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roleplay-salt · 4 years

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About; Rules; FAQ

Welcome to Roleplay Salt! This is a blog for roleplayers to vent & rant anonymously about the things that peeve or hurt them in the roleplaying community.

GENERAL

Your submission will always be posted anonymously; no exceptions. (This includes positivity submissions & shoutouts.)

Your submission’s text will be placed in a graphic and then copied as plain text as its caption for accessibility purposes.

Topics must be roleplay-related. (This can, of course, include experiences with partners doing things that may be unrelated to roleplay, but would still be considered relevant if it impacts your roleplaying experience with that particular partner.)

Anyone following our blog will be allowed to leave replies on submissions, whether in agreement or disagreement, and everyone is allowed (even encouraged) to reblog submissions, with or without their own commentary. However, we will delete any spamming comments, including ones that are or are similar to “Why don’t you come off anon and say that?” Such comments provide nothing to the discussion. In fact, they usually shut down discussion and it completely disregards the entire point of this blog’s existence. No one has to “come off anon” nor are they “cowards” for seeking safety behind anonymity. Your aggressiveness with that sentiment only reinforces the reason why they want to be anonymous in the first place. ADDENDUM: We will delete salt replies that involve simply telling others to, essentially, “shut up and move on already” and “stop sending salt replies in about this”. You’re more than allowed to say this things in the comments, but we will no longer be making them a part of any future debates.

We actively edit and restructure the wording of submissions. We read every single one of your submissions and we care about consistency and readability. We will correct any spelling errors, grammar errors, and odd sentencing structure, and we will often lengthen abbreviations and slang, and we will fill out any curse words or sensitive terms that were originally 'censored' in the submissions. Do not take it personally! Again, we aim for consistency. We will never just copy/paste your submission and then post it. That's terrible.

T Y P E S O F S A L T

Vents & Rants

Complaints

Negative Confessions

Callouts

T Y P E S O F S U G A R

Advice & Suggestions

Critique

Positive Confessions

Shoutouts

T Y P E S O F F L O U R

The “Flour” category is reserved for any submissions that do not appropriately fit under “Salt” or “Sugar”, often involving personal confessions and storytelling.

C A L L O U T S & S H O U T O U T S

A callout submission is specifically speaking nastily and meanly about someone else, regardless if it’s the truth or not. All URLs & names in a callout submission will be marked out to preserve the other party’s anonymity as well. We are a safe place for you to release your anger, frustration and hurt, even if it’s towards someone and not something. But we cannot and will not participate in the true nature of a callout. That will need to be something that you do for yourself if you believe that it’s important for you, your friends and your fandom community.

A shoutout submission is specifically speaking kindly and positively about someone else.

All URLs & names in a shoutout submission will remain visible, and the person will be tagged & mentioned on the post so as to better the odds of them seeing it.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

“Who are the moderators?”

Currently, there is only one operating the blog: Moderator Bull.

“Am I allowed to know your roleplay/personal blogs?”

Unfortunately, no. To preserve our own anonymity (for many of the same reasons as the submitters), we have agreed on the terms to never give out our URLs if requested. If we are interested in your blog, then we will follow you at our own discretion!

“Will you remove a submission for me?”

That depends on the type of submission, what it is about, and what your reasoning for wanting it removed is. The whole point of anonymity is that nothing gets tied back to you. The only cases where we will greatly consider removing a submission is if it’s involving a shoutout about you and you don’t want to be affiliated with us.

“Will you remove my comments on a submission?”

Of course! However, we will not remove any corresponding responses to you (except in instances where, if yours is removed, the next comment is made to look like it’s being directed to the person prior to your comment. We don’t want to cause unnecessary conflict.) We will also not be relied upon to keep deleting comments you regret leaving behind. If you’re wanting to leave a public response on submissions, then you must be prepared to have others possibly publicly disagree with you.

“Can I ask you for roleplay advice?”

Go right ahead! But we can’t promise the best or most insightful of answers, or that we’ll get to them relatively soon! Chances are, we will post your questions anonymously so that others in the community can help.

“Why did you follow my blog?”

To make our existence known to you and, if you like us, hoping that you will send in a submission of your own or tell your roleplay partners about us!

“How did you find my blog?”

Most likely through the Recommended sidebar feature, a mutual, or just the good ol’ search function.

“Could you unfollow me?”

If you don’t want to be associated with us, then we recommend blocking the blog so that we don’t unintentionally follow you again!

“Hey, could you do something about the people leaving rude, mean responses on the submissions?”

Unless they are throwing bigoted slurs, threats, or suicide-baiting remarks at the anonymous submitter, they are not doing anything wrong. They have just as much right to disagree with your submission as you had when you sent it to us. We are, first and foremost, a place to vent frustrations or hurts behind the safety of anonymity, and we are also a free-speech blog. We are of the belief that discussions, no matter how heated, is healthy and brings the community together as a whole. Just as your submission may provide someone else with the awareness that they are not alone in similar frustrations, someone disagreeing with your submission may provide a new perspective to you and others that had not been considered before.

“How does name-calling and swearing and being mean add to a discussion? You and your blog are what are wrong with the roleplaying community!”

Just because someone isn’t being nice to you as they give their side of the argument, doesn’t mean that it cancels out their actual argument. You’re choosing to be offended and distracted by how abrasive they are, and that’s no one’s problem to deal with but your own. You have the ability to block anyone so that you no longer have to see their comments on future submissions. Why would we police what people say, the endgame of which would be to ban them from ever reblogging or commenting on submissions again if they don’t listen to us, if you’re not even willing to try solving the problem first by just blocking them? Wanting to have the last word or being upset that your submission didn’t receive the feedback you wanted is not a reason for us to step in and step on someone else’s right to speak, rudely or otherwise. If you’re not going to block them, then why should we?

“Could you not post submissions on sensitive topics like noncon, incest, and pedophilia?”

We have started tagging posts that we believe might be sensitive and controversial in nature with the tag “#twcontroversy”. We recommend blacklisting this tag. If that is still not enough, then we recommend unfollowing/blocking us. These are topics just as relevant in the roleplaying community as anything else.

“Could you promote me?”

Certainly! But only if you are another community-involved blog (a blog that provides a ‘service’ to the community, such as advice, roleplay help, a place for confessions, etc.), and it must be relevant to the roleplaying community to some degree! If you want to promote a roleplay blog, then we suggest sending in a shoutout submission!

“I sent a confession in weeks ago. Where is it? How long will it take for it to get posted?”

It’s either sitting in the queue or sitting in our drafts, waiting to be queued. We have 1,200+ followers so far, and on average we’re sent 15+ submissions a night. We only post between 5 to 8 submissions at night. Your submission is on a wait list. That’s all we can tell you.

“Why don’t you just close your submission box until all the current confessions are posted?”

Because we’re a vent blog first and foremost. If we close our ask/submission boxes, then we’re no longer an option for people who might desperately need to vent or talk about something that could have happened to them that day but have no other options. We want to be a healthy alternative to just bottling it up or possibly lashing out at the wrong people.

“I don’t believe you! I think you deleted my submission because one of you didn’t like it! You’re not unbiased at all!”

We’ve posted submissions about highly controversial roleplay topics like noncon, racism, transphobia, and pedophilia. We reassure you that your salt submission about OCs, theme trends, blog selectivity, etc. is not on that same level, least of all to the point that one of us would delete it. The only submissions that we have deleted, so far, are the ones that have included racial and homophobic slurs.

“[insert OP/commenter] is obviously a rapist/pedophilie!”

If we find that you have accused someone of being a rapist, pedophile, or apologist of either because of their defensive views on noncon/pedophilic ships or roleplay, your comment will be removed and you will be blocked. These are serious accusations that you shouldn’t be throwing at people over fictional content and we refuse to to let you use this blog as a platform to spew such slanderous accusations.

#about #rules #faq

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ggukcangetit · 4 years

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Long Tag Game

Thanks for the tag @ezralia-writes

tagging : anyone else

tell me the first song that made you stan your current fave group and why did your faves attract you so much?

first song by bts that i heard was probably IDOL but what made me stan them was probably Boy In Luv lmao. the aggression that all the liddol bangtan babies had in the Boy In Luv performance + Tae in orange hair growling. yup that was it.

—

T W O

rule: answer the ten questions and write your own!

1) what’s your unrealistic goal for life?

idk if goals can be unrealistic lol. dreams may be unrealistic. but whatever. unrealistic goal 🤔 that i can change my sleeping and eating schedule in one fell swoop lmao idk

2) if you had known that we would be in a global pandemic, what’s one thing that you would’ve done before things shut down (if they have for you)?

that’s morbid lol. but i would’ve cleared my desk at my workplace. idk if i’ll ever go back and it has a lot of pictures of my friends and family there.

3) what’s an unconventional thing that you carry around with you when you go out?

okay full disclosure but im basically always prepared for a zombie apocalypse. so i carry a lot of things with me when i go out.

4) favourite type of plushies and why?

anything soft and not creepy looking idk???

5) favourite song right now?

Black Swan has been looping in my brain the last few days

6) something that you’ve always wanted to learn?

archery

7) tell a funny story about yourself (or just something that you’ve witnessed)

i was once asked to take my aunt and cousin around the city and we got tragically lost and this story basically never leaves me now lmao

8) headphones or speakers? why?

in public its obv headphones (what kind of question is that) but if im at home id always prefer speakers.

9) craving any food right now? what are you craving?

everything? lmao. but specifically food from home which i haven’t had in more than 6 months.

10) which music streaming platform do you prefer? why?

i use itunes because its there. but maybe changing to spotify soon?

My Q’s:

what was the weirdest dream that you’ve woken up from?

if you were an ice-cream flavor, what would you be?

if you could meet a fictional character, who would it be?

what dish/food/meal do you hate to prepare?

would you rather live in the mountains or at the beach? why?

what’s the first thing you see in a potential friend?

which is your favorite Sherlock Holmes adaptation and why?

if you could play one sport with a celebrity of choice what would it be? and with whom?

what makes you the most angry?

if 2019 was a color, what would it be?

