Powerful Communication Podcast

Comsteria's Colin Kelly is your trusted guide for the Metaverse and NFTs (digital collectables).

Listen to the Powerful Communication podcast for regular insight and updates into this fast moving (and heavily hyped!) immersive internet of the future.

Colin has recently delivered highly engaging, jargon free introductory in person talks and remote webinars on this topic for clients including the Chartered Institute Of Public Relations and the Department Of International Trade.

Subscribe to this podcast for more Metaverse content soon, along with other discussion topics of interest to business owners and communications professionals.

In this episode, Colin discusses how he sees history repeating itself and points out that the first generation of search engines didn't have the longevity as the internet and World Wide Web hit the mainstream.

Enjoy the podcast and get in touch with us through the Comsteria website.

Adidas has dropped Kanye West and his Yeezy line of shoes.

In this episode of Comsteria's #powerfulcommunication podcast, Colin Kelly looks at the lessons for brands working with celebrities on endorsement deals, as well as smaller businesses who might be working with influencers.

To find out how Comsteria can help your business or comms team, visit us online at www.comsteria.co.uk

Simon Cowell is at the centre of what he hopes will be another revolution in the music industry.

He's teaming up with Samsung and TikTok to launch a new 'beat making' competition.

It's called 'Stemdrop' and will involve renowned producer Max Martin who's worked with some of the biggest names in pop releasing a clip of music on TikTok but giving anyone who wants it access to the individual component parts of the track - the drums, vocals, guitar and so on, which are all known as 'stems'.

Contestants will be able to work with those teams and reshape them into something of their own creation.

Definitely one to keep an eye on.

And a Negroni Spagliato with Prosecco in it has become one of the most talked about drinks on the internet.

It's all because of a TikTok clip sharing part of a discussion between HBO 'House Of The Dragon' stars Olivia Cooke and Emma D'Arcy.

Cooke asks D'Arcy what her drink of choice is - the answer has gone viral with thousands of lip sync videos, remixes and parodies.

It's led to a surge in interest for the drink itself with it becoming particularly popular among members of the queer community.

There's a great article on the Telegraph website about the Metaverse - the virtual future of the internet which Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has committed billions of dollars to.

Business reporter Io Dodds spent a week pretty much 'living' in the meta verse - or at least doing as much in it as possible and she's put together a fascinating account of what it's like.

Get the link on the hashtag digitalminuteUK or through the Telegraph online.

You can also follow @iododds on Twitter.

Cyber security is in the spotlight after Meta announced its security teams had found more than 400 malicious iPhone and Android apps designed to steal Facebook log in information.

They've now been removed but were made to look like business apps, photo editors, games and other utilities.

Be very careful when you're giving third party apps access to your social media profiles or a Google account - once they're in, they can get your user names, passwords, message your friends and exploit you in other ways.

Meta says there seems to be a particular risk around photo editors , promising extra features. We always suggest sticking to official, well known tools such as Canva or Photoshop.

If you've any doubt, don't use them and delete any existing aps you don't use or aren't sure about.

Running anti virus protection on your mobile device is also worth doing although in many cases wouldn't stop the issues associated with these malicious apps.

Twitter's edit button is here at last but if you want it - you'll have to pay.

You need to use Twitter's Premium 'twitter blue' service.

Tweets that have been edited will appear with a pencil icon in the top right corner, clicking on that will show you what the original said.

Instagram is testing a new feature which would let users add multiple links in their biographies.

Currently, only 1 is allowed and that makes things difficult for some celebrities, charities or businesses with more than one call to action they want to highlight.

Many have used a work around with tools such as Link Fire, LinkTree or building landing pages in Canva.

Is this a good example of giving people what they want or might it make Instagram a more cluttered environment?

Now a couple of dates for your diary - Cyber Monday - that's the online e-commerce version of Black Friday is happening on Monday 28th November.

Black Friday is the previous Friday, the 25th.

And October is a big month for video games releases with Lego Bricktales out this Wednesday, Nickelodeon Katy Racers 3 on Friday and Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed coming on the 18th that's a week tomorrow.

I thought I'd mention a few favourite blogs today.

One of the most interesting in terms of communication, marketing and thought leadership is Seth Godin.

Find him at seths.blog - he's been blogging almost every single day more more than 7 thousand days.

I you love music industry stories then Bob Lefsetz is an essential read.

Some of his posts are incredibly long but fascinating, dealing with everything from the state of modern pop music right back to the golden years of rock and roll.

He's incredibly well connected and has some incredible stories - find him at lefsetz.com

TechCrunch, Mashable and Gizmodo are all good for technology and the future of the internet.

News from Google last night at their Made By Google event - the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro phones were previewed - they're available to pre order now and on sale from October 13th prices start at £599.

We also got a look at the Pixel Watch at £339 pounds - this is Google's first smart watch, it's also on sale from next Thursday and next year we'll get a Pixel tablet.

Replika - with a 'K' is an artificial intelligence tool, delivered via an app which claims to offer companionship.

Marketing for the platform promises Replika is 'always ready to chat when you need an empathetic friend'.

It's not much more than a chatbot - you see an animated image of a person and interact by talking into your phone.

But what's it doing with all the information it picks up from conversations you have with it, is your data safe and what about the conversations themselves…are they always going to be appropriate ?

Well the makers believe it's only suitable for users 17 years and over but of course some younger users may try to set up profiles and there are serious questions being asked about whether forming an emotional connection with what basically amounts to an algorithm is healthy.

Be sure to read the small print and treat these AI bots with the same caution you would anything else on line.

The Elon Musk/Twitter saga has taken another twist.

He's now saying he is willing to buy the company, if his original agreed price is accepted.

I fully accept more twists and turns on this one.

And 2 of the biggest names in mobile are cosying up to each other - Vodafone and 3 hope to agree a merger by the end of this year.

Disappointing news for children everywhere - Spongebob Squarepants and Paw Patrol are GONE from Netflix in the UK.

The deal to show the shows on the streaming giant has expired, there's no word of a new deal and the shows are no longer available - only some of the feature length Spongebob films can be watched.

Netflix viewers outside the UK can still enjoy the shows and there is the possibility of a new contract which would bring them back.

Meantime, Paramount Plus is showing Spongebob Squarepants on its streaming platform.

A landmark EU rule has been passed standardising mobile phone chargers by 2024.

It means Apple's iPhone will have to use USB C connectors rather than its own lightning port.

The ruling also applies to ear buds e readers and many other electronic chargers - the UK has previously said it won't follow the EU and insist on a common charging cable although many devices sold here already use USB C.

And an interesting case at the US Supreme Court challenging the notion that tech companies should not be held responsible for content posted by their users.

I'll keep you posted with how the unfolds but it could have big implications.