Tuesday 18th October: This is just the start of the TikTok misinformation crisis

October 18, 2022

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Entirely predictably, TikTok's algorithm and infinite scroll app design is fostering an environment where misinformation spreads, which its teen audience are particularly vulnerable to. A recent study from Newsguard classified over 20% of videos that surfaced in search about popular news stories as misinformation.

You would think after more than seven years of being fully aware of the scale of misinformation and how it spreads on social media that we'd be better prepared to deal with this looming TikTok crisis. But this has the potential to be a bigger problem than all the platforms that have come before it.

We seem to be past the point of no return now. Governments so far have completely lacked the understanding to create legislation which could rein any of this in. Oh, and by the way, Ye (Kanye West) is buying Parler in the hopes of creating 'an uncancelable ecosystem'. Let's just switch it all off.

I share Charlotte's scepticism of Meta's metaverse but this is a good overview of who is doing what in the space (mainly Disney). Research papers are indicating that motion pictures and advertising will be the two biggest drivers to a metaverse, with studios and brands ready to commit the budget to develop these experiences. Will audiences follow, though?

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Anything said by someone who says they plan to employ 170 people within 23 weeks and launch more than 1,500 websites should be taken with a bucket of salt. Corinne Podger flagged this one to us and there's been some really interesting commentary from other media experts linked to her tweet.

A very timely story given our podcast episode this week. Although Peter pointed out during the episode that streaming is a very different market to publishing, we're likely to see similar decisions made by consumers who are prioritising food, energy and accomodation costs over entertainment. Whether Brits regard news and magazine subscriptions to be that essential remains to be seen.

This week's podcast:

Our latest episode looks at how publishers with subscription and membership schemes are handling increasing pressure on consumer budgets, and subscription trends going into 2023 and beyond. To discuss this year’s subscription trends, we’re joined by Anthony Ribeiro, Audience Conversion Consultant at Poool.

We're approaching our 6th birthday, would you believe! But this year has been our make or break year, and we're pleased to say it's looking really good thanks to your support and some much-needed advice. If you'd like to support us on a monthly basis or just buy us a virtual coffee, every donation is very much apprecitaed.