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T H R E E

rule: bold the statements that apply to you, italicize your aspirations, then tag nine people.

AIR ༉⋆͙̈

i have small hands / i love the night sky / i watch animals and birds when i pass them by / i drink herbal tea / i wake to see the dawn / the smell of dust is comforting / i’m valued for being wise / i prefer books to music / i meditate / i find joy in learning new truths from the world around me

FIRE ༉⋆͙̈

i don’t have straight hair / i like to wear ripped jeans and overalls / i play an organized sport / i love dogs / i am not afraid of adventure / i love to talk to strangers / i always try new foods / i enjoy road trips / summer is my favorite season / my radio is always playing

WATER ༉⋆͙̈

i wear bracelets on my wrists / i love the bustle of the city / i have more than one set of piercings / i read poetry / i love the sound of a thunderstorm / i want to travel the world / i sleep past midday most days / i love simply lit dinners and fluorescent signs / i rewatch kids shows out of nostalgia / i see emotions in colors not words

EARTH ༉⋆͙̈

i wear glasses or contacts / i enjoy doing the laundry / i am a vegetarian or vegan / i have an excellent sense of time / my humor is very cheerful / i am a valued advisor to my friends / i believe in true love / i love this chill of mountain air / i’m always listening to music / i am highly trusted by the people in my life

AETHER ༉⋆͙̈

i go without makeup in my daily life / i make my own artwork / i keep on track of my tasks and time / i always know true north / i see beauty in everything / i can always smell flowers / i smile at everyone i pass by / i always fear history repeating itself / i have recovered from a mental disorder / i can love unconditionally

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F O U R

the ultimate tag: answer whichever ones you want to because there are a lot and then tag a few blogs you’d like to get to know better!

PERSONAL

name: cha

nickname: over here it is cha and cha only lmao

birthday: september

zodiac: virgo

nationality: Asian

languages: 3+

gender: Female

sexuality: Straight

height: 5′9

BLOG STUFF

inspiration for muse: movies/series sometimes make me super philosophical lol. plus i’d say people around me also inspire my creativity.

meaning behind my url: it is so hard to come up with a catchy bts related blog name D: but i wanted something with gguk because its super endearing.

blog established: 2 months.

followers: 84 i think 🤔

FAVORITES

favourite animals: turtles

favourite books: a thousand splendid suns by khalid hosseini is still one of my favs

favourite colour: shades of blue

favourite fictional characters: i love sirius black lmao. also death from sandman

favourite flower: i don’t like flowers ew

favourite scent: coffee + freshly baked bread/desserts

favourite season: summer

RANDOM

average hours of sleep: 6

cats or dogs: both?

coffee, tea or hot chocolate: coffee (iced tho)

current time: 5.31 pm

dream trip: i really want to go to Seoul and Tokyo

dream job: i had a random dream of becoming a patissier. maybe i can do that later in life who knows.

hobbies: i’m bad at this. anything that i feel like doing at the moment i guess

hogwarts house: ravenclaw

last movie watched: the last thing he wanted (that anne hathaway movie on netflix which deserves to be thrown into the trash imo)

last song listened to: Yeah! by Usher

no. of blankets you sleep with: one

random fact(s): hmmmmmmmm i like to have something savoury after dessert. always wanted to be good at some sport.

F I V E

10 things i can’t stop listening to

Black Swan - BTS

Yeah! - Usher

In Silence - Janet Suhh (It’s Okay to Not be Okay soundtrack)

December, 1963 - Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons

Friends - BTS

Filter - BTS

Shove It - Santigold

Boy With Luv - BTS

Mic Drop (Steve Aoki remix) - BTS

Airplane pt. 2 - BTS

#that was LONG

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gg-astrology · 5 years

Note

Is there any stereotypes about signs that you don't particularly believe in? Like, my dominant sign is sagittarius but everytime someone mentions anything about the sign, I don't think it describes my personality or anything. Love your blog and posts by the way!

Yeah!! 💓 Gosh I get what you mean. I’m glad you asked cause there’s– alot we don’t get to talk about?? And also thank u for liking the blog/posts ;; 💓 💓

Here’s a list of things about the signs that might cheer them up a bit (low-key: how to care/appreciate the signs around you):

*Note: These are for when you need a little cheering up, some people might already be confident/assured in their own signs and that’s great!! But if you want to know how to help/care for other signs around you, this might be helpful for those who might need a little bit more ‘pick me up’ 💕

Aries -

Are very laid back, contrary to the belief (i.e. ppl thinking that they’re hard to get along with/hard to please). Most Aries don’t think they’re the shit.

Unless they have something they’ve worked super hard on (and see it as something they can help others with) they won’t bother with pointing out something you can’t change/they can’t change– but will try to help you as much as they can (like, trouble-shooting, planning it out, suggesting things you can do to help yourself depending on what you want/feel comfortable with doing).

They try very very hard to be there for others, even when their efforts aren’t appreciated enough sometimes. People think fire signs are energetic and crass with people’s feelings — they’re not, they do care.

Taurus -

Most of the time despite being Venus-ruled they might not even think they’re particularly beautiful or charming. What they do know is that they gotta do the things they can do, the things they want/have to do and that’s what they’re focused on.

They can get high-key sus about compliments, and unless you truly mean something (and they can see where you’re coming from) it’ll be hard-press to make the compliment stick/up their ego because of it.

Funny people, but wants to be heard/given acknowledgement. Doesn’t want to be complimented on just ‘one-side’ of their personality (usually their more ‘harmonious’ side) but wants to be loved for all their sides (even if they haven’t shown it yet).

Gemini -

They aren’t air heads. They really aren’t. They can joke around about it with friends like ‘opps!’ just to make fun of themselves but internally they don’t work like that. They contemplate a lot, and works through problems alone.

Even if some may talk about their problems to another person, they come to conclusions within themselves and that needs to be respected. Not questioned by others (like ‘why are you so wishy washy? you said this to me and now you’re doing another??’) – despite being a Mercurial sign, they often understand the situation better (internally) than how they’re communicating it (out-loud). Thus, when they make up their mind about something— trust them that they can do it.

They also aren’t ‘two-faced’ or whatever people call it. They have an internal process that suffers if they don’t know how to work with it healthily/balance it well (internal/external). But ‘two-faced’ was never a part of their personality.

Cancer -

Whoever says they’re crybabies have never met a Cancer in public. And whoever said ‘Cancers are Mothers’ never had a mum who’s a Cancer in the first place.

Cancer can be strength through sufferings, they’re vulnerable and hard. Cancers aren’t your mothers, within their own self they have their own problems to shift through (thus why, being a Cancer doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be great mothers– they have to go through the same trials/experience as everyone else– and sometimes, because they’re so stubborn, it might even be the most challenging thing to a Cancer native)

You’d think they’ll be emotional since they’re a water sign but they’re not (**at least not constantly) Some Cancers are less emotional than fire-signs. Respect that, respect their strength and charisma. Don’t ‘type’ them into a box and tell them what they want/don’t want in their life– let them make those choices themselves.

Leo -

Aren’t ‘natural’ leaders, most don’t even volunteer for leadership positions until they’re filled with personal pettiness/dissatisfaction about something they have to make the changes (like use a platform to vent out their rage about it).

Again, some aren’t even extroverted. But they do what they gotta do and people think ‘oh they must enjoy this!!’ and keep piling them up on something when they’d rather be asked – who they are, what they want, what they like/dislike and be listened to instead of assumed about.

Taking care of a Leo isn’t just about listening to them, it’s about letting them have their own space. Letting them rest, be alone, play some games. It’s having security of their own time/what they want to be doing with said time that makes them truly Leo.

Virgos -

They’re not very good at telling people they care ‘no’, which is why they’re so so careful to say all their ‘nos’ to others (they aren’t close to yet) beforehand.

The thing about Virgos being clean-freak? Only applicable to a handful of people (and only within certain contexts only). Cleaning is still a chore. Especially if they have mental/emotional depression to go through and they know they’re procrastinating those (in which case, it becomes an escape mechanism instead). Don’t use them as your maids, and don’t rely on them to be available to solving your problems/being in your service 24 hours either. Because if they care about you, they’re going to have a hard time saying no even if it’s really really pushing their limits already.

Virgos have a lot of internal emotional distress to go through as well, and if they don’t process those they’re going to be in bad shape later. Think they’re un-emotional/super smart? Think again. They struggle daily with their internal emotions and working hard enough to pass their own expectations of themselves. Do people even know how hard it is to be in emotional distress at a drop of a pin sometimes? Waking up in cold sweat/not being able to sleep because you remembered something embarrassing 10 years ago?

Libra -

Not all Libras are romantically inclined. In fact, why do we think people are romantically inclined at all?

Native Libras don’t have to say yes to those who asks them out. It’s not going to be like ‘ohhh!! I’m going make this the perfect relationship!!’. No! who even has that kind of energy?! (especially when you have to consider the other person pulling their part, can they do it? will they even do it?)

Even if they’re interested, there’s a bigger narrative to think about and Libras aren’t fools to that. All those things about Libra being the watery-air sign? Maybe we should consider that Libras are also much more analytical than we realize sometime in 2k19 as well. (And give them their independence credit they deserve ffs, they manage to swerve this many suitors for how long?)

Scorpio -

Isn’t anyone’s sexual demon. They aren’t there for other’s fantasy of ‘an active sex life’. Scorpio’s are so much more than their sexual parts and maybe um?? they’re their own person??

The thing about Scorpio being mysterious is gonna be used against them one day to sexualize/objectify them to other people’s benefit. Why don’t you get to know one? Why don’t we ask what the hell they’re thinking sometimes? (and trust, a Scorpio would probably appreciate being asked/called out for it and being able to tell/talk to someone rather than –y know, being misunderstood all the time. If the confrontation is genuine and the other really do want to get to know the Scorpio’s side of the story/not going to cut them down half-way through just to invalidate them.)

