• FIR #202: We Regret Any Inconvenience

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

• Twitter’s plans to relaunch verification and what’s next
• Clubhouse is poised to become a major social media platform (if Twitter Spaces doesn’t squash it like a bug)
• How a company should say, “We’re sorry”
• Walmart and others expand their employee advocacy programs while Sherwin Williams fires the only employee engaged in it on their behalf
• Euphemisms for getting laid off
• Could Substack be a new channel for journalism (including brand journalism)?
• Dan York’s Tech Report covers more Twitter changes; screen sharing comes to Discord while Reddit acquires Dubsmash for its screen sharing functionality; Snap and Facebook take on TikTok; Walmart and TikTok introduce video shopping; WordPress powers 39% of the web (and more about WordPress); podcasting turns 20

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, January 23 at noon ET. You’ll see our pre-recording conversation as well as seeing how the sausage gets made. Watch here.

We are hosting an FIR Communicators Coffee Break on Zoom each Thursday during the stay-at-home period at 1 p.m. ET (though not on Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.). For credentials, 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). Spread the word to your communications community.

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

• Twitter’s plans to relaunch verification and what’s next
• Twitter tests ‘humanization prompts’ in effort to reduce toxic replies
• Why Clubhouse App Might Be the Next Major Social Media Platform
• Twitter launches its voice-based “Spaces” social networking feature into beta testing
• When Your Company Has to Say Sorry, Here’s How to Do It Right
• ‘A true influencer program’: Inside Walmart’s growing army of employee TikTokers
• Fired Sherwin-Williams Paint Enthusiast and TikTok Star Joins Rival Firm to Develop New Paints
• Euphemisms for being laid off
• Substack: the new journalism?
• Substack launches an RSS reader to organize all your newsletter subscriptions

Links from Dan York’s Tech Report

• Twitter bought a startup that lets you virtually hang out with your friends
• Discord will be able to screen share from iOS and Android devices starting today
• Reddit Welcomes Video Platform Dubsmash to Team
• Snap launches a TikTok-like feed called Spotlight, kick-started by paying creators
• Facebook publicly launches its collaborative music video app, Collab
• Walmart to pilot test livestreamed video shopping on TikTok
• Usage statistics of content management systems
• Learn WordPress
• The moment podcasting came into being