TikTok, the “anti-” or “ultimate” Instagram?
Creators on TikTok have created a distinct culture from Instagram, one that embraces authenticity. In doing so, have they created the "anti Instagram" or have they just created the “ultimate” Instagram, one that is even better at selling us the dream and cheap Amazon goods?
The Future of News Media
Traditional news media appears to be in crisis: the share of Americans who trust the media to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly” has fallen from ~70% in the 1970s to 40% in 2020 according to Gallup, and 83% see a “great deal” or “fair amount” of political bias in news coverage; over 2,000 newspapers in the US have closed since 2004 and some 36,000 newspaper jobs - or close to 50% - have been lost since 2008; and while news websites or apps remain the most popular source of news for Americans (68%), tech platforms have become an increasingly important source of news. 65% of Americans get their news “often” from search engines (65%) and about half from social media (53%) according to Pew.
How should the news industry adapt to the changing dynamics of the industry? What role do society and government have, if any, to support the news industry?
The VC Industry and Its Impact on Society
VCs have had an outsized impact on our economy, society and startup culture. However, the outsized impact of VCs have been relatively concentrated in a few sectors, business models, and types of founders, and it is not clear whether the impact has overall been positive. What may be keeping VCs from having a further reach? What will it take for VCs to have greater and more positive impact on innovation, entrepreneurship, and as a result, on our economy and society?
Cancel Culture Reflections: Trump’s De-Platforming
On Jan 8, two days following the violent storming of the US Capitol, Twitter made headlines by announcing that it was permanently banning Donald Trump from its services “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”
While reactions varied, many accused “Big Tech” of infringing upon our values of the freedom of speech. Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio warned: “Cancel culture,” he warned, “will come for us all.”
Meaning of Work…: Pre-Discussion Primer
The privileged among us are full of career angst. Anything less than a job that we feel deeply passionate about, that meaningfully contributes to society, that provides us with enough income and acceptance, if not admiration from our peers, while also allowing us to spend “quality time” with our families feels inadequate.
Cancel Culture Reflections: the Yale Halloween Controversy
As I was thinking about Cancel Culture, the example that I kept coming back to was actually the Halloween controversy at Yale from 2015 (pre-COVID, when dressing up for Halloween was still a thing.)
Cancel Culture: Pre-Discussion Primer
Perhaps the more practical discussion may be around how to make Cancel Culture more conducive to achieving its supposed objectives - to reduce behaviors that are harmful to a broad segment of society, particularly against those who may have few other, more effective means for recourse (without overly undermining other important values in society such as freedom of speech, respect for others, etc.)