HYH Digital Trends

[hyhdigitaltrends]

Twitter launches Launches Fleets- disappearing messages

Observation: Twitter launches its new feature Fleets, which are disappearing messages similar to Instagram and Facebook Stories, WhatsApp status. 

Why: Company introduced fleets as a way to elevate the pressure of users tweeting and having their tweets permanently on their feed. Now user can share texts, photos, videos, and Tweets, and they disappear in 24 hours. Fleets are visible to your followers. 

The story feature was first introduced by Snapchat quickly Facebook adopted the feature had it on IG and Facebook as a feature. Stories are the modern smartphone way of socializing. They are quick to post and elevate the pressure of having to get likes or retweets from a post. 

People are spending less time scrolling on peoples timeline and engaging in their pictures rather time is spent watching short videos from stories.

-BT

[hyhdigitaltrends]

Using Viral to go Viral

Observation: To promote their new features regarding being interrupted or having your thread hijacked, Twitter recently tasked BBCDad with creating a tongue in cheek ad showing him being interrupted again.  Why: Using viral stars to promote your product offers brands the opportunity to take advantage of their virality. In this case the use of BBCDad is a perfect usage of the tactic, with the advert aligning perfectly with Twitters new features. Future: We see brands doing this more and more in South Africa, but not at the rate or quality that we’d expect. Hopefully this will provide a new train of thought for marketing and advertising. 

- BR 

[hyhdigitaltrends]

E-Commerce delivery - Pick n Pay buys Bottles

Observation: Since March (coinciding with grocery deliveries), Bottles has reached more than 700,000 downloads, and 350,000 registered users (PnP Online has 800 000 registered users). Bottles offers over 7,000 products at store prices, with an average delivery time of 90 minutes.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by November 2020 and founding members Enrico Ferigolli and Vincent Viviers will move to PnP.

Other retailers utilising delivery specialists include:

Woolworths & Quench

Makro & OneCart

Why: With the increase in online grocery demand (200% increase of active customers), PnP has responded by expanding delivery and click and collect.

-CS

[hyhdigitaltrends]

Watch-along Sport Fan Channels

Observation: Fan channels have been growing quickly over the last two years. AFTV [formerly known as Arsenal Fan TV] were the major player in the UK, since that channels creation most UK football teams have a fan station on YouTube. As they gained respect amongst fans so did their opinions.  Why: We all think that we can commentate better than the commentators and so these fan channels started Watch-Alongs so that you can get alternative commentary, as well as “hang with your mates”  Solitude is another reason. If you are alone at home you can pop these commentators on and join in the conversation with them.  No sound at a bar, you can listen to the chat instead and get into the game.  Future: More and more “watch-along” channels are going to be emerging for various genres of entertainment. I can see reality shows and art/design competitions having a growing alternative watching experience, perhaps even from the shows themselves.  - BR

[hyhdigitaltrends]

30 000 to police Hate

Observation: In recent years SM platforms have been pressured into policing hate speech more effectively. Facebook alone would require 30 000 people to moderate the amount of “hate posts” that get flagged daily. This does not include misinformation, just hate speech. Why: After heavy pressure from the USA government to delete hate speech and fake news, over the last 3 quarters, Facebook have been heavily increasing the number, up to 23 million this quarter, of hate speech based posts that they delete before they are reported by a user.  This may sound like a good thing, but it doesn't mean that it’s all being removed, or that it is done well. FB admit that their AI algorithm has 10% failure rate, and all their community standards enforcers are outsourced. WIth no oversight into the prejudices of those companies.  

Future: 

No Moderation and FB turns into 8Chan and most user, and lucrative advertisers leave. 

_

The  New York University’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights report makes eight recommendations for Facebook:

Stop outsourcing content moderation and raise moderators’ station in the workplace.

Double the number of moderators to improve the quality of content review.

Hire someone to oversee content and fact-checking who reports directly to the CEO or COO.

Further expand moderation in at-risk countries in Asia, Africa, and elsewhere.

Provide all moderators with top-quality, on-site medical care, including access to psychiatrists.

Sponsor research into the health risks of content moderation, in particular PTSD.

Explore narrowly tailored government regulation of harmful content.

Significantly expand fact-checking to debunk false information.

