Will AT&T Time Warner Deal Get Approved

The excitement caused by the latest media merger news of AT&T buying Time Warner has been tempered by concern of "too big".  And that the timing of such news is just two weeks before an important national election.  Politically speaking, both Democrats and Republicans are encouraged to speak out against the merger, as it on the surface looks to limit competition. Economically, it may be harder to press such a claim.

First, both AT&T and Time Warner will point to the Comcast NBC union as precedent to approve their deal.  Second, they will speak to the point that neither business directly competes with the other.  In fact, they each offer to the other a stronger vertical position with AT&T providing distribution through DirecTv, U-Verse, and AT&T Wireless, and Time Warner contributing strictly the content side with production, broadcast, and cable television networks, as well as some web sites.  Neither side currently plays in the other sides' world.  Third, this deal should also pass because Time Warner previously spun off their Time Warner Cable business, a direct competitor to AT&T, as a means to make their content business look more attractive.  Since then, Charter Communication picked up Time Warner Cable and that deal also passed regulatory approval.

So what will the FCC and Justice Department have to say about this merger.  Most likely, a lot with some need to set certain requirements to assure other distribution sites get equal availability to Time Warner content.  But it may be very difficult to outright deny such a deal given the above points.  Could this deal get derailed, possibly: especially if another player seeks to offer a higher priced bid.  Could that still be Apple or Google or maybe even Facebook?  Its been rumored that some of these folks have already kicked the tires a bit.  So stay tuned.

New Broadband Technology Could Deliver Faster Cheaper Service

AT&T may have developed new wireless technology that works with existing power lines to deliver faster and cheaper broadband service.  According to Business Insider, "AT&T says AirGig is several times cheaper than standard wireless internet because it's cheaper for the company to deploy and deliver. It can also be used over open wireless spectrum."  As power lines criss cross our nation, that could mean that wireless technology could provide a major boost to rural neighborhoods.  It could also lead to a cheaper competitor that could drive down costs.

How quickly such a service can get approved and rolled out remains to be seen.  Google has certainly been working to deliver broadband to communities; using power lines would hasten the build out process.  The article suggests that Facebook and others would also be interesting in building out a competitive wireless infrastructure. 

The use of power lines to deliver broadband has been discussed before.  But as public utilities, power companies have not seemed to actively try to grow their business.  I look forward to see how AT&T and others expand our broadband coverage and our speed of service. 

Facebook To Stop Ad Blockers From Working

As much as we all seem to hate ads, they are the lifeblood, the revenue, that drives the growth off many media businesses.  But too many, too cluttered, too irrelevant, and they make the experience of watching or reading content less enjoyable.  In the digital world, ads also tend to slow down the streaming process, as they attempt to figure out which ad to present and run on site.  As a result, many users have installed ad blockers to quicken the web load refresh process and let users enjoy only the content. 

Facebook says they have figured out how to "block the blockers" to help them assure that ads are seen and their revenue grows.  But in an attempt to aid the user, Facebook is also offering more control on what ads to see and what ads to hide.  How much more control remains to be seen and whether it is more useful to the viewing experience. 

While some use ad blockers to improve the page load, others use ad blockers to improve personal privacy and protection from possible malware.  Many want to be anonymous in their viewing process and do not want to be tracked.  While my biggest gripe is how ads slow down the page from loading, I also believe that a number of the ads presented are simply not relevant to me.  That Facebook wants to improve that experience is helpful, but more importantly, they need to improve the load refresh of the page. 

Goodbye To Some Jobs, Hello A.I. And Bots

Technology is shifting labor usage once again.  The rise of tools, the Industrial Revolution, and robotics have caused labor to shift from hands-on to programmer. We see commercials for IBM's Watson, Apple's Siri, and the Amazon Echo.  They all are shown answering our questions and providing solutions to our queries.  And frankly, for simple questions like, what is the weather or what time is it or play a piece of music, they let our voices takeover for our fingers in seeking the answers from the world wide web.

