As a side note, I’ve been starting to shift my social media time from X to Threads and Bluesky. I haven’t really settled into either, but my X feed is starting to look a bit bare, and I’m not missing much there. I'll see how things go after the new year.
Top news and updates this week
- YouTube makes it easier to moderate live stream comments.
- Live stream to X (Twitter) from StreamYard or Streamlabs.
- Migrate your Google Podcasts to YouTube Music (US only).
- Google Analytics 4 integration with AdSense.
- New version of Bluesky adds profile RSS feeds, visibility when signed out.
- Flipboard starts testing ActivityPub federation.
- Substack has a Nazi problem.
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New Posts
I wrote a bit about one of
my highlights from 2023,
the Google Product Expert Summit in London on the OnEBoard News blog.
Google listed their top 23 “moments” in 2023, from AI to new hardware to updated Google Workspace services.
Google looked back at their advances in AI over the past year. If you’ve been having trouble following all the changes, read this to take a look back at PaLM2, MusicLM, Imagen 2, DuetAI, Gemini and more.
YouTube recaps the top ad trends of 2023.
Meta has a recap of their year of updates to Teams and Copilot.
Meta also recapped their advances in AI and the Metaverse over the past year. Mixed reality (AR overlaid on the real world) is their bet for the future, especially using their Rat-Ban Meta smart glasses.
More 2023 Recaps
Over on X/Twitter Google’s John Mueller recaps the top SEO memes of 2023.Google listed their top 23 “moments” in 2023, from AI to new hardware to updated Google Workspace services.
Google looked back at their advances in AI over the past year. If you’ve been having trouble following all the changes, read this to take a look back at PaLM2, MusicLM, Imagen 2, DuetAI, Gemini and more.
YouTube recaps the top ad trends of 2023.
Meta has a recap of their year of updates to Teams and Copilot.
Meta also recapped their advances in AI and the Metaverse over the past year. Mixed reality (AR overlaid on the real world) is their bet for the future, especially using their Rat-Ban Meta smart glasses.
Flickr recapped their updates over the past year and looks to 2024, which will bring an updated interface, new photo organization tools, and their 20th birthday.
The Verge highlighted some of the most interesting original graphics they published this year, along with links to the articles they illustrated. Not surprisingly this includes some of their most interesting articles, from profiles of tech workers in Ukraine to threats to academics and Musk’s takeover of Twitter.
TubeStats (tubestats.org ) is an interesting look at YouTube numbers based on a random sample of 25,000 videos (methodology). It estimates 3.9 Billion videos uploaded in 2023,
The TikTok Creative Center has an AI chatbot for brainstorming, insights and writing ad scripts. It’s aimed at advertisers, but appears available to everyone. Try it here
Capcut has a new-ish tool that will automatically turn your landscape long-form video into Shorts. Capcut is a video editing platform from Bytedance, TikTok’s parent company, and is aimed at businesses. Try it for free.
You can now live stream to X (Twitter) from Streamlabs and StreamYard (including live comments from X). No stream key is necessary, instead you authenticate your X account from inside the streaming studio.
VideoPoet is a new Large Language Model (LLM) from Google Research for “zero-shot video generation”. Click the link to see the demo, or the blog post with more information.
The Verge highlighted some of the most interesting original graphics they published this year, along with links to the articles they illustrated. Not surprisingly this includes some of their most interesting articles, from profiles of tech workers in Ukraine to threats to academics and Musk’s takeover of Twitter.
To Try
If you are in the US, you can now migrate your Google Podcasts to YouTube Music. YouTube Music also now supports adding podcasts by their RSS feed. In the US Google Podcasts will be available through March 2024 and will be able to migrate subscriptions through July 2024. Migration availability in other regions is yet to be announced.Video Creator Updates
If you are live streaming on YouTube, there’s a new tool for live chat moderators. It’s now possible to check public user history right from the live chat feed (on desktop). That includes a recap of live chat messages and total counts of moderator actions taken against the user over the past year. That includes deleted messages, time outs, and hides.TubeStats (tubestats.org ) is an interesting look at YouTube numbers based on a random sample of 25,000 videos (methodology). It estimates 3.9 Billion videos uploaded in 2023,
The TikTok Creative Center has an AI chatbot for brainstorming, insights and writing ad scripts. It’s aimed at advertisers, but appears available to everyone. Try it here
Capcut has a new-ish tool that will automatically turn your landscape long-form video into Shorts. Capcut is a video editing platform from Bytedance, TikTok’s parent company, and is aimed at businesses. Try it for free.
