#3ssbookselect Thought Pieces: 1970s Photographs by Lew Thomas, Donna-Lee Phillips, and Hal Fischer, edited by Erin O'Toole , published by @mack_books . . Thomas, Phillips and Fischer were all extremely active in the mid to late 1970s. In addition to making their own artwork, they published essays, reviewed shows and organized exhibitions. Under the name NFS Press, Thomas published a number of books designed by Phillips, including Structural(ism) and Photography (1978), which featured Thomas’ work; Eros and Photography (1977), which was edited by Phillips, and two books of Fischer’s work: Gay Semiotics (1978) and 18th Near Castro Street x 24 (1979). Exhibition on @sfmoma , 4 January - 9 August, 2020 Book available online. #thoughtpieces #lewthomas #donnaleephillips #halfischer #erinotoole #mackbooks #photography #1970s #gayservice #sanfrancisco #sfmoma #NFSpress #castrostreet #3ssstudios #3standardstoppage (at 3Standardstoppage) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAvoWCYAttG/?igshid=1u4xg8v9gnzxq
“By ending homelessness, we mean getting to a place where it’s rare, brief, and it gets solved correctly and quickly when it does happen,” says Rosanne Haggerty, president of Community Solutions, the nonprofit that leads the Built for Zero program. “That’s a completely achievable end state, we now see.” The nonprofit, which calls this goal “functional zero,” announced today that it is accelerating its work in 50 communities.
(via Built for Zero is helping cities end chronic homelessness)
It wasn’t so long ago that if you wanted to talk to “the kids”, your first port of call was Facebook and Twitter. But as advertising grew more prolific, and their parents starting friend requesting them, Millennials began migrating to more obscure Social Networking sites. Today, it’s not unusual for a media schedule to also include Instagram, Pinterest and even Snapchat. But what’s next? In 2015, where will the Millennials be heading?
The following is a list of some of the more obscure social networking sites around the world. It’s important to note that not all of these sites offer advertising placements yet, and not all of these sites see a lot of New Zealand traffic yet. But in both cases, ‘yet’ is the key word. And, if nothing else, if you do use these apps and sites in your campaign, at least you know you will be talking to a niche market.
Wanelo (Want, Need, Love) combines shopping, fashion blogging, and social networking all in one. It’s very popular among teens, allowing them to discover, share, and buy products they like.
Kik Messenger is an app-based alternative to standard texting that kids use for social networking. It’s free to use but has lots of ads.
Ask.fm is a social site that lets kids ask questions and answer those posted by other users — sometimes anonymously.
Omegle is a chat site (and app) that puts two strangers together in their choice of a text chat or video chat room.
Yo. is a bare-bones social app that sends a short text message to friends and family, simply reading “Yo” (and speaking the word aloud). Users can also subscribe to receive a Yo when other events happen (like a sale?)
Whisper is a social “confessional” app that allows users to post whatever’s on their minds, paired with an image.
Tagged is similar to Facebook in that it lets you set up profiles, message friends, play games and post photos. It has more than 300 million members and is the ninth most popular site in the US.
LiveJournal is a social blogging site that lets you share common interests with people from around the world. The site has more than 16 million journals and is the eighth most popular social site in the US.
Badoo is a site that helps you connect with new friends – or more commonly love interests – in your area. Currently supported cities and towns in New Zealand are Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Hastings, Tauranga and Invercargill.
Path is a mobile-only social journalling site (think intimate version of Facebook) that limits you to 150 friends.
Couple is even more intimate, created for sharing your thoughts, photos and videos with just one other person, usually your partner.
Highlight taps into your Facebook profile (when you sign in) to let you know when friends, or friends of friends, or other Highlight users with similar interests are nearby. Other similar options are: Circle, Banjo and Meetup.
CafeMom is an online coffee group for mums worldwide, CafeMom is 11th most popular social networking site in the US.
DeviantArt is where aspiring artists can share their creations with more than 25 million other members of DeviantArt. More than 160,000 art works including paintings, sculptures and digital art are uploaded to DeviantArt each day.
Dogster is a social site for dog owners to share pics and anecdotes and discuss all manner of topics related to their precious pooch. (Note, there is also Catster for cat lovers).
Flixster is for film buffs and has all the latest news from the movie world, actor profiles, video clips, forums and quizzes to test your cinematic knowledge.
Bonus!
Not quite Millennials (although they maybe at heart!):
Grownups is a New Zealand-based social networking site for people aged 50-up. Members can message friends, read articles and blogs of interest, participate in forums and play online games with other users.
By Roger Box, Digital Director at Clemenger BBDO Melbourne
Software as a service could become crime as a service as the internet gets more sophisticated. Roger Box looks at the future of online skulduggery.
At a SXSW session this week Marc Goodman kept the room captive with his tales of the Dark Side of the internet – the so-called Digital Underworld – and what trouble the future holds.
He has a bit of experience in the matter; as well as being a former police officer, he advises Interpol, NATO and the UN on cyber crime issues.