And we are seeing an increasing usage of automation as we call out to customer service, whether it is for banking, cable, appointments, and other service related calls.  The need for a human being on the other end of the line means less need for actual customer service reps to handle your calls.  Unfortunately, they can't handle every unique problem, but most likely solve some leaving a smaller pool for actual CSRs to answer.  It may be why Verizon is letting their unions go on strike and not resolving their pay dispute.  One of the unions striking are the CSRs and Verizon probably feels they can get by without that many employees they need. Union demands may just run counter to what Verizon's new world requirements. 

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg recently announced plans to put A.I. bots into their Messenger app.  Per USA Today, "Facebook announced that businesses would be able to start using their messenger platform to buy and sell products and offer customers support."  Instead of going to a mobile app to make a purchase, you can use Messenger and start "chatting" to tell what you want to do, like buy flowers or order a pizza.  No more search as Messenger aggregates all those conversations.  And soon we can replace our typing with our voices to drive our purchase behavior. Amazon aims to do the same thing using its Echo device to search and handle commerce via the Amazon infrastructure. 

And the more we automate these communications and chats and orders, the less need we have for humans to do those jobs.  CSR centers will soon become like the dinosaur as the numbers of actual bodies in these businesses decline.  The rise of artificial intelligence in our commerce activities will continue to drive labor to seek alternative opportunities.  Jobs will go away as companies will find the economic advantages to bots over people, including no healthcare costs, no vacation pay, and a 24/7 work day.  It is the next great technological shift to occur in our labor market. 

Virtual Reality Is For Porn

We recently saw the show Avenue Q, a slightly risque musical parody of Sesame Street, first produced on Broadway about 15 years ago.  In today's NY Post, we learn that Oculus VR, now owned by Facebook, sees its next growth opportunity through the porn business.  Not an unlikely combination.

It seems that new technology has often found its early adopters through the porn industry.  The rise of the VCR brought many new owners for its easier access to porn videos; the rise of the internet has also been directly connected to the online connection to porn as well.  In fact, in Avenue Q, a popular song is based on this very fact, "The Internet Is For Porn":



The show may now feel a bit dated, but perhaps its rewrite could have this song changed to "VR Is For Porn" instead. According to the Post, "VR porn videos already number north of 1,000 from professional studios alone."  That compares to only about 30 games available for release.  It may seem a bit titillating, but the success of VR may seem to find its initial success as a result of this connection to porn.  We will wait and see. 

Facebook Doesn't Own Your Stuff

As you scroll down your Facebook feed, you might see various people posting this gem:

Now it's official! It has been published in the media. Facebook has just released the entry price: $5.99 to keep the subscription of your status to be set to "private". If you paste this message on your page, it will be offered free (paste not share) if not tomorrow, all your posts can become public. Even the messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed. After all, it does not cost anything for a simple copy and paste

Better safe than sorry is right. Channel 13 News was just talking about this change in Facebook's privacy policy. Better safe than sorry. As of September 26th , 2015 at 01:16 a.m. Eastern standard time, I do not give Facebook or any entities associated with Facebook permission to use my pictures, information, or posts, both past and future. By this statement, I give notice to Facebook it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, or take any other action against me based on this profile and/or its contents. The content of this profile is private and confidential information. The violation of privacy can be punished by law (UCC 1-308- 1 1 308-103 and the Rome Statute). NOTE: Facebook is now a public entity. All members must post a note like this. If you prefer, you can copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a statement atleast once it will be tactically allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in the profile status updates. DO NOT SHARE. You MUST copy and paste

As Business Insider tells us, this is a waste.  Facebook never owns what you post.  What is amazing is how many people cite a TV news broadcast that they personally have not seen.  And posting this notice does not change anything.  The only way to keep anything private is to simply not post it at all.  Of course if that doesn't satisfy you, you might try this little idea:

Mobile Video Ads Work Better

What is the last display ad you recall seeing?  Frankly, my eyes gloss over most display ads; they are more a nuisance than informative, clogging up the screen.  Headers, verticals, even overlays clog our screens but may not be very successful.  Well, a research report from BI Intelligence says that video advertising is the best future for mobile and desktop screens. And that trend is continuing to grow. 