Scorpio’s not the one who has a problem, it’s others who has a problem with them. Do we just not trust the Scorpios?? Why the hell not?? Literally one of the most (if not the most) loyal, forth-coming and devoted signs out there. Why do we have a problem with people who can be genuinely good for us?

Sagittarius -

NOT ALL SAGITTARIUS ARE BUBBLY AND EXTROVERTED. Let’s just make that clear. Especially in the native signs, you think these bitches trust their inner-selves to others so easily??

Being friends with one DEFINITELY implies being able to take their snark/sass/sense of humor. It’s literally their main form of communication and the only criteria so far (before they ask about your political alignment, and unless they have other elements that points to different things). Do ya’ll think Sagittarius are just– infinite energy and ~adventure~ all the time??

They need to rest. Which is something most people talk about. They gotta hermit themselves– sometimes even become reclusive for a while to just do their own thing (maybe outside, maybe inside– just not with people they know around them). No Sag is going to have 100% energy to be with friends all the time, not unless they got some pretty strong fire/air in them that points to that ish (while the sag side ‘recovers’).

Capricorn -

Stop it with the ‘ohh they’re so ambitious’ talk all the time. They have no fucking clue what they’re doing. Most of the time, they’re just doing Their Best in order to get something out of the situation ya no.

Honestly one of those people who Does Their Best but don’t know what the fuck they’re supposed to do after. They get anxious pretty fast pretty often sometimes and they’re like those ‘:) im ok’ when internally they’re just dying in pit of ice-cold flames.

Humour is their biggest joy/connector to people impersonally. And did you know that– Capricorn likes to be adorable/be adored for some reason?? (no it’s not just about admiration, it’s also about adoration) All those things you think Gemini/Sagittarius would be— it’s actually just Capricorn trait in disguise (until you get to know them).

Aquarius -

Not so detached as you THINK they are. Honestly they’re one of the most caring people who would push for you when you can’t push for yourself??Literally angels on this earth, because even when they’re going through some seriously tough shit/personal injustice they work through it and recover like it’s nothing. (It’s not, but to others– wow, it’s so admirable)

The amount of things they do for other people– Virgo/Pisces has nothing on Aquarius in terms of caring/actually making it happen. Do you not think your local Aquarius is fond of praise/adoration? Because they are. They like being shown that they’re appreciated too– so please don’t think they can survive on their own without an ounce of love from others.

Think they’re going to leave you high and dry because they’re so “different” (what the hell is “different” anyways– Aquarius don’t even think it’s anything amazingly special it’s just a trait/thing they want to explore/work on) ? They won’t. They’re loyal as hell and they want pets sometimes. Honestly? They’re more puppy-like than you think. And that’s just– absolutely adorable. Let them run around, go out to eat with them, listen to their stories/let them be playful, show them you care. Let them care for you back. Listen to them, they’re doing their best to help you when you’re helping yourself too.

Pisces -

Suffer? Yes. But also, so much more in common with Capricorn than they realize.

They wanna be there for others, but if they’re saying something and it’s being swerved all the time then what the hell are they doing there for you?

Being there for others but not having people realize/appreciate them for that sucks. And do you seriously expect them to have expendable energy for that bullshit all the time? Mate, they barely have enough energy for themselves sometimes.

Don’t dismiss how their minds work for something ‘whacky’ – honestly its fine the first few times but it’s gonna make them think they shouldn’t try to communicate themselves in certain ways afterwards.

So much stronger than they realize they are, they aren’t weak-bitches these people have the ability to run two (even three) laps around your one lap so don’t ever pull them down to make them ‘understandable’ to you (it’s only going to make them ‘box’ themselves in and not express themselves in front of people).

Believe in their strength, believe that they can overcome their most troublesome worries. They’re going to prove you wrong anyways. Scorpio being about self-transformation? Pisces taught themselves how to overcome their own weaknesses in the stone ages.

Ending Ment:

Honestly even when I wrote all these out I realize that some of them might only apply to certain placement/context. But to those who gained something from this, I hope you remain strong! 💕Teach others how to take care/appreciate you better 💕 Sometimes, other people just need guidance on how to approach certain signs 💕 So please don’t dismiss someone just because of their placements ok? 💕

#astrology #astrology asks #aries #libra #taurus #gemini #cancer #leo #virgo #scorpio #sagittarius #capricorn #aquarius #pisces #zodiac #horoscope #anon #asks

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shirlleycoyle · 3 years

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Eric Weinstein Says He Solved the Universe’s Mysteries. Scientists Disagree

The quest to come up with a successful “theory of everything” is one of the guiding lights of modern theoretical physics, reconciling general relativity and quantum mechanics. The inventor of such a theory would no doubt be hailed among the all-time intellectual giants of science, and Eric Weinstein really wants everyone to think it’s him.

Weinstein is primarily an investor, but also a self-styled public intellectual. He graduated with a PhD in mathematics from Harvard, and is currently a managing director of Thiel Capital, which invests in technology and life sciences. He also belongs to and coined the name for the “Intellectual Dark Web,” largely a crew of reactionaries with public profiles that includes Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro. He is also the inventor of what he calls “Geometric Unity,” a theory of everything that he’s been flogging since 2013.

At that time, Weinstein―by then long out of academia and working as a consultant for a New York City hedge fund―made waves after promoting his theory by giving a lecture at the University of Oxford and scoring a write-up in The Guardian, instead of writing a scientific paper. The Guardian article was titled: “Move Over Einstein, Meet Weinstein.” Typically, researchers produce a paper containing equations that is then pored over by the wider community of scientists; this element of peer review and discussing ideas and evidence in the open is generally accepted to be a critical part of the scientific process. Weinstein’s audacious approach earned as much criticism as the theory itself, and his latest move has ignited furor all over again.

Earlier this month, Weinstein finally posted a paper describing Geometric Unity online, uploaded the Oxford lecture to YouTube, and went on Joe Rogan’s immensely popular podcast to discuss it. There’s even a website called pullthatupjamie.com full of videos and resources on Geometric Unity that was created to make it easy for Rogan’s tech guy, Jamie Vernon, to pull up videos on the podcast.

The appearance on Rogan’s podcast, which has been previously used as an uncritical platform, has generated both new interest in Geometric Unity and intense criticism from scientists who remain unconvinced.

On the podcast, Weinstein said that his theory is an attempt to go “beyond Einstein” and push theoretical physics forward that could unlock amazing possibilities or terrible power.

”I was somewhat holding this back because I’m afraid of what it unlocks,” Weinstein said, “and now that I know we're willing to elect Donald Trump, not store masks, play footsie with China, be Putin's bitch, all of this stuff… to Hell with this.”

When Rogan asked what the main fear is, Weinstein recalled that “the last time we gained some serious insight into how nuclei worked,” nuclear weapons were invented. But, if the theory is correct, it might also give us the needed insight to make humanity into a multi-planet species, Weinstein said.

“One of the great dangers is, great power…. I cant tell what the power would be if the theory is correct, it might give us the ability to escape,” he said.

Rogan, for what it's worth, didn’t seem overly impressed with Weinstein's theory. In an attempt to explain his complicated theory, Weinstein handed Rogan a water wiggle (one of those cheap toys that looks like a small balloon filled with water), and explained how it symbolizes the mathematical concept of a U(1)-bundle. Rogan looks down at the toy in his hand while Weinstein speaks and gets progressively, visibly confused and angry.

"I don't know what the fuck you just said," Rogan finally says. "How about that?"

So, what is Geometric Unity? At the moment, modern physics has two frameworks that do not nicely unify: general relativity and quantum mechanics, which describe reality at two vastly different scales. Whereas other physicists might try to square this circle by attempting a quantum version of general relativity, Weinstein's proposal was to begin with general relativity and its geometric descriptions of reality to try and discover equations describing the universe in its mathematical reality instead of our observable one.

At its core sits the idea of a 14-dimensional "observerse" which our four dimensions (the three spatial dimensions, and time) lie within. A Guardian article at the time described the interplay between these two dimensional spaces as "something like the relationship between the people in the stands and those on the pitch at a football stadium" in that we are observers who can see and are affected by the observerse, but cannot possibly notice or detect every detail. Weinstein's theory proposes that there is a set of equations in these 14 dimensions that encompass Einstein’s equations, as well as several other famous equation sets, that altogether account for all fundamental forces and particle types.

Timothy Nguyen, a machine learning researcher at Google AI whose phD thesis intersects with Weinstein's work, co-authored a paper based on Weinstein’s Geometric Unity lecture evaluating the idea in February. The paper identified gaps in Weinstein’s theory “both mathematical and physical in origin” that “jeopardize Geometric Unity as a well-defined theory, much less one that is a candidate for a theory of everything.”

In a blog post accompanying the paper, Nguyen wrote that the theory does not actually bring in quantum theory, relies on a poorly-defined “Ship in a bottle” (Shiab) operator of Weinstein’s own invention, and contains anomalies as well as a dubious assumption about supersymmetry in 14 dimensions. After Weinstein published his paper, Nguyen wrote on Twitter that it “addresses none of the technical gaps presented in our response,” although he did describe it as a “testament to perseverance.”

“If you’re interested in technical gaps, the gap most glaring arises from the ‘Shiab' operator. It is one of several uniquely idiosyncratic operators of Geometric Unity (it does not exist anywhere else in mathematics), unlike supersymmetry which is already a well-established and well-defined notion,” Nguyen told Motherboard in an email. “Weinstein fails to define the Shiab operator properly and so his theory does not even make mathematical sense, a more egregious problem than having desirable physical properties.”

Nguyen said that Weinstein’s initial PR splash was confusing at best, and that the resulting paper didn’t clarify the most important points.

“Much of Weinstein’s Geometric Unity involves using obscure notation for objects that nobody else has defined and which he disingenuously expected others to understand from watching an over 2 hour long YouTube video,” Nguyen added. “Now that he has released a paper, we find that even Weinstein does not know how to construct the Shiab operator (he makes many qualifications that he no longer has the details).”

