1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tex Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: and how the Tech area Today. I'm finally going to 5 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: wrap up our multi episode saga on the history of 6 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: social networks. This would be the sixth entry in that series, 7 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:36,879 Speaker 1: So for those who are just joining now, clearly I've 8 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: been talking about the history and evolution of various social networks, 9 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: starting with some fairly primitive ones in the nineties, moving 10 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 1: on to things like online journals and profile based networks 11 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: of the early to mid two thousand's. Then I talked 12 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: about the wave of micro blogging that would follow a 13 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: few years later, where Twitter would stand on top of 14 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: all the others. And in the last episode we left 15 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:05,680 Speaker 1: off with the emergence of snapchat and this concept of 16 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: content that only stays visible for a short amount of 17 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: time before it gets deleted. Now we're gonna pick up 18 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: with Google's second big attempt at a social network. Now 19 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:20,680 Speaker 1: you might remember that the first go around for Google 20 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,680 Speaker 1: was ork It that was developed by one of Google's 21 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:29,679 Speaker 1: engineers named Orchit during their work week time, where employees 22 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,560 Speaker 1: of Google at the time, we're allowed to dedicate up 23 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: to their work week two personal projects, or could grew 24 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,200 Speaker 1: out of that, or could actually got popular in places 25 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:42,360 Speaker 1: like Brazil and India, but didn't really get a lot 26 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: of traction here in the United States, and ultimately Google 27 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: would shut it down. Google had also attempted to make 28 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: a dent in the social network space a couple of 29 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: other times. In two thousand and eight, the company launched 30 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 1: Google friend Connect, So rather than being a full social 31 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: network on its own, Google friend Connect let users create 32 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: a profile and rely on their open i d user 33 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: name and password to log into compatible sites, and their 34 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 1: Google friend Connect profile would be sort of a repository 35 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: of information that these other websites could get access to. 36 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: So it was kind of like having a little dossier 37 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,800 Speaker 1: on yourself, and then any site that integrated friend connect 38 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: code in it could kind of scan that dossier. And 39 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: that might sound a bit sinister, but the flip side 40 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: is you didn't have to go through all the steps 41 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 1: of building out your profile every single time you joined 42 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: a new site or service because it could be populated 43 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:43,640 Speaker 1: based upon your Google friend Connect profile. So it's like 44 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: it's like you're skipping character creation and going straight to 45 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: the game for my gamers out there. Anyway, that project 46 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 1: only lasted four years and Google ultimately shut it down. 47 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: There are concerns about privacy and safety with Google friend Connect, 48 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 1: and it ultimately didn't stick around, and um yeah, it 49 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: joined so many other Google projects that subsequently got shut 50 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:10,919 Speaker 1: down so early. Was more social network adjacent than being 51 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: a social network itself. Another tool that lasted for even 52 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: less time than Google friend Connect was Google Buzz and 53 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: this was kind of a messaging, blogging, and social networking 54 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:27,240 Speaker 1: tool that Google launched in It took the place of 55 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: an older tool called Google Wave. Google Wave was meant 56 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: for collaboration in real time, and I was one of 57 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: the few people who actually really liked it, but my 58 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: use case was very specific. Anyway, Buzz had some features 59 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: similar to sites like Twitter and Facebook. It integrated into 60 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: other Google products, so it wasn't really that much of 61 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,720 Speaker 1: a stand alone either. It was more like in conjunction 62 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:57,119 Speaker 1: with other stuff. But it also brought with it some 63 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: massive privacy and safety problems. There was worries about people 64 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: finding out that Buzz had automatically added people who were 65 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: in their email contacts as followers, and in some cases 66 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 1: that meant that, say, an abusive X might suddenly become 67 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:17,040 Speaker 1: very up to date on what their former partner is 68 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 1: up to because they had been automatically, you know, added 69 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: as a follower. Buzz did not last very long at all. 70 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: It was shut down in two thousand eleven, just a 71 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 1: year after its launch. Though some of the features would 72 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:32,279 Speaker 1: find their way into other Google products, which again not 73 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: unusual for Google. But neither Buzz nor friend Connect were 74 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:40,360 Speaker 1: really full social networks on their own, but the same 75 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 1: could not be said for a Google Plus. An earnest 76 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 1: attempt to do Facebook better than Facebook, so Google announced 77 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 1: the social network in the summer of two thousand eleven. 78 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:57,400 Speaker 1: Vic Gundotra and Bradley Horowitz spearheaded this effort and proclaimed 79 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:02,799 Speaker 1: that the problem with sharing stuff online is that sharing 80 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,360 Speaker 1: was broken. It was too difficult to share stuff with 81 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:10,839 Speaker 1: subsets of friends without flooding everyone in your context list 82 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 1: or having to painstakingly choose person after person in a 83 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: long list of contacts. So Google Plus wanted to fix 84 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 1: this by introducing the concept of circles. So the idea 85 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 1: was that users would organize their contacts so their friends, 86 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: their family, their coworkers, casual acquaintances, and they would organize 87 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,279 Speaker 1: them into groups that could be called circles, and you 88 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: could designate specific circles to be specific things. Maybe you 89 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 1: have one circle that you dedicate just for your family members, 90 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: so you don't put anyone in there that's not family. 91 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,359 Speaker 1: Maybe you have another circle for your closest friends, like 92 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:50,919 Speaker 1: the people that you really hang out with the most 93 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:53,920 Speaker 1: and talk with the most. Maybe you have another circle 94 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 1: just for your coworkers or your professional contacts. Maybe you 95 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: even get more specific, maybe you create circles for folks 96 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 1: that you like to play basketball with, or if you're me, 97 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:07,680 Speaker 1: maybe you make a circle with your geek friends that 98 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 1: you hang out with at places like science fiction conventions 99 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: or Renaissance fairs. And that really is true. I actually 100 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: did have a circle on Google Plus just for the 101 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: folks I knew from Renaissance fairs. For those who don't know, 102 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:25,840 Speaker 1: I used to be a street performer at the Georgia 103 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: Renaissance Festival. That was a good time. I occasionally had 104 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: tech stuff fans recognize me there, which, if you you know, 105 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: you have to stay in character when you're when you're 106 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:39,040 Speaker 1: working as a street character at the Renaissance Festival. Let 107 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:41,360 Speaker 1: me tell you those days were some of the most 108 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: fun and challenging days in my stay at a as 109 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:49,599 