As you scroll down your Facebook or other feeds, you may notice that videos start to play automatically.  And they have been successful.  "In-stream video ads, including ads that play at the start, during, and after  video content, yielded click-through rates (CTRs) that were 18x higher than HTML5 banner ad units in February 2015, according to Google's Rich Media Gallery. "

Of course prices for video ads are higher than static ones, but if they deliver more ROI, then it is clearly a better value.  Will display ads go away completely, doubtful.  But an integrated ad buy that utilizes both strategies on a page certainly should get more notice, better brand engagement, and hopefully more click throughs. 

Yelp Needs Help

As far as the stock market is concerned, Yelp is the sound a dog makes.  Earnings don't look so good and the stock price is falling drastically.  But the problem isn't that consumers aren't using the service or that revenue is falling, the opposite is true; the problem is that they are not growing fast enough.  

I am an active user of Yelp.  I use it for restaurant suggestions, I use it for hotels.  I even just looked at online reviews on Yelp for local car dealers.  It is a useful and practical service.  But I can see on the business side, the difficulty they must have in growing revenue.  As it's main charm is social media, users posting personal reviews, companies with great reviews don't need to advertise on it as social media is providing a credible ad message without them paying for it.  And a company with bad reviews may simply want to not advertise on a site that is badmouthing it.  Rather, they can just respond to specific reviews.  So the old adage, 'why buy the cow if the milk is free', seems to come into play with Yelp.

It may be that the future success of Yelp comes from synergy it can create by merging with another entity.  Could Google, Facebook, or Twitter be interested in joining forces with yelp/  It seems that a partner is needed if Yelp is to have future financial success.  For now, I will continue to use Yelp; I love it and appreciate getting important feedback and reviews
on different businesses.

Netflix Pondering Adding Advertising

Despite denials by Netflix CEO that the company is not adding paid advertising, he did say in USA Today "that to dispel concerns saying, 'No advertising coming onto Netflix. Period. Just adding relevant cool trailers for other Netflix content you are likely to love.'"  But truthfully, content that is not the main attraction, promotion, or whatever you may call it, is still a form of advertising.  How consumers react and accept these promotional messages will decide whether Netflix moves toward a paid advertising revenue stream.

Let me be clear, this is not a new strategy.  The same plan has been used before.  Before Bravo and AMC were full commercially supported networks, they were commercial free.  From promotional breaks came sponsorships of uncut content.  And as the desire to grow ad revenue grew, so did the transition to traditional advertising.  Other networks, like Disney Channel, may utilize promotional messaging, but a deeper look may see some sponsored content within these ads too. 

That Netflix is pondering a ad model is not necessarily a bad thing.  But if it moves to cutting content into pods so as to add commercial breaks, a move that Hulu and others offer, that would be disconcerting.  Of course, Netflix could create a free model with advertising to piggyback its subscriber model that remains ad free. 

Advertising is pushing deeper ahead in our digital footprint.  Instagram announced today that they too will add more ads into its feed.  How will its users react?  It seems to have worked for parent brand Facebook, so it simply was inevitable.  But should consumers revolt and leave the app for others, then a lesson may be forged for future brands. 

Digital Is About Knowing You Better Than You Know Yourself

For as irrational as a human being can be, the things we buy, the choices we make, the directions we take, are all being gathered in this brave new world through digital technology.  From credit card purchases to web searches, from GPS on our devices to video streaming, our movement, purchases, and other actions are being captured digitally and analyzed.  And with that abundance of information combined with our demographic data, we are being presented with marketing messages and images that may more likely appeal to our interests to watch, engage, consider, and perhaps even purchase.  The aggregate of all this data collected about us may ultimately know more about us than we know ourselves.  Scary, huh!

