T2 rebranded as Pebble because when tossed in water, pebbles create ripples (except in the song “Ripple,” in which “there is no pebble tossed, nor wind to blow”). The microblogging social network created by former Twitter staffers never created enough ripples to sustain it. In this short midweek episode, Neville and Shel lament Pebble’s passing, consider the reasons it is shutting down, and ponder what it means for the post-Twitter social media landscape.

Links from this episode:

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, October 30.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email [email protected].

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog. Neville’s Asides blog is also available.

The post FIR #362: Why Did Pebble Sink? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

A new study from Edelman polled hundreds of Fortune 500 Chief Communication Officers about the future of corporate communications. The results include some surprises, including the scope of the CCO’s role and what they’re spending their time on. The study also addresses the old canard about the communicator’s quest for a “seat at the table.” Neville and Shel dig into the report in this short midweek episode.

Links from this episode:

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, October 30.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email [email protected].

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog. Neville’s Asides blog is also available.

The post FIR #361: Is There A Seat At The Table in Corporate Communication’s Future? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

At a school in southern England, a headmaster worked with an AI developer to create an AI "robot" named Abigail Bailey to serve as his "headteacher," giving him advice and helping with planning. He has another AI "robot" named Jamie Rainer serving as his head of AI after advertising for a human to handle the job. Can the same principles be transferred to the CEO of an organization? Find out in this short midweek episode.
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The post FIR #360: Your AI Chatbot Confidant appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

OpenAI is rolling out the ability to have a spoken conversation with ChatGPT. Meta is making it easy to converse with the likes of Tom Brady and Paris Hilton (who have lent their voices to the effort). An AI chatbot called PI was built to let you discuss personal matters. Companies are rolling out AI girlfriends. (That can't end well.) It's all part of what Casey Newton calls the "synthetic social network," and it's the topic of conversation between Neville and Shel in this short midweek episode.
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The post FIR #359: Your New AI BFF appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

EY (formerly Ernst & Young), one of the "big four" accounting firms, has launched EY.ai, which is (according to a press release) "a unifying platform that brings together human capabilities and artificial intelligence (AI) to help clients transform their businesses through confident and responsible adoption of AI." Separately, EY has introduced EYQ, an AI assistant for its 400,000 employees. Neville and Shel discuss the news -- and how likely it is that EY's competitors will follow -- in this short midweek FIR episode.
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The post FIR #358: EY Goes AI appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Artificial Generative Intelligence (AGI) has been widely available publicly for less than a year, but the public relations industry has moved quickly to assess its potential and begin the process of implementation. How is it going so far? A brief from the PR Academy looks at the state of AGI in PR. Also in this monthly long-form episode:

In his tech report, Dan York looks at Mastodon 4.2 and the ActivityPub plugin for WordPress.
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The post FIR #357: A Status Report on AI and PR appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

It's easy to believe that the internet has already demonstrated its disruptive capabilities by pointing to everything from the transformation of the audience to publishers and the rise of disinformation. However disruptive these changes are, they are mainly uses of technology to do things we were already doing -- just doing it more easily and efficiently. Real disruption -- the invention of entirely new processes and approaches -- could take years, decades, even centuries to manifest, according to Jeff Jarvis in his new book, "The Gutenberg Parentheses". But we are starting to see early examples, and TikTok is the platform on which they are appearing. We'll share these examples, and provide more insight into Jarvis's book, in this short midweek episode.
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The post FIR #356: The Long Arc of Network Disruption appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In this short-form episode, we look at how hashtags have evolved over time and what's next. Proposed by Chris Messina in 2007 for use on Twitter, hashtags were initially meant to categorize and connect conversations on social media platforms. However, in articles published on Medium in recent months, Messina explains his belief that hashtags have become a tool for spam and abuse, manipulated by algorithms to promote content. He suggests that it may be time for a change in how hashtags are used.

Neville outlines Messina's six ideas and the potential future for a tool that has underpinned much utility and value for 16 years in how people connect topics, conversations, and other people on social networks, not only on Twitter.
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The post FIR #355: The Future for Hashtags appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

The court of law is not the only place where reputations must be defended. Increasingly, it’s also in the court of public opinion. In response, British law firm Schillings takes on the PR industry by setting up its own agency for clients seeking a different way to manage their reputation. In this short midweek episode, Neville solo (Shel is away) discusses what it means for the PR industry and considers the challenges and opportunities for both professions.
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The post FIR #354: Law and PR Combine to Protect Reputations appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Generative Artificial Intelligence has a lot to offer bloggers, from easier research to better SEO. It can also let people crank out torrents of posts. In this short midweek episode, Neville and Shel examine the benefits and risks AI presents to bloggers and whether blogs are more or less important in the AI era.
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The post FIR #353: Blogging in the AI Era appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.