Powerful Communication Podcast

2022 looks certain to be the year of the cost of living squeeze and as we look for ways to save some money, technology will be top of many people's lists.

Look across the video streaming services and music platforms you pay and consider if you're paying for the same thing twice.

For example, some mobile phone contracts come with access to Apple Music or Spotify already bundled in.

There can be some crossover between Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime and services like Sky Movies and Virgin Media. When it comes to sport, are you really using the subscriptions you have or might it be better value simply to pay as you go when there's something you really want to see.

If you are completely committed to a platform and really wouldn't want to be without it then make sure your loyalty is rewarded - either by paying for a full year upfront which often leads to decent savings, or perhaps threaten to leave and see if you can get a better deal than the one you're on.

Around the web of course there are many deals and discount sites with advice from the likes of moneysavingexpert.com and deals platforms like GroupOn and ItIsOn.

And a quick heads up - Amazon Prime which bundles together deliveries and some music and video streaming - has just increased its prices in America, by 17%.

If it does the same here, the monthly price would jump from 7.99 to 9 pounds 34.

The smart light bulb market is expected to quadruple by the end of this decade. Experts believe it could be worth 11 billion US dollars by 2030.

The latest products have a range of features - letting you choose colours, patterns and setting up schedules.

You can control the lighting from a smartphone app or via your voice.

It's around £20 for a pack of 2 smart lightbulbs.

That's a fair bit more than a standard LED bulb but they should last between 10 and 15 years.

One thing to watch with smart lightbulbs is they do rely on your wifi internet connection and in some cases can cause conflicts with other devices on your network.

It's worth checking with your internet service provider as they might have some guidance on how to set things up correctly.

The first generation of smart bulbs used an internet hub to connect to your router - more modern ranges don't and you only require the bulbs themselves.

So make sure you read the instructions on the box before you buy.

Just days after the release of research showing Facebook's continued social media dominance we now have numbers from Facebook itself showing the first drop in the number of people using it every day for 18 years.

It's a small drop, from 1.930 billion to 1.929 billion but it's sent shares in the parent company tumbling and boss Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged the impact of rivals such as TikTok and YouTube.

But is it younger audiences and cooler platforms or is it a knock on effect from the row about Facebook's attitude towards privacy? Is it that users don't like Facebook and what it stands for, rather than simply the platform itself?

It'll be interesting to see if this is a wider downward trend or if the numbers bounce back up next time.

It's still making more money though with total revenues up a touch on the previous period.

And how about something light and fluffy for the weekend..if you don't follow Thoughts of Dog on Twitter you really ought to. With 3.7 million followers each tweet is carefully composed as though it came from inside the mind of an energetic, playful family pet dog.

It even has its own calendar. Find it @dog_feelings

And the Winter Olympics get underway in Beijing today.

A-Team star Mr T has been sharing his support for the USA curling team on Twitter.

Find key moments from the games right on the Google homepage just search 'winter olympics.'

I told you on Monday night that David Goodwillie would be gone by Friday.

I'm pleased to say he now is.

Here's some opinion on what is an almightly fiasco that I think should see leadership change at the football club. 

This episode includes strong language.

How would you fancy attending a Jennifer Lopez concert, dancing along with the rest of the crowd and even releasing a dove when she sings a love song? You could even control the laser light show.

Well now you can, or at least, a virtual, digital avatar version of you can.

It's all part of Snapchat's new promotion to promote J-Lo's latest film, 'Marry Me'.

Check it out for yourself at marrymevirtualconcert.com - this is a glimpse into what we mean by 'the metaverse' and while there's no doubt experiences like this will cause some interest I think people will quickly tire of them.

There's a fascinating report out into the world's digital habits.

The Digital Trends 2022 study from WeAreSocial.com shows 12 and a half trillion hours were spent online each year with big increases in social media use, particularly for YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.

The report also found running adverts on social media is becoming significantly more expensive.

Although Facebook remains the platform with the greatest number of users, YouTube enjoys the greatest amount of time.