On the positive note, it means that ads are being customized to more specifically address our needs or appeal to our interests.  Te result, more effective and efficient advertising.  The downside is that we may no longer be anonymous.  We may consciously encourage to be found.  We announce our events, vacations, and other information on Facebook, we share our driving patterns and traffic info with Waze, we use mobile coupons and courtesy cards to get discounts and other savings when we shop.  The rewards are aplenty, but underneath all the positives is that we are trackable, pursued, and analyzed.  Under nefarious circumstances, could we be letting others more easily hack into our lives, steal our financial information, or worse, make it easier to steal our identity. 

Security is never spoken about until after the fact.  A breach of online data at a department store, lost disk drives with credit card information, or worse the theft of social security numbers.  And no matter how much is being done to protect our data, there will always be those seeking to hack into it.  It is the new mobile, digital world that we have entered.  And it will only get more complex. 

Future Of Advertising - Mobile And Social

As we engage more and more with our mobile devices, our smartphones and tablets, they become a much larger focal point for reach and frequency. More Facebook users access their accounts via through mobile rather than a computer. In fact, in Q1 of this year, Facebook's "mobile advertising revenue represented roughly 73% of advertising revenue", as mentioned in Business Insider. And given Facebook innovations, videos now automatically run as you begin to scroll down the timeline, hoping to snare you to watch and turn up the volume.  I know that I am like the majority, accessing these and other social media sites like Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and others on my iPad or iPhone.  And whether it is a display ad, or sponsored content, or other banner or video, this is where the future lies.  We are easily reached, personalized, and presented with relevant and hopefully engaging messages.  

And so other ad platforms may need to worry as usage patterns shift and so to the flow of ad dollars from one bucket to another.  Cord cutting on cable TV is not just an issue for subscription dollars but advertising dollars as well.  As higher percentages of our time are spent on our mobile devices and interacting with others via social platforms, so to will ad spend. 

It is why TV Everywhere is so important  for content providers.  And why many today have apps for authenticated viewing on mobile devices.  It is why the DOJ and the FCC are looking so hard at the Comcast - Time Warner Cable merger and that together they would control a majority of the broadband pipeline in the US.  Monopolistic pricing, controlled or limited access to content, and lack of a competitive threat are key concerns.  

And as I look at the growth of mobile, I am struck with an interesting idea.  For companies like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and others delivering content to mobile devices, the thought of complementing these services with social networks for its members to discuss content that they have consumed on their respective apps. Consider a Netflix social app that is easily accessed and used to reach other "fans" of House Of Cards, Orange Is The New Black, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt or other series and where they can discuss in detail.  Such a companion site would also enable these content providers to add an advertising revenue stream into their mix.  It may be a niche social platform at first but may just drive future growth.

For it is the increasing usage of mobile platforms in our daily lives and our desire to interact with others online that is driving new opportunities for advertising.  At the same time, traditional ad platforms, threatened by this new growth, must continue to play in the new space and become ubiquitous across all platforms, print, TV, radio, digital. By being accessible via the mobile platform, advertisers too will gain with better data based on individual preferences, not household ones.  And it is that one-on-one relationship that we have on our mobile devices that is the future of advertising. 

Embracing Branded Content

Getting your brand, product, or service noticed is an elusive business.  And in today's digital world, with so many advertising choices and the credibility from social media, breaking through the clutter becomes harder and harder to do.  Programmatic advertising has come along to aid in the efficiency of purchasing advertising and data is the most important component in driving where, when, how and who in ad placement.  But the challenge remains in breaking through the clutter.

