Categories: Articles

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #188

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, Solve For Interesting, the author of Complete Web Monitoring, Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks and Lean Analytics), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist’s Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another:

Debunking Princeton – Facebook. "A recent Princeton study claimed Facebook would lose eighty percent of its users in the next few years. Sure, we all know the kids love their Snapchat, but that seems dubious to me. Apparently, it also seemed dubious to the whip-smart data science team at Facebook, who took them to task with this brilliant rebuttal. Oh, and based on this analysis, we’re running out of air, too." (Alistair for Hugh).
What are the best travel hacks? – Quora. "I spent a lot of time on the road last year. My favorite travel hack is using the ironing board as a work desk you can adjust to your perfect height in a hotel room, so you don’t destroy your back in a marathon writing session. This Quora thread is packed with gems." (Alistair for Mitch).
Last Alan Moore Interview? – Slovobooks. "Alan Moore, creator of Watchmen and a few other cult comic classics, gives a delightfully grouchy interview, which he seems to claim will be his last. In it, he pillories contemporary adults for raising kids’ entertainment from the last century (superheroes) to the center of our cultural life; attacks claims that his work is prevalent with misogynist scenes of rape and violence against women (‘prevalent’ compared to what?’ he asks, ‘Consensual sex? Non-sexual violence?’); and bridles at the idea that white men shouldn’t write characters of other races. A thoughtful and detailed piece on our art, politics, culture." (Hugh for Alistair).
Sit Back, Relax, and Read That Long Story–on Your Phone – The Atlantic. "It’s no suprise to me (since the thing that sold me on ebooks was reading War And Peace on my iPhone), but certainly marketers and content producers should have a think about this little stat: one of Buzzfeed‘s most popular stories (Why I Bought A House In Detroit For $500) is 6,000 words long. Average time spent on the article by tablet readers: 12 minutes. Phones? 25 minutes. Movies, television, books and long articles. Turns out phones are *built* for these things, no matter what David Lynch has to say about it." (Hugh for Mitch).
Why Bitcoin Matters – The New York Times. "I get asked about Bitcoin and digital currency all of the time now. Bitcoin is sweeping pop culture like Facebook once did. I believe in the power of digital currency and the massive opportunity that lies ahead for it. Who cares? Who am I? Just some dude with a blog and an opinion. Let’s ask the experts what they think. Someone whose opinion I hold in the highest of regards would be Marc Andreessen. So, here’s what he thinks about it…" (Mitch for Alistair).
Jerry Seinfeld on how to be funny without sex and swearing – The Guardian. "I don’t care what you do for a living, if you’re not spending your time truly honing your craft, skills and talent, they are being wasted. Someone who takes this job to a whole other level of dedication and care is Jerry Seinfeld. He’s no longer a spring chicken, but this doesn’t stop him from always having a spring in his step. This is a fabulous read that should motivate you to keep at it. Whatever your ‘it’ is." (Mitch for Hugh).

Now it’s your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it.

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.