- BR

[hyhdigitaltrends]

Google Shows Our Biases

Observation: In a recent study it was found that if you searched for a white doctor in Google Images, that multiple images of black doctors are shown. When adding the word America to that search term it gets even worse showing almost exclusively black doctors. There is only so much you can do about what AI learns, and this is a clear indicator of human biases reflecting in SEO. 

Why: Many light hearted unconscious bias riddles regarding the consideration of a persons race or gender based on their work have been floating around the internet, and this White Doctor search term shows this unconscious bias in an interesting way. Though it may seem confusing, this is what is happening: “When people post images of white couples/doctors, they tend to say only "couples/doctors" & not provide a race. But when there are mixed couples, then "white" gets mentioned. Our image search depends on heavily words -- so when we don't get the words, this can happen.” and shows how the language we use is reflecting in AI’s learning.  Future: Do naming conventions need to change, shall we always reference a person gender/age/race/sexuality when determining their categorisation. Is this purely a problem with Stock Footage naming, if so they certainly need to think more clearly about how they categorise the humans they photograph. EXTRA:  SEO is an extremely powerful, and hackable tool. When the 54th president of the USA visited Britain, Anti-Trump activists starting a campaign invoking the Green Day song American Idiot. They wrote articles on their own platforms, including the song and Trumps name meaning it started climbing up the ladder in Google, resulting in this.

- BR 

[hyhdigitaltrends]

Afrikaan people need to swipe too.

Observation: Speciality dating apps are not unusual, there are many for all sorts of specialities so its no surprise to find an Afrikaans language only dating app.

Why: We are becoming more and more insular and inward seeking, and to find someone that understands our personal cultures is tempting. Dating App Koer has been launched for Afrikaans speakers, whos language is the widest spoken in the country and many will want to swipe according to that preference.

Future: more and more specialised dating apps for specific needs and wants.

- BR

[hyhdigitaltrends]

Online deliveries in townships are gaining momentum and traction

Observation: Yebo Fresh was formed in 2018 as an online grocery shopping service delivering  affordable quality food to Western Cape townships, namely Imizamo Yethu, Langa, Khayelitsha, Mfuleni, Gugulethu Hangberg and Delft.

Customers place their orders either via the website, a WhatsApp order bot or a WhatsApp call service or paper form and are updated via SMS. Order can be delivered to a home or centralised locations such as community centres, schools, churches, daycare centres or even stokvel groups. From there, a network of local drivers ensure the delivery reaches the correct address.

Charities have partnered with Yebo Fresh to deliver 1000 food parcels daily during Covid

Why: Corona has created a need to enhance essential service delivery options that are cost effective. With more charities donating food parcels, these need be delivery safely and securely.

-CS

[hyhdigitaltrends]

Patagonia and The North Face boycott Facebook

Observation: Patagonia is temporarily pulling its ads from Facebook and its Instagram platform until the social media company acts to prevent the spread of what critics say is hate-inciting content. Why:  Patagonia joins outdoor brands The North Face and Recreational Equipment (REI) in boycotting Facebook after Stop Hate for Profit urged companies to pull their advertising from Facebook. Facebook are known for courting right wing advertisers, and for allowing hate based content to be promoted on its platforms. Out of the 70 billion dollars of ad-spend on FB, Patagonia spends 1 million.  Future: This is a very weak protest, they have said that they will boycott  advertising at least through the end of July “pending meaningful action” which seems utterly ridiculous.

- BR

[hyhdigitaltrends]

The Virtual Camino

Observation: The Conqueror Series provides over 15 000 people with the opportunity to do the Camino de Santiago virtually.  The Camino de Santiago Virtual Challenge will take you 480 miles (772 km) along the pilgrims’ ways leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.Each time you complete a distance based exercise activity such as running, walking, cycling etc you advance along the map from France to Spain. This is just one of the variety of challenges that they provide, you just need to register and get going. Why: The Camino Santiago is one of the great pilgrimages, and with C19, no one is walking it, but many still want the challenge, comeraderie and spirituality. - BR

[hyhdigitaltrends]

Lets get ready to ... roll?

Observation: Jelle’s Marble Run has become the breakout sporting hit of the last few months. With hits of up to 3 million views.

