Breaking the Feed

We wrap up our series on New Twitters with a look at Bluesky Social, T2 (Pebble), and Post, and some conclusions about whether there's a viable alternative available now. We'll continue to watch for New Twitters and will plan a follow up episode Q2 2024. Note: After we recorded T2/Pebble shut down.

Already popular in many areas around the world, are superapps coming to a phone near you? We'll look at some of the existing superapp offerings, explore some of the advantages and disadvantages (including what it could mean for social media), and think about who might be most likely to build one with widespread appeal in the West, and what it might look like.

We continue to explore the TikTok controversy and explain why we think we're likely to see more regulation and changes over the next twelve months.

To what extent is TikTok a Chinese problem, and what is this likely to mean for its future? As this issue takes center stage (in the most recent Republican debate, literally), we explore the unique to TikTok risks, perceived and actual, and what's at the heart of the debate over whether to ban the platform.

Have you ever wondered (or do you remember) how Twitter started? This episode we go right back to the beginning and think about what made Twitter (X) so successful early on, often in spite of the technological limitations of the time.

Twitter after 2011: 100,000,000 users, the Arab Spring, and the Trump years. Join us as we explore Twitter's glory days and share some of our own experiences and thoughts on the platform and the lead up to Elon Musk's purchase.

21 dimensional chess or a massive mistake? A brief summary of the Twitter sale saga and a discussion of what came after and what it all means.

FaceMash, The Facebook, Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Meta...is the Threads flop the end of an era? In this three part series we go back to where it all started and trace Facebook's early successes and controversies. This episode starts with FaceMash and the series of good decisions that allowed Facebook to surpass Myspace as the most visited social media website in 2008.

FaceMash, The Facebook, Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Meta...is the Threads flop the end of an era? In this three part series we go back to where it all started and trace Facebook's early successes and controversies. This episode takes a closer look at some of Facebook's early challenges and acquisition of Instagram and Whatsapp, with a closer look at Cambridge Analytica.

FaceMash, The Facebook, Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Meta...is the Threads flop the end of an era? In this three part series we go back to where it all started and trace Facebook's early successes and controversies. This episode addresses the core question: Is this the end for Meta? Increased competition, apathy from users, and increased government scrutiny present new challenges, but we'll disc...

What happened to Myspace and does it have a role to play in the existing social media landscape? Myspace was the most popular social media network from 2005 until 2008 and in 2006 Myspace surpassed Google as the most visited website in the United States. Where did it go wrong? We'll explore a number of possibilities and as we think back to what made Myspace great in the first place, and consider w...

What role did Gchat play in shaping the social media landscape? We'll explore what made it so popular, why so many people stopped using it, and what it's contributed to social media as we know it today.

This episode we explore the most recent meteoric rise and record-braking crash: Clubhouse. But what actually went wrong and will it have a second act?

What happened to AOL Instant Messenger? Whether it was a cornerstone of your coming of age experience or something you've never heard of before now, join us as we look at how it all started, its cultural significance, and why it all came to an end.

Even if you've never used TikTok, it's changed your life. Downloaded more than 3.5 billion times, people in the UK spend, on average, 27.3 hours on TikTok per month. That's more than an entire day every month, and that's the average. Why? We'll explore how Tiktok has changed social media for consumers and brands, other social media platforms, and regulators.

How did the widespread use of smartphones change how we use social media? Did this change serve the original purpose of online social networking? We look back to 2008 and think about how the introduction of smart phones changed how we connect online, with a special focus on the lead up to and introduction of Instagram.

Why did online social networks start in the first place? What need did they serve? We'll continue to explore this question as we look back to the early 90's and America Online ("AOL") and what it made possible.

The second part of our exploration of online social networks before smart phones, with a special focus on the early 2000s and Friendster, LinkedIn, MySpace, early Facebook, and Google+.

Before the earliest online social networks, there were earlier "online" social networks. We'll discuss short wave and CB, explain why we think these were early signs that we wanted to connect in new ways, and think about what these early networks had in common with what came next.

Why did online social networks start in the first place? What need did they serve, or what need were they designed to serve? Join us as we look back at some of the earliest networks, before dial up, and trace their development up to the early 90's.

We're taking a closer look at the core issues around social media, beginning with examining the existing social media landscape. This episode, we outline what we'll explore this season, and why we think it matters.

Words matter, so before we dive in and explore the earliest online social media networks, we'll define our terms.

Find out more about Breaking the Feed (coming soon).