You can now live stream to X (Twitter) from Streamlabs and StreamYard (including live comments from X). No stream key is necessary, instead you authenticate your X account from inside the streaming studio.
VideoPoet is a new Large Language Model (LLM) from Google Research for “zero-shot video generation”. Click the link to see the demo, or the blog post with more information.
Web Publishers and Search
Did you know that you can have web page and PDF versions of content, and Google Search may index them both? More details at Search Engine Roundtable.You can now link your AdSense account to your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) property. That lets you "combine AdSense data with other metrics, such as traffic sources and user behavior".
Blogger Product Expert Adam explains why it’s probably worth it to (temporarily) stop blocking third party cookies in order to comment on a Blogger blog while signed in to your Google account.
Substack not only allows newsletters with neonazi and white supremacist content, but makes money from them and has even promoted them. In response to concerns, Substack founder Hamish McKenzie frames it as supporting “free speech”. But others have pointed out that this is a business decision. Ken White (Popehat) explains Substack Has A Nazi Opportunity and Katie Notopoulos at Business Insider argues Substack's Nazi Problem Isn't About Speech; It's About Money. Newsletter publishers will have to decide whether they want to continue to support the platform. FWIW I use the free version of Beehiiv for my newsletter, and Ghost (which is not free) is frequently mentioned as an alternative.
Smaller Twitter alternative Spoutible now lets you cross-post to Bluesky and Mastodon, and says they will “soon” support cross-posting to Threads. Spoutible is crowdfunded through the investment platform Wefunder and just launched audio Pods (like X’s Spaces, but whale-themed).
Flipboard is starting to slowly roll out ActivityPub federation. Starting this week 27 accounts (including a variety of publications, journalism organizations and content creators) will be able to interact and engage with posts on Mastodon, PeerTube and other Fediverse platforms (including Threads eventually). In January anyone in the Fediverse will be able to follow any public account on Flipboard, and then by April anyone on Flipboard will be able to follow anyone in the Fediverse. As part of this transition, their Dot Social podcast is available on PeerTube, in addition to YouTube.
Reddit is removing the option to add live chat posts to subreddits. They will be replaced with chat channels, which are currently still in beta.
X is in the process of updating the profile Media tab, with a new layout and filters to only show images, videos or GIFs.
Wired interviewed Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun who says AI will take over the world, but won’t subjugate humans.
In Microsoft Copilot you can use Suno to create a song from a text prompt.
Add to your reading list: The Top Twenty-five New Yorker Stories of 2023 .
Science fiction writer Charlie Stross wrote in Scientific American: Tech Billionaires Need to Stop Trying to Make the Science Fiction They Grew Up on Real. The message:
“Science fiction, therefore, does not develop in accordance with the scientific method. It develops by popular entertainers trying to attract a bigger audience by pandering to them. The audience today includes billionaires who read science fiction in their childhood and who appear unaware of the ideological underpinnings of their youthful entertainment: elitism, “scientific” racism, eugenics, fascism and a blithe belief today in technology as the solution to societal problems.”
Ryan Broderick at Garbage Day wrote about how it’s getting hard to know what’s truly trending, and how “The loudest and oftentimes most influential parts of American society have been looking at what’s online and repackaging it back to us for a decade and now that trick doesn’t work anymore.“ Why? “I think what we’re actually seeing is the middle of the attention economy disappear. The space where viral animals, random videos, silly trends, and bizarre subcultures used to inhabit. Those things aren’t gone, really, but they aren’t turning into national level discourses as often anymore.”
Blogger Product Expert Adam explains why it’s probably worth it to (temporarily) stop blocking third party cookies in order to comment on a Blogger blog while signed in to your Google account.
