1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:04,920 Hi everyone, welcome to Mini Tech Scroll, the daily Internet 2 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:07,680 culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories from social 3 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:11,200 media, the creator economy and the digital space every Monday 4 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:14,160 through Thursday. I'm your host, Lauren Meisner, 5 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:18,320 the founder of the youth digital media brand Centennial World. 6 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:22,280 Oh, I did my little hand gesture before I said Centennial World. 7 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,040 Yes. So reminder I'm doing Mini Tech 8 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:29,280 Scroll while Annabelle is away for the next three weeks. 9 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,119 So welcome to mini tech scroll hosted by me. 10 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:35,240 I also wanted to give another reminder for anyone that doesn't 11 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:37,480 care about like our little business updates that I 12 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:39,440 sometimes gave at the top of the episode. 13 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:44,040 There are always time stamps in every single description. 14 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:46,560 I can't believe we still get comments about that because 15 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:48,800 every single description of every single episode that we 16 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,960 have done in the last like 2 1/2 three years has time stamps on 17 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:54,680 YouTube. It will create automatic 18 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:57,840 chapters from those time stamps, but it sometimes will take a day 19 00:00:57,840 --> 00:00:59,480 or two. We don't do chapters because I 20 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,160 do the same description for our podcast and also our YouTube 21 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:05,560 channel and because we publish every single day. 22 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,800 Like I need to be saving some time somewhere. 23 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:13,400 So I use the same time stamps and description across both. 24 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:17,080 So yes, before you comment that we should have time stamps, 25 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:19,960 please check the description. OK, let's get into the stories 26 00:01:19,960 --> 00:01:21,520 for today. The first way that I have for 27 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:25,520 you guys today is that Sam Altman's World has launched Orb 28 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:28,240 Mini and everyone is making fun of it. 29 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,800 I know that was just a collection of English words and 30 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,080 none of it made any sense, so let me explain. 31 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:39,120 Sam Altman, who is the CEO of Open AI has another creepy tech 32 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:43,280 company called World, previously Worldcoin, and it's a blockchain 33 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:47,280 verification company where users scan their retinas to get added 34 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:51,320 to an authentication database. So this is from Wikipedia quote. 35 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:54,000 Worldcoin's business is to provide a reliable way to 36 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,120 authenticate humans online, which it calls World ID. 37 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:00,280 It attempts to recruit new users to join its network by getting 38 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:04,560 their iris scanned using World Coins orb shaped iris scanner in 39 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:09,720 return for some world tokens. This has caused privacy concerns 40 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,520 in multiple countries. Yeah, no kidding. 41 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,080 This is essentially incentivizing people to give 42 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,560 away their biometrics in exchange for cryptocurrency. 43 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:24,440 How dystopian does that sound? So there are these like physical 44 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:29,120 orb stations just out in the wild and you literally scan your 45 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:32,120 eyes and get cryptocurrency in exchange for this. 46 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:36,360 And if it wasn't weird enough, they have now launched mini Orb, 47 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,160 which is a physical device that basically looks like a phone. 48 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,040 You carry it around and you scan people like this. 49 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,400 You'll see my phone is sideways. So you scan people like this in 50 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:47,600 the wild, like people that you're hanging out with in real 51 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:49,680 life to authenticate their verification. 52 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:51,440 Everyone's making fun of this. OK. 53 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,120 And to be fair, I don't think that they marketed it well. 54 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,320 Like I don't think there was like great comms around exactly 55 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:00,720 what the purpose was because people are like what real world 56 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:02,640 problems is to solve? Like are they implying that 57 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,960 humans can't tell if they're interacting with another 58 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,480 physical human like in real life? 59 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:11,600 Why else would someone need this tool? 60 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:13,960 I was thinking there's just no way. 61 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:18,000 There's no way that they are thinking that a human cannot 62 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:19,920 tell if they are interacting with a human or not. 63 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:21,320 Like there has to be another purpose. 