Richard Easther, a cosmologist and professor at the University of Auckland, pointed out some eyebrow-raising aspects of the idea in a 2013 blog. For one, a Guardian op-ed by Marcus du Sautoy―Weinstein’s chief academic promoters―seemed to hint at a dynamic constant in the universe, while most physicists support the idea of a constant that is, well, constant. What Weinstein eventually published didn’t impress him, he told Motherboard.

“The theory itself has had no visible impact, and what Weinstein actually delivered looked massively undercooked after the buildup it got from du Sautoy,” Easther said in an email. “A throwaway comment at the time suggested that it might predict a time-varying cosmological constant, but I haven’t seen any meaningful developments about this.”

Weinstein did not respond to Motherboard’s request for comment.

All of this matters because despite the criticisms, Weinstein only finally released a paper this year after years promoting the theory in public forums while questioning the legitimacy of peer review, lamenting the need to provide evidence, and otherwise dismissing critics or skeptics hesitant to accept his theory with open arms. In a May 2020 interview, he said skeptics that wanted him to publish a paper on his idea for verification were simply “irritated” and “pissed off” at “themselves.”

On Rogan’s podcast, Weinstein painted the academic field of physics as being generally untrustworthy and stifling, which is why he didn’t share his theory in full until now.

“I don’t trust these people,” Weinstein said, referring to physicists at universities. “It’s an entire system that believes in peer review, it believes in forced citations, you have to be at a university, you have to get an endorsement to use a preprint server. It’s too few resources, too many sharp elbows.”

Nguyen said he was spurred to evaluate Weinstein’s idea after this attitude set off alarm bells. At first, “It was refreshing to see a former part of my life being discussed outside the cloistered walls of academia and in the wider context of the world," Nguyen said. But after multiple conversations with Weinstein and watching how he interacted with his fans, Nguyen says he realized none of it was "consistent with my image of how a good-faith scientist engages with his audience."

Many scientists do in fact unveil their work before peer review on popular sites such as arXiv. However, they do it in paper form (“preprints”) and with the goal of submitting their ideas to the wider community for approval or rejection. Authors do have to have an endorsement from someone in academia to post on arXiv, specifically, but in theory that shouldn’t have been an insurmountable obstacle for Weinstein; du Sautoy has posted several papers to arXiv. Besides that, papers can be posted anywhere, even a dedicated website as Weinstein has now done.

“Even if the physics isn't interesting, this story does say interesting things about the science. Einstein wrote up his ideas [and] submitted them for peer review just like everyone else―but many self-described ‘outsiders’ portray the scientific community as a closed shop,” Easther told Motherboard. “There is undoubtedly ‘sociology’ at work in the community at times, but anyone making a serious attempt to sell a new idea knows they are asking for busy people to give them a slice of their time and attention―and one of the ways you do that is by making your work as accessible as possible to the people you want to understand it.”

Releasing a paper did not silence the critics. Nor did it vindicate Weinstein’s PR-focused approach to sharing his theory. And all of this may well end up being rather pointless, because the paper ends with disclaimer that Weinstein "is not a physicist and is no longer an active academician, but is an Entertainer and host of The Portal podcast." The paper, the disclaimer ends, is merely a “work of entertainment.”

Now that Weinstein has finally published a paper describing his theory, it’s entirely possible that further analysis and investigation may show it to be more interesting than its critics have so far found. As Weinstein said on Rogan’s podcast, “I’ll find out [if] I’m wrong.”

But for now, it seems the only relevant question is: Are we entertained?

Eric Weinstein Says He Solved the Universe’s Mysteries. Scientists Disagree syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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paulatoo · 5 years

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To impeach or not to impeach has taken center stage... for a minute anyway.

Now that the Mueller report is out the question of to impeach or not to impeach has taken center stage. Sadly even before the time that President Trump took office there was a ruling that lying politicians are allowed to because campaign rhetoric, for some reason, doesn't carry the same weight as a lie in any other situation. To some extent there's a benefit to that for any otherwise honest candidates who get into office and find themselves unable to fulfill campaign promises.

However, in a situation where you have individual chronically, habitually and intentionally disseminating false information, especially when they are using the Office of the President of the United States as their platform, we need to have an option for removal. For those reasons I think the Republican Party should have moved to remove him at most three months into his presidency.

The Mueller report is detailing a lot of the ways Russia has attempt to interfere with our elections, actual areas of interference, covering some of the interactions between Donald J Trump and Russia that predate his candidacy, and his obstruction of/attempts to obstruct the investigation in to those things, impeachment is a buzzword.

I'd like to look at these options even though I'm more strongly in favor of removing him from office via the 25th Amendment and think that that is long overdue as well.

First question: Is there enough evidence to impeach successfully? Although we do not have option to view the unredacted information in the Mueller report, that may contain information that could verify a successful impeachment, is there enough evidence to bring a strong enough case to actually successfully impeach Trump?

To remind you Despite what Donald says, there is a lot of evidence in the Mueller report, he definitely repeatedly at least attempts to obstruct justice or ordered an obstructionary act. Fortunately for him now, the people who President Trump told or ordered to obstruct the investigation, or fire someone, or otherwise stop, silence, etc. didn't listen to him. His reaction to that has been to trash those individuals all over the place on Twitter and in the press, when he should be thanking them so that takes us back to the 25th Amendment. Then there is Trump & Putin referring to all of this as a ‘mouse’.

If they attempt to impeach Trump and fail( primarily due to the overly Republican Senate having and cashed in the security of the country in favor of maintaining a unified front, regardless of the fact that's a President could potentially be working on behalf of Russia, or even another foreign national to bring down the country. It's not like we're seeing the 1990s Lindsey Graham trying to hold Bill Clinton accountable, sadly he's gone the opposite direction this time, quoting misleading statements. Do they have him too? Btw I was not Bill Clinton’s biggest fan back then either) would that preclude him being charged once the protections of the office of a sitting President are removed? Reportedly no, even post successful impeachment, he could still be charged, but post impeachment the court would most likely go easier on him since he already had penalties placed on him by virtue of the impeachment.

At this point it is my understanding that the Trump 2020 campaign could be run under the slogan: ‘Please vote for me, I don't want to go to jail’. Will he be charged when leaving office if he's not impeached or removed under the 25th amendment? We will have to wait and see. http://time.com/5123598/president-trump-impeach-criminal-constitution/

What will the tear in the societal fabric be when unfortunately, despite the evidence in both the congressional election interference investigations and Mueller report, many Republicans still don't understand what has been happening with Donald Trump and Russia. The stuff he keeps claiming is a hoax (when there's definitely, proven times over, been interference and interference attempts by Russia and other countries in our electoral process and in our society as a whole.) Information that the Senate Investigative Committee publish in 2018 (The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) July 3, 2018 https://www.burr.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/SSCI%20ICA%20ASSESSMENT_FINALJULY3.pdf ) (Remember they also released information on many of the false Facebook pages & ads as well as other social media accounts involved.) The things Trump has still been dismissive about if not straight up denying. More of Trump & Putin’s ‘mouse’.

What will the cost of not acting be? The lack of action on the part of the Republican majority and super-majority has already made it acceptable for another highly contradictory, pathological liar to behave in the ways that Donald Trump has behaved in office going forward. God knows Nixon must be on full spin rotation in his grave during this Presidency. I am not sure we can afford this Presidency let alone this precedent.

If no action is taken will the message going forward be that it's okay to at least strongly attempt to obstruct Justice? Will being charged, and possibly landing in prison, after leaving office be enough of a deterrent to prevent future presidents from obstructing justice?

As I said earlier I think the Republican party should have removed him from office very shortly after he took office for all the other things he does wrong. The whole of the country should remove him from office, invoking the 25th Amendment because of the things he does and says, and the way he behaves so very inconsistently and untruthfully. Not long ago he was claiming his own father, born in New York City, was actually born in Germany. Prior to his campaign he was claiming President Obama was not a United States citizen.

There are lines that can be drawn to separate the difference of a misstatement, or something that turns out not to be true(singular event, or very infrequent event done without the intent to fool or defraud) from a fraud, and intentionally, pathologically misstating information and flat out lying, as well as the crazy statements he makes to prevent abuse of this precedent in the future.

As badly as I want this incompetent, divisive, liar out of office, even I am weary of the continual hearings. If you don’t know me I am sure it is hard to read this & believe I am nonpartisan, but it’s not about Rep vs. Dem or Ind or any of the other 20+ political parties. It is about behavior & protecting my country. All I can do is assure you that I would react the same way to anyone from any party behaving this way.

Again, I was not Bill Clinton’s biggest fan back then either. The Republican Party has lost me at least the Democrats have done a better job of consistently presenting factual information this century to date. Hopefully when DJT is done breaking the Republicans they can choose truth over spin, and we will all have more honest trustworthy politicians until we https://paulatoo.tumblr.com/post/176167819317/tired-of-congress-not-getting-things-done-not anyway.

I think it’s beyond time that Republican members of Congress start using facts to educate their party and American’s in general, but most of them are acting like a Democrat will replace an impeached Trump instead of Pence, that’s concerning on it’s own.

We didn’t start the fire, but we need to put it out! What other choice do we have to preserve our legal & behavioral standards for the office of the president, or any office really? I am already very concerned about what we are going to do when another Donald Trump type candidate, without the 30 years of public red flags, comes along. If people could be so fooled by this one how will we ever avoid another less obvious one?