Substack not only allows newsletters with neonazi and white supremacist content, but makes money from them and has even promoted them. In response to concerns, Substack founder Hamish McKenzie frames it as supporting “free speech”. But others have pointed out that this is a business decision. Ken White (Popehat) explains Substack Has A Nazi Opportunity and Katie Notopoulos at Business Insider argues Substack's Nazi Problem Isn't About Speech; It's About Money. Newsletter publishers will have to decide whether they want to continue to support the platform. FWIW I use the free version of Beehiiv for my newsletter, and Ghost (which is not free) is frequently mentioned as an alternative.
Photos and Image Design on the Web
Adobe has abandoned its acquisition of Figma in the face of pressure from regulators in the EU and UK.Social Media
Bluesky version 1.60 is rolling out with major changes: a new butterfly logo, RSS feeds for profiles (follow people in Feedly or your favorite feed reader!), and posts and profiles are visible without a login (you can opt out of that in your Bluesky settings).Smaller Twitter alternative Spoutible now lets you cross-post to Bluesky and Mastodon, and says they will “soon” support cross-posting to Threads. Spoutible is crowdfunded through the investment platform Wefunder and just launched audio Pods (like X’s Spaces, but whale-themed).
Flipboard is starting to slowly roll out ActivityPub federation. Starting this week 27 accounts (including a variety of publications, journalism organizations and content creators) will be able to interact and engage with posts on Mastodon, PeerTube and other Fediverse platforms (including Threads eventually). In January anyone in the Fediverse will be able to follow any public account on Flipboard, and then by April anyone on Flipboard will be able to follow anyone in the Fediverse. As part of this transition, their Dot Social podcast is available on PeerTube, in addition to YouTube.
Reddit is removing the option to add live chat posts to subreddits. They will be replaced with chat channels, which are currently still in beta.
X is in the process of updating the profile Media tab, with a new layout and filters to only show images, videos or GIFs.
More AI Updates
This is bad report from 404 Media: Largest Dataset Powering AI Images Removed After Discovery of Child Sexual Abuse MaterialWired interviewed Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann LeCun who says AI will take over the world, but won’t subjugate humans.
In Microsoft Copilot you can use Suno to create a song from a text prompt.
More Reading
OpenAI’s embattled CEO Sam Altman has a personal blog (who knew?). He lists 17 things about What I Wish Someone Had Told Me (about business). I really agree with number 17: Working with great people is one of the best parts of life.Add to your reading list: The Top Twenty-five New Yorker Stories of 2023 .
Science fiction writer Charlie Stross wrote in Scientific American: Tech Billionaires Need to Stop Trying to Make the Science Fiction They Grew Up on Real. The message:
“Science fiction, therefore, does not develop in accordance with the scientific method. It develops by popular entertainers trying to attract a bigger audience by pandering to them. The audience today includes billionaires who read science fiction in their childhood and who appear unaware of the ideological underpinnings of their youthful entertainment: elitism, “scientific” racism, eugenics, fascism and a blithe belief today in technology as the solution to societal problems.”
Ryan Broderick at Garbage Day wrote about how it’s getting hard to know what’s truly trending, and how “The loudest and oftentimes most influential parts of American society have been looking at what’s online and repackaging it back to us for a decade and now that trick doesn’t work anymore.“ Why? “I think what we’re actually seeing is the middle of the attention economy disappear. The space where viral animals, random videos, silly trends, and bizarre subcultures used to inhabit. Those things aren’t gone, really, but they aren’t turning into national level discourses as often anymore.”
There are similar sentiments in Charlie Warzel’s
article for The Atlantic:
Nobody Knows What’s Happening Online Anymore
2024 is a presidential election year in the US. Google and YouTube announced steps they are taking to identify artificial and AI generated content and prevent misinformation from spreading.
That’s all the updates for this week. Subscribe to get the Weekly Update in your email inbox or favorite feed reader every week. Miss last week’s update? Get the December 16 edition here.
Image via Canva. Free for commercial use, no attribution required.
2024 is a presidential election year in the US. Google and YouTube announced steps they are taking to identify artificial and AI generated content and prevent misinformation from spreading.
That’s all the updates for this week. Subscribe to get the Weekly Update in your email inbox or favorite feed reader every week. Miss last week’s update? Get the December 16 edition here.
Image via Canva. Free for commercial use, no attribution required.
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