Let me ask you a serious question. Are you happy? In all honesty, I don’t know what that means. The term is so vague and so personalized. I don’t think we all see happiness equally. One thing that most of the world will agree on is that Americans aren’t very happy. And this just isn’t…
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I’ve had many unique experiences throughout my life. But until recently, I’ve never been shamed by a social media platform. Technically, they weren’t successful, but they tried. A couple of weeks ago, when I slowed down the Mason Minute at my doctor’s request, Facebook messaged me to say I was now posting 30% less than…
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Please don’t be concerned with the title of today’s podcast. I promise there is nothing political about this. It actually has to do with a meme that is circulating on social media. I have a feeling it’s more about getting people to engage with a post than it really has any significant value. This meme…
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If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time on social media. Perhaps too much. And one of the hassles of social media is all the ads we see in our feeds. But do you ever feel inclined to comment on an ad that you don’t care about? In my work for my social…
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The new year is upon us. 2026 is finally here. But many people, myself included, are worried about what the coming year will bring. The midterm elections will be a primary focus on social media throughout the majority of the year. And it doesn’t matter your politics, it’s going to be very contentious. If you’ve…
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The Oxford English Dictionary has named the phrase rage bait as its word of the year. And if you’ve spent any time on social media over the last couple of years, you know what rage bait is all about. So much of the content sent your way, thanks to the algorithm, is designed to elicit…
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I’ve long made it my goal to learn something new, even a minor thing, every day. I learned something the other day that I only understood in concept. I didn’t know that there was a word actually to describe this situation. It’s called algospeak. It’s a list of secret phrases that you can’t use on…
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Outside of politics, one of the most talked-about subjects this year has been artificial intelligence. And even that has political aspects. Too many, it’s something brand new and something they’re just encountering online. But engineers, designers, and experts have been working on AI for a long time. And already some people are tired of it….
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When many of us hear someone say the word algorithm, we shudder a little. Working in social media, I often try to understand how algorithms work. Now I’m not talking about the computer code that drives it, but more importantly, what triggers our algorithm. In theory, everything is custom-targeted to our browsing history. But I…
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Twenty years ago, when I first started working in social media, I marveled at the possibilities of connecting families, friends, and businesses in a new yet simple way. But boy, has it changed over the last two decades. There’s no way I could have predicted all of the political hatred and silliness caused by memes….
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