spotify begins rolling out music videos feature
While it appeared Spotify had laid its hat on short-form video, the music service will now begin to roll out full music videos on the app across the coming months. Is this the beginning of the end for the looping Canvas videos everyone disables to save their battery life? In a...
Royals photo commotion highlights challenge of discerning fake content
As artificial intelligence makes discerning between real and fake imagery increasingly tricky, people are undoubtedly becoming less trusting of media they’re presented with. Can we nip this growing scepticism in the bud? Society’s threshold for what qualifies as ‘uncanny valley’ in 2024 is becoming more debatable by the month. Public trust, meanwhile, is clearly waning. Thanks to artificial intelligence and its ability to create unerringly realistic portrayals of real life photo...
Is a TikTok ban coming to the US?
A proposed ban on TikTok is making the rounds in Congress, garnering support from young people and policymakers alike. ‘If they pass it, I’ll sign it,’ said President Joe Biden on Friday. But what exactly does the ban entail? From the moment TikTok rose to widespread popularity, US government officials have worried about the risk the app poses to data security. As a result, a potential ban on the Chinese-owned...
Why gamblers embracing AI is cause for concern
The perception that AI can eliminate risk and replace luck with foolproof strategy is concerning. Will this lead to more newcomers getting hooked and larger sums being lost? The over normalisation of betting is increasingly becoming a problem and the industry’s latest ‘coup’ has the potential to open an ever larger can of worms. While having a bet on a sporting event once required a visit to the local bookies, a...
Do parenting influencers have a place on social media?
The recent sentencing of Ruby Franke, who dished out parenting advice online, has sparked conversation around the safety of so-called ‘sharenting’ via social media. When Ruby Franke was sentenced to four terms in prison, she had 2.3 million followers on a now-deleted YouTube channel titled ‘8 Passengers’. The premise of the channel was to provide parenting advice, a phenomenon known online as ‘sharenting’. And to her millions of followers, Franke was...