Speaker 1: a performer at the festival. Now, obviously some friends would 110 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,799 Speaker 1: fall into more than one circle, right, Like, I doubt 111 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: that you have a friend out there that you think, 112 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:58,160 Speaker 1: this is my friend who does this and only this, 113 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: and that's the only place they fit in my life. 114 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: Maybe you do, in which case you are a far 115 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:07,279 Speaker 1: more compartmentalized than I am. But that's okay. If a 116 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:09,400 Speaker 1: friend fell into more than one circle, you could actually 117 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 1: put them in as many circles as you needed to. 118 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: So if your cousin also happens to be your co 119 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: worker and also is the bard in your LARP group, 120 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:20,960 Speaker 1: you could put your cousin in all three of those 121 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 1: respective circles. And the idea was that you would organize 122 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: all your contacts in ways that reflected how they intersected 123 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: with your life. Then when you wanted to post something, 124 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: because you might say, well why would you, I mean, 125 00:07:32,920 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: what's the point in organizing to this degree? Well, when 126 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: you posted something on Google Plus, you could actually choose 127 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 1: which circles saw that post. So maybe you wanted to 128 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: post about something at work, but only your co workers 129 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: would really care about it. Or alternatively, maybe you wanted 130 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:54,520 Speaker 1: to grouse about work, but you definitely didn't want any 131 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: of your coworkers or your boss to see it. So 132 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:01,120 Speaker 1: you could select which circles would actually be able to 133 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 1: see this post and everyone else would remain blissfully ignorant. 134 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:08,320 Speaker 1: So like, if you knew certain friends of yours loved 135 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: your pet, then you could put them in a circle 136 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:13,200 Speaker 1: and every time you shared a pet photo, it would 137 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:15,840 Speaker 1: show up for them. But the people who couldn't care 138 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: less about your pet, you know, bad people, they wouldn't 139 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: see it at all. Still, getting everyone set up this way, 140 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: you might think, especially if you have a lot of 141 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: friends or acquaintances, it sounds like it's a lot of work, right, Like, man, 142 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:33,040 Speaker 1: there's nothing like sitting down to a brand new social 143 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:36,679 Speaker 1: network and then spending the next eight hours sorting people 144 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 1: into different circles. But Google made this a little more 145 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:43,839 Speaker 1: fun by creating a drag and drop interface, So you 146 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: would create a circle and then you would have all 147 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:50,080 Speaker 1: your context showing up as little photo icons so you 148 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:52,200 Speaker 1: can see pictures of your friends, and then you would 149 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:54,920 Speaker 1: just click on an icon and drag them to whichever 150 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:56,680 Speaker 1: circle you want to put them in. You could do 151 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: that over and over again, which admittedly is more fun 152 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: than just going through a checklist and clicking a little 153 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 1: box to put a check mark next to it. Eventually, 154 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:11,320 Speaker 1: you would also be able to create a circle that 155 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,959 Speaker 1: would mute people in that circle, so you're essentially blocking 156 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,200 Speaker 1: people that way. So if there was someone who was 157 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 1: harassing you or just irritating you, or maybe it was 158 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: just someone that you're like, I don't want this person 159 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:26,680 Speaker 1: to ever be able to see my stuff, you could 160 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 1: put them in that circle and then they would be 161 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 1: kind of sequestered from all the stuff you were doing, 162 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: which was handy. Another feature in Google Plus was called Sparks. 163 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: This was a discovery tool to help people find content 164 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: that they related to. Uh Sparks had topics divided up 165 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: into categories, So you could go to the Sparks page 166 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:49,679 Speaker 1: and you would see categories like sports or fashion or 167 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 1: movies or whatever, and you could click into those, or 168 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 1: you could also search specific terms within the Sparks page 169 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: and you would get results that way, which would include 170 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:04,120 Speaker 1: results of users who related to those search topics. And 171 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 1: Google Plus gave us an early version of Hangouts a 172 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:12,200 Speaker 1: feature that would find its way into other Google products 173 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:15,840 Speaker 1: down the line. At one point it was a standalone feature, 174 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,679 Speaker 1: so Hangouts was its own thing. Then it got kind 175 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:22,200 Speaker 1: of pulled into Gmail and Hangouts became sort of an 176 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 1: instant messenger um aspect of Gmail. Then it became phased 177 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:30,480 Speaker 1: out for Google Chat. It's just kind of the way 178 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:34,200 Speaker 1: Google products work is that they hop around a lot, 179 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:38,280 Speaker 1: and they morph into other things or eventually get phased 180 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: out for some other service where there's too much overlap. Anyway, 181 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 1: Hangouts would allow people to do video chats pretty early on, 182 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: and it had a really cool suite of features. It 183 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:55,000 Speaker 1: could allow up to tend people to connect in a session, 184 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:58,480 Speaker 1: and the software kind of acted like a digital producer. 185 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:01,320 Speaker 1: I remember the first time I of Hangouts and how 186 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,680 Speaker 1: impressed I was because it would automatically switch to whomever 187 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 1: was talking at a given moment. So let's say you're 188 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 1: having a panel discussion and you've got five people on 189 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,839 Speaker 1: the panel. Whomever is talking would get highlighted and would 190 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 1: become like the big picture on the screen and would 191 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 1: as long as they were talking, they would be there. 192 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:22,720 Speaker 1: And then when someone else would take over, it would 193 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:26,200 Speaker 1: switch and yeah, this is second nature now, right. We 194 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:29,200 Speaker 1: see it in lots of tools like Microsoft Teams or 195 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:32,840 Speaker 1: in Zoom, but at the time it was a brand 196 00:11:32,880 --> 00:11:36,079 Speaker 1: new thing and it was really impressive. It's probably one 197 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:40,120 Speaker 1: of the most impressive aspects of Google Plus, at least 198 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:44,840 Speaker 1: in my estimation. Now. When Google first announced this social 199 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: network in the summer of two thousand eleven, it said 200 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:50,920 Speaker 1: that there would be, you know, a limited beta program, 201 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:52,600 Speaker 1: and so they were only going to let in a 202 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 1: relatively small number of people and you would submit to 203 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,160 Speaker 1: be considered. And I was one of those folks who 204 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:02,360 Speaker 1: got let in at the very beginning. And let me 205 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 1: tell you, I felt good. Like I recognize what a 206 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,920 Speaker 1: elitist kind of thing that is, Like I get it, 207 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: Like I've seen it happen numerous times. And I have 208 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: to say, when you experience it, you're like, oh, this 209 00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 1: is what it feels like to be part of an 210 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:23,400 Speaker 1: exclusive club. It feels nice. Uh, you know, from an 211 00:12:23,400 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 1: objective point of view, I think it's a destructive feeling. 