64 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:24,960 So based on some of my research, it seems the point is not to 65 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:27,840 verify if someone is a real human IRL. 66 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:32,000 It's more about proving someone is real to the Internet in a way 67 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:33,920 that can be used at a later date. 68 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,960 So it's giving like alibi vibes. It's essentially adding to your 69 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,720 digital footprint and providing proof that you as the human, as 70 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:46,160 like the authentic verified human has gone on that date that 71 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:49,040 you claimed that you were, that your digital footprint has like 72 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,920 proven that you did. Because as I will get to in a 73 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:57,360 second, they are saying that AI is coming in and making things 74 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:00,480 very confusing for people online and, you know, making it much 75 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:04,440 easier to replicate people's identities and commit fraud and 76 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:06,400 all of that stuff. So let me get into that in a 77 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:08,560 minute. But World wants to create Quote, 78 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,320 a universal proof of personhood system without relying on 79 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,200 government or social media logins, which I guess is why 80 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,279 it's on the blockchain. OK, so now that we've 81 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,320 established this, the question is still like, why? 82 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:23,400 Right? I cannot make this up. 83 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:26,280 I'm going to read several excerpts from the company's blog 84 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:31,720 post explaining World's mission. Please keep in mind that the 85 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:36,680 same person who Co founded and is the CEO of Open AI is also 86 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,560 the Co founder of World Quote. The Internet is at a crossroads. 87 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:43,320 Advances in artificial intelligence have made it 88 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:47,120 remarkably easy to generate text, images, and even entire 89 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,320 online personas that appear indistinguishable from real 90 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:53,040 people. In fact, experts warn that in 91 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:56,360 just a few years quote it will be impossible to know if someone 92 00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:00,120 is communicating with another mortal or a neural network. 93 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,680 AI driven scams, deep fake videos and bot accounts have 94 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,480 surged over the past year signal this shift. 95 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:08,920 These developments highlight an urgent challenge. 96 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:13,000 How do we ensure genuine human presence and trust online? 97 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:15,960 Establishing reliable human verification isn't just a 98 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:18,840 nicety, it's fundamental to a healthy Internet. 99 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,880 Imagine a future online world where major interactions and 100 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:26,160 content are verifiably human in origin. 101 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:34,880 You created this problem. What AI created the problem of 102 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:37,560 deepfakes and scams? I mean, OK, there were always 103 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:41,440 scams, but you know, it really amplified problems like scams, 104 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:45,000 fraud, deepfakes, us being unable to tell if something is 105 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:48,080 human generated, if somebody that we're looking at is even a 106 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:52,080 real human, or if this video is just generated by AII. 107 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,640 Feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone reading this because this 108 00:05:55,640 --> 00:06:00,160 is the problem that you created, Sam Altman, and now you are 109 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:04,120 trying to sell us technology to solve the problem that you 110 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:08,120 created. This is capitalism final boss. 111 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:12,440 Like I am shook to my core about how they're talking about AI and 112 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:15,200 how human interaction and human generated content and like 113 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:17,760 having a human Internet needs to be the priority. 114 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:19,680 That's like the key to a healthy Internet. 115 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:24,280 Like yeah, nobody wanted AI. Like OK, sure, it helps us write 116 00:06:24,280 --> 00:06:27,320 an e-mail. Like other than that, nobody 117 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:30,640 wants to be scrolling through any of their content, watching 118 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:34,440 anything that's generated by AI. You created this problem, you 119 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:38,280 put us here, nobody wanted this and now you're trying to sell us 120 00:06:38,280 --> 00:06:41,840 like this weird phone that we have to like scan our friends 121 00:06:41,840 --> 00:06:44,720 with when we hang out with them and we can have like ID on the 122 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:46,200 blockchain in exchange for crypto. 123 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:47,720 Like this actually sounds like hell. 124 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,240 Like we are living in hell. We are living in hell. 125 00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:53,960 I need to finish with this by focusing on proof of human 126 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:55,640 technology. This is from their blog post. 127 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,840 World is helping create the infrastructure that many tech 128 00:06:58,840 --> 00:07:02,960 leaders and policy makers see as crucial in the AI era. 129 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:05,840 Yes, it is crucial in the AI era. 130 00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:11,040 But you created this problem like you are the leader of the 131 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:15,120 most prolific company in the West that creates this problem. 