Categories: Articles

Moving From Likes To Reactions

Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It’s not a long segment – about 5 to 10 minutes every week – about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you’re interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I’m really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

Heather B. is still away on vacation this week.
Everyone is all excited that Facebook is moving beyond the “like” button. Now, you can get much more expressive about what someone else posts, with these new animated “reactions.” They’ve been testing different ones in other parts of the world, have analyzed the data and are now ready for prime time. So, if someone has posted bad news – you’re not forced to “like” it. You can now be angry, sad… well, you get the idea. Have you tried them? How do you like it? As simple as it sounds, my guess is that this will become a treasure trove of sentiment data for Facebook. Think about it, if suddenly you’re not liking a bunch of stuff, Facebook can start targeting you with more relevant ads based on your mood.
Apple is still entangled in this fight with the CIA to unlock the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. As the government pushes them to help, Apple is moving in a very different direction. Just this week, Apple hired Frederic Jacobs, a Switzerland-based developer who worked to develop secure messaging app Signal — the communications app of choice for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden — to work on its CoreOS security team. This is interesting. What if Apple can suddenly prove that their system is so private, that no one can get in?
App of the week: Google’s Art Project.

Listen here…

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.