212 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 1: But I have experienced it, and I gotta say it 213 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:33,320 Speaker 1: does feel good when it happens. It also meant that 214 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:37,920 Speaker 1: I was experiencing Google Plus when almost everybody who was 215 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:42,880 Speaker 1: on the platform was either a tech journalist or someone 216 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 1: who worked in you know, tech communications to the public, 217 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:50,760 Speaker 1: or it was like entrepreneurs, it was like people who 218 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:54,960 Speaker 1: had been in charge of launching startups. And that meant 219 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:58,679 Speaker 1: suddenly I was in a social network with my professional peers, 220 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: and you know, no one else was there. This meant 221 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,839 Speaker 1: I actually had the chance to interact with my professional 222 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:10,440 Speaker 1: peers way more than I typically would because I just, 223 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:13,960 Speaker 1: you know, I was I'm in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm not 224 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 1: in New York, and I'm not in San Francisco, so 225 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,199 Speaker 1: I'm not in one of the places or Los Angeles. 226 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:21,320 Speaker 1: I'm not in one of the places where there were 227 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: these sort of a nexus of tech journalism. So this 228 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 1: was great for me. I loved it. Unfortunately, it also 229 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,760 Speaker 1: meant that the aspect of Google Plus I liked most 230 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: was the one that obviously was unsustainable, because you you 231 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:39,880 Speaker 1: could not keep Google Plus to this incredibly exclusive, limited 232 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 1: social network. It would not have done well and it 233 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 1: would have died anyway. To succeed, Google had to open 234 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:50,040 Speaker 1: this up to everyone. Otherwise, what's the point. But that 235 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: would also mean that those of us who were you know, 236 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 1: the the tight tech journalist folks kind of got pushed 237 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,600 Speaker 1: apart as more people flooded in, which, again, small price 238 00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:02,320 Speaker 1: to pay. It doesn't it wouldn't have worked otherwise, but 239 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:04,800 Speaker 1: it lost its appeal for me pretty quickly, and I 240 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:07,400 Speaker 1: wasn't alone. Google Plus was kind of a flash in 241 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:11,200 Speaker 1: the pan, uh, one that a lot of people paid 242 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,000 Speaker 1: attention to early on, but that was mostly because it 243 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:16,760 Speaker 1: was so exclusive, and then you had a flood of 244 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 1: people who joined as soon as they had the opportunity to. 245 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:22,000 Speaker 1: By the end of twenty eleven, there were something like 246 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 1: ninety million users, but that still wasn't enough to build 247 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:30,240 Speaker 1: a sustainable momentum to keep Google Plus going, and interests 248 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: began to fade fairly quickly. I'll talk more about that 249 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: after we come back from this quick break. Okay, so 250 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: Google Plus launches, It gets a lot of attention. Everybody 251 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:53,240 Speaker 1: wants to be part of the club. The doors open 252 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:55,640 Speaker 1: and then everyone rushes in, and then people say, oh, 253 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 1: is this it? Like that's almost exactly what happened, right, 254 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 1: Everyone finally got access to Google Plus, and then they 255 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: were wondering what all the fuss was about. Because the 256 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 1: thing that made Google Plus special for the early people 257 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 1: who were there was the fact that they were able 258 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:14,680 Speaker 1: to chat with people they knew or at least knew of, 259 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 1: and there was no one else there. That's what made 260 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: it special. Well, if that's the only thing that makes 261 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: it really special, then that goes away as soon as 262 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:26,840 Speaker 1: you opened up the gates. So it became kind of 263 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 1: a paradox or catch twenty two. Now, one thing that 264 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: was a really heavy contributor to Google Plus is decline 265 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:37,400 Speaker 1: was the company's insistence on users going by their real names, 266 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 1: and Google would ban accounts that were formed under pseudonyms 267 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:46,360 Speaker 1: and handles. And because Google was consolidating services under a 268 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: single log in, this would affect not just Google Plus, 269 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:54,440 Speaker 1: it also reached into stuff like Gmail and YouTube accounts. 270 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:57,320 Speaker 1: In fact, by two thousand thirteen, Google had made a 271 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:00,720 Speaker 1: policy that said anyone who wanted to be able to 272 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: leave comments on YouTube videos must first have a Google 273 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 1: Plus account. They wanted these to be tightly integrated services. 274 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:11,440 Speaker 1: Now that would mean that you would have to use 275 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: your real name, so there was a lot of resistance. Now, 276 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 1: on the one side, you could say, okay, I get it. 277 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 1: This creates accountability, right, you can't just sit there and 278 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: slag people off. If it's your real name and everyone 279 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:25,560 Speaker 1: knows who you are, you don't have the protection of 280 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,720 Speaker 1: anonymity to hide behind, So you're not going to be 281 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:32,080 Speaker 1: as nasty as some of these trolls are. Right, first 282 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:33,840 Speaker 1: of all, wrong, There are people who will be nasty 283 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,720 Speaker 1: no matter what name they're going by. But secondly, there 284 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:40,920 Speaker 1: were others who were pointing out that anonymity provided protection 285 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:46,560 Speaker 1: for people who were really vulnerable. Right, So, if you 286 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: were part of a vulnerable population, or maybe you lived 287 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: in a country that has like an authoritarian government or 288 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:59,840 Speaker 1: a really powerful religious like leadership organization that could a 289 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:05,000 Speaker 1: press you, then you don't want to be constricted, right You. 290 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:06,920 Speaker 1: You don't want you want to still be able to communicate, 291 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:09,640 Speaker 1: but you don't want to be punished for the way 292 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 1: you communicate. And meanwhile, YouTube creators were protesting that their 293 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: success was now being co opted by Google in an 294 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:21,359 Speaker 1: attempt to boost Google Plus membership numbers. They said, the 295 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: only reason you're doing this is because we're getting hundreds 296 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: of millions of views and you just want to convert 297 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: that into Google Plus memberships, So you're restricting anyone from 298 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,880 Speaker 1: being able to to participate in YouTube unless they also 299 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: have a Google Plus account. It got really ugly. Eventually 300 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:45,200 Speaker 1: Google would reverse that decision. Now, on top of all that, 301 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:47,879 Speaker 1: a lot of folks just didn't like the Google Plus experience. 302 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:51,160 Speaker 1: Like I've said before, a lot of Google products feel 303 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 1: like they're made by engineers for engineers, and they can 304 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 1: sometimes lack some of the UI and aesthetic that makes 305 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:02,800 Speaker 1: other products more user friendly and more welcoming. I am 306 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 1: an Android user through and through, but even as an 307 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 1: Android fanboy, I recognize how iOS is way more user 308 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:14,680 Speaker 1: friendly than Android is. In April two fourteen, Vic Gondotra 309 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:19,160 Speaker 1: left Google and that was the beginning of the dismantling 310 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 1: of Google Plus. It kind of got scrapped for parts. 