📡 Does self-control have to hurt 😬?
Welcome to a big Pulse!
This week, there’s A LOT to go through… but believe me, it’ll be fun. I mean really really fun.
Let’s dive in.
- Ben from [ perspective ix ]
PS. What’s the app on your phone you’re currently obsessed with? Reply to this email or tell me about it on Twitter.
📰 News
The Verge’s investigation into Away, the luggage/travel startup, revealed a very poor treat of the employees and a toxic workplace culture. Steph Korey, Away’s CEO apologised for her behaviour, and then banned employees from sharing/interacting with the article [Verge] - #smooth!
Google’s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, step down as Alphabet CEO and president, respectively. Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, will become the boss of the parent company, Alphabet, as well [Google] - Page and Brin will still have super voting powers as board members.
An ex-Facebook content moderator is suing the company for giving them PTSD [Futurism] - the things they see and we don’t… 🤯, and not in a good way.
Russia to replace Wikipedia with state-run site after Putin pans Wikipedia [Reuters] - “at least that will be reliable information, presented in a good, modern way.” [Futurism] - what could possibly go wrong?!
Mozilla removes Avast and AVG extensions from add-on portal over snooping claims. However, the four extensions, two from Avast and two from AVG, are still available on the Chrome Web Store [ZDNet].
Instagram to force new users to state their age [Reuters] - to better protect kids from age-restricted ads like alcohol and gambling and stuff. #goodmove, although more personal data for Facebook… But do kids even care?
Google seems to be developing a new feature to show brightly lit streets on Google Maps, to help you avoid dark alleys when you plan your walks [TNW].
Adobe is acquiring Oculus Medium, a virtual reality sculpting tool launched in 2015, from Facebook [Verge].
Tesla Inc boss Elon Musk emerged victorious on Friday from a closely watched defamation trial as a federal court jury swiftly rejected the $190 million claim brought against him by a British cave explorer who Musk had branded a “pedo guy” on Twitter [Reuters].
A Christmas advert from exercise bike company Peloton has been widely mocked on social media as being “sexist”, “out of touch”, and even “dystopian” [BBC]; then it was hijacked by Ryan Reynolds and his Gin company, aviation in a superb way [Guardian].
🧠 Insights
Self-control - Credit: Pratiksha Mohanty on Unsplash
Exerting Self-Control ≠ Sacrificing Pleasure
Self-control is a prominent topic in consumer research. Among short-sighted behaviors such as overspending, lack of exercising, and procrastinating, overeating is probably the most studied. Many studies have investigated the impact of situational factors, marketing stimuli, and individual consumer characteristics on the choice, purchase, and consumption of food.
Are they the same?
By Joachim Vosgerau, Ph.D. via BehavioralEconomics.
📊 Statistics
Global advertising channels - Credit: MarketingCharts
Social Media to Surpass Print in Global Advertising Spend This Year
Although digital advertising revenue growth is slowing down, at least in the US, digital channels are continuing to rise as advertisers make even larger investments in them at the expense of more traditional platforms. Case in point, a recent ad spend forecast from Zenith reveals that social media is set to become the third-largest advertising channel in 2019.
This year, social media advertising expenditures are forecasted to grow by 20% to achieve a 13% share of total global ad spend (or $84 billion). This puts social media ahead of newspaper and magazine advertising, which are expected to have a combined expenditure of $69 billion, a decrease of 6% year-over-year.
Read more on MarketingCharts.
A decade of Streaming - Credit: Statista
A Decade of Streaming
Spotify released its list of the most-streamed songs, albums and artists of 2019 on Tuesday, giving us a glimpse into what the world has been listening to over the past year. This year Post Malone claimed the number one spot as the rapper’s songs amassed over 6.5 billion streams since the beginning of the year. Post Malone edged out 17-year-old singer Billie Eilish who surpassed 6 billion streams this year and whose debut album “WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?” took the top spot for the most-streamed album of the year on Spotify.
As 2019 draws to a close, Spotify also crowned the artists and songs of the decade this year, with Drake and Ed Sheeran the standout performers of the past ten years. While Drake was the most-streamed male and overall artist, Ed Sheeran came in second in that category but clinched the title for the most-streamed song of the decade with “Shape of You”. Ariana Grande was the most-streamed female artist of the 2010s and the only woman to feature in the top 5 artists of the decade overall.
via Statista.
📱 Tools & Apps
Scout: Travel planner that combines Google Maps and Sheets/Docs
Craigslist on Mobile: 24 years in the making, Craigslist finally gets a mobile app [iOS | Android Beta Test] - Launched first email distribution list in 1995; mobile app in 2019!
2019 Wrapped by Spotify: If you’re a Spotify user, take a look at your 2019 - and your decade… It’s more interesting than you think! Here’s mine; although he might be right lol:
But it was trending on Twitter... 😒
Ummm… kids’ fault?!
My Spotify Rewind is mostly a reminder that this is the year my kids figured out how to use the Google Home.
🎧 Audio Stimulation
📡 [ pulse ] on Spotify
For & By Pulse Family!
Scott Galloway on Big Tech on Business Casual
Breaking up Big Tech: everyone’s talking about it, but is anyone actually doing anything about it? Scott Galloway—NYU professor, NYT bestselling author, owner of the world’s most colourful vocabulary—has some ideas.
Galloway argues that Facebook, Amazon, Google, and Apple are “invasive species"—species robbing the everyday consumer of everything from a functioning democracy to their mental health.
📺 Video Stimulation
The Ugly Truth Of Fast Fashion | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj | Netflix
A must-watch ☝️
🐦 Tweets of the Week
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing
☝️Right?
But now, remember Oreo’s 2013 Dunk in the Dark tweet story? This is Netflix’s 2019 version - with a bit more… sex involved:
what’s something you can say during sex but also when you manage a brand twitter account?
and here are some of the replies… but make sure you click through… the threads are hilarious:
@netflix Please share your experience with the community.
@netflix How likely would you be to recommend us to a friend?
@netflix Double tap.
@netflix Do you want more meat?
@netflix hurt me plenty
@netflix Do you wanna take a lick?
@netflix Haters will say it's Photoshopped... https://t.co/OIISexKwEG
🎮 Fun Stuff
Haven’t you had enough? 😂☝️ok!
I know you don't mind, human. - Credit: Reddit/u/Alxc93
Why you don’t put Christmas lights on palm trees. https://t.co/3R9D15NCB3
Ok, let's end this 😂
This is not goodbye...
This was a super issue; so a super thank you for reaching here! How do you feel about sharing it with a friend? 🤔 just sayin’
Ciao