General Electric, a former owner of NBC and its collection of broadcast and cable networks, certainly saw that challenge firsthand.  And as an advertiser, GE has chosen the branded entertainment route to drive home its message.  According to today's New York Times, "G.E. aims to create high-quality branded content that will highlight scientific innovation, some of it involving scientists who work for or with the company."  This six part documentary series will be aired on the Nat Geo channel later this Fall.  The plan it seems is not to overwhelm its audience with the GE brand but make it a cohesive part of the program.  "Marketing experts say this turn to branded entertainment is happening because the traditional methods of advertising are outdated and every piece of content, advertising or not, must compete for viewers’ attention."

That this article has already appeared on social media through Facebook and Twitter and that the NY Times chose to report this program as a bigger story certainly helps drive home the GE message. And the timing, just when GE is selling off its capital finance business from its core industrial business, may not be so coincidental.  Certainly we will have to wait and see if this story is revisited prior to the premiere of the broadcast.  Still, it speaks to a growing trend toward branded entertainment as a means to drive brand engagement and value. 

What Do Millennials And Generation Edge Want

I saw an interesting stat posted on Twitter from an article in the Wall Street Journal:

While it took 75 years for the telephone to reach more than 50 million users, Facebook took only 3.5 years, and Angry Birds only 35 days.  With each generation becoming more and more tech savvy, early adoption can grow quite steadily into mainstream usage.  A successful product, like the iPhone, becomes a global must-have product, Google Glass still seeks to prove its value in order to achieve mainstream adoption.



By understanding the Millennial and Generation Edge audiences, their current consumption habits and future desires, companies can better deliver products and services that they desire.  In today's Wall Street Journal, researchers focused specifically on Millennial online activities and habits.  "The three most popular digital activities among the survey respondents were checking and sending email (72%), keeping up with what friends are doing (71%), and streaming music, TV, or movies (68%)."  Connectivity has become more and more crucial to our lives.  Authorized sharing has become very important while privacy becomes an issue for controlling who we let in to our circles. 

For the younger generation, being part of what is cool and trending has weight, especially, when our circle approves.  Shows on Netflix, new apps, products and services all get discussed and reviewed and approved or disapproved.  Gaining that buzz and affirmation, especially from this younger generation will drive future growth. 

Live Event Programming Proves Successful

While it has been a few days since the big game, no not the Super Bowl, but the first ever National Championship Game between Ohio State and Oregon, the results have been nothing short of amazing.  Creating a big televised live event, drives users to actually schedule their lives around the viewing as opposed to watching on a time, or even a day delayed basis.  Viewers tuned in, on ESPN, giving them one of their highest ratings ever.  But what also was impressive was how much social media grew as well.  Facebook and Twitter saw huge momentum regarding comments and photos about the game. 

For ESPN, the investment likely paid off with substantial advertising during the game.  Whether social media players drew more revenue remains to be seen.  But live events, and those that deliver competition, draw viewership unlike anything else on television.  It certainly keeps viewers tied to their cable subscriptions to assure access to this programming. 

Just Sunday, we had the Golden Globes, another live event for those who love TV and movies and fashion.  And today's Oscar nomination announcements will lead to another live awards event show.  NFL playoffs are this weekend and the Super Bowl is just a few short weeks away.  NBC has used live Broadway type shows to drive viewership as other networks look deeper into their programming mix to devise other live event programming to pursue viewership and advertising dollars. 

With so many choices of content to watch today across so many platforms, live event based television continues to drive people back to their television sets, even if just for a night.  And once viewers are hooked, it is a rare chance to remind them through promotional ads, what other content is available on that channel.  Live programming is the successful hook to keep them tethered to their television set. 

Multi Media Multitasking

Today's Wall Street Journal highlights a research analysis by two high school seniors on teens' ability to engage in multi media usage while undertaking various projects.   They presented their findings at a conference in San Diego.  "The findings: Though most teens perform better when focusing on a single task, those who are 'high media multitaskers'—about 15% of the study participants—performed better when working with the distractions of email and music than when focusing on a single activity."  A small percentage can satisfactorily complete their primary tasks while other attention grabbing stimuli is present. 