311 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:27,680 Speaker 1: Hangouts was pulled out of Google Plus. Uh, it's photo 312 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: system was kind of pulled out and spun off into 313 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:33,359 Speaker 1: its own thing. Google Plus would limp along for a 314 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 1: few more years, but Google had to admit that some 315 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:42,160 Speaker 1: buggy software also meant that potentially data belonging to thousands 316 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,480 Speaker 1: of users could have been leaked accidentally to third parties, 317 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:47,960 Speaker 1: and it was just too much Like that was kind 318 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,600 Speaker 1: of the death stroke against Google Plus. And in twenty nineteen, 319 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:57,360 Speaker 1: Google pulled the plug on the service. So now we're 320 00:18:57,359 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: starting to get into kind of the slow down for 321 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:04,280 Speaker 1: social network launches. We do still have several to talk about, 322 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:08,680 Speaker 1: but they don't happen as frequently as they did earlier 323 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:14,080 Speaker 1: in this series. By late eleven, MySpace had completed its 324 00:19:14,119 --> 00:19:17,600 Speaker 1: time when news Corps it got sold off. It had 325 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:21,119 Speaker 1: been purchased for five million dollars but then was sold 326 00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:24,439 Speaker 1: for thirty five million and was just one representation of 327 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:29,280 Speaker 1: massive losses in the social network space. Meanwhile, LinkedIn was 328 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:31,960 Speaker 1: getting ready for its initial public offering, which would happen 329 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: in late eleven. Facebook was getting ready for it's which 330 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:39,160 Speaker 1: would happen in But as far as launches go, things 331 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:41,880 Speaker 1: were starting to settle down a little bit. You had 332 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:46,360 Speaker 1: a few dominant players occupying specific places within the ecosystem, 333 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:49,720 Speaker 1: right You had Facebook sitting on top of the profile 334 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:53,159 Speaker 1: based general social network. You know, the thing that at 335 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:57,440 Speaker 1: least I always associate social network was something like Facebook. 336 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:00,479 Speaker 1: But that may also be because of the time that 337 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:04,320 Speaker 1: I got involved in social networks and I just associated 338 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:07,280 Speaker 1: with that because that's that's what social network meant to me. 339 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,120 Speaker 1: LinkedIn was clearly the destination for professionals looking to build 340 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:15,880 Speaker 1: out their professional network. Twitter was top of microblogging, Instagram 341 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:19,960 Speaker 1: was pretty much the dominant photo based social network. YouTube 342 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 1: was the undisputed champion of user generated video at the time. Meanwhile, 343 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,800 Speaker 1: other networks were either getting acquired or shut down or both. 344 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,080 Speaker 1: But two thousand eleven was also when we would get 345 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:36,480 Speaker 1: the birth of Twitch now. Twitch actually spun off of 346 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:41,040 Speaker 1: an earlier live streaming video site called justin dot TV 347 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:45,440 Speaker 1: or just justin TV. That is an interesting story all 348 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:47,480 Speaker 1: on its own. I think I've even done an episode 349 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:51,160 Speaker 1: about justin TV many years ago. But anyway, justin TV 350 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 1: started around two thousand seven, and it was a site 351 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: that was a way to engage in the activity of 352 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 1: life casting. That's where a user can broadcast their daily 353 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:08,760 Speaker 1: activities via online video live online video, and that idea 354 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:13,080 Speaker 1: really caught on. But before long there was a subcommunity 355 00:21:13,119 --> 00:21:17,440 Speaker 1: of gamers who became the fastest growing section of this service. 356 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 1: The trend puzzled some people, because who the heck wants 357 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 1: to watch someone else play a video game? That's what 358 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:29,240 Speaker 1: the old people were saying. I was not saying that, 359 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 1: not because I wasn't already old. I was. I was 360 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 1: already old. But I was also a kid in the 361 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:37,439 Speaker 1: eighties who loved to go to the arcade and just 362 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:41,000 Speaker 1: watch people who are really good at specific games play 363 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:43,920 Speaker 1: those games. I loved watching that, So to me, this 364 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:46,400 Speaker 1: was just an evolution of something I had loved doing 365 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:48,199 Speaker 1: when I was a little kid, And so I was 366 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:52,760 Speaker 1: totally on board with the threat of this gaming community 367 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:57,800 Speaker 1: kind of overshadowing everything else on justin TV. The decision 368 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 1: was made to spin it off into its own entity, 369 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:04,160 Speaker 1: and it was called Twitch. Now, of course Twitch would 370 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:08,440 Speaker 1: prosper and justin TV would not. It would ultimately shut down, 371 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 1: so Twitch would survive and the little spinoff would actually 372 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:16,320 Speaker 1: become the dominant force. And oh how the turns have tabled. 373 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:21,479 Speaker 1: Twitch was attracting millions of visitors each month even in 374 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 1: its early days, so by t after it's been up 375 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:29,159 Speaker 1: for like essentially a year, the numbers were up to 376 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 1: twenty million visitors per month, which is a big old YAWSA. 377 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:38,320 Speaker 1: Communities would grow up around specific personalities or specific game titles. 378 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:41,040 Speaker 1: It would depend like you had some people who would 379 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:45,679 Speaker 1: follow multiple personalities who were all playing similar games, and 380 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:48,879 Speaker 1: then you had people who were just becoming like celebrities 381 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:52,479 Speaker 1: because of their skill or in some cases lack of 382 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: skill for specific games. I will say it's way easier 383 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:02,120 Speaker 1: to become incredibly popular on which if you're incredible at 384 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:04,680 Speaker 1: a game, then it is. If you're terrible at a game, 385 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:07,760 Speaker 1: it's still possible if you're very entertaining as someone who 386 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:11,480 Speaker 1: is terrible at games. But people tend to gravitate towards 387 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 1: the folks who do incredible feats while playing games. Anyway, 388 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:21,159 Speaker 1: it was not your typical social network, not like a 389 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:26,880 Speaker 1: Facebook or Twitter. Uh, it wasn't about you creating this 390 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:31,080 Speaker 1: network of context necessarily, but folks did form friendships in 391 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:35,840 Speaker 1: various streamer channels. You know, you had people who became 392 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:39,439 Speaker 1: friends and would send direct messages to one another and 393 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:43,600 Speaker 1: would continue to communicate outside of a streamers you know, 394 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:46,840 Speaker 1: streaming schedule, that kind of stuff. But it wasn't really 395 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 1: designed to facilitate networking the same way as Facebook or 396 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:57,320 Speaker 1: even Twitter would. But it does fit into the the 397 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:02,920 Speaker 1: overall puzzle of social networks, and it also was money. 398 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,359 Speaker 1: By two thousand fourteen, you had some really big fish 399 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:10,159 Speaker 1: that we're eyeing Twitch as a potential acquisition, and the 400 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,880 Speaker 1: two biggest would be Google our old pal and then 401 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:18,720 Speaker 1: the Jeff Bezos money train known as Amazon. Now. Reportedly 402 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,120 Speaker 1: these two companies got into something of a bidding war 403 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:25,560 Speaker 1: against one another in an attempt to win over Twitch. 404 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:30,200 Speaker 1: Amazon obviously ultimately won that fight. Well, I say, obviously, 405 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 1: if you're not familiar with Twitch, you may not know 406 00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:36,200 Speaker 1: that Twitch is an Amazon property. It is. Amazon bought 407 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 1: it in two thousand fourteen, and the final price was 408 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:43,600 Speaker 1: in the neighborhood of a billion dollars. So just imagine 409 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:47,160 Speaker 1: what the world would have been like if Google had 410 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:51,040 Speaker 1: bought Twitch instead of Amazon. My guess is that by 411 00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:53,640 Speaker 1: two thousand nineteen, Twitch would have been dead. It would 412 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 1: have been shut down just by just by going by 413 00:24:56,240 --> 00:25:00,439 Speaker 1: the history of Google's acquisitions in the past. As its stands, 414 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:05,560 Speaker 1: Google would instead try to compete against Twitch by launching 415 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 1: features and YouTube that would allow for live streaming, specifically 416 00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:14,480 Speaker 1: game live streaming, and there was an attempt to kind of, 417 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: you know, shift video game streaming there. And don't get 418 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:20,080 Speaker 1: me wrong, that is a thing on YouTube. It does exist. 