An interview with Eugene Wei about streaming and social media, including Netflix, TikTok, Twitter, and why the first wave of social networks were a fundamental mismatch with human nature.
Musk’s Twitter Blue; A Twitter Subscription, Revisited; Apple Earnings
Elon Musk’s Twitter Blue proposal seems reasonable, and the company is not in as dire financial straits as reported. Then, revisiting the idea of a Twitter business model pivot, and why Apple’s services revenue is so impressive.
Meta Myths
Meta deserves a bit of a discount off of its recent highs, but a number of myths about its business have caused the market to over-react.
Snap Earnings, What Spiegel Wouldn’t Say, Snap’s Direct Sales Reset
Snap’s earnings were bad, and even worse when you dig into the details. It appears the company is back to the basics of ad selling (and that’s not great for Elon Musk).
Musk Re-Commits to Twitter; Meta, AITemplate, and Nvidia; Facebook Shutters Bulletin
Notes on Musk’s latest Twitter about-face, then Meta open-sources an AI library that is a big threat to Nvidia. Plus, another example of a failed paid product from an ad-supported company.
An Interview With The Verge Editor-in-Chief Nilay Patel About Building a Destination Site
An interview with The Verge EIC Nilay Patel about building a destination site, his background and how that connects to his career in tech journalism, The Verge’s business model and approach to journalism ethics, and a bit of a debate about moderation and net neutrality.
Instagram Reels Struggles, Meta’s Mistake, TikTok at Code
Instagram policy with regards to TikTok content shows Meta hasn’t internalized the real risk from the Chinese company; then, revisiting U.S. TikTok policy
An Interview With Michael Mignano About Podcasts, Standards, and Recommendation Media
An interview with former Anchor co-founder and CEO Michael Mignano about podcasts, Anchor, Spotify, standards, and recommendation media.
The Twitter Whistleblower, mDAUs and Bots, Musk’s Akorn Lifeline
A Twitter’s whistleblowers report is very believable in terms of Twitter’s violation of its FTC consent decree; that may matter more to Elon Musk than the discussion about bots.
An Interview With Eric Seufert About the Future of Digital Advertising
An interview with Eric Seufert about Apple’s big overhaul of SKAdNetwork, speculating about a possible Apple Ad Network, and why we’re both optimistic about Meta’s outlook. In addition, we discuss Snap’s disastrous year, and the Unity-ironSource-AppLovin acquisition drama.