Some resources for the honest politicians & honest ads movement

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/great-leaders-may-lie-but-great-liars-dont-lead-2016-07-06

I think between partyist political spin machines & multination interference via social media inroads manipulating opinions https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/when-lying-demagogue-authentic-candidate Lying ads https://www.natcom.org/communication-currents/political-speech-protection-and-supreme-court-united-states Sword cuts both ways http://www.klrn.org/blogs/texas-week/this-isnt-first-time-a-judges-ruling-considered-political-rhetoric/ “Where false claims are made to effect a fraud or secure moneys or other valuable considerations, say offers of employment, it is well established that the Government may restrict speech without affronting the First Amendment. See, e.g., Virginia Bd. of Pharmacy, 425 U. S., at 771 (noting that fraudulent speech generally falls outside the protections of the First Amendment)” &” But to recite the Government’s compelling interests is not to end the matter. The First Amendment requires that the Government’s chosen restriction on the speech at issue be “actually necessary” to achieve its interest. Entertainment Merchants Assn., 564 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at12). There must be a direct causal link between the restriction imposed and the injury to be prevented. See ibid.” Justice Kennedy, UNITED STATES v. ALVAREZ https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-210d4e9.pdf I think the last few years prove we are closer to establishing a link to demolish lies told from being protected as political rhetoric, hopefully anyway. In an environment where so much spin & misinformation is allowed to grow & spread too many people seem unable to discern truth from lies at the expense of all of us.

Please note that I rabbit holed my way into that First Amendment information by, instead of just emotionally reacting to the headlines(in this case a synopsis I found inflaming):” The Court held that the Stolen Valor Act, which makes it a crime to lie about having received military honors or decorations, violates the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.” https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/supreme-court-cases/ I read on to discover it wasn’t pro imitator as much as anti-poorly written law. Researching past click bait headlines is part of our best defense against manipulation and poor decision making. One thing we can thank the Trump campaign above others for is pointing out how misinformed how many people are, even in the information age. I pray we learn from that soon, but sadly still see people sharing opinions, articles & videos with headlines they support, but content they may not agree with.

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decoding1432 · 7 years

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The Art Behind Manipulating & Guarding a Fandom (p. IV)

Part four, sorry it took to long guys...

NOTE: *Most of the posts I direct you to, are SHORT & in my opinion not too dense to read. In fact, the great majority are Q&As. I’ll identified every post with a letter, it means that throughout the various parts you’ll see them repeated, so no need to read one twice*

Previous parts:

The Art Behind Manipulating & Guarding a Fandom (p. I)

The Art Behind Manipulating & Guarding a Fandom (p. II)

The Art Behind Manipulating & Guarding a Fandom (p. III)

Astroturfing it’s not a conspiracy thing because...

Reason 1: *link H*

I mentioned I would bring up again this link. I’ll explain: Apparently the blog answering the question is someone that knows plenty about the industry, bla bla, bla but never claimed to be an insider that worked near the band. The thing is the 1D bloggers appreciate him/her a lot because it has helped them understand things better, etc, etc…

“You mentioned Twitter watchdogs in an answer so that prompts me to wonder how aware the 1D Management team is of the things that are discussed online…”

“I’d say that, yes, they’re very aware of what goes on in the social media world, both on Twitter and on tumblr. It would be bad business to ignore it, especially since the majority of their success has come as a result of fans on social media.

In terms of purely monitoring social media, the different platforms require different techniques. Twitter is fairly easy, as you can just search hashtags and scroll through mentions or search by keyword. Tumblr is a bit more of a difficult one to monitor, as it’s more newly popular and generally harder to control. The best way that I’ve seen to get a handle on tumblr is to set up what basically amount to burner accounts. You create a tumblr account with an unassuming username and do nothing to the actual account. You leave the layout at default, don’t change the icon, don’t make posts, and don’t reblog or favourite anything. But you use the account to follow the blogs that control the conversation in whatever fandom you’re trying to monitor. There are usually a handful of bigger blogs in a specific fandom, and they’re the ones who control the discussion. Keeping track of what they’re saying lets you keep track of what people are saying in general, for the most part.

As far as astroturfing goes, that’s definitely not a conspiracy theory. It happens in the industry, absolutely. I’m not sure how widespread it is within One Direction specifically, but I’d be surprised if they didn’t have at least a few dummy accounts set up to try and sway fan opinion in one way or the other, both on Twitter and on tumblr.”

I’m not choosing to believe in this concept of astroturfing because a random blog in the 1D side said it... NO, I don’t know if this person works in the industry or what, I don’t know if it’s a “plant blog” itself. But I’m certainly going to validate him/her the sentences that I put in bold.

It’s obviously no secret that they actually monitor us through our SM since that’s where a big part of Fifth Harmony’s success comes from. They need to keep an eye on us, in order to assure “brand loyalty” & guide us wherever they want in concern to the narrative.

Reason 2: *link R*

“Mark Hardy is the ex marketing director for Syco, here is what he had to say about social media monitoring...

‘Hardy explains that key performance indicators included number of Facebook likes, Twitter followers, retweets, as well as YouTube views, and interaction and engagement across social media platforms.’

“It was a bit like herding cats, you had to be on top of it all the time with constant monitoring.” he points out.”

No additional comments needed... on to the next one:

Reason 3: *link S*

Explained below is the importance of astroturfing fandoms here in Tumblr, courtesy of a directioner.

When I met with social media Rob the first time, he told me that our fandom was basically a “hostile market” then went on to explain that Tumblr in general is a hostile market place. Here is a nice little article into why Tumblr in particular is a hard market place to broach.

Why historically tumblr is the best place to seed information in a seemingly organic fashion?

“It’s why Tumblr has been so loathe to embrace any sort of traditional display advertising, preferring to keep all posts “native.” It doesn’t even use the word advertising for its paid products, it’s all strictly “sponsored posts;” that is, content that looks like a regular Tumblr user could have made it, but that happens to be sponsored.”

Why target certain blogs?

“Engagement begets engagement: In order to give your posts a greater chance of getting reblogged, it helps to be a big reblogger of other users’ posts. Not only does it help your Tumblr page show up in more places, it also increases the chances of fellow users returning the favor.”

In the first paragraph it is mentioned the 1D fandom is a “hostile market”, IT IS ABSOLUTELY OUT OF THE QUESTION IF OURS IS TOO.

Reason 4: *link S*

“Understanding Social Media Campaigns:

3 SOCIAL MEDIA MODELS THAT WILL GUIDE YOUR BRAND INTO THE CONVERSATION LANDSCAPE– This article basically outlines what things to look for if you feel conversation is being swayed.

This article is more information pertaining to how to actively engage an audience in a sales campaign but what is very interesting is this little snip bit.

‘With social media, they even trust the opinions of some perfect strangers more than brand messages. This has important consequences in all kinds of relationships: buyers are more educated but so are journalists, potential future employees and everyone else in the social ecosystem of our business.’

Now what I would like to add to the conversation is how corporations successfully go about swaying an audiences conversation.”

Reason 5: The TED talk alone must make you believe (this one attached previously on part 1)

Video description: “In this eye-opening talk, veteran investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson shows how astroturf, or fake grassroots movements funded by political, corporate, or other special interests very effectively manipulate and distort media messages.”

Reason 6: *link T*

[NOTE: This is not the complete article]

Fake Twitter Followers: A Dirty Marketing Secret

A few weeks ago, I alerted readers to the growing problem of Twitter spam and now news comes that this is not the domain of underground players but one where large brands and stars may also be playing, purchasing fake followers to puff up their social media presence.

To understand how one identifies the presence of fake followers, a little pattern study must happen. In the case of someone who has purchased fake followers, the account generally sees a spike in user numbers followed by an equivalent drop in the number of followers about a month later.

But why would brands or stars do something like this? Since the early days of social media, the number of followers has been a key metric of value but getting there is tricky business. With services like Klout and PeerIndex, the raw number of followers has come to be equated, in the public mind as a measure of popularity. Agencies dealing with endorsement contracts, publishing deals, and even credit reports often take number of followers into account when figuring out who to go with and how much money should go in those deals. So having a large number of followers has come to be equated with a value of quality, which may be based on some flawed assumptions.

Reason 7: *link U*

[NOTE: This is not the complete article]

Social's Value Measured in Engagement Over Sales

Engagement, brand lift are leading social goals

“Marketers struggle to get the most out of their presence on social sites, and with brands’ continued tenure on the networks, their goals and the metrics they use to measure their performance have changed. According to a 2013 survey of US marketing professionals by Pivot Conference, which hosts leading social business events, consumer engagement and brand lift were the No. 1 goals of social media marketing, each cited by 67% of respondents. This was up significantly from 2011, when those goals were cited by about 50% each.”

In 2013 the goals were cited by 67% of respondents, now imagine 4 years later where we know SM presence in celebrities is practically vital.

“Last year, using social media marketing to garner positive sentiment was the leading goal, whereas this year it dropped to No. 4. Marketers may be finding that it is less important that their posts get a warm reception from social users and more important that they keep consumers posting, “liking” and sharing social content.”

In 5H’s case add to that last sentence “the marketers are definitely finding more important that they keep the social users making drama out of every little thing” LOL.

You might be wondering why reasons 6 & 7 are part of this. I included them mainly to show you the relevance of social media engagement to brands. Astroturfing is one of the various strategies implemented for this latter.

Reason 8:

I already show you this (if I’m corrected it was on p. II) but I’m bringing it back.

I think many of the bloggers here that surpass the standard number of followers have a handful dummy accounts or burner accounts following them…

Seriously in what world an inactivated account would follow you out of nowhere for the sake of it?!

Reason 9: *link V*

[NOTE: This is not the complete article]

Astroturfing: A question of trust

The practice of astroturfing – faking support for a product or cause – is on the rise on and offline. But how can it be stamped out?

“What do healthcare reform, climate change and financial regulation have in common? The answer is that they are all issues covered by astroturf, the practice of creating fake grassroots movements, usually by lobbyists and PR experts. These attempts to manipulate the media and public opinion seem to be on the rise – spurred on in part by the political mood and the reach of the internet.

"Astroturf front groups have been everywhere this summer, spreading misinformation about healthcare reform, carbon emission caps and financial regulation," says Timothy Karr, the campaign director for the US website freepress.net. "A healthy 21st-century democracy doesn't need phoney front groups. We need openness, accountability and real debate."