419 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 1: You can go to YouTube and watch live streaming of 420 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,280 Speaker 1: video games there. There are some players that I watch 421 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:29,880 Speaker 1: on occasion. They're all English because I only have time 422 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:31,960 Speaker 1: to watch it early in the morning and so it's 423 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:35,840 Speaker 1: afternoon over there. But yeah, that's um, that's still very 424 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:39,400 Speaker 1: much a thing on YouTube. So there it is competing 425 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:41,800 Speaker 1: against Twitch at least to a certain degree, but Twitch 426 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:46,200 Speaker 1: is still undisputably the the leader in that space. Facebook 427 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:50,000 Speaker 1: would also uh do the same sort of thing. It 428 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:54,960 Speaker 1: would try and create its own video game streaming arm 429 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:57,920 Speaker 1: because of course, Facebook will never let a good idea 430 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: go uncopied. If there's anything that remotely threaten threatens to 431 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:07,199 Speaker 1: pull people's attention away from Facebook properties, the company is 432 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:10,600 Speaker 1: going to attempt to replicate that in order to get 433 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:14,680 Speaker 1: those eyeballs back on on its own properties. Amazon would 434 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:18,639 Speaker 1: incorporate some of its own features into Twitch, including giving 435 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:23,320 Speaker 1: Amazon Prime members the ability to pick a streamer and 436 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:26,600 Speaker 1: subscribe to that streamer as part of their Prime membership. 437 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:29,760 Speaker 1: The way to which works, uh, is that you can 438 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:34,040 Speaker 1: actually subscribe to streamers for a monthly fee and it's 439 00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:38,240 Speaker 1: determined by level, and in return, you get access to 440 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:41,360 Speaker 1: streams and maybe some other stuff depending upon the streamer, 441 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:44,240 Speaker 1: like sometimes it's things like special emotes and that kind 442 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 1: of stuff. And uh, the way it worked with Amazon 443 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:51,320 Speaker 1: is that if you're an Amazon Prime member, one subscription 444 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:55,560 Speaker 1: is included in your Prime membership. Um, if you want 445 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,080 Speaker 1: to subscribe to more than one streamer, then for every 446 00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:00,439 Speaker 1: subsequent streamer you've got to pay up. But for that 447 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:04,040 Speaker 1: first one, you can use your Amazon Prime membership to subscribe. 448 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 1: And yeah, that was one of the benefits of being 449 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:11,760 Speaker 1: an Amazon Prime Member and also being a user of 450 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 1: Twitch now. Twitch is a very complex topic. There's tons 451 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,520 Speaker 1: of stuff to talk about throughout its history. There's controversial 452 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:25,359 Speaker 1: policy changes, there's disputes between streamers and Twitch itself with 453 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 1: regards to stuff like compensation, there's issues around content itself. 454 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 1: Just a conversation around hot tub streamers alone would be exhausting. 455 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:37,440 Speaker 1: And I promise I'll do a full episode or two 456 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:39,800 Speaker 1: about Twitch in the future to really kind of dig 457 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:44,440 Speaker 1: down into it. But since it only leans against social 458 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:48,640 Speaker 1: networks at least as how I traditionally define social networks, 459 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:51,160 Speaker 1: I'm gonna leave off at this point. I'll just say 460 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:54,360 Speaker 1: Twitch is still very much alive and well. It is, however, 461 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: not doing as well as it was at the height 462 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:01,480 Speaker 1: of the pandemic. The un weak visitor numbers are down 463 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 1: by a couple of million, But you know that's to 464 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:07,760 Speaker 1: be expected now. In late two thousand twelve, Twitter acquired 465 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:11,560 Speaker 1: a short form video product called Vine, which had not 466 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:17,240 Speaker 1: even launched at that point. The founders, Colin Crall, russ Yusuprov, 467 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:21,639 Speaker 1: and Dom Hoffman had only started to work on the 468 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:25,119 Speaker 1: Vine project in the summer of two thousand twelve, and 469 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,320 Speaker 1: then Twitter acquired them before the end of two thousand twelve. 470 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:30,960 Speaker 1: Their idea was to create a social network where people 471 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:35,240 Speaker 1: could build very short videos and share them. These videos 472 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:38,320 Speaker 1: would just last six seconds, and then they would loop 473 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,680 Speaker 1: back around to the beginning and just repeat endlessly until 474 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 1: you navigated away from the video. It was the user 475 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:49,320 Speaker 1: video version of microblogging. The format would reward those who 476 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:52,400 Speaker 1: put really careful thought and work into their videos, and 477 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:54,959 Speaker 1: would even propel them to celebrity. I mean, six seconds 478 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 1: is not a long time, but it's the perfect amount 479 00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:01,520 Speaker 1: of time if you're really clever and you are patient, 480 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:04,240 Speaker 1: and you're able to create a video that just has 481 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:07,800 Speaker 1: a perfect punch to it. Moreover, creators planned to make 482 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:12,400 Speaker 1: vines easy to share across other social networks. So the 483 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:14,040 Speaker 1: idea was that, all right, not only will you be 484 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:16,120 Speaker 1: able to create these videos that will live on Vine, 485 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 1: you'll be able to share them on other platforms, so 486 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:21,760 Speaker 1: you'll be able to share them on things like Facebook 487 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:24,400 Speaker 1: or Twitter where there are a lot of eyeballs, or 488 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:26,440 Speaker 1: at least send them back to your Vine page that 489 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:29,560 Speaker 1: they could see them there. Then Twitter bought the service 490 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:31,880 Speaker 1: for somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty million dollars, which 491 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 1: would be about like ten million per founder, which is 492 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 1: a pretty sweet deal. The first version of Vine was 493 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,200 Speaker 1: available only for iOS devices. Android had to wait for 494 00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:43,960 Speaker 1: another six months, and Vine was insanely popular at first. 495 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,600 Speaker 1: It became one of the most downloaded apps on iOS 496 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:50,400 Speaker 1: within those first six months. But under Twitter, things would 497 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:53,320 Speaker 1: not continue to move in the right direction. There were 498 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 1: reported struggles between the Vine team and the parent company 499 00:29:56,440 --> 00:30:00,520 Speaker 1: of Twitter. Rivals like Facebook's Instagram or snap Chat, which 500 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:02,800 Speaker 1: we talked about in the last episode, started to include 501 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:06,800 Speaker 1: features that kind of crept into Vine's wheelhouse. Content creators 502 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:11,320 Speaker 1: were getting increasingly frustrated that they could get millions of views, 503 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:14,240 Speaker 1: but there were no clear paths to monetization through Vine 504 00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:18,360 Speaker 1: unless you landed some sort of sponsorship deal on your own, 505 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:22,200 Speaker 1: which would be despite Vine, not because of mine. In 506 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:25,920 Speaker 1: two thousand sixteen, Twitter, having failed to leverage Vine into 507 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,720 Speaker 1: some sort of silver bullet to solve all its woes, 508 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,600 Speaker 1: chose to shut Vine down. Not at the time, Twitter 509 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,440 Speaker 1: was looking around for a potential buyer. It would have 510 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 1: to wait another six years for that to happen. The 511 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:40,400 Speaker 1: co founders for Vine had already left the company by 512 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:44,720 Speaker 1: twenty six and Twitter was shifting focus to Periscope, which 513 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:48,920 Speaker 1: is its live streaming service that got incorporated into Twitter itself. 