In a couple of years people are going to say 'That only started in 2016..?"
Introducing New Ways to Create, Share and Discover Live Video on Facebook from Facebook on Vimeo.
More here
Thursday, April 07, 2016
Monday, April 04, 2016
Gaming the Instagram algorithm
Instagram is going to start using an algorithm to try to show users the posts they are most likely to appreciate, rather than just use a chronological timeline as it has until now.
The chronological timeline is simple and easy to understand, but it has drawbacks - if I don't look at Instagram within an hour (or a few minutes) of one of my friends' updates I'm unlikely to see it. An algorithmic timeline could be better - this is what Facebook uses, and it puts important news like engagements, and new babies at the top of my newsfeed.
As services like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook get bigger people follow more users, so there is more to see, but also more clutter.
The drawback of an algorithm is that can make some posts invisible - essentially if Instagram thinks that I'm not likely to like a person's post, it's likely to bury it. It's a black box in that it's not clear how the algorithm is worked out.
(I remember a story of someone getting so fed up that their posts about the unrest in Ferguson weren't getting seen on Facebook that she changed her status to 'married' so that it would appear in friends' feeds)
Some Instagram users are getting panicked that their friends won't see their posts and have been asking friends to turn on notifications so that friends will get an alert every time they post. This clearly isn't workable - imagine if you turned this on for 20 people - but it shows that people will try to game the new algorithm, just as they've been trying to game the current system by using lots of hashtags, tagging lots of friends in their pictures, even when they're not there, and messaging friends to ask them to like pictures. In my experience the most popular accounts, beyond the celebrity ones, are ones that are very specific to a genre - cats, landscapes, desserts - you get the idea.
What I suspect will happen once we have the new algorithm is that 'the rich will get richer' - if you currently have a lot of followers and get a lot of likes, you will start to get even more. Instagram is doing this both to make it a better experience for users, but also to make the platform a more engaging place for casual users, so it will show you more of what you have already said you like. This way you will return more often.
(Instagram already uses algorithms of course, in the 'search' tab, to show you popular pictures like the ones on the sites you already follow, and in recommending new accounts for you to follow, based on who your friends follow and sites that are similar to the ones you follow or have visited).
So what is likely to be included in the Instagram algorithm, to choose what pictures to show you?
The strength of connection to the account, including on Facebook - so you'll get to see more pictures from people you know, and even more from people you know well.
The frequency of linking pictures - if you often like Nigella Lawson's pictures you'll be shown all the news ones
The frequency of liking a type of picture - if you like pictures with the hashtag #dessert you'll be shown more #dessert pictures from accounts that you follow
The location - if you've posted a picture somewhere, you'll probably be shown friends' pictures from the same area.
The frequency of posting - Instagram will want to reward the people who put the work in - and besides their pictures are likely to be better.
At the same time I think it's likely that Instagram will start to penalise the spam tactics that people currently use to game it that I mentioned above - too many hashtags, too many users tagged - in the way that Facebook did in penalising the brand posts asking questions ("It's Friday - what's everyone doing tonight?) and other ways of fishing for interaction.
Instagram has always been gamed to a degree, and now that there's a 'black box' algorithm the gaming will increase - companies will offer to make brands' instagram pictures more popular - but essentially if you post good pictures, often, then you should be fine.
Friday, March 18, 2016
Friday, March 11, 2016
KFC's competion in Minecraft
I like this - although you could substitute the word Second Life for Minecraft and picture it happening ten years ago...
KFC Minecraft Case from HB on Vimeo.
KFC Minecraft Case from HB on Vimeo.
Friday, March 04, 2016
Brands & Google Cardboard
Virtual Reality is all the rage in some circles, with Oculus Rift finally coming out at the end of this month (it's fully sold out as far as I know), but for me the real sign that it's taking off is that mass market brands are getting involved, with their own versions of 'Oculus Thrift', the Google Cardboard.
Google Cardboard costs only about £10, and uses your existing phone but with special VR apps. The experience isn't as good as Oculus Rift, but whenever I've shown it to friends at my home they've immediately gone to Amazon on their phones and bought one.
Last month I saw that Coca Cola was using multi-pack packaging in different ways to make virtual reality viewers -
Earlier this week McDonalds unveiled a video of a viewer made from a Happy Meal box - called, appropriately, Happy Goggles.
More examples as I find them (but you have to admit that both Coke and McDonalds doing something very similar is a great endorsement!)
Google Cardboard costs only about £10, and uses your existing phone but with special VR apps. The experience isn't as good as Oculus Rift, but whenever I've shown it to friends at my home they've immediately gone to Amazon on their phones and bought one.
Last month I saw that Coca Cola was using multi-pack packaging in different ways to make virtual reality viewers -
Earlier this week McDonalds unveiled a video of a viewer made from a Happy Meal box - called, appropriately, Happy Goggles.