I, like those teens, grew up doing homework while a TV or music was on in the background.  I, too, found that it filled a void, and I was successful in school.  Did it slow down the time to complete tasks, likely.  Today, I have two teens, one who likes having the TV on while doing homework, the other prefers it off.  Some days the conflict requires the wisdom of Solomon to gain resolution. And whether multitasking or not, homework is completed.

We are constantly evolving creatures and our brains adapt constantly to changing internal and external demands.  The rise of digital media has only extended the supply and perhaps even the demand for multitasking.  Like Darwin's theory, we adapt to handle our new surroundings.   And that process is a constant one.  Teens have been more and more exposed to multiple media outputs, from video to music, Email, Tweets, Likes, etc.  And they are responding.  And while this current research indicates some teens are able to multitask successfully, we also know that depending on the situation it may not always be encouraged.

Listening to music or watching TV and doing homework may slow us down but all tasks can be done fairly well; Texting and driving is one example of multitasking that should never be encouraged.  Regardless of the research, multitasking does cause some distraction and those cases where life is at risk, it should be avoided. 

Not Likely To Add Facebook's Messenger

Yes, I too have been asked to download and launch the Facebook Messenger app to converse with my Facebook friends.  And I like many it seems have not launched the service on any of my devices.  Those that really want to text, email, or talk know my email address, cell phone, and hopefully my other contact information too.  Frankly, one more messenger service does not make my life easier. 

When the message app was inside Facebook, it did enable another way to connect to a friend.  But admittedly, I didn't use it that much.  If I didn't post a Happy Birthday message on their wall, it was a message to wish them congratulations.  And like Facebook, when I use the message app inside LinkedIn, it quickly enables a one on one conversation; but I would be equally concerned if LinkedIn tried to create a separate messenger app as well.  Then, it back to the email and text route. 

For those that have made the switch to the Facebook Messenger app, the comments have been less than kind.  Per Huntington Post, "Since Facebook started forcing people to switch over, Messenger has climbed to the top spot for free apps in the Apple App Store. That said, the newest version of the app has a terrible 1-star rating."  At this point, I don't plan to download it. 

Facebook Conquers Mobile

When Facebook users began to migrate from their pc to smartphone and tablet, shareholders were concerned that the ad model would crumble and Facebook would take a hit.  But given their recent quarterly earnings report, Facebook has embraced the mobile platform and uncovered a growing revenue stream. 

"The social network reported that profit more than doubled and revenue topped estimates for the ninth straight quarter."  It is a world of more than just display advertising; rather, sponsored content with video and a targeted approach.  And as CEO Mark Zuckerberg knows so well, this world changes at an ever quickening pace.  He is making new investments in untried products, all to stay relevant for the long haul.  Products like Oculus VR and services like WhatsApp can potentially bring new sources of revenue back to Facebook. 

For the present, Facebook must contend with user satisfaction and usage.  It is harder to find new users to the service and a challenge to keep them active users too.  Constant reinvention that encourages tune-in rather than pushes current users away.  It is the challenge every time an upgrade is released.  Still, Facebook seems up to the challenge and certainly has the financial resources to invest and grow.  It was a great quarter and as some shareholders have speculated, facebook could now be considered undervalued. 

Our Loss Of Privacy Through Social Media

When was the last time you checked your privacy settings on any of your social network sites, last week, last month, never?  We may be under the false impression that we are sharing with just our "friends" or a particular group, but most of us are sharing our lives with the entire world.  The question to ask is do you care?

With each press of a like button, we tell advertisers that we want them to continue to pitch products to us; with every GPS link to our location and the place we are visiting, we tell the world that we are not at home.  For me, it seems like an invitation to the world that our house is empty as we regale the world with our vacation photos while we are on vacation.  And while we think we are only sharing with a specific number of people, our privacy settings may be saying otherwise.