514 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:53,000 Speaker 1: Vines Shine had worn off with people migrating to other 515 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:57,880 Speaker 1: platforms for short form video, and so it died. Now recently, 516 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:00,960 Speaker 1: Elon Musk has talked about potentially bringing Vine back, though 517 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:04,040 Speaker 1: things are so chaotic over at Twitter right now that 518 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 1: I'm not sure if that's still high up on the 519 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:08,760 Speaker 1: priority list. I mean, I'm hearing that the company has 520 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:12,560 Speaker 1: stopped paying rent on its offices as a cost cutting measure. 521 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:16,200 Speaker 1: So things are all sorts of messy over there. All right, 522 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:18,160 Speaker 1: We're gonna take another quick break. When we come back, 523 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:22,400 Speaker 1: we will power through the rest of the history of 524 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:25,400 Speaker 1: social networks, at least as far as I have deigned 525 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:38,240 Speaker 1: to cover it. But first these messages. Okay, we're back 526 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:41,280 Speaker 1: and we're up to because, like I said, we're seeing 527 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:44,840 Speaker 1: fewer and fewer launches at this point. So in a 528 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:49,600 Speaker 1: service called yik yak launched. It incubated here in Atlanta. 529 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:51,920 Speaker 1: At one point I even had the task of interviewing 530 00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:54,680 Speaker 1: the co founders of yak yak. That night was one 531 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:58,520 Speaker 1: of the low points of my career. Anyway. Yik Yek's 532 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:02,800 Speaker 1: pitch was that it was as an anonymous, regionalized message 533 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:06,240 Speaker 1: board of sorts. So logging into yik yak would show 534 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:08,640 Speaker 1: you messages that were left by people who were in 535 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:12,240 Speaker 1: your general area, like within five miles of where you were, 536 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:16,200 Speaker 1: but you didn't have, you know, persistent user names or 537 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:18,840 Speaker 1: anything like that to go by. You know. The idea 538 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:22,040 Speaker 1: was that you wouldn't be able to positively link a 539 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:26,240 Speaker 1: post to a specific person easily. The folks would figure 540 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:29,560 Speaker 1: out ways to do that using various tricks. So the 541 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:31,520 Speaker 1: idea was that you could have the equivalent of a 542 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:34,200 Speaker 1: local bulletin board, and you could leave stuff up on 543 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:38,000 Speaker 1: the bulletin board anonymously. And the service was mainly targeting 544 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:41,920 Speaker 1: places like college campuses. And if you think, hey, this 545 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:44,160 Speaker 1: sounds like it wouldn't take very much for folks to 546 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:47,640 Speaker 1: use this kind of service to heap abuse on each other. Well, 547 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:51,800 Speaker 1: you're right, now. That's not to say everyone using yik 548 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:55,240 Speaker 1: yak was doing so maliciously or with old terrier motives 549 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:58,719 Speaker 1: or anything like that, but the combination of anonymity and 550 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:02,840 Speaker 1: locality and vitably led to abuse. There were real issues 551 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:06,360 Speaker 1: with content moderation right off the bat, and folks who 552 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:10,840 Speaker 1: are already vulnerable were in a particularly bad place. Let 553 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:15,760 Speaker 1: me create a hypothetical situation to illustrate a potential problem 554 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:19,760 Speaker 1: with yak yak. Let's say there is a queer identifying 555 00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:23,400 Speaker 1: student on a college campus, and that this student hasn't 556 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:27,040 Speaker 1: chosen to come out for whatever reason. But let's say 557 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:31,640 Speaker 1: an acquaintance of this student has learned about their sexual 558 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:37,000 Speaker 1: orientation and anonymously decides to blast that information on yik yak, 559 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:41,560 Speaker 1: you know, revealing this student's sexual orientation, even though they 560 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:45,480 Speaker 1: themselves have not chosen to do that. Now other folks 561 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:48,040 Speaker 1: in the area have learned of this very personal detail 562 00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:51,920 Speaker 1: that our student didn't want to share for whatever reason, 563 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:56,360 Speaker 1: that could bring our hypothetical student into real danger, either 564 00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:00,960 Speaker 1: from others or, depending on the circumstances, potentially from themselves. 565 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:05,320 Speaker 1: So the potential for harm was considerable, and this sort 566 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:09,000 Speaker 1: of stuff was actually playing out in various places. Not 567 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:11,520 Speaker 1: to say that every interaction on yik yak was bad, 568 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:13,640 Speaker 1: or even that most of them were, or that there 569 00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:16,719 Speaker 1: weren't some really valuable interactions on yak kak. There were, 570 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:20,160 Speaker 1: It's just the potential for harm was one that was 571 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:25,360 Speaker 1: becoming increasingly undeniable. So on several campuses, yek yak was 572 00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:28,200 Speaker 1: called out for a facilitating hate speech. Now, there is 573 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:30,640 Speaker 1: a good argument to be made that the students behind 574 00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:33,200 Speaker 1: the hate speech are really the ones to blame, right, 575 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:36,439 Speaker 1: they're the ones at fault. However, yik yak was giving 576 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:39,880 Speaker 1: these students essentially a megaphone to amplify their hate, and 577 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:43,280 Speaker 1: to do so under the cover of anonymity. Yik yak 578 00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:47,720 Speaker 1: incorporated geo fencing into the app, and this essentially would 579 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:53,000 Speaker 1: digitally erase certain areas, particularly around things like high schools 580 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:56,440 Speaker 1: and such, from yek Yak's service, and so it was 581 00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:58,920 Speaker 1: an effort to cut back on harassment and bullying. It 582 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:03,640 Speaker 1: wouldn't allow you to post anything within those specific regions. 583 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:06,400 Speaker 1: You'd have to move out of the area before you 584 00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:10,640 Speaker 1: could post something to yak kak. Now, yik Yak was controversial, 585 00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:13,360 Speaker 1: but it also lost a lot of steam pretty quickly, 586 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:17,799 Speaker 1: partly because, in an effort to fight against the the 587 00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:22,080 Speaker 1: pressure that the creators were getting from various outlets UH, 588 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:27,040 Speaker 1: they tried to tie identities to accounts, and once you 589 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:29,839 Speaker 1: stripped anonymity away, a lot of people said, oh, well, 590 00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:32,800 Speaker 1: now I don't want to use it, and some something 591 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:37,160 Speaker 1: like users had dumped it by six So the following year, 592 00:35:37,239 --> 00:35:41,200 Speaker 1: yek Yak would shut down, and Square Incorporated bought the 593 00:35:41,239 --> 00:35:44,760 Speaker 1: assets of yek Yak for about a million dollars. Square 594 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:48,120 Speaker 1: was founded by Jack Dorsey of Twitter, which gives us 595 00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:53,880 Speaker 1: another social network connection now in one. Some entity whose 596 00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:57,080 Speaker 1: identity I do not know bought the yik Yak I 597 00:35:57,239 --> 00:36:00,799 Speaker 1: p and a relaunched version of yik Yak came out 598 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:04,960 Speaker 1: in August of two thousand twenty one for iOS. Android 599 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:08,560 Speaker 1: users wouldn't get their version until twenty two this year. 600 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:12,400 Speaker 1: As I record this, the services again the subject of controversy. 601 00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:16,040 Speaker 1: There have been incidents of harassment, there's been bullying problems. 