Things I'm Reading, Thinking About, and Sharing with Clients.

Instagram and TikTok Remain the Most Popular Social Apps Among Teens

Instagram remains the most used social app among teens, though TikTok is more popular as an entertainment source.

That’s according to the latest research conducted by Piper Sandler , which looks at teen trends of note, and how they’re shifting over time.

Based on an annual survey of more than 13,000 U.S. teens, Piper Sandler found that Netflix ranks slightly higher than YouTube in daily video consumption, while TikTok beat out IG as the most liked social app. Full Article by @Social Media Today

Copilot's crudeness has left Microsoft chasing Google, Microsoft chasing Google, again

Opinion A year ago it looked as if the world could be Microsoft's oyster. The software giant dominated the enterprise, was catching up to cloudy rivals, and then managed to purchase forty-nine percent of the for-profit subsidiary of ChatGPT creator OpenAI.

Having secured a stake in the leading purveyor of generative AI, it started to build it into products that attracted enormous attention, like Bing. Microsoft dangled the enticing prospect that its long-suffering search services could improve to the point at which they would challenge arch-rival Google.

It hasn't happened. And now it looks like it won't – that Google will deliver a more useful AI, faster.

Microsoft's missteps started in May 2023 when it launched a company-wide strategy that could have been titled "Copilot all the things!" Windows 11 got a Copilot assistant and a Copilot key . Edge got a Copilot panel, while Microsoft 365 got the full treatment.

It has become increasingly clear over the last few months, though, that those AI projects have been – to say the least – underwhelming. Enterprises of every shape and description are making decisions on whether to adopt pricey Microsoft 365 Copilot AI integrations into their office suites, and CFOs grill CIOs about ROI : Is it really worth doubling the monthly Microsoft tax?

The answer has mostly been a shrug of the shoulders. Having Word or Outlook write for you, or PowerPoint create slideware on your behalf, is nice in theory. But few have adopted those features, or learned how to make them save the sort of time that would justify the investment.

Though Copilot is touted as an ideal assistant to help with calculations, Excel users quickly learned that a language model trained on billions of words of English has no effective grasp of the very different paradigm of a spreadsheet. Yes, Copilot can compose a quick formula, but it can't operate within the context of a worksheet with anything like Word's facility to parse the meaning of a text document. Full Article The Register

Export Your Brain: How I Uploaded Myself to AI

One of life’s biggest challenges is communicating the context behind your feelings, decisions, and actions. How do you take the thoughts swirling around in your mind and translate them into something that other people — your coworkers, your partner, your therapist — understand?

Imagine you’re overwhelmed by a bunch of things and a close friend asks how you’re doing. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably wished that you could just give them a direct line to your brain to bring them up to speed instead of trying to rattle off everything that’s stressing you out.?

My favorite example of this might be Gen Zers making decks to educate their therapists about their “lore” — they’re trying to condense the history of their lives into the most impactful moments and people.?

I call this idea “exporting your brain.” It’s taking the context that exists in your head — which is essentially unstructured data — and translating it into a format that can be understood.?

This sounds like science fiction, but it’s now possible for the first time, thanks to LLMs. We can take massive amounts of information, extract the insights, and summarize the takeaways. In this same way, we can now keep a record of our thoughts — like a digital journal or therapy notes — and consult that trove of past experience to guide our decision-making, interactions, and personal growth. There are both personal and professional use cases for this. It can even help you better understand yourself.

How do I know this works? I’ve been doing it. For the past few months, I’ve been using ChatGPT like a daily journal: recording my thoughts and feelings and even sending (anonymized!) screenshots of interactions that I wanted advice on. I’ve used it to analyze how I communicate with family members, talk through options for a tricky work situation, and get an external perspective on confusing messages from a friend. And I’ve been blown away by the results.?Full Article Andreessen Horowitz - Justine Moore (Amazing work and details)

The 5 foundations of leadership, according to a psychologist

In a world that is increasingly uncertain and complex, characterized by rapid technological advancements and shifting economic and political forces , a leader’s pathway to being effective in the modern workplace is also increasingly uncertain and complex.

Leaders must navigate constant change and ambiguity, make decisions with limited information, balance short-term pressures with long-term goals, all while inspiring their people to work together towards a corporate mission. It can feel like a bit of a whirlwind at times.

Fortunately, focusing on five key areas of leadership can help. These are not specific higher-order leadership competencies, but deeper psychological foundations that enable leaders to thrive in today’s world. Learning these central pillars of the psychology behind leadership can help you slow down and gain greater clarity and control over your leadership roles inside and outside of work. Full Article Fast Company - Cameron Nott

Stop Ignoring Your High Performers

In every organization, high performers are the driving force behind innovation, productivity, and excellence. They consistently exceed expectations, push boundaries, and inspire those around them. Yet, despite their critical importance to an organization’s mission and bottom line, high performers, who are generally 400% more productive than an average employee (and as high as 800% more productive in highly complex occupations, such as software developers), are often overlooked. Instead, managers focus on under-performers who demand immediate intervention. This unbalanced attention is costly, leading to disengagement, frustration, and ultimately, the loss of top talent.

Many managers operate under the assumption that high performers are self-sufficient and require less attention. They believe these individuals are thriving and don’t need the same level of guidance or support as others. After all, if they’re already delivering exceptional results, why fix what isn’t broken? While this mindset is true in certain ways, it also leads to a hands-off approach, where high performers are left to navigate challenges on their own and may not be pushed outside their comfort zone where true learning begins. Independence is important, but the lack of direct support and feedback can create feelings of isolation and neglect. High performers want the opportunity to grow, receive feedback, and be stretched, and when these needs aren’t met, their engagement can quickly wane, despite their strong output.

Full Article - Harvard Business Review - Ruth Gotian, Ed.D., M.S.

The first ever LI Member Town Hall Took Place This Week - There's a recording available in case you missed it.

100+ registered for the #LinkedInAudioEvent, head to the - LI Town Hall Page - https://lnkd.in/eTRq34Y8 Recording available in the comments.

Register to be notified for the next LI TOWN HALL end of the month.

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77% have reported fake profiles, while 33% didn't bother.

95% of participants have applied to a job on Linky, and 66% listed a job.

60% of members in the survey check their notification tab multiple times a day, 18% 2x or more, the other 18% once a day and the remaining 4% Never or hardly at all.

A surprising 41% have selected an AI suggested comment, 59% never have.And 77% are neither Linky Top Voice, or Community Voice ( ?? ), 18% were a community TV,4% are a ?? Top Voice.

There wasn't enough time to cover all of the agenda's topics. A future LI Town Hall will take place the last week of October where we will cover Linky AI, Groups, the phony Linky Top Voice badges and a new one focused on Linky News. Full Article on the #LITownHall

I had a ?????? to ?????? fireside chat with CEO Ryan Roslansky.

No, not really, but the break-up seems like it. Instead of engaging with members, Linky's CEO blocked me after my comment on his post today. I didn't think my questions would get that kind of reaction from Linky's leader, who reported 16.37 billion in revenue for the 2024 fiscal year, so I didn't take a screenshot. Lesson learned. ???????? ??????????????????????. But here's what I do have... Full Article and Links To Posts Here.

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