Sounding awfully like a climate scientist trying to alert the world to global warming, Goodman is warning a dramatically bigger global effort is needed on security. Some of the points he raised included:
Google can detect 0.03 per cent of the surface and deep web. This is the stuff most of us can explore and access. In the midst of the Deep Web, criminals with relative anonymity can easily enable illegal trades made famous by sites such as the illicit drug buying marketplace Silk Road.
The Dark Web is now more searchable with sites like Grams, a functioning Google parody, complete with a ‘I’m feeling lucky’ option.
Cyber terrorism is easier and more prolific than ever with software for sale that amateurs can buy and use.
Ransomeware can lock your hard drive and delete it if you don’t pay the terrorist in bitcoins within 24 hours.
A falsified tweet from Associate Press about explosions at the White House and President Obama being injured caused $136 billion to be wiped off Wall Street in 138 seconds.
Drones have changed the physical paradigm of security, for example smuggling drugs into prisons.
Goodman proposes that with six steps, called the UPDATE protocol, 85% of cyber crime is preventable.
How to get 45,000 pieces of branded content in 2 weeks
By Edward Bell, Senior Creative at .99 justONE
When you hear the term ‘user-generated content’ it probably conjures up images of poorly produced web-cam videos, or iPhone pictures of the family pet. But these days, almost everyone you know is producing content on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis. From Instagram, to blog posts, to Snapchats, to tweets, to Facebook posts, to Vine videos – in 2015 we communicate in content. And with so many different apps and websites out there giving people a way to express themselves through content, it’s no wonder that brands are starting to take notice.
If you haven’t heard of it, there is a fantastic TV show called The Americans. It’s a cold-war period drama that centres around two KGB agents, posing as a married couple, living (secretly) in the USA. In line with the secrecy theme of the show, TV network, FX, collaborated with the app/website, Whisper, to help launch the show’s third season. The result was over 45,000 pieces of user-generated, branded content.
The way Whisper works is by allowing users to share a secret (or ask a question) anonymously. Using keywords from the secret, Whisper will automatically suggest images that may relate, and then superimpose the secret over the image the user selects. The resulting content is then shared publically.
In the partnership with FX, when Whisper detected predetermined keywords that related to the show’s themes – e.g. family, espionage, neighbours etc. – it would serve up branded screen shots from the show. The campaign ran for 16 days in early January this year, and resulted in over 45,000 users selecting images from The Americans as their Whisper backgrounds.
This isn’t the first time Whisper has run such a campaign. In March last year Whisper ran a similar campaign for the show Deadbeat, for the online-streaming site Hulu. And in August last year, Paramount Pictures used Whisper to promote it’s upcoming movie Men, Women, Children – even going as far as to include the Whisper logo and a hashtag on the end of the trailer.
The key to the success of The Americans campaign was that FX weren’t asking users to generate content especially for the show, they simply tapped in to an existing habit; users were going to be creating the content anyway, they simply gave them the option to use a range of relevant, high-res imagery for the low-low cost of also including a logo.
Finding new ways to get consumers to engage with a brand can be tricky, and a lot of ‘user-generated content’ concepts usually end up collecting dust in the ‘too hard basket’. But with the rise content-centric apps, and the proliferation of smartphones, perhaps what we need to be thinking is how we can get users to brand the content they are already making instead.
By Virginia Bashford, Senior Account Manager, justONE .99
37% of Kiwis now spend more online than over the counter.
We’re most comfortable purchasing airfares online (44% of us have done so) but clothing, footwear and accessories are now a close second (40%). We’re also using our smartphones more often to shop: we’re now twice as likely to purchase online using a smartphone than in 2012.
While some of us are still concerned about the security of purchasing online, this is clearly not a barrier for many. There’s also a common perception that ‘silver surfers’ don’t shop online, however nearly 60% of Kiwi women baby boomers purchase clothes online, with 13% purchasing online exclusively. The popularity of tablets amongst this generation has greatly simplified their online shopping experience.
Currently 40% of online sales are with offshore retailers, but this is set to increase. In the clothing, footwear and accessory category, 50% of online sales are already with offshore brands.
What does this mean for New Zealand retailers? They must bring both their messaging and product to where we’re shopping – online.
This is the last part of ReadWrite’s four-part series on the future of messaging. Follow our ongoing coverage of messaging.
The skyrocketing popularity of messaging apps around the world signals a shift in the way we communicate. Now we can share more than a simple thought rendered in text. We can share cartoon characters, disappearing selfies, our current location—even our phone’s battery life. The new Apple Watch’s forthcoming messaging app has us imagine a world where we tell our loved ones we’re alive in a literal yet visceral way—by sharing our heartbeat.
The variety of messaging apps makes it hard to pick just one and stick to it. Just look at how teens have jumped from Twitter and Facebook to Instagram to Snapchat.
