Interesting reads this week
Lots of great reads this week:
The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg on I Don’t Trust Viral Video Clips—And Neither Should You. This one really surprised me and was a healthy reminder to not rush to judgement based on social media reports:
When you encounter something that pushes your buttons, don’t immediately hit the share button. After all, if the viral video is accurate, careful reporting over time will bear that out, and you’ll be able to confidently post the material then. If it’s not, you’ll have saved yourself some embarrassment and protected our information ecosystem from even greater pollution.
Rex Woodbury from the blog Digital Native on Gen Z and 10 Characteristics That Define Gen Z, Part I and Part II. Very insightful piece on the next generational wave:
Whereas Millennials grew up performing online—curated Insta grids, LinkedIn job announcements (“Some exciting personal news!”), the rise of the personal brand—Gen Zs eschew performance for authenticity. It’s the shift from Kylie Jenner (aspiration) to Charli D’Amelio (relatability). The apps that consume more and more time, like TikTok, are built on authenticity rather than on performance.
Economics blogger Noah Smith on a country that I haven’t seen much mention of here in Canada - Indonesia: The most amazing development story on Earth?
With 274 million people, Indonesia is the fourth largest country on Earth (the U.S. is third at 330 million). And this enormous population is made up of an absolutely dizzying array of ethnic groups — 1340, by the official count.
And a wise piece from brand guru Mark Ritson on “imposter syndrome” in the marketing profession: Suffering from impostor syndrome? The cure is simpler than you think
A year in the trenches, exposed to the bullshit at most marketing conferences and the garbage often written about in the marketing press, is often enough to make even the most strident marketer doubt their worth. Whatever concepts you might believe to be important – from research to loyalty to funnels to differentiation to pricing – some bozo is always standing in the wings ready to explain why none of these concepts matter anymore and should be replaced by a nefarious term borrowed from growth hacking, or an app called thwacko that was invented by a 12-year-old in their basement on Tuesday.