I’ve been thinking a recently about Georgina Brooke’s article about new content KPIs and the phrase that keeps regurgitating in my head is ‘The Tyanny of Expectation’.

It took me a long time to train myself out of being a coward. I remember being terrified of not being able to handle secondary school, then college, then university, then my first job, then the job after that and the job after that. I always assumed people wanted 100% accuracy and certainty and tried to offer it, even when I could only really manage 25% accuracy and 0% certainty.

My moment of realisation was when I was making an excuse for something not working out - maybe around ten years ago - and a colleague sarcastically remarked that it never seemed to be my fault (when it obviously was). It was harsh medicine, but it worked. Ever since I’ve tried to be upfront about what I can and cannot do, what I think might happen and how it actually happened, and be honest when I’ve made a mistake.

Social media and content is never perfect, and we can’t promise the world when algorithms, luck, fatigue and acts of god scupper the best-made plans. It’s a Sisyphean task and we need to be honest with ourselves and others about that.

Content of this week

It’s interesting that almost all of my links are from Instagram. I also browse Bluesky, a bit of TikTok and I endure Facebook but it feels like Instagram is the magnet that draws the content in from all the other platforms.

• The pigs must pay.

• Insert any historical figure for the Ladies, if your man… meme.

• Insert any esoteric interest for the If you’re 25-35 meme.

• This video gave me flashbacks to my time working in universities and also any day browsing Bluesky but not in a good way.

• Central Birmingham showed how they’re collecting, digitising and dealing with all the Ozzy Osbourne tributes at Black Sabbath Bridge in a way that I think a lot of museums can learn from.

• Good to see the National Gallery taking on the POV format. Our buildings are full of these moments of wonder.

The bullet point bit

• Opposition to the UK Online Safety Act is still simmering, and the Wikimedia Foundation recently lost a legal challenge against it (their statement is worth reading for the nuance). I’ve mentioned before my worries about whether online collections could be included, but it seems that the Act covers pornography, not nudity. My sense is that a lot of websites with user-generated content will be left alone, but nobody wants to be the first test case in court.

• In my journey to becoming a centrist dad, I regularly listen to the News Agents. Their recent episode examining the job cuts in Las Vegas due to automation may be the test case for the rest of the USA, and then the world.

• People have been worried about Instagram sharing your live location. It is a feature that’s out in some places and coming soon for everyone, but it’s off by default.

• YouTube is testing a collab feature (which has been a game-changer for Instagram), and remember when I linked Ofcom data showing YouTube is rapidly replacing TV? They’re rolling out new UX that makes your channel look even more like TV.

• Reddit has noticed that everyone adds ‘reddit’ to their Google queries to find authentic answers (which is increasingly being gamed by corporations/scammers, but whatever), so they’re planning to become their own search engine.

Personal stuff I do for me and you can just skip this if you like

🎮📖 what I’m consuming as a consumer

I’m a massive Alien fan but I’m so glad they pried Ridley Scott’s fingers off the franchise and gave it to new creatives. Loved Alien Romulus, equally loving Alien Earth.

I’ve also been playing Holdfast: Nations at War, a multiplayer game set during the Napoleonic era and the First World War. You’ve never experienced chaos quite like taking a whole minute to reload your musket while the French charge at you with bayonets, a team-mate is belting Black Sabbath through his microphone, your commander is role-playing as the Duke of Wellington and a bagpiper next to you gets mashed by a cannon. If you want a feel for it, you should watch this video.

🐕 Keith

Here he is