602 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:19,400 Speaker 1: There's been a surprising number of bomb threats called at 603 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:23,560 Speaker 1: various college campuses following the launch of the app. So 604 00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:26,319 Speaker 1: there's no telling how long this version of your cack 605 00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:30,040 Speaker 1: will last. The company whoever is running it says that 606 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:33,120 Speaker 1: it has a one strike and you're out policy, saying 607 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:36,080 Speaker 1: that if you do anything to violate the terms of service, 608 00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:40,360 Speaker 1: that's it. Your band, that's something. But it remains to 609 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:43,160 Speaker 1: be seen if that approach to content moderation is actually 610 00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:45,880 Speaker 1: going to be enough to keep Apple and Google from 611 00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:49,080 Speaker 1: pulling the app out of its stores, because they have 612 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:53,359 Speaker 1: done that in the past for other services. Okay, now 613 00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:55,600 Speaker 1: we're up to two thousand fourteen, when a pair of 614 00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:59,399 Speaker 1: Chinese developers, having struggled to build a product that would 615 00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:02,839 Speaker 1: have a st on commercial value, developed an app that 616 00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:07,440 Speaker 1: let users upload short video snippets of themselves lip syncing 617 00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:12,360 Speaker 1: to popular music. This became a service called musical dot 618 00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:16,279 Speaker 1: l Y or Musically, and it became a bit of 619 00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:20,840 Speaker 1: a fad, just not in China now now, the place 620 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:25,279 Speaker 1: where Musically became a success was in America. Now, that 621 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:30,080 Speaker 1: early success shifted the team's focus to support services in 622 00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:32,879 Speaker 1: the United States instead of in China. They weren't big 623 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,600 Speaker 1: enough to do both, and China just wasn't It wasn't 624 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:40,120 Speaker 1: taking off there, so they established an office in Santa Monica, California, 625 00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:44,360 Speaker 1: and the app became pretty darn popular. You also started 626 00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:47,520 Speaker 1: seeing these videos pop up on other social networks like 627 00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:51,000 Speaker 1: Facebook and Twitter and YouTube. From two thousand fourteen to 628 00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:54,719 Speaker 1: two thousand seventeen, the app continued to enjoy success, primarily 629 00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:59,760 Speaker 1: among American teenagers and renaissance festival performers. For some reason, 630 00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:04,480 Speaker 1: and in two thousand seventeen, another Chinese company, this one 631 00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:09,160 Speaker 1: with the name Byte Dance, would acquire Musically for several 632 00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:12,680 Speaker 1: hundred million dollars. Some estimates made that as high as 633 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:16,000 Speaker 1: a billion. All right, now we have to switch gears 634 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:18,960 Speaker 1: for just a second because this next bit is part 635 00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:22,960 Speaker 1: of Musically's story too, but it's a separate branch that 636 00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:27,320 Speaker 1: converges with Musically. So we go back to two thousands sixteen, 637 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:31,920 Speaker 1: so before by Dance acquires Musically. At this point, Musically 638 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:34,840 Speaker 1: is doing well in the United States, and by Dance 639 00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:40,520 Speaker 1: in China launches a service called daw Yan that's d 640 00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:44,680 Speaker 1: o u y i n. Daw Yan is a short 641 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:48,320 Speaker 1: form video service giving users the ability to record videos 642 00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:51,600 Speaker 1: ranging in length from just a few seconds to up 643 00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:55,440 Speaker 1: to around ten minutes. Daw Yan saw rapid adoption in China. 644 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:59,360 Speaker 1: It was successful there, but Byte Dance also wanted to 645 00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:02,680 Speaker 1: expand and into other markets. The company realized, like, in 646 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:05,640 Speaker 1: order to be really successful, we need to go to 647 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:09,400 Speaker 1: other places where there are you know, billions of other people. 648 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:14,200 Speaker 1: So this can be challenging for Chinese companies. So Bye 649 00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:17,800 Speaker 1: Dances thinking, how do we expand, how do we build 650 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:20,600 Speaker 1: on the success we're seeing here in China in other places? 651 00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:24,560 Speaker 1: And the answer came in the form of musically. So 652 00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:30,000 Speaker 1: Byte Dance in acquires Musically. Then it's sort of mushed 653 00:39:30,239 --> 00:39:35,160 Speaker 1: musically up with dow Yan. This created a new company, 654 00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:39,680 Speaker 1: a new service called TikTok. So musically kind of grew 655 00:39:39,719 --> 00:39:42,919 Speaker 1: a whole bunch of features and became TikTok. So Bye 656 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:46,600 Speaker 1: Dance then got access to musically He's American user base, 657 00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:50,680 Speaker 1: and meanwhile musically as users got access to lots of 658 00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:54,759 Speaker 1: daw Yan features like filters and lens effects and that 659 00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:57,280 Speaker 1: kind of stuff, And that is the birth of TikTok, 660 00:39:57,400 --> 00:40:03,320 Speaker 1: which dates to around now. TikTok obviously became incredibly popular. 661 00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:07,000 Speaker 1: It attracted younger users, much to the chagrin of companies 662 00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:11,480 Speaker 1: like Meta Slash Facebook, which desperately wants younger users in 663 00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:14,640 Speaker 1: order to flesh out its steadily aging user base on 664 00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:18,680 Speaker 1: its other platforms, and TikTok being the subsidiary of a 665 00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:22,160 Speaker 1: Chinese company has become the subject of a lot of 666 00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:26,880 Speaker 1: controversy here in the United States. Representatives from both sides 667 00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:30,799 Speaker 1: of the political aisle, meaning both liberals and conservatives or 668 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:35,480 Speaker 1: Democrats and Republicans, have called for a ban on TikTok 669 00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:39,040 Speaker 1: unless the company becomes a wholly owned and operated US 670 00:40:39,120 --> 00:40:43,399 Speaker 1: company with no connections to a Chinese one. For its part, 671 00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:46,480 Speaker 1: TikTok has repeatedly made changes to try and stay in 672 00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:52,400 Speaker 1: operation while still remaining a byte Dance subsidiary. Uh, they 673 00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:56,320 Speaker 1: migrated all of their data onto US owned and operated 674 00:40:56,400 --> 00:41:00,480 Speaker 1: servers that are owned by Oracle, And they've also you know, 675 00:41:00,840 --> 00:41:03,880 Speaker 1: crossed their hearts and hope to die and promise that 676 00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:07,560 Speaker 1: the company is not some sort of intelligence gathering front 677 00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:11,480 Speaker 1: for the Chinese Communist Party. But there's still a major 678 00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:15,080 Speaker 1: concern in the United States that ranges from worrying that 679 00:41:15,160 --> 00:41:19,200 Speaker 1: TikTok is in fact an intelligence gathering tool that's just 680 00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:24,120 Speaker 1: funneling data about US citizens off to the Chinese government, 681 00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:30,160 Speaker 1: to a really addictive social network that's ruining kids minds 682 00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:34,200 Speaker 1: by having them focus on these short form videos, and 683 00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:36,759 Speaker 1: now they can't pay attention to anything that's longer than 684 00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:40,920 Speaker 1: ten seconds. If that's true, I'm doomed because, um, this 685 00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:43,680 Speaker 1: episode is already more than forty minutes long, So no 686 00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:47,479 Speaker 1: one's ever gonna listen to me right anyway, The fate 687 00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:50,680 Speaker 1: of TikTok has yet to be decided. Like as we talk, 688 00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:55,640 Speaker 1: there are uh lawmakers who are pushing forward proposed bills 689 00:41:55,719 --> 00:41:59,640 Speaker 1: to ban TikTok, but there's no telling that that's actually 690 00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:03,680 Speaker 1: going to become a thing. Meanwhile, Biden is actually looking 691 00:42:03,719 --> 00:42:07,359 Speaker 1: President Biden in the United States is looking to come 692 00:42:07,400 --> 00:42:11,160 Speaker 1: to an agreement with TikTok for a means of operation 693 00:42:11,760 --> 00:42:16,040 Speaker 1: where there are assurances that national security is fine, that 694 00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:19,719 Speaker 1: TikTok is not doing anything to endanger American citizens, and 695 00:42:19,719 --> 00:42:22,439 Speaker 1: that it can continue to operate as it has been. 696 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:27,279 Speaker 1: So that this is still an unfolding situation. Uh, my 697 00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:31,520 Speaker 1: guess is that if politicians do vote to ban TikTok, 698 00:42:32,080 --> 00:42:35,200 Speaker 1: they're gonna upset a whole bunch of future voters. But 699 00:42:35,280 --> 00:42:37,759 Speaker 1: I guess they figured that's a problem for future politicians. 