💻The internet is a low-context culture
Links: Middle-class pizza, UFOs and the post-password future: Context Collapse #93
Man… the last year was weird, wasn’t it?
I don’t know about you, but I’m not a homebody. I’ve never been someone who likes spending a lot of time at home, I’ve never been someone who stays in a lot. The last year has been a year of staying in a lot.
This is to stay that I’m looking forward to a summer of spending as little time at home as possible. Any excuse for a roadtrip. All the live music, all the comedy, all the baseball games. Taking the toddler exploring everywhere. It’s gonna be magic.
On to the links.
New Futures:
Harry Reid on UFOs in the New York Times.
Internet populism in El Salvador.
The Mormon 21st century.
Tyler Cowen interviews ex-CIA head John Brennan:
Wisdom is derived from the ability to absorb information, and then process it, and then see relationships, and also have almost an intuitive sense of past experiences, and then apply that to future situations.
Advertising/Marketing/PR:
The logistics of offering free cupcakes and beer for COVID vaxes.
Here are some great copywriting tips from the toilet paper world.
Media:
Philip DeFranco and YouTube’s culture of “news-influencers”:
The Philip DeFranco Show is not prestige journalism. In an informal survey of New York Times–subscribing friends, none knew who he was; he has a not-that-impressive (as these things go) 1.2 million followers on Twitter. DeFranco is aware of this. […] To his audience, DeFranco is, as the Orlando Sentinel put it, “Walter Cronkite for the YouTube generation,” serving more than 7 million YouTube-channel subscribers. That’s 1.7 million more than a recent week’s viewership of the CBS Evening News, and 4.5 million more than the February prime-time audience for Fox News. His videos have been seen more than a billion times.
Anna Wiener of the New Yorker on Substack and the future of media.
Tech:
Google’s interested in RSS again.
Why Google’s increasingly anti-password.
Internet Explorer is officially getting phased out.
The Financial Times on the Antonio Garcia Martinez-Apple affair.
Fun:
ONLY THE LEAST TASTY EMPLOYEES WORK FROM HOME!
Middle class pizza is neither the grease-soaked dollar slice consumed after last call, or the non-GMO Neapolitan crowned by locally sourced fiddleheads and garlic scape pesto (that’ll be $25.99, please).
Things I’ve Enjoyed Lately:
This guide to improving your video calls.
Reddit users on the most effective psychological “tricks” to use in life.
Why the internet is a low-context culture.
Hunter Walk on the “multi-SKU creator”:
It’s my belief that very few “Substack writers” will make 100% of their income from their newsletter and this won’t be a failure of the platforms but instead related to the nature of creation itself. […] The newsletter is just one SKU. Maybe the SKU he cares most about. Maybe even the SKU that makes him the most money. But it doesn’t have to be the only SKU. There could be a podcast SKU. A speaking fee SKU. A book deal SKU. A consulting SKU. A guest columnist SKU. And so on.
Learning about how 1920s politicians weren’t prepared for how the radio boosted right-wing populism:
And, last but not least, how to get started in the lucrative Lego black market.
What I’m Working On These Days:
I’m helping clients put together case studies, write white papers, consulting on a book proposal and writing an ebook.
I have availability to take on new projects starting in July; email to learn more.
That’s it for this issue. Thank you for taking the time to read this damned thing. Click like and subscribe etc.
Love and coffee,
Neal
About This Newsletter: Neal Ungerleider is a strategic communications consultant who works with individuals, brands and agencies. He writes this weekly newsletter about the media communications industrial complex and hopes you find it useful. Check out his bio, his portfolio, and current projects.
Connect on Twitter or LinkedIn and learn more about at nealungerleider.com. To reach Neal, reply to this email or drop a line in the comments.