132 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:16,880 I can't. I can't even. 133 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:21,520 I cannot, I'm in shock. These people raised $250 134 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:25,840 million, have like physical scanners around the world to 135 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:29,240 basically like scan your fucking eyeballs, which seems so 136 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:32,560 unethical and like I mentioned, definitely is some crazy privacy 137 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:34,320 breaches. I know it's been outlawed in 138 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:36,760 Kenya already. I'm sure other countries are 139 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,800 going to start to outlaw it. And it is so wild to me that 140 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,160 they could get by with this, especially when the founder, one 141 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,040 of the founders, is also one of the founders of open AI. 142 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:49,880 The next right that I have for you guys I've composed myself is 143 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:54,240 that Spotify has released new podcast metrics called Plays, 144 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:57,560 which will show you how many views are in each episode. 145 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,320 Spotify is gunning for YouTube's place as the go to video 146 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:03,240 platform for content and podcasts. 147 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:05,080 We kind of already knew that, but I think this really 148 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:07,840 solidifies it. On Tuesday, Spotify announced 149 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:11,280 Plays, a new metric that will let people see how many times an 150 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:15,320 audio only or a video podcast have been listened to or watched 151 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:17,920 actively. They say for plays that they're 152 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:21,880 using a number of different markers to indicate if somebody 153 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:25,840 has like actively consumed that content because streams slash 154 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:29,560 downloads are typically based on just somebody listening to 155 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,559 listening to at least 60 seconds of the episode. 156 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:37,000 So I guess plays in theory should provide a more accurate 157 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:38,559 metric. I don't know if that's totally 158 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:40,360 true yet. There's still some discrepancies 159 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,240 that we found on our back end because we host on Spotify. 160 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:46,760 So like our plays versus stream slash downloads, like based on 161 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:49,960 what they're saying in here, like doesn't totally add up. 162 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:51,600 I don't know if we're just reading it wrong. 163 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:55,240 There is like definitely some lack of clarity, but I think it 164 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:57,280 will all kind of shake out. Like I'm sure that we'll all 165 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:00,400 figure it out eventually. But there are mixed reactions to 166 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:02,760 this. So on one hand, podcasting 167 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:06,240 actually has the highest row As for marketers, but the lowest 168 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:10,320 investment from marketers. And a big part of that is the 169 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:13,680 lack of understanding and a lack of transparency and podcast 170 00:09:13,680 --> 00:09:16,760 measurement and metrics. So each hosting platform 171 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:19,080 provides like different types of stats. 172 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:22,520 And while the kind of industry standard is like a stream slash 173 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:25,960 download is someone listens to 60 seconds, that's not 174 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:28,800 necessarily true across the board. 175 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,880 And even the industry standard measurement systems are not 176 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:35,680 all-encompassing. For example, here in Australia, 177 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:39,960 they go by a tool called Rancor. But Rancor Australia doesn't 178 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:44,080 actually count YouTube views or even Spotify video views now 179 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,360 that Spotify has released video podcasts for everyone, not just 180 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:49,160 their Spotify exclusive podcasts. 181 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:53,120 So that's a bit of tea for you. That's why a lot of the biggest 182 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:57,360 podcasts in Australia film their episodes for social content, but 183 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:00,480 they don't put it on YouTube or on Spotify video. 184 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:03,400 They don't put full episodes as video episodes because they 185 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:06,200 don't want to lose their spot on the Rancor listing. 186 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,480 And that's why we've never gone on Rancor because we are a video 187 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:11,880 first podcast. And if Rancor doesn't count 188 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:14,760 video views, then what's the point of going on it? 189 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:17,480 Because it's not an accurate representation of our downloads 190 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:20,760 of our place in the Australian like podcast world at all. 191 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:22,960 So there's no point in US going on it. 192 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:25,160 But yes. So this could be really good for 193 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:27,280 the podcasting industry. It's obviously much more 194 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:29,080 transparent. It's like on YouTube, you can 195 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:31,760 see how many views a video has received. 