With jaw-dropping amounts of money being ponied up by investors and acquirers—like Facebook spending $19 billion on WhatsApp—entrepreneurs are racing to get ahead of the next big trend, with the hopes of amassing users and then big paychecks.
The Next Big Thing will likely not be one messaging app, but many. Developers have begun to shift from do-it-all messengers with every imaginable feature to apps that embrace simplicity—and do just one kind of communication very well.
A Messenger’s First Job: Replacing Texts
Messaging stalwarts like WhatsApp and WeChat took traditional messaging features from SMS, the wireless-carrier standard for text messaging, and expanded on them to provide users with a way to communicate while avoiding texting fees.
SMS is unlikely to go away soon, but it lacks many key features. That’s what prompts so many users to seek out apps to replace it. The 160-character limit of standard SMS is just one example of its limitations.
In most parts of the world, texting is expensive. The unlimited-texting plans available in the US are relatively uncommon elsewhere. International texting is particularly pricey. So apps like WhatsApp take advantage of data plans and Wi-Fi connections to take regular texting and make it cheaper.
Especially in global markets, such apps have skyrocketed in popularity. As ReadWrite reported earlier this year, your geographic location might dictate which apps you use. In Asia, WeChat, Line and KakaoTalk are among the most popular, whereas in North America it’s WhatsApp and Kik.
Disappearing Messages Are Here To Stay
Snapchat is largely credited with kicking off the disappearing messages trend, but it’s not the only app out there. As soon as Snapchat exploded on the scene, Internet players both small and large—including Facebook—fell over themselves to replicate the features that drove Snapchat’s growth.
Messages are now disappearing everywhere, and even if they don’ttechnically disappear on Snapchat, people are still increasingly expecting an option for messaging that won’t go down on their permanent records. The incidents of celebrity’s iCloud accounts getting hacked is just another reason consumers want their selfies to disappear. Whether it’s a selfie on Snapchat or a secure document on Wickr, sending and receiving messages that don’t stick around have become a central part of the way people communicate.
The Yo Effect
Yo was created as an easy way for a man to contact his secretary, and it turned into the talk of Silicon Valley. In fact, at its peak, Yo had more downloads than Facebook’s Snapchat clone, Slingshot.
Yo cofounder Moshe Hogeg claims is a great way for letting someone know that you’re thinking of them, and the app has spawned a handful of copycats, including one called “Hodor” that riffs on Game of Thrones, the popular book series turned HBO show. ReadWrite’s Lauren Orsini describes how you canmake your own Yo clone.
But it’s not the message that matters. It’s the medium. Specifically, it’s how Yo’s “yos” arrive as push notifications, rather than another message in an overcrowded inbox. Eventually, we might Yo our devices, not just our friends. A slew of recipes on IFTTT can connect with your smart home. Yo, thermostat, turn up the heat!
The Walkie-Talkie, Reinvented
I remember running around the yard playing with walkie-talkies when I was a kid. When I grew up, I started using Voxer to keep in touch with friends and family. Even though I regularly ignore voicemails, I’m always anxious to check the voice messages my sister leaves me through the app.
Voice messaging is also a feature of Path Talk, the social network’s spinoff messaging app, and many do-it-all messaging apps feature the ability to send audio recordings.
Apple is even getting on board with this trend. In iOS 8, the companyintroduced a new voice messaging feature that lets you send friends audio messages through iMessage.
Emoji
Those tiny, cartoon-like icons you now see everywhere are the cave drawings of the 21st century.
Emoji originated in Japan in the late ’90s as colorful adaptations of standard chat emoticons like the “:)” smiley. Eventually emoji became a standard part of the online alphabet—literally incorporated into the Unicode standard. It was only a matter of time before we got a chat app based exclusively on emoji.
Emoj.li wants to be a way to keep in contact with your friends using only emoji icons. In fact, you don’t even have a name attached to your account when you sign up.
Other messaging apps seek to differentiate themselves—and sometimes make money—through custom emoji sets.
Ambient Messaging
Have you ever wanted to let your friend know you were running late, but were unable to text them? Thanks to ambient location services, it will soon be possible to message your friends without, well, messaging them.
Social networks like Facebook andFoursquare’s Swarm have adopted ambient services as way for friends to know the general area of one another without telling each other outright. But Path’s new messaging app takes that one step further.
Path Talk, the standalone messaging app Path released in June, is a way for people to share information with friends like “in transit,” or “listening to music,” without actively inputting that information.
Critics of ambient location think it’s creepy and potentially invasive, but apps are quick to point out that these services are opt-in, so you have complete control of who can see where you are and what you’re doing.
What’s Next?
It’s impossible to predict what new feature is going to appeal to people in the long run. While apps like Yo are fun to play with, they’re also easy to ditch for another app your friends are on. The more permanent message they deliver is how they’ve present us with a new way of communicating.
It’s up to us to explore these new worlds messaging apps create. In the race to become the most popular way to communicate, some startup will inevitably create the messenger we never knew we wanted—until we found it.