Why: We are starved for competition and if some rolling nostaligic marbles can bring us some joy as they “compete” then we will watch it, and have even started betting leagues.

Future: We might veyr well see the emergences of bizarre new sports that alloe for social distancing, even sports liek Rugby are creating new rules to allowe for it. Meaning new games and new merchandising options. - BR

[hyhdigitaltrends]

The future of runway and fashion shows

Observation: Congolese designer Anifa Mvuemba used virtual models, 3D models to showcase her latest collection. Mvuemba had a runway her runway show on Instagram lives instead of the normal show in a fancy or contemporary building. 

Why: The Coronavirus has had a tremendous impact on the world, including the fashion industry. With more than a billion people in some form of lockdown, almost all world events and activities have been canceled. Fashion week was one of the events that were canceled.YSL had opted out of all Paris Fashion weeks in 2020 due to the Corona pandemic. The French fashion house said that they would be showcasing all their collections digitally. 

Mvuemba like many other fashion designers was affected by Covid. Mvuemba released the latest collection for her fashion brand, Hanifa, on Instagram live on Friday. Instead of actual models she had digital models showcasing her garments. The 3D models moved and showcased the clothing like an actual model could. Hanifa’s technology has been seen as revolutionary and the way forward in terms of fashion weeks ad runways in a post covid world. 

The fashion industry has seen a lot of changes during the pandemic. Magazines like vogue have relied on technology so much during these months. Models have had to shoot their won magazine covers with the smartphones. Fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton and Dior have manufactured their own sanitizer and face masks as part of their brand. 

Future: Virtual AI models will be more prevalent on covers and runways. 

-BT

[hyhdigitaltrends]

#ListeningTogether with Spotify

Observation: Spotify have initiated a web based app that shows you when people who are far apart both listen to the same song at the same time. Netflix have already started this with Netflix Party.  Why: Of course we are not allowed to be together, so this is a sweet way of connecting us, the functionality is pretty uninteresting, but its shows how connecting people is a trend that people love. The flaws lie in the lack of actual connection.  Future: Uber Ride Together, Airbnb .. Together? 

- BR

[hyhdigitaltrends]

QE x AC

Observation: In an epic collaboration, Queer Eyes Bobby Berk has been giving interior design advice to players on the hugely popular social simulation video game series Animal Crossing. In addition to QE, interior design companies are charging to help design peoples spaces in AC, and former presidential candidate AOC is visiting people on AC “Islands”.

Why: Animal crossing existed since 2001, but its expansion under the Corona crisis has elevated it to mega status, now doing cross overs with interior design Guru Bobby Berk. Bobby critiqued and assisted players to create better spaces for them to “exist” in.  Future: Collabs are huge, and bringing in popular characters to do cross overs collabs will most likely increase as people seek to expand their reach. 

- BR

[hyhdigitaltrends]

IG DM’s go desktop

Observation: Calls for Instagram to release a desktop version of their messaging app has been heeded. Launched last week the web-based app was launched, with a few issues from Google Chrome. Why: Communication is an essential tool in the modern day digital world, all the major apps that started on mobile have created desktop versions of their communication functionality. IG took a long time to launch it, and it will see the death of third party apps such as IGdm.

- BR 

[hyhdigitaltrends]

Observation: There has been 30-40% increase in traffic across all communication and entertainment platforms. except print. Despite increased traffic to online news publishers due to the Coronavirus pandemic, they are struggling to capitalise on content and ad revenue as media buyers are blacklisting coronavirus content in the name of brand safety.

The New York Times has estimated  a likely decline in digital revenue of 10%, and Business Insider told AdAge that its CPMs (cost per 1,000 impressions) have fallen by the same rate. Incorrect blocking of safe content on premium news sites was attributed to $2.8bn in lost revenue in 2019 (source: Cheq).

Why: Many brands are avoiding advertising where there is potentially high traffic and value.

However with consumers looking up to brands, brands do not have to go quiet and avoid where the eyeballs are, but rather adjust their messaging to be more sensitive and relevant.

-CS

[hyhdigitaltrends]

Free MOOV Ivy League Classes

Observation: There are hundreds of MOOVs — massive open online courses — available from the eight American Ivy League schools. You can take the courses at the specified time or at your own pace. You can find the classes here on the EdX website.  Here at Class Central

- BR