196 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,360 You can see the comments. Like obviously Spotify allows 197 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:38,160 comments now to on the other hand, a lot of creators are 198 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:42,080 freaking out because this will make audience acquisition so 199 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,040 much harder for podcasts that are not really big, not those 200 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:48,480 kind of like top tier podcasts, because inevitably people, even 201 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:50,920 if they don't mean to, will grab imitate towards episodes that 202 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:53,760 have more views. It's already really hard for 203 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:57,000 independent podcast to make it and to like grow an audience. 204 00:10:57,480 --> 00:10:59,560 Audience acquisition is really difficult. 205 00:10:59,560 --> 00:11:01,520 So now this this could make it harder. 206 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:04,200 Of course, like, you know, I think now when you're scrolling 207 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:07,280 through podcast apps, not necessarily YouTube, but podcast 208 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:10,840 apps, like you can't always tell maybe by the number of ratings, 209 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:14,600 but you can't always tell how big a podcast is, especially 210 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:17,680 because some of the rating systems are based on location. 211 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:20,920 So like our podcast is based in Australia, but we have quite a 212 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:23,120 big split between like Australia, US audience. 213 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:26,520 So you know, our ratings on certain platforms are only going 214 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:29,200 to show you if you're based in the US, like the US ratings, 215 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:31,280 they're only going to show you the Canadian ratings if you're 216 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:33,920 based in Canada. So that doesn't give you a full 217 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:36,000 picture of like our audience essentially. 218 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:38,640 And if you knew that, then the playing field was a little bit 219 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:42,200 more level for independent smaller podcast to grow, right? 220 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:44,400 Because if the content is good, the cover art looks 221 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:48,200 professional, the sound is decent, like there's no reason 222 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:51,280 for someone to think that you're like a tiny podcast versus a 223 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:54,080 bigger podcast. But now obviously this is going 224 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:57,040 to possibly change that game. Like the discoverability was a 225 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:01,040 much more even playing field, I would say prior to introducing 226 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:02,920 this. I also think this could be good 227 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:06,560 though, for smaller podcasts because one of the reasons why 228 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:09,080 podcasting is so tough to monetize, like I said, is 229 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:12,840 there's a lack of transparency in the stats and the metrics. 230 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,400 And a lot of the big podcasts, they are lying. 231 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:20,840 They are lying about their metrics, their downloads, their 232 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:22,720 reach. And so this will actually 233 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:25,680 provide a bit more transparency. Again, it's not going to 234 00:12:25,680 --> 00:12:29,440 encompass Apple listens or any other platform. 235 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:31,800 It's obviously not encompassing like YouTube listens. 236 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:34,840 So it's just for Spotify. So it really just shows you like 237 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:37,680 how many people on Spotify are consuming that content. 238 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:40,600 The last story that I have for you guys is that Hinge is 239 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:43,960 launching on Sub Stack. So I actually got this story 240 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:47,560 from Caroline Albro who writes the Brand Baby newsletter. 241 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:49,440 It's a Gen. Z marketing newsletter, so 242 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:51,760 definitely go subscribe because I think it's going to blow up 243 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:55,560 and I just love Caroline. So Hinge has jumped on the Sub 244 00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:58,560 Stack train. As we know, Sub Stack is trying 245 00:12:58,560 --> 00:13:01,800 to be a bit more of a social media platform lately rather 246 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:03,600 than just like a newsletter platform. 247 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,480 And I think they're doing quite well with this. 248 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,280 They've poured a lot of money into creators, especially in the 249 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:11,240 US. They've launched new timeline 250 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,560 and post features that make it feel more like a hybrid, like 251 00:13:14,560 --> 00:13:17,080 newsletter publishing platform mixed with like Twitter. 252 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:20,200 This has them narrowing in on that, like community based 253 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,920 publishing, which we talked about yesterday when I was 254 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:26,400 telling you guys about like our journey and how we went all in 255 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:29,360 on community based publishing about like 2 1/2 three years 256 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:30,840 ago. And that made such a big 257 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:32,960 difference. So now this has incentivized 258 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,640 some brands to start experimenting with sub stack and 259 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:38,520 Hinge is the latest major one to do so. 260 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:42,760 So Hinge is launching A5 part mini series of essays by 261 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,640 different writers on their real love stories told from the 262 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:47,920 perspective of both people in the relationship. 