It may simply be a fine line between sharing and privacy; how much we want to share and how often we want to share the events of our lives.  It is both a blessing and a curse.  For families and friends spread far and wide, social networking becomes a means to stay connected.  For those seeing financial inducement to share what you've purchased or where you are eating, it may offer discounts or more. Sites like Foursquare and Living Social are especially helpful in this matter.

But the negative effects include telling the world that you were invited somewhere that others were not.  In children, that seems to happen frequently when postings of gatherings and parties tell others that they were not included.  A level of social awkwardness amplified through sites like Instagram, Facebook, and others.  And because the information lives on for eternity, it remains a permanent reminder of who is in and who is out.  Heartbreaking at times for kids going through adolescence and figuring out their own self-worth.

There is no easy answers for social networking and privacy.  It comes with both benefits and risks.  But it is clear that we at least know the settings that are enabled on each of our social networking sites and how, where, and who we are sharing our lives with.  So take a moment to check your settings and consider with every post, the possible ramifications it might cause. 

Twitter Shakes Up Executive Team To Spur Growth

Twitter has lost a COO, CFO, Head of Engineering, and VP of Consumer Products as it tries to pursue new growth opportunities.  But Twitter user growth has slowed while losses mount.  But let's be fair to Twitter, their usage is growing, just at a slower pace than previous quarters.  "Twitter’s membership in the first quarter rose 25 percent from a year earlier to 255 million, decelerating from 30 percent growth in the prior period and 39 percent in the third quarter of 2013."  And while 255 million users sounds impressive, it also matters how many are active users. 

Certainly great content helps drive users to share their thoughts through the service.  World Cup matches provide a great example of this as does all the snarky comments for every major awards show.  Still, users may also be growing tired of the service and the limit of 140 characters.  They say a picture paints a thousand words and sites like Instagram and Facebook may be providing too great a competition to the mix.  And the younger demos seem to lately prefer the Instagram route.  Or as I mentioned yesterday, we may simply be getting tired of too much sharing, especially when their ramifications lead to the need to apologize for our too quick tweeting.  Users may finally have figured out that it is time to put down that keyboard. 

For Twitter, the challenge to grow should not overshadow the need to drive revenue over costs and to build out a profitable business.  Changes in the type indicate that the current strategy was not working well enough and a new direction might be needed.  What that new direction will be could interesting.  May I suggest creating subset feeds, some that are categorized as strictly news, sports, or entertainment so that more relevant tweets reach us more quickly.  Just a thought.

Facebook Controlling What We See

I sometimes wonder if social networking is not such a good thing.  It's nice to acknowledge someone's birthday, share photos with friends and family, and engage in meaningful social discourse over politics and policies; but it also comes with a cost.  From coveting our friends vacation destinations, celebrity connections, to social miscues of not being invited to another friend's party, to the despair of cyber-bullying, it brings the full range of both positive and negative behavior.  And this is what we do to ourselves.

When we read that Facebook is experimenting on us, determining whether we see more positive vs. negative posts, then we might want to reconsider the value it brings and whether the animal has broken free too many times from the pen. 

Facebook, Instagram, and other social networking apps are a great sharing opportunity but do we have to be so open to what we share.  Are we doing it to satisfy ourselves or to let the world know just how exciting our life is.  Or should I say, how much more our life is than your life.  Is that the ultimate reason we share?  Psychologists could have a field day understanding why we post and engage in such an open way.  I frankly don't want to read that you visited Dunkin Donuts although I am sure that Dunkin Donuts loves it.  I do love seeing pics of family and friends and to see news of graduations, weddings, and babies.  What that line in the sand is between sharing and boasting is not a clear one.  And perhaps we need to do a better job determining which posts get viewed by which of our groups - family, friends, and acquaintances. 

But I don't need Facebook determining for me what I see or inundating me with too many ads that clutter my feed. Let me decide who can see what I post and what I want to see.  I'm starting to be more careful what I post these days.  And maybe, just maybe, we will all get tired of "eavesdropping" on other peoples' lives through social networking and concentrate more on leading our own lives.