Ask for forgiveness not permission
HI team ??
Greetings from London this week. The sun has just come out. Gratitude.
ICYMI: some notable stories from last week
Buzzfeeds AI bump
Buzzfeed, a US social content house, announced that it will use ChatGPT to draft quizzes and other content. It's shareprice went from $1 to $3.87:
Investors are betting that the use of AI tools will cut down on the need for human content creators. The question is whether the company can build the workflows that help actual people interpret the impact of AI-generated content on audience growth, or whether bot-generated content will be consumed by bots in an endless sort of content is eating itself dystopian loop.
Just saying: The Content Engine is exploring the use of ChatGPT and other AI tools to draft social content. We are making sure that there are humans to pay close attention to its accuracy, originality, and how it is impacting our customer's messaging and audiences. It is imperative that everything we put out is original, human-centred, accurate and brand aligned.
Get in touch if you would like to know more.
Trump's truth returns
Donald Trump is to be allowed back on Facebook and Instagram, following Twitter's reversal of its ban. Some are worried that he will bring his extremist conspiracy approach to a more mainstream audience. Some think he'll use Facebook as a fundraising platform and Twitter as a hellraising platform. Facebook says it is going to be more severe on leaders who break the rules, Twitter says its going to be less:
Here's a fun podcast discussion on the return of Trump.
Snapchat's reality twists
Snapchat launched an ad that promotes the trippiest of snapworlds:
This is the world my teenager is growing up in. No wonder Gen Z doesn’t need to drink or take drugs. That said, training Gen Z to live in a bizarre augmented reality world might be a good way to capture the yout market as it ages.?
Don’t please everyone, and don’t annoy them
Do you ask for forgiveness or permission?
Netflix asks for forgiveness.
领英推荐
Last week Reed Hastings, Founder of Netflix, annouced he was stepping down and making way for a new guard. Last year, when Netflix experienced its first net loss of subscribers in a decade, the company refocussed its content and updated its company guidelines with a new section entitled “Artistic Expression” and a Parthian shot at the disgruntled: if you don’t like it, you can quit.
How can we, as content creators on behalf of our organisations, make stuff that’s entertaining, informative and - more importantly - edgy without ticking off too many people, inside and out?
If you try to be all things to all people, you end up being nothing to anyone. We want to consume content that elicits an emotional response - whether that’s laughter, sadness, or belonging.
Talk with your people both inside and outside your organisation. Design content (and content guidelines) with the culture of your brand at the centre. And make a point of regularly connecting with your audience to ask them directly: what do you like?
And at the same time, tend towards asking for forgiveness, rather than permission. Towards action rather than caution.
Some fun content formats ??
Each week at The Content Engine we look at the top performing content from our customers, and also further afield. Here are some unusual and impactful pieces that caught our eyes:
... it’s the perfect combination of detailed text with visual interest that isn’t overwhelming.
That's enough from me for this week.
If you enjoy what I share here, please:
Until next week.
Mike