While the term astroturfing goes back to the mid-1980s, the practice began many more years ago. Unscrupulous marketers and lobbyists have long found ways to advance their paymasters' agendas – including manufactured mail campaigns, fake crowd protests and, increasingly, use of the web.

A "sock puppet" is a fake online identity created to support an argument – and, in many cases, they are untraceable. Richard Levangie, who writes about climate change astroturfing at the One Blue Marble website, says he first came across it in the mid-1990s. "I was passionate about slowing the rise of teenage smoking in my home province, and thought about starting an advocacy group that would work with teenagers ... that's where I first came up against astroturfing, in the form of smokers' rights groups who were ignoring the science about secondhand smoke, and who were trying to reframe the issue as freedom of choice." Astroturfing can range from a few forum posts or a comment praising a company to something closer to harassment, and from genuine disagreement and independent troublemakers to organised "trolls", all the way to the entirely fake campaigner.

Faked Reviews

Several authors have been found leaving glowing reviews of their own books on Amazon, while a bizarre case emerged in 2007 involving John Mackey, the chief executive of high-end US supermarket chain Whole Foods, who used a pseudonym to disparage competitors on message boards. More recently, a US PR company was found to have been writing fake positive reviews of a client's iPhone software.

The question of astroturfing comes up regularly in the world of public relations, says Jon Silk, the creative director of Lewis PR in London. "Clients new to online PR will often ask the question: 'Can't we just anonymously post positive comments?'," he says. "It takes time to explain how influence works – that it should start with a good product or service, and have a clear message that must be communicated to the right people in the right way."

Reason 10: *link W* (& last cause the list is endless tbh)

“Fake "grassroots" groups have started springing up like toadstools after a rain, and this time they're coming at us from every angle: they're on TV, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube… With all these corporate fronts coming out of the woodwork, how can citizens tell true grassroots organizations from corporate fronts operated by highly-paid PR and lobbying firms? Here are some tips to help readers spot this kind of big-business hanky-panky.

What is a "front group," really?

A front group is an organization that purports to represent one agenda while in reality it serves some other party or interest whose sponsorship is hidden or rarely mentioned. The front group is perhaps the most easily recognized use of the third party propaganda technique.

One of the best examples is Rick Berman's Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF), which claims that its mission is to defend the rights of consumers to choose to eat, drink and smoke as they please. In reality, though, CCF is a front group for the tobacco, restaurant and alcoholic beverage industries, which provide all or most of its funding. Not all organizations that engage in manipulative efforts to shape public opinion can be classified as "front groups," however.

The shadowy way front groups operate makes it difficult to know whether or not a seemingly independent grassroots group is really representing some other entity.”

What’s the 3rd party technique?

<“The third party technique has been defined by one public relations (PR) executive as, "putting your words in someone else's mouth.

PR firms have been known to put their words in the mouths of journalists by hiring reporters to write stories which favor their clients, or by funding tendentious university research which they then publicize as "proof" of their client's position....”>

*cough* Written interviews are a prime example *cough*

<“Corporate-sponsored front groups often are created or used by PR firms to appear as "independent" third parties.”>

I’m really considering doing a separate post about the 3rd party technique, just from reading those short extracts I want to dive deeper into the concept. Anyway continuing with the main article...

Characteristics of a corporate front group

“A front group typically has some, but not necessarily all, of the following characteristics (decoding: I didn’t copy paste all of the characteristics, just the ones I consider relate to the fandoms situations):

Is set up, operated or maintained by another organization, particularly a public relations, grassroots campaigning, polling or surveying firm or consultancy;

Engages in actions that consistently and conspicuously benefit a third party, such as a company, industry or political candidate;

Effectively shields a third party from liability/responsibility/culpability by making statements a corporation cannot make, but that nevertheless advance a specific corporate interest;

Re-focuses debate about an issue onto a new or suspiciously unrelated topic, (for example, casting the secondhand smoke as an issue of property rights)”

Rolling back the astroturf

“Documenting the activities of front groups is perhaps the single most important step in helping roll back the rise of astroturf groups.”

Soooo...

The reasons listed above were primarily articles to solidify the main argument that astroturfing is not a conspiracy thing because it happens ALL OVER THE WEB.

It’s not about being completely paranoid about everything you read on the internet. Be smart. It’s about not believing every piece of info you get served on a silver plate.

From something as “seemingly innocent” as faking a simple comment/ review of a certain product to influence the consumer’s opinion on it & discredit the competition to something blatantly serious as sending misleading information about the healthcare reform that involves the common well-being.

This unethical & deceitful phenomenon extends to the entertainment industry (fanbase social networking) up to the political world (campaigns). IT IS REAL & IT IS HAPPENING.

Yes, this fandom is gullible af & a total pain in the ass. But no, it didn’t go downhill on its own. It was a separated & very badly influenced to serve of support to the label & mgmt’s antics with the narrative. They use the fans & each one of their accounts as their SCAPEGOAT. But no one ever blames them & that’s how MIS (new acronym for men in suits) take advantage of the situation & get away with their shenanigans.

DON’T BE NAIVE, KIDS ;)

P.S. I might add a fifth part to explain how to use the astroturfing protection tools (Statcounter, TOR, etc.) It’s important to start taking measures bloggers.

#astroturfing #this is how they monitor us #sneaky little bitches #stay woke #5h blogs #camren blogs #camila blogs #read & spread

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earnmoneyonline19-blog · 5 years

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Top 7 Ways to Make Money Online

Among the great things about the internet is that you can go into business for yourself from the safety of your home. All you need is an internet connection, and you can make money online. Diving in to the online world will free you from the daily 9 to 5 work of a desk job and afford you more time going, indulge in hobbies, and spend time with the family.

Another plus is the fact that there are so many different ways to make money online. To start, all you have to perform is identify the profitable niche market appropriate for you. Next, there's no need to hire staff, rent space, or buy expensive furniture. Here are a mix of tried and true online ventures, along with new businesses and niches: 1 . Affiliate Marketing You may already know that internet affiliate marketing is one of the oldest online moneymakers out there. Here’s how functions: As an internet entrepreneur, you'll need your own web presence: website, weblog, social media platforms, landing pages, sales pages, banner advertisements, or e-commerce site. But instead of selling your own items, you sell the products of other companies. You can use several of these mixtures, if you like, as long as you get your marketing message to the public. After that, pick a hot affiliate niche market; one with many potential customers. Take a look at social media to ID trends and see what’s hot on websites like Amazon and CJ Affiliate, for example. Provide essential content and marketing messages aimed at your prospects. Whenever customers on your digital platform click on a link to make a obtain, they are taken to your affiliate partner’s site to complete the actual transaction—and you get a commission for every completed sale. The best part is that you don’t have to deal with shipping or customer service. 2 . Selling upon Amazon, eBay, and Etsy One of the quickest ways to get began selling online is to leverage the power of third-party sites. Ecommerce giants like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy are effective sales and marketing platforms with a built-in prospect base. Millions of people frequently shop on these sites, and the numbers keep growing. These mega-sites make it easy to set up shop so customers can browse your own products, and there's no need to build your own website. Also, you are going to find a built-in search feature so that interested buyers can simply find your online storefront. Plus, you get to use the site's shopping cart software. In short, you avoid a lot of the expense and hassle associated with setting up an independent e-commerce website. Amazon: With Amazon, you may also have them fulfil your orders. The digital retailer additionally says there are more than two million sellers on their website, symbolizing 40 percent of all sales. eBay: With eBay, the process is very similar. You simply start by becoming an eBay seller as well as stay in good standing by making sure your PayPal account is actually verified, and then you can sign up for your store. These 3 steps allow you to piggyback on eBay’s reputation, reach, and also sales and marketing infrastructure in order to sell your own products. Etsy: In case your crafty, Etsy is where you should set up shop. The web website is focused on handcrafted and unique one-of-a-kind items and it has 1 . 5 million sellers around the world. And, like Amazon . com and eBay, you can set up your own online shop on Etsy's site. All three of these sites are a very easy way to begin your digital career, although you do have to pay fees which range from $0. 99 per item for Amazon, to $0. 10 for eBay, to $0. 20 for Etsy. The common denominators among all three sites are that you need to utilize clear, high-quality photos of your products, keep product explanations detailed and specific, and know what your competitors charge which means you don't out-price yourself. 3. Blogging Old-fashioned blogging will be alive and thriving. If you provide valuable content regularly, you attract like-minded people interested in your niche info and products. Your readers are compelled to keep reading to learn more and buy. These people are primed to buy your products either via adverts or affiliate links in your posts. Why? Because you may have been providing useful free (targeted) content and people are at know and trust you. Also, you make your site and online storefront attractive in the eyes of Google through regularly adding useful information in the form of articles, videos, and so forth This results in higher rankings in Google's search engine therefore , hopefully, you appear on page one because most people don’t go in order to page two on Google. 4. Niche E-commerce As a new venture internet entrepreneur, you're not competing with e-commerce titans or even major retailers like Walmart. You also don't need a stockroom or a logistics system to sell your wares. What you do have to succeed is to narrow-focus. In other words, find your niche, along with stick to it. That way you become the go-to expert and appear full of the search engine rankings. The most important thing is that there has to be a market for your market. For example , you might have a passion for 16th-century French poetry, but you will not attract a lot of readers. 5. Your Own YouTube Channel Best YouTubers can make millions each year, and that includes 5 year-olds. Get PewDiePie who has made more than $15 million filming themself playing video games. But you don’t need millions of viewers to create money on YouTube. Some ideas for valuable videos include how-tos such as recipes, unboxing (where you open a product with regard to viewers), food and travel reviews, music videos, comedy skits, and so forth. Here's how to make money on YouTube: Set up your YouTube station, the place where your videos will live. Upload videos regularly and be specific when describing the content in your video. Make sure that your videos are high-quality and contain useful or enjoyable content. You don't need a fancy camera to get going; a smartphone will certainly suffice in the beginning. Put the word out on your social media systems like Facebook and your email marketing list. You should also share the particular videos on social media or embed them on your website or website. Respond to comments from viewers to create a group of followers. Your job is to attract and keep viewers. Monetize your starting by allowing YouTube to include ads in your videos. While viewers click on an ad, you split the charge with Google. The more views, the more revenue for you. 6. Selling E-books The internet has put a dent in the traditional publishing globe. These days e-readers are all the rage. E-books represent regarding 20 percent of all book sales in the U. S. The good thing is you don’t have to be a publisher with deep pockets to obtain in on the action. As a solo internet entrepreneur, you are able to sell ebooks directly from your own website. You can sell your personal works or sell a public domain work. Just upload it to your website (or seller account on Amazon) and start publicizing it on your social media platforms, on your e-mail list, your blog, website, etc . 7. Develop Apps Whether or not it’s an iPhone or Android, it's got apps and our got one in their pocket. You can't compete with the likes of Thomas sabo and Pinterest, but you can get in on the action. If you have a gentle bulb moment that addresses a need that people have, after that create an app that meets that need. It could be a different way to store photos or a podcast download organizer. Don't tension if you're not a programmer. You’re the idea person. You can employ people to create it. With the availability of programmers available at affordable rates, you could probably find someone on a site such as Upwork. Of course , the exact amount you’ll pay your programmers depends on the complexity of the app. You should create your application so that it works on both kinds of smartphones, Androids and as much. That way you maximize your customer base.