700 00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:43,880 Speaker 1: In two thousand fifteen, gamers, slash developers slash entrepreneurs stand 701 00:42:44,320 --> 00:42:50,560 Speaker 1: Vishnevsky and Jason Citron launched Discord, which actually grew out 702 00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:54,520 Speaker 1: of a failed attempt to make a compelling online multiplayer game. 703 00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:59,120 Speaker 1: So the game didn't turn out so well, but one 704 00:42:59,200 --> 00:43:02,359 Speaker 1: feature within the game was a big hit, and that 705 00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:06,120 Speaker 1: was the chat feature built into the game system. And 706 00:43:06,200 --> 00:43:11,440 Speaker 1: Citron and Vishnevskley realized that generally speaking, in game communication 707 00:43:11,520 --> 00:43:15,799 Speaker 1: systems stink and worse yet, the tools that gamers were 708 00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:19,640 Speaker 1: using to get around that also weren't that good because 709 00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:22,239 Speaker 1: not every game has an in game communication system in 710 00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:25,000 Speaker 1: the first place, and those that do have them a 711 00:43:25,040 --> 00:43:27,640 Speaker 1: lot of them leave a lot to be desired. So 712 00:43:27,719 --> 00:43:30,040 Speaker 1: these two come up with an idea, why not create 713 00:43:30,080 --> 00:43:34,359 Speaker 1: a service that lets gamers create a virtual space, which 714 00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:37,480 Speaker 1: that would be called a server that that's more of 715 00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:41,160 Speaker 1: a term of convenience than of accuracy, You're not really 716 00:43:41,200 --> 00:43:45,120 Speaker 1: talking about specific like physical server here, and then use 717 00:43:45,239 --> 00:43:48,960 Speaker 1: that space to communicate with one another no matter what 718 00:43:49,120 --> 00:43:51,960 Speaker 1: type of game they might want to play. And it 719 00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:54,319 Speaker 1: took some time to work out the technical bugs and 720 00:43:54,400 --> 00:43:57,000 Speaker 1: get voice chat to be really reliable, but by the 721 00:43:57,040 --> 00:44:00,359 Speaker 1: spring of two thousand fifteen, Discord was starting to get 722 00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:04,560 Speaker 1: attention in gaming circles. Over time, people would create Discord 723 00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:07,759 Speaker 1: servers for all sorts of stuff, not just gaming. There 724 00:44:07,800 --> 00:44:12,600 Speaker 1: are Discord servers that center around specific hobbies, specific communities, 725 00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:16,960 Speaker 1: and specific creators or shows. I keep thinking I should 726 00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:21,040 Speaker 1: really launch I think actually do have a Discord for 727 00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:24,600 Speaker 1: tech stuff, but I don't have the time to maintain 728 00:44:24,640 --> 00:44:27,719 Speaker 1: it properly. I need to get somebody to be able 729 00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:29,960 Speaker 1: to do that for me, or at least with me, 730 00:44:30,400 --> 00:44:33,719 Speaker 1: so that it doesn't overwhelm me and and prevent me 731 00:44:33,760 --> 00:44:36,080 Speaker 1: from doing everything else I have to do for my job. 732 00:44:36,320 --> 00:44:38,120 Speaker 1: But I keep thinking I need to have one, because 733 00:44:38,120 --> 00:44:41,520 Speaker 1: I would love to have a nice, healthy tech stuff 734 00:44:41,560 --> 00:44:45,040 Speaker 1: community of listeners who could chat with each other and 735 00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:48,440 Speaker 1: suggest show topics and just get to know one another. 736 00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:51,120 Speaker 1: I would love for that to happen. Um, I just 737 00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:53,680 Speaker 1: haven't had the time to be able to dedicate it 738 00:44:53,719 --> 00:44:57,480 Speaker 1: to make it a good place. So yeah, But anyway, 739 00:44:57,520 --> 00:45:02,520 Speaker 1: Discord is another kind of al heternative to other social networks. 740 00:45:02,840 --> 00:45:04,640 Speaker 1: And now we're in the home stretch and I don't 741 00:45:04,719 --> 00:45:07,280 Speaker 1: have as much to say about these because they're all younger, 742 00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:11,520 Speaker 1: So there's not that much history. Uh, in we got mastedon. 743 00:45:12,239 --> 00:45:14,880 Speaker 1: Not the heavy metal band that Camp comes out of Atlanta, 744 00:45:14,880 --> 00:45:17,319 Speaker 1: because they've been around since like two thousand. But I'm 745 00:45:17,360 --> 00:45:20,560 Speaker 1: talking about the software people are using to create servers 746 00:45:20,600 --> 00:45:24,560 Speaker 1: that kind of like an island of a social network. Um. 747 00:45:24,719 --> 00:45:28,520 Speaker 1: Mastadon came out of the ideas of a German programmer 748 00:45:28,600 --> 00:45:32,680 Speaker 1: named Eugene Rochko. He graduated university and came up with 749 00:45:32,680 --> 00:45:35,239 Speaker 1: this idea. He liked Twitter, but he didn't like that 750 00:45:35,280 --> 00:45:38,080 Speaker 1: a service could be subjected to the whim of a company, or, 751 00:45:38,200 --> 00:45:41,200 Speaker 1: as we would discover in two, the whims of a 752 00:45:41,200 --> 00:45:44,840 Speaker 1: temperamental billionaire. He wanted to approach social networks from a 753 00:45:44,880 --> 00:45:48,560 Speaker 1: decentralized standpoint, and thus developed the idea of these independent 754 00:45:48,640 --> 00:45:53,080 Speaker 1: social network islands, which are called servers and macedon. So 755 00:45:53,120 --> 00:45:55,480 Speaker 1: when you join Mastadon, you actually have to choose a 756 00:45:55,560 --> 00:45:59,160 Speaker 1: home server and that becomes your base of operations. But 757 00:45:59,239 --> 00:46:02,319 Speaker 1: it doesn't limit communication to just other people who are 758 00:46:02,360 --> 00:46:05,799 Speaker 1: also on that same server. Uh. It is easier to 759 00:46:05,840 --> 00:46:08,840 Speaker 1: communicate and to find people who are on your own 760 00:46:08,920 --> 00:46:11,680 Speaker 1: server than it is to find people and communicate with 761 00:46:11,719 --> 00:46:14,200 Speaker 1: them who are on other servers. But it's still possible. 762 00:46:14,239 --> 00:46:18,080 Speaker 1: It's still something that you can do. Each server has 763 00:46:18,120 --> 00:46:20,719 Speaker 1: its own policies, so that's something to be aware of 764 00:46:20,760 --> 00:46:23,759 Speaker 1: before you join one. You might want a server that has, 765 00:46:24,200 --> 00:46:26,880 Speaker 1: you know, lots of protections in place for users, for example, 766 00:46:27,320 --> 00:46:30,160 Speaker 1: or maybe you prefer one that's a little more loosey goosey. 767 00:46:30,200 --> 00:46:33,880 Speaker 1: But unlike other social networks, massed on is not ad supported. 768 00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:37,720 Speaker 1: It is community supported instead, so it might be attractive 769 00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:40,120 Speaker 1: to folks who are tired of having their personal data 770 00:46:40,200 --> 00:46:43,560 Speaker 1: harvested and sold all over the place. Massadon saw a 771 00:46:43,560 --> 00:46:45,920 Speaker 1: big upsurge of membership when the drama over at Twitter 772 00:46:45,960 --> 00:46:49,200 Speaker 1: really took off, as Elon must put control. I'll say 773 00:46:49,200 --> 00:46:51,439 Speaker 1: that it's a little less user friendly than some other 774 00:46:51,480 --> 00:46:54,080 Speaker 1: social networks, but you get out of it what you 775 00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:59,200 Speaker 1: put into it. Now, let's wrap up around this time, 776 00:46:59,239 --> 00:47:01,680 Speaker 1: around twenties sixteen or so, we started to see a 777 00:47:01,840 --> 00:47:04,960 Speaker 1: rise of far right politics here in the United States. 778 00:47:05,239 --> 00:47:07,319 Speaker 1: It's been going on all over the world, but in 779 00:47:07,360 --> 00:47:10,640 Speaker 1: the US that's really when it started to become evident. Uh. 780 00:47:10,760 --> 00:47:13,120 Speaker 1: The A few social networks have appeared and taken on 781 00:47:13,160 --> 00:47:16,560 Speaker 1: the role of serving as a kind of foundation, like 782 00:47:16,600 --> 00:47:20,000 Speaker 1: a meeting ground for people who share far right views. 783 00:47:20,040 --> 00:47:23,600 Speaker 1: So these sites include ones like gab, which was founded 784 00:47:23,600 --> 00:47:28,480 Speaker 1: in twenty sixteen by Andrew Torba and Ekram Buyuka. I'm 785 00:47:28,520 --> 00:47:32,280 Speaker 1: sure of this pronounced his name or their name. I apologize. 786 00:47:32,680 --> 00:47:34,880 Speaker 1: There was Parlor, which was founded in two thousand eighteen 787 00:47:34,920 --> 00:47:38,759 Speaker 1: by John Matt's Jr. Jared Thompson, and Rebecca Mercer, and 788 00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:44,399 Speaker 1: of course truth Social, founded in one by Donald Trump. Now, 789 00:47:44,400 --> 00:47:47,759 Speaker 1: these platforms share some common goals, namely to serve as 790 00:47:47,760 --> 00:47:50,400 Speaker 1: a place that is free from the perceived censorship found 791 00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:55,640 Speaker 1: on mainstream platforms. I do say perceived censorship on platforms 792 00:47:55,640 --> 00:47:59,400 Speaker 1: like Facebook and Twitter. There's a persistent but largely unfounded 793 00:47:59,440 --> 00:48:02,719 Speaker 1: belief that the sites have a hefty anti conservative bias. Now, 794 00:48:02,719 --> 00:48:06,360 Speaker 1: in my experience, the real issue is that content moderation 795 00:48:06,440 --> 00:48:12,279 Speaker 1: policies bump up against certain extremist rhetoric like hate speech, misinformation, 796 00:48:12,320 --> 00:48:14,400 Speaker 1: that kind of thing. So it's not so much that 797 00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:17,160 Speaker 1: there's a problem with conservative points of view, but rather 798 00:48:17,280 --> 00:48:21,920 Speaker 1: problems with things that people who will also identify themselves 799 00:48:21,960 --> 00:48:26,440 Speaker 1: as conservatives sometimes employ. And this is a huge disservice 800 00:48:26,760 --> 00:48:30,239 Speaker 1: to anyone who is a conservative but does not you 801 00:48:30,280 --> 00:48:33,759 Speaker 1: know advocate for things like hate speech. I feel for 802 00:48:33,800 --> 00:48:35,840 Speaker 1: you out there. I am not a conservative, but I 803 00:48:35,840 --> 00:48:42,760 Speaker 1: feel for those conservatives who are consistently represented by people 804 00:48:42,960 --> 00:48:48,440 Speaker 1: who are um hate mongers. That has to be exhausting anyway. 805 00:48:48,560 --> 00:48:51,080 Speaker 1: Gab Parlor and truth Social have all been cited as 806 00:48:51,120 --> 00:48:54,640 Speaker 1: serving as a home for hate speech and extremism. And again, 807 00:48:54,719 --> 00:48:57,600 Speaker 1: I'm sure that people who identify as conservatives who don't 808 00:48:57,640 --> 00:49:00,880 Speaker 1: adhere to those beliefs are sick and tired of that. 809 00:49:01,080 --> 00:49:04,960 Speaker 1: So not great for those folks, but yeah, that that's 810 00:49:05,000 --> 00:49:07,440 Speaker 1: the reputation they have. They've also had a really rocky 811 00:49:07,480 --> 00:49:12,080 Speaker 1: reputation and history with Apple and Google and have often 812 00:49:12,160 --> 00:49:16,200 Speaker 1: seen their services pulled from those stores. Boom, that's it. 813 00:49:16,440 --> 00:49:19,560 Speaker 1: I'm done. That's the history of social networks as far 814 00:49:19,600 --> 00:49:22,320 Speaker 1: as I'm concerned. I left some out, but I covered 815 00:49:22,360 --> 00:49:25,120 Speaker 1: the big ones, and we saw the different waves of similarity, 816 00:49:25,400 --> 00:49:29,879 Speaker 1: including this one of far right uh platforms. But that's 817 00:49:29,920 --> 00:49:31,840 Speaker 1: it for this episode. I don't even have time to 818 00:49:31,840 --> 00:49:35,280 Speaker 1: sign off. I'm just gonna go and have a cookie 819 00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:44,760 Speaker 1: and I'll talk to you again really soon. Text Stuff 820 00:49:44,840 --> 00:49:48,040 Speaker 1: is an I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from 821 00:49:48,040 --> 00:49:51,799 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, 822 00:49:51,920 --> 00:49:53,920 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.