People vs Algorithms – Details, episodes & analysis

The election in many ways confirmed what many had suspected: the information space has superceded and subsumed the traditional media world. Traditional media is now just one node, and perhaps more alarmingly its influence – and ability to persuade – has drastically declined.

We talk in this episode about the implications of this shift, particularly with the spotlight now on what’s being called the manosphere, a chaotic loose confederation of podcasters and YouTubers who have seemingly broken through to be a key node of persuasion for young men. Plus: Is CNN fixable?

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We run through the implications of the return of Donald Trump to the presidency after an election that saw the mainstream news media making way for new power brokers in unusual guises. The podcast election proved to be real – and a harbinger of changes to come as the Information Space subsumes the Fourth Estate.

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Founders can force change that managers (call them operators) can’t, at least as efficiently. Plus: AI land grab update, Gannett’s commerce play goes away, and the Sicilian tonnara and summer books.

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We live in a period of transitions. These periods are only clear in retrospect, of course. But much of the world is moving from an old era to a new era that is… unsettled. We don’t fully know, for instance, what the post-pandemic era, the new normal or whatever, will actually look like because we’re not there yet. So we exist in this uncomfortable in-between state.

This week, Troy and Brian discuss what in-between state, as the consumer tech industry and advertising industries start to decouple. The publishing industry is already in the midst of a transition from the pageview and scale era to, well, something new, which in my view will end up being smaller and more meaningful.

As always, we welcome your feedback. My email is bmorrissey@gmail.com. Thank you to Jay Sparks of PodHelp.us for editing this podcast. The theme music was created by Alex Schleifer of Universal Entities.

This week we discuss what's making everyone feel so pessimistic. Plus Lex, Ye, the Coffee Lady, TikTok and rebranding Jesus.

Brian's intro: "This is our ninth episode of this show. We started out with a rough idea of what it would be, and we'll continue to evolve it as we go. One big help to us as we think through how to improve is to get your feedback.

This week we're talking about catastrophic. I was a history major and I still love reading history. Part of that is because there are patterns that exist in history.

The old saying is that history doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes. Mark Twain probably said that, and even if he didn't, he'd get credit for it on Twitter. Now, reading history helps you put what's happening around you, and it always seems like you're living through particularly chaotic and challenging times in some perspective, and I often feel.

Though what is now called the discourse is unhelpfully catastrophic? Yes, I know. There's war in Europe. Hundreds are dying every day of Covid still. We have political instability and retrograde forces. The economy is overheated and heading into perilous territory. Climate change is moving from uh, cause to a possible extinction event.

I could go on in short, it is not a good time if you are naturally inclined to anxiety. Yet this catastrophic warranted in areas like climate change for sure is likely counterproductive in the long run. You just need to go back to Cassandra.

She warned of impeding doom so much through her prophecies that when she warned of a real impending disaster, nobody believed her. We run that risk in our fragmented and tribalized media culture where it's popular to throw around terms like late capitalism and hellscape. Now ignoring problems is in the answer, but perhaps a bit of humility is, after all, none of us has all the answers to life's riddles."

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This week, we are talking about the future of work, but not the way it is usually discussed these days. Instead of focusing on the how of work, we examine the what of work in an age of AI. Each day brings new advances in generative AI tools, showing a clear path to how technology will alter the nature of creation in profound ways. We also discuss how the coming AI boom will differ from the dot-com and Web 2.0 booms, which happened when people largely still saw technology advancements as hopeful progress, not threats. Finally, we give early impressions of Semafor, the new global news brand launched this week.

Big topic this week. Troy and Brian discuss AR/VR, AI art, and the many other ways humans are being turned into cyborgs. Troy's got a contrarian take on Meta's metaverse ambitions. Brian's got some stories about the good old days of Second Life. It's a good one.

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Universal Entities

This week we tackle everything from the fate of Twitter under Elon Musk; how you build brands in a media environment dictated by flow; and why in many ways we’re all cheaters to a degree as we augment our abilities with the help of technology.

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Universal Entities

We are in a strange time for the media business. There is a consensus that having a loyal audience has never been more valuable. You regularly hear people saying that every company, at some level, will be a media business in the future. And yet, being a media business is more challenging than ever, at least for quote unquote traditional media businesses. This week, Troy and Brian discuss just what makes a media business, and how it is completely different than what came before. It’s more about understanding digital culture, it’s more personality driven, and it is very often not about the quest for eyeballs to show ads, or even to sell subscriptions.

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The People vs Algorithm Newsletter

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The Rebooting Podcasts

Universal Entities

When media becomes more niche, institutional brands suffer. What used to be thought of as the long tail has now become a thick tail. Individual creators are poised to replace these niche brands as media and culture fragment. Plus: Is Google's stranglehold on search finally waning?

Links:

The People vs Algorithm Newsletter

The Rebooting Newsletter

The Rebooting Podcasts

Universal Entities