#Earn Money Online 2019

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starkmatriarch · 7 years

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Knowing your partner well makes writing together a lot easier. Tag this with the people you enjoy role playing with but want to get to know better !!

tagged by: @handofhonor

tagging: Oh gosh, erm, trying not to double tag people @worshipsonlydeath @the-lady-oneill @the-self-proclaimed-prince @thevery-one @thatslayer

B A S I C S :

name: lana

age: lady never tells. but it is my birthday tomorrow

prefered pronouns: she / her.

sexuality: heterosexual

zodiac sign: aries

taken or single: single

three facts:

i have a huge bruise on my leg where a child was basically flung at me on the tube the other day when her family weren’t taking care of her. grumble.

i don’t really talk when on public transport. i’m a silent people watch kind of commuter

I only eat fish; I don’t eat red meat.

E X P E R I E N C E :

how long (months/years?): erm...four years or so, maybe five? I know Catelyn is three years old this June.

how’d you start: tumblr group rp

platforms you’ve used: tumblr

worst experience: the tumblr group rp mentioned above.

best experience: this blog most definitely.

M U S E P R E F E R E N C E S :

( i assume they mean preferences for muses i want to write? )

female or male: female. i just never get into the heads of male muses as well. i’ve tried but i fail

original or canon: canon, though I do have OCs and love them, it’s just I really like fleshing out canon ones.

favorite face: i would use orla brady for everything if I could, haha. But of my FC collections I have, my faves to use are Michelle Fairley, Sinead Cusack, Orla Brady, Maisie Williams, SMG

least favorite face: sophie turner. i mean, not for sansa obviously, but so many people use her for young lily evans, or for harry potter next generation children, or generic OCs, etc, like everytime they need a young redhead it’s sophie and it gets very...repetitive, and in my opinion, she never seems to be the fit for the ones that pick her.

multi or single: I prefer single, I just get all confused when I write a multi muse

W R I T I N G P R E F E R E N C E S :

fluff, angst or smut: all of the above

plots or memes: both!

long or short replies: I tend never to be one line short unless it’s crack, but I’m happy for both lengths

best time to write: early morning and late at night, the two extremes. Just when I get up and just before i go to sleep, hehe.

are you like your muse: we’re both a bit severe, or can be, you know, a bit unforgiving?

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thejsubexperiment · 7 years

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Research Reflections, a Year Later

One last long theoretical text post for a while! We’re publishing this today instead of on Saturday because we owe you a Saturday post. (This is also why we published 4 daily study units in one night.)

The J-Sub Experiment is a research endeavor. We look at things, analyze them, share our findings, listen to what others have to say, record that data, and go look at new things, allowing the cycle to continue.

We’ve been at this for over a year, and really we only got going with any real moment around June of last year. Nevertheless, a lot has happened and a lot has changed.

We have always pledged to be transparent with our audience; and we believe that now is a good time just to touch base with all of you.

Objections

Naturally, we are constantly on the lookout for people who are objecting to what we say, no matter the nature of the objection. Only 1 person has consistently objected to what we have said. And this person is consistently correct in their objections, which are basically minor things and oversights on our part. We also had 1 person catch on to an error we made when talking about a phoneme.

Our theories have developed slowly over time. If you read what we’ve written from day 1 to now, we contradict each other on quite a few points. Nobody has brought this up, which does not necessarily mean that nobody has noticed, just that nobody has seen it worthwhile to bring it to our attention to clarify. We hope that this is because we’ve done a good job showing an organic changing of our position— demonstrating why we’d believe one thing a one point and why we believe something else at another.

Growth

We have changed blog names and changed themes; but the number of growth has remained generally the same, with only a slight increase in recent weeks. We gain on average 3 followers per day. Our new followers do not necessarily interact (like and reblog) with our material on a regular basis. Those who interact frequently with our posts are about 3% of our total followers, which are 1102 people.

On dontcallmesensei, when we only posted semi-personal things, we gained 81 followers from June 2016 to December 2016. From December 2016 to January 2017, we’ve gained 111 followers, in large part due to that blog hosting the Daily Japanese Study Units.

Interactions

We call “interaction” anything involving us asking or inviting our audience to send us asks, answer surveys, or anything that requires a response.

Our main project that required a response was our survey, which was overall a failure, although we thank everybody who contributed and we do have that information recorded and it has been helpful. At that time we had close to 1000 followers and we got 23 responses.

We have also posted ask games on dontcallmesensei before December, which nobody participated in.

We even asked people if they wanted to see us play a video game for a few minutes and nobody asked us for the link.

Our Patreon, which we provide links to in our Daily Study Units and are on our main blog, is not doing well. We have one $1 pledge, which we are incredibly grateful for; and we do remain optimistic that we will be able to turn this around. (And in case anybody is wondering, this isn’t something we do on the side. This is our job and our yearly income is based on what we can do with the materials we produce for The J-Sub Experiment as a platform.)

Our Facebook page has 2 likes from people who are not our friends. Our Twitter has 1 follower from Tumblr. Our Instagram has 0 followers who are not our friends.

This information actually does not bother us who work on material as much as it does our associates, who see Internet platforms as, by default, personality based. We are not personality based. People are here for the Japanese resources. Clearly nobody cares who we are, what our day-to-day looks like, and that’s completely fine as long as people are responding well to the materials we work so hard to produce.

Our model doesn’t depend on this kind of interaction existing, and even when we do become more popular and we get more likes and follows and all that on other social media platforms, it will always be a very small percentage of our total audience.

Audience

If what people write on their blogs’ profiles are true, and if everybody who answered the survey did so truthfully, then we know that our average follower is female, in her 20′s, not from the U.S., white, and at a basic level of Japanese, but with some real basis.

The trait of most immediate importance for us is the level of Japanese. If only people who were very advanced in their Japanese studies were reading our material, then that would indicate that people at the lower levels found us too complicated or confusing or at any rate not helpful. That is thankfully not the case. We imagine that beginners do not understand everything, but there is enough that they can get from it that they can get something out of it.

Our most popular posts, and the ones that get the most notes, are sporadic runthrough posts (which we cannot explain) and the linguistic posts that focus on one thing. Our Hiragana and Katakana post and our Ending Particle post are both doing very well, probably due to the fact that they are themes people recognize quickly (as opposed to phonemics and morae).

Our Daily Japanese Study Units are being reblogged consistently by a small group of people, but generally have a similar number of notes (about 20). Study Unit 11 is the most popular, with 70 notes.

Reflections

The profile image of dontcallmesensei is 尻, which means “butt,” and nobody has pointed that in a very long time.

Lots of our followers like FMA:B, but nobody has expressed a reaction (good or bad) to the fact that our next runthrough will be from that show.

We find that interactions work better when we provide a public response. So someone sends an ask and we answer it publicly. We suspect that our survey would have worked better had we done that, but we wanted to keep all that information confidential, even when the asks were anonymous.

We have a sizable amount of Spanish-speakers. We’ve considering writing something on Japanese-Spanish Spanish-Japanese translation.

A large part of the linguistics-themed blogs on Tumblr are focused on the humanities side of the field (like sociolinguistics), as opposed to what we focus on which is more scientific (in the sense that we just look at data and try to account for it in a systematic way). We have not heard anything from that humanities side, which really is of little importance.

Our associates have asked us to incorporate our personality into the platform. (We did run a personality-based blog once that did well.) But we’re very hesitant to do so. Personalities that are popular with one audience are not necessarily popular with another. That’s what has happened here. We have bigger priorities than to create a personality (a large part of Internet personalities are not actual personalities, even if they look natural) to cater to this specific audience. Further, we believe that our audience will be more appreciative of the honesty and transparency in the long run.

In our posts, we’ve been insistent on a number of points that contradict traditional Japanese instruction: that adjectives in Japanese are very few; that -na adjectives are just nouns; that there aren’t two sets of verbs (u-verb and ru-verbs); that various particles are actually indicating grammatical case; that Kana-only texts are not helpful, even at the absolute beginner level.

Our Daily Study Units exist to show people that “expressions” are by and large just regular sentences on the syntactic level. (And “expressions” are the backbone of language textbooks.)

The fact that we say them so often and don’t have to double back on them (though the -na adjective thing is raising some questions, though they’re still nouns) makes us very happy; and what makes us happier is that people seem to see the logic behind it.

