Weekend Musings 24
Facebook is videos because TikTok is, LinkedIn's new features, and Email's synergy with News
Tiruvannamalai - my new home is a small spiritual town located in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The beauty of small towns is that by 9 PM everything is closed. So Jubin and I decided to head for an early dinner at Auro Usha. I have been craving Bhindi for a few days and Auro does a decent job with Bhindi Masala and Chapatis.
While eating we were discussing love and the role it plays to build faith in any relationship. Be it with yourself or with a guru or with anyone. And then I shared one of my recent thoughts:
“I can work hard and make money but I can’t get someone's love by working hard.”
But again the beauty of love is that without even knowing it has started doing its work. Love that gives you peace, their thought makes your day glow and even if you have not met the person for years it doesn’t matter because you are no more loving a body. And at this point, it doesn’t matter if the person loves you back or not.
“I LOVE YOU - That’s good enough. I don’t want your response that you love me. I don’t care.” - J Krishnamurti
Listening to this Jubin shared Thich Nhat Hanh’s Strange Love Story: When he was young he fell in love with a nun.
“As a monk, you are not supposed to fall in love, but sometimes love is stronger than your determination.”
In his book, Cultivating the Mind of Love he writes:
“She represented everything I loved—my ideal of compassion, loving-kindness, bringing Buddhism into society, and realizing peace and reconciliation. That desire in me was so strong and sacred that anything like holding her hand or kissing her on the forehead would have been a violation. She represented all that was important in my life, and I could not afford to shatter it.”
As resolute as he sounds here, he also describes a sleepless night after they had spent hours talking together:
“I was still awake and I felt a strong desire to be with her—to sit with her, to look at her, to listen to her…. During many moments that night, I felt the desire to go and knock on her door and invite her to the sitting hall to continue our discussion.”
But he does not knock on her door…
“I began to see her everywhere,” he writes. “Over time, my love for her did not diminish, but it was no longer confined to one person.”
I am glad that I have witnessed such love. Yes, the mind wants to dream all sorts of things but then that is the time you are tested. The job is to sit in silence and let life do its job and you do your routine. (And if it was so easy as I have written then my life would be enlightened by now)
Today that same love flows when I go and bow my head with respect before Bhagavan or when I am reading the book Mother reveals herself or even when my mother shares her daily routine with me every day or even just loving myself to know my true self.
“Sometimes loving someone with compassion is far more peaceful than being loved.”
And even witnessing this view from my home is also love.
And developments that have interested me in the world of digital and nonprofit:
Facebook is VIDEOS and VIDEOS
Change is the synonym of Facebook Newsfeed. Facebook is more or less moving out of the distribution of the news business. The Newsfeed is now just Feed. And it is pushing more for videos in other words it wants to be TikTok or drive similar engagement.
Tiktok has more than a billion active users. 80% of the users open up the app daily and 60% of them use it to find funny and entertaining content.
A recent article from the Verge revealed that Facebook is changing its algorithm to take on TikTok.
“In an internal memo from late April obtained by The Verge, the Meta executive in charge of Facebook, Tom Alison, spelt out the plan: rather than prioritize posts from accounts people follow, Facebook’s main feed will, like TikTok, start heavily recommending posts regardless of where they come from. And years after Messenger and Facebook split up as separate apps, the two will be brought back together, mimicking TikTok’s messaging functionality.”
Additionally, Facebook is already jamming your Feed with Instagram Reels and short videos.
Facebook says that the new goal is to build the “discovery engine.”
Not just Facebook: YouTube which has been pushing Shorts(short form videos) on its feed has stated that it is gaining on TikTok in the short video race. Shorts has copied the UI from TikTok but it is pathetic.
And the latest to join the race is Pinterest(yup it is alive). Techcrunch reported that last year, Pinterest began its pivot from being an online image board to being more of a creator platform with the launch of Idea Pins.
The new feature allows Pinterest users to tell their stories using a combination of video, images, music and other editing tools, resulting in something that’s a cross between TikTok’s short videos and a Stories product with multiple pages of content. Today, Pinterest is opening up this new format to its advertisers with the launch of its new “Idea Ads.”
LinkedIn introduces new features
Late last week LinkedIn announced the top voices to follow in the Social Impact space. The list includes countries like US/Canada, DACH, Australia/New Zealand, France and India.
LinkedIn Pages finally get some new updates. According to the company, the pages have got some much-needed updates such as LinkedIn Live, Boosting Events, etc. But the one that interested me was the Lead Gen form on the pages.
“With Lead Gen Forms on Pages, you can now add a form to your Page with a customized text and select from one of the available calls-to-action. Members visiting your Page will then be able to submit their contact information via an auto-filled form. You can simply download the submitted member information as a .csv file from the Lead Analytics section on the Page.”
Additionally, the network allows syndicating your rich, immersive Carousel Ads through the LinkedIn Audience Network. “The LinkedIn Audience Network helps you reach targeted LinkedIn professional audiences across our vetted and trusted network of third-party publishers to boost performance across advertising objectives.”
GroupM 2022 Global Mid-Year Forecast
An interesting report by GroupM on government policies, media concentration and advertising revenue growth. The report is heavily based on US data however there is a section for Regional Growth Trends.
The data that caught my attention was Largest Global Media Owners:
Email and News
According to the latest Digital News Report: Older people(45+) love to access online news by email.
Why? It is convenient.
“One in seven (15%) of over 55s in the United States say email is their main way of accessing news – about the same as say social media. But only 3% of 18–24s rely on email access as a main source compared with 41% for the same group who say social media. More than 80% of all of those in the United States who use email for news are 35 or older.”
Website Sidebars for NGOs
Can a sidebar be still useful? One idea could be a program-specific call to action and there are some more ways says Wired Impact.
However, make sure that the design is sticky on mobile rather than creating problems for user experience.
Finally, if you want to read something inspiring then do read Lhakpa Sherpa’s story – the female world record-holder for Everest summits – uses a 50-year-old oxygen mask. She has no regular sponsors, no trainers or dietitians.
Talking to the Guardian she says: “I love this mountain.” When she summited this spring, she thanked the mountain. “And then I told my heart inside: thank you.”
Peace and Love :)