Human-centred Socials and Multi-Lingual Music
The weekly look at three optimistic signals in dark times, plus curious ‘how might we…’ ideas for what we can do, moving forward.
More Human Socials
Have you discovered Collective Memory yet? It’s a ridiculously interesting social media/content feed alternative, where instead of likes, people invest real money to surface content they think deserves attention. Personally, the aspect I find most interesting is the desktop experience: not a stream of singular content tiles viewed one by one, but a wide catalog that gives a richer, more contextualised view on what’s happening in the world right now. A cross-section of humanity if you will.
Moving forward: We optimised for engagement and got enshittification. What comes after engagement-led algorithms, and who gets to design them?
Musical Languages
According to Spotify, English language music is becoming less and less dominant. Songs in 16 languages appeared in their Global Top 50 last year - double the figure from 2020, and on the up since 2017. It's a strange framing: that English is losing its grip, when that grip only existed because of the gatekeeper system. Streaming changed everything - for good and bad. Now listeners have greater influence over popularity and the data is reflecting our multicultural humanity.
Moving forward: What would your product, platform, or content look like if it was determined by your current audience not an audience the system was built for?
Get it to your guys in Finance
Might sound boring AF but is actually vv interesting - H&M, EY,Apparel Impact Institute, and HSBC, released a white paperon sustainability as a value driver and accelerating decarbonisation in their supply chains. Ok, even the word “decarbonisation” is not exactly thrilling BUT a positive signal of sustainability moving from performative comms to financial investment, this paper outlines the ‘how’ of funding sustainability. This is the vibe: “As CFOs, our role is not to debate whether sustainability targets should be met, but to ensure how they are delivered.”
Moving forward: How might we move the changes we care about from performative to structural and who can make it happen?
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