Conclusion (TL;DR): We are doing very well. We are not fighting an uphill battle against detractors. We have a growing audience. Our audience likes it when we focus on specific topics as well as our more instructional material. We do not have to compromise our linguistic perspective for any reason. If we do intend to grow and form something a bit more akin to a community, i.e. being able to interact with our audience in a mutually beneficial way, we will have to find a way to do that. That will be one of the big challenges of 2017.

We hope that this post serves as a testament to our transparency and honesty. Our values as a research endeavor and small business lie in respecting your privacy. We will never put a cookie on your browser to learn more about. We will never use marketing schemes to cheat you out of your money (and believe us, people have told us to.) Developing healthy communication is our job. Developing attractive products is our job. At the end of the day, this is about finding answers to big questions and serving each and every one of you.

#japanese #research #linguistics

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charly-ra · 4 years

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B2B Video Marketing on LinkedIn: How to Embrace Video in Your Content Strategy

Does your B2B marketing program include LinkedIn video marketing?

If it doesn’t, it should.

LinkedIn video content generates five times the engagement as image or text-based content and Live video on LinkedIn generates a whopping 24x more engagement.

87% of LinkedIn video marketers say it’s been an effective channel for them.

41% of marketers think video is THE best content format for building relationships that generate leads. Marketers prefer video for their lead generation goals over any other content format.

But maybe you knew all that already. It’s no secret that video works, or that social media is one of the best places to use it. But maybe you’re still not totally committed to video as a medium for your B2B content strategy.

Is it maybe… perhaps… because you’d just rather not appear on screen?

If it is, you’re not alone. “Fear or hesitancy to be on camera is still the #1 barrier to video use,” according to recent research from Vidyard. 36% of their study’s participants said they were avoiding video because of hesitancy about being on camera.

This is a real issue, whether it’s a logical one or not. But if 2020 has been good for anything, it’s been good for getting us all used to being on camera – on live video. So now that you’ve got a couple hundred Zoom meetings under your belt, hopefully you’re no longer among those hesitant 36%.

If you are still on the fence, consider this: What would it mean to get 5x (much less 24x) more engagement from your content – to get that much more of a response from your target audience?

With engagement levels like that, you might even be able to consider creating less content. You might be able to generate enough MQLs and SQLs to get the raise you want, and you might still have enough time in Q4 to land a nice year-end bonus… if you get started now.

So given all that, the question isn’t if you should be doing Linkedin video marketing. It is how you should be doing Linkedin video marketing.

There are four ways to use video on LinkedIn:

LinkedIn Video Ads

Linkedin Native video

Embedded video posts

Live video

Let’s dive into each of them.

LinkedIn Video Ads

These, of course, are paid ads that run on LinkedIn or the LinkedIn Audience Network. They can be used for brand awareness on LinkedIn, used in combination with LinkedIn’s pre-filled forms for lead generation, or used to drive traffic to a site or landing page, either to do lead generation on a page you control or to send prospects to a product page or anywhere else you’d like.

The current specifications for LinkedIn video ads are here. One of the most important specs on that page is that LinkedIn ads can be up to 30 minutes long, though LinkedIn will tell you that the “most successful video ads are less than 15 seconds long”.

It’s highly recommended for video ads to:

Be short.

Use captions. About 80% of videos on LinkedIn are watched with the sound off, so having text to guide the viewer through content is paramount.

Be accessible on a small screen. According to LinkedIn, 57% of their B2B content is consumed on mobile. So keep the visual simple and consider increasing the text size of the captions.

Maximize the first three seconds of the video.

Include a call to action.

Here are some ideas for great LinkedIn video ads to get you started:

Brief customer stories or testimonials. These can be used to engage your existing audiences, or to warm up cold audiences for lead generation ads later on.

“Day in the life” style videos of employees for recruiting.

Project or process videos showing your team and company at work doing what they do best.

Mission statement style videos, either from your CEO or from a mix of the C-Suite and front-line employees.

Product videos.

For some examples of great LinkedIn ads, see our blog post, B2B Advertising: 20 Examples of Terrific B2B Social Media Ads.

Demand generation marketers can make use of LinkedIn video ads to drive registrations for online or offline events, or to build excitement for a product launch, or simply urge business buyers to explore a better way to optimize their work.

If you want to add some sophistication to your campaign, also consider pairing LinkedIn video ads with LinkedIn Conversation ads. Videos are especially good for eliciting responses, so the two ads formats are complementary.

LinkedIn Native Videos

This is the format many B2B marketers will spend most of their resources on. Native videos on LinkedIn do extremely well and are familiar enough to adapt for day to day content production.

But here are some things to consider for that production:

Short videos work best on LinkedIn. In fact, you can’t post a native video that’s longer than 10 minutes. Even three minutes is now considered a “long” video; one minute or less often performs better.

As with ads, always use captions. Or, as LinkedIn suggests, “design for sound off but delight with sound on.”

Limit those brand introduction animations. The first three seconds of any video are critical. Don’t bore viewers with a brand intro that’s more than a second or so.

Professionalism rules on LinkedIn, but good video also needs to humanize. Some LinkedIn video authorities, like Allen Gannett, encourage video producers to prioritize being accessible and relatable over being overly professional. Remember the old rule in B2B: People do business with people.

Both personal profiles and company pages can publish native videos. For a deep dive on everything you can do with native videos, see LinkedIn’s on-demand webinar, [Lights, camera, action] How to wow your audience with video on LinkedIn. It’s one of the best, most data-driven, detailed explanations of LinkedIn video we’ve come across. It’s worth watching twice.

One of the webinar’s particular strengths is talking about how to repurpose video assets. This is key for those of you who are cool on video because of the cost and the time and resource investment required to produce good video.

There’s good reason to be cautious about that investment, but if you can create even one or two large video assets, then break them down into smaller chunks of video content, you can produce an enormous amount of video cost-effectively. One brand was able to take a one-hour recorded event and break it into over 40 different video excerpts, which is nearly half a year’s worth of video content.

LinkedIn Embedded Video Posts – and why you might not want to use them

You can republish videos from other platforms, like Facebook and YouTube into your LinkedIn feed. This is a way to distribute your company’s video content, but it’s not ideal.

For starters, LinkedIn’s algorithm strongly prefers native video. But even more importantly, using video from other platforms may result in low engagement rates, simply because the content is not platform-specific.

LinkedIn, as you probably know, is a unique social media platform. It’s not Facebook. It’s not Twitter. It’s not YouTube. It has unique social norms and content preferences. And so while it might be more efficient to create video assets and then just share them across every platform, the best social media pros discourage this. The social media platforms have evolved so much (and so much in just the last year) that any content that isn’t expressly designed for each platform may well fall flat. This may be part of why engagement rates on social are dropping… the old tactic of “publish everywhere” is working less and less well all the time.

Convince and Convert did a podcast recently about this shift to platform-centric content and about LinkedIn video in particular with Allen Gannett, author of The Creative Curve and founder of TrackMaven. Gannett has earned global recognition for his own LinkedIn videos, which are one-minute interviews with famous people.

Gannett’s episode on Convince and Convert goes into detail about how he approaches LinkedIn video, but also about how he schedules and plans it (hint: consistency is key). It’s a very good case study in how one marketer has chosen to commit to a platform and just do it really well, rather than trying to be everywhere at once. LinkedIn video can deliver enough returns to be worth that kind of investment.

LinkedIn Live

LinkedIn Live is still in beta, but the early results from marketers who are using it are too compelling to ignore. Case in point: LinkedIn Lives get 24 times more engagement than other content formats on the platform.

If your company has a strong LinkedIn presence and is already published quality video on the platform regularly, you might be able to get in early by applying for the beta program. Here’s the application page.

Some key things to notice on the application page:

LinkedIn “reviews applications and prioritizes approvals based on a specific set of selection criteria, such as:

– Video and overall content creation history – Audience size and engagement history – Member or Page account has been in good standing – Two Factor Authentication (2FA) enabled in account settings

You’ll need a third-party tool to Livestream to LinkedIn.

Current tools to do this are:

Socialive

Restream.io

Wirecast

Switcher Studio(iOS mobile only)

Wowza Cloud

StreamYard

Brandlive

Easy Live

Vimeo – Enterprise and Premium

Live U

That tool list is going to change over time, so see LinkedIn’s company page about which tools work for live streaming.

Review LinkedIn’s guidelines and best practices specifically for streaming content.

Some of these guidelines may surprise some marketers. Here’s what the guidelines were, verbatim, as of publication:

No selling or promotional streams.

No pre-recorded content. All streams should be live and happening in real time, or you may confuse members and potentially betray their trust.

No live streams shorter than 10 to 15 minutes because there won’t be enough time for the audience to increase and interact. You can share shorter videos from your homepage.

No meta streams. Avoid talking about how to use LinkedIn on LinkedIn.

Avoid sponsor logos that dominate the video. If you must use sponsor graphics, keep them small.

No long “starting soon” screens. Don’t keep your audience waiting for more than one or two minutes.

No unprofessional streams. All live content is publicly visible and should be appropriate for a LinkedIn audience.

The three biggest surprises there are

No pre-recorded streams.

No selling or promotional streams.

No talking about how to use LinkedIn on Linkedin.

If you want to get approved for the beta, also make sure your profile is publicly viewable, especially the following sections: Articles & Activity, Current Experience, and Education.

For further reading, the LinkedIn Live best practices guide is here. They also have a broadcast producer’s guide that covers the technical nuts and bolts of making the tech for LinkedIn Lives work.

LinkedIn Video marketing in 2020 and beyond

So that’s the landscape of LinkedIn B2B video marketing right now. B2B marketers have several different formats to work with between native videos and Lives, plus a great way to promote videos with video ads.

Those formats also allow for two big themes in video marketing right now: Long form and short form video. As you craft your editorial strategy for this medium, those two “containers” (long form and short form) should be treated carefully. What messaging fits into 15 seconds? What other topics require the 20 minute minimum of a LinkedIn live?

Fortunately, there’s plenty of time and creative opportunity to figure it all out.

from https://bit.ly/31vlICX

#Digital Marketing

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