• FIR #207: About That Bonus...

The May installment of The Hobson & Holtz Report includes reports on these stories:

• Research finds that fear is sometimes a great way to influence people’s behavior.
• A train company emailed employees they were getting a bonus. It turned out to be a cybersecurity test.
• Should brands and marketers pay attention to BitClout?
• What, exactly, is the hybrid model that is likely to define the future of work?
• Employee activism is taking a number of forms. The employee exodus from Basecamp is one of the latest.
• Prepare yourself for the changes in travel
• Dan York reports on social audio as Clubhouse releases an Android app, Twitter launches Spaces for everyone with more than 600 followers, and Facebook pivots into audio. Also: Instagram and YouTube updates, and Automattic’s acquisition of CC Search.

Our FIR recording sessions are now being streamed live, because why not? We already stream it in order to capture a backup recording on YouTube; we’ve just been making these restricted streams. We have decided to make them public so you can watch and comment. Our next recording is Saturday, June 12 at noon ET. You’ll see our pre-recording conversation as well as seeing how the sausage gets made. Watch live here.

(You can watch the video of the making of this episode, though it’s clearly too late to share comments we can read right into the show.)

We are hosting an FIR Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday during the stay-at-home period at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly or request the credentials in our Facebook group or send an email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Neville’s link blog, Outbox, is available, as well.

Links from This Month’s Episode

• FIR Interview with “Digital Pivot” author Eric Schwartzman
• Fear Is the Key to Convincing Residents to Evacuate Before a Storm
• Train firm’s ‘worker bonus’ email is fake: it’s actually a cybersecurity test
• A Train Company Told 2,500 Staff They Were Getting A Bonus – But It Was Actually A Cybersecurity Test
• Twitter thread on the train cybersecurity kerfuffle with Rachel Miller
• Rail staff falsely promised bonus in cyber security exercise
• Why BitClout Is the Platform Brands and Marketers Must Watch
• Crypto social network BitClout arrives with a bevy of high-profile investors—and skeptics
• How Bitclout Aims To Let People Bet On Twitter Influencers Using ‘Creator Coins’
• Is BitClout a scam, or is it the next big thing?
• How to use BitClout to bet on the popularity of influencers like Elon Musk on the world’s first crypto social network
• Get ready for the next era of work
• Making the Hybrid Workplace Fair
• How to Develop a Successful Hybrid Workforce
• Basecamp implodes as employees flee company, including senior staff
• How political should I let my team be?
• 70% of U.S. social media users never or rarely post or share about political, social issues
• Safeguarding Reputation in the Age of Employee Activism
• Washingtonian staffers protest CEO’s ‘public threat’ to return to in-person work
• Prepare yourself: 12 unexpected but significant ways travel has changed

Links from Dan York’s Report

• Twitter launches Spaces for everyone with more than 600 followers
• Facebook pivots into audio
• Instagram adds built-in captions
• YouTube launches “Shorts,” its TikTok competitor
• CC Search to join WordPress.org
• CC Search to Join WordPress
• Welcome to Openverse
• Openverse: Why This Project Is Good for WordPress and the Web
• The Commons of Images