263 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:51,520 The series is called No Ordinary Love, and the Sub Stack will be 264 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:54,280 managed by Hinge. The writers will be like guest 265 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:57,240 writers, and it's a miniseries. So after these five essays, 266 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:00,040 Hinge will stop posting on Sub Stack, at least for now. 267 00:14:00,680 --> 00:14:03,280 But throughout the campaign, they're partnering with other 268 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:07,000 writers and creators on Sub Stack to kind of spark 269 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:09,880 conversation, bring their audiences into the Hinge Sub 270 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:12,920 Stack into that world. And these partnerships will 271 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:15,280 continue after the essays have finished. 272 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:18,240 This is from brand baby Caroline writes quote instead of 273 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:20,720 launching A dedicated newsletter, I like that Hinge is 274 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:24,280 leaning into short term series full of impactful, high quality 275 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:26,160 content. I also like that they're 276 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:29,520 partnering with existing Sub Stack creators as writers. 4 out 277 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:31,640 of the five participating writers have sub Stack 278 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:35,120 presences, giving those creators A broader platform while also 279 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:37,800 cross promoting the no ordinary love stories. 280 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:41,440 And two of the writers are Jenna Winston and Hunter Harris, among 281 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:43,880 others. So, yeah, very cool. 282 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:47,200 I think this is a really interesting way to be kind of 283 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:50,200 tapping into, like, new media. I know that's a huge pain point 284 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:52,680 for brands is they want to work with media. 285 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:55,200 They want to work with new media, independent media. 286 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,120 They want to do cool campaigns. It can feel overwhelming. 287 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:01,960 There's so many options, and you really don't want to show up in 288 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:04,000 an inauthentic way when you're trying to reach Gen. 289 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:05,480 Z. You don't want to just show up 290 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:09,040 on every single platform and just be kind of like throwing 291 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:10,600 shit at the wall. That's going to seem really 292 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:11,960 desperate. We know that Gen. 293 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:16,640 Z are experts at avoiding advertising, but they really 294 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:20,520 love when a brand gets them. And that's like the main thing 295 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:23,720 that I say to our consulting clients is if you have somebody 296 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:27,320 on your team who is chronically online that can help inform 297 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,160 these decisions, then you will be OK. 298 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:32,520 Because understanding how to reach Gen. 299 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:35,480 Z in an authentic way just means speaking their language. 300 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:38,720 And speaking their language really just means understanding 301 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:41,320 the chronically online space that they exist in. 302 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:43,160 Because at the end of the day, for Gen. 303 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:46,640 Z, Internet culture and culture are one in the same. 304 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:49,360 Their online worlds are completely blended with their 305 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:51,360 offline worlds. I mean, for all of us, honestly 306 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:54,360 at this point, but especially for younger generations who have 307 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:57,840 not known like life without social media, they're completely 308 00:15:57,840 --> 00:15:59,480 blended. They are one in the same. 309 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:03,560 So if you can tap into the online zeitgeist and show up in 310 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:06,920 a way that makes sense for your brand, like Hinge, doing these 311 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:10,440 like love letter essays, which makes total sense obviously for 312 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:13,680 a dating app like Hinge, then yeah, like people will be 313 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:15,640 excited about it. Like people are excited about 314 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:17,120 this. Anyways, guys, that's it for 315 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:19,680 Mini Tech Scroll today. Thank you so much for listening. 316 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:21,640 I love you guys. Please rate, review and 317 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:24,000 subscribe. We are just a few subscribers 318 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,840 off from 10,000 on YouTube. So please subscribe to us on 319 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:29,240 YouTube. Please leave us a Spotify star 320 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:31,240 rating. And I will talk to you guys 321 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:33,560 tomorrow for mini scroll, regular mini scroll. 322 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:34,320 OK, bye.