More examples as I find them (but you have to admit that both Coke and McDonalds doing something very similar is a great endorsement!)
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Inferring boredom from mobile behaviour
One of my trends for this year is ‘Telepathy’ - how AI and machine learning makes it possible for devices to learn how people are feeling and what they want. Another great example of this – the Washington Post, owned by Jeff Bezos, now infers mobile engagement of its readers. If they’re not scrolling through the story a bar emerges at the bottom of the story offering other stories that might be more interesting.
It’s early days, but I’d expect to see many more examples like this
'When you're house-sitting for millennials and you ask how the lights work'
When you're house sitting for millennials and ask how the lights work pic.twitter.com/Xli7ZdZeHW— Cate (@c8ters) February 16, 2016
Monday, February 22, 2016
Amazon x New Yorker
I love this idea: Amazon is turning stories from the New Yorker magazine into short documentaries for its Prime TV.
The executive producer is award winning documentary maker Alex Gibney - his Wikileaks documentary is excellent - and this is a potentially great collaboration.
Lots of films (Argo, Pushing Tin, Top Gun) were inspired by magazine articles, and if the tone is right some of these stories could make great shorts.
Now all I need is a Prime subscription...
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
BBC3 & The Independent - 2 Unwilling Experiments
Both BBC3 and The Independent are going online only, ceasing digital broadcast and newsprint publication respectively, as money-saving initiatives they have both been forced into.
From a personal point of view, neither are major parts of my media consumption. I've seen a few things on BBC3 - The Professor Green programme on suicide was very good - and I've read a few articles in the Independent because I follow them on Twitter and click on links. (I was a pretty loyal reader in the early days, but one by one the good writers got lured away, and it suffered horribly from a lack of investment).
It's going to be interesting to see how both fare. The fact that my experience of the Indie is via Twitter & Facebook points towards how I'm still going to see the output of both. I never see a paper copy of the New York Times but I must read about 4-5 stories a month because they're shared by people or entities that I follow. Likewise Netflix isn't broadcast, but you couldn't escape people talking about Making a Murderer about a month ago. Also, podcasts.
(I must point out that both the NYT and Netflix are successfully getting people to pay subscriptions)
The best case scenario for both I think is...
BBC3's new shows are well made, and the people in them share the links via social media. BBC3 uses a lot of talent who have big followings, and could be encouraged to share as part of their contracts. I've always felt that the people who moaned about BBC3 being online only didn't really know how young people find and watch content (I'd love to see some of the iPlayer stats for example). The BBC is going to increase the marketing spend for the channel, apparently, which is kind of the wrong way round, but let's see how it works.
Similarly the Independent needs to get its feature writers to actively share, and also needs to commission work from people with strong followings. This could lead them down the 'Youth Hostelling with Chris Eubank' school of commissioning (hope not) but it could also find some new voices. The Guardian always gets lots of readers (I think) for articles written by Russell Brand for example. The most important thing is the features - too many news organisations will cover the news the the same way, so they can compete best with features. Again the key is the sharing.
So I can see both working well, but then I'm a natural optimist. If they do work well, I can see other newspapers especially following the digital-only route.
The worst case scenario... Well, both fail. Let's hope it doesn't get to that.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Zoolander with Barbie on Instagram
Love this - to promote the new Zoolander film, a Derek Zoolander has been making guest apparances on the @BarbieStyle Instagram account - the account that is more aimed towards adult fans
Lots of great pics - here are 3 of my favourites:
& some of the pics are also on the Zoolander Instagram
Also - Zoolander took over the Fiat Twitter feed (another of the movie's partners)
Lots of great pics - here are 3 of my favourites:
& some of the pics are also on the Zoolander Instagram
Also - Zoolander took over the Fiat Twitter feed (another of the movie's partners)
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Jeep uses Vertical Video at the Super Bowl
Last weekend one of Jeep's Super Bowl ads deliberately only used 1/3 of the screen - so that it could easily be re-purposed for 'vertical' viewing - i.e. on mobiles, held normally.
Full story here
Full story here
Exploring M&S on Google Maps
One of my trends for this year is mapping.
People take maps for granted, but there is lots of activity around mapping at the moment, and lots of money being spent on mapping technology and companies.
We think of maps as open - and indeed I've made lots to help me with places to visit on holiday and so on. But actually they're closed ecosystems, and this example with Marks & Spencer in Oxford Street, London illustrates that.
On Google Maps you can now see inside the store to see the different departments. You can change floors by clicking on the numbers on the right hand side, near 'zoom'. You can't see this for the other stores nearby, and you can't see this (as far as I know) on Bing or other mapping companies.
It's very much Google's decision what they choose to put in the maps, beyond the basics. If you're Emirates and you pay to name Arsenal's stadium then you'll be in all the maps. If you're R Costings and you're the sponsor of Cambridge United's stadium than you're not listed.
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