With the world's population just short of 8 billion, just over 4.9 billion are connected to the internet, with that number growing every year.

And 4.6 billion using some form of social networking platform.

You can see the full data which also looks at the type of content we consume on the internet at wearesocial.com

And you can still vote in this year's BRIT Awards which take place on Tuesday - check @Brits for more.

It's award season and entries are open until a week on Friday, that's 11th February for the Webby Awards.

The Webbys have been honouring the best of the internet since 1996 and celebrates all things digital including websites, video, social media, apps and games, podcasts and more.

Winners will be announced in May and there's a public vote for the prestigious 'People's Voice' award.

For now, it's all about entering, so if you've done something online you think deserves recognition you can find out more at webbyawards.com

I think Facebook's parent company is making a huge mistake throwing so much money into the MetaVerse, the so called virtual world it thinks we're going to inhabit.

If anything, people are already making pledges to spend LESS time online with social media and more time in the real world - I honestly believe people simply don't want this and it's going to end up like 3DTV - a clever idea, an interesting novelty but doesn't work all that well and eventually quietly disappears.

I willing to put my reputation on the line and say now - the MetaVerse will never catch on.

If you're an NFL fan, Twitter wants your Super Bowl predictions in 6 words or less.

It might end up displayed on the roof of the stadium ahead of this year's match on February 13th. Follow @twittersports for more.

And I'm shocked that some, clearly, still need to learn it.

If you're one of the few people who has a video instead of a static image on their Facebook profile picture, it's about to disappear.

The social network has announced it'll start removing them from the 7th of February - when they'll be replaced by the cover image.

Users affected will see a message from Facebook asking them to choose a new profile picture if they'd prefer not to have their cover image and profile picture become the same.

Linkedin also allows video profile pictures and like Facebook, they're not widely used to I'd expect Linkedin to follow suit at some point in the future.

Podcaster Joe Rogan is promising to strive for 'more balance' on his podcast after a row about COVID misinformation verses censorship led to music stars Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulling their music from Spotify, which exclusively hosts Rogan's podcast.

The row seems to be cooling with Spotify agreeing to add 'advisory' noticed to episodes which deal with Covid.

Prince Harry and Megan Markle had also expressed concern about the issue.

The final countdown is on to the Winter Olympics which start in Beijing this Friday with the opening ceremony.

The official Twitter and Instagram accounts can be found @beijing2022 but since those platforms are banned in China the games' website is linking to Weibo, WeChat and TikTok.

The early rounds of Curling and Luge actually start tomorrow.

And that reminds me to wish you a very happy Chinese New Year - pop that phrase into Google and you'll get some nice firework animations.

Joe Rogan is promising to do better and to have 'more balance and research' on his podcast.

In short, he's going to try to be more like the BBC.

Doesn't this embarassing episode highlight the importance of the BBC and why we should be protecting it from the shadowy elites who want rid of it?

Far from being 'the establishment', I argue the BBC is counter culture here in 2022.

And Joe Rogan/Spotify? Clowns.

I told you 2022 might be the year of the puzzle…well one nasty internet user tried to spoil the fun by setting up a Twitter account that spoiled word game 'Wordle' by posting the next day's answer.

Twitter quickly shut it down saying it broke the rules by sending unsolicited replies to high numbers of users.

Some of TikTok's most popular creators are demanding more money from the video sharing platform.

Unlike YouTube which gives its video stars money based on advertising revenue, TikTok set aside a 200 million dollar fund which all the most popular creators share a slice of.

But, as the pool stays static and the numbers increase..those slices, get smaller, while the parent company reports soaring profits in the tens of billions of dollars.

We're all hearing about the rising cost of living and there's a pressure on all of us to make our money go further…one way of getting something back is to refer friends to some of your favourite businesses.

From broadband providers to insurance companies, banks, mobile phone companies and many more, it's worth paying attention to some of the marketing emails that come your way as companies offer discounts, perks and sometimes cold hard cash for you to entice other people to sign up.