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    2016 Year in Perspective – Will McGinness

    By Mike MorgeraUpdated:No Comments1085 Views
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    1) The election spurred a ton of work from our industry this year. It was like nothing we’ve ever experienced before in our national history, so it was reassuring to see the industry respond in such a passionate way. I hope we will continue to be as vigilant and vocal as we move ahead into the great unknown.

    2) We’re constantly adapting to the needs of our clients which has led to new offerings like VBP Retail Ops which is focused on elevating Retail and the development of a more robust social newsroom. 

    We’ve also created a program to have more diversity initiatives at the agency. Given the crazy cultural climate we’re in right now, these efforts are more important than ever.

    3) If I had to pick one I’d say that we had a banner year with Audi. For the 205 mph Audi R8, we imagined a world free of traffic lights, speed limits and congestion. Then we partnered with Airbnb to make it a reality.

    During the presidential debates we aired a spot called “Duel” that served as a reminder that beautiful things are worth fighting for.

    4) VR is coming like a meteor. The industry is actively working to understand the new potential of this medium and I’d expect to see great things coming as more and more people finally get the headsets. It’ll also bring more fodder for the writers of Black Mirror.

    Will McGinness
    Partner, Executive Creative Director
    Venables Bell and Partners



    Growth Brings Growing Pains–and Bots–To Bluesky

    Sunday, December 22, 2024

    Bluesky has seen its user base soar since the U.S. presidential election, boosted by people seeking refuge from Elon Musk's X, which they view as increasingly leaning too far to the right given its owner's support of President-elect Donald Trump, or wanting an alternative to Meta's Threads and its algorithms.

    The platform grew out of the company then known as Twitter, championed by its former CEO Jack Dorsey. Its decentralized approach to social networking was eventually intended to replace Twitter's core mechanic. That's unlikely now that the two companies have parted ways. But Bluesky's growth trajectory — with a user base that has more than doubled since October — could make it a serious competitor to other social platforms.

    But with growth comes growing pains. It's not just human users who've been flocking to Bluesky but also bots, including those designed to create partisan division or direct users to junk websites.

    The skyrocketing user base — now surpassing 25 million — is the biggest test yet for a relatively young platform that has branded itself as a social media alternative free of the problems plaguing its competitors. According to research firm Similarweb, Bluesky added 7.6 million monthly active app users on iOS and Android in November, an increase of 295.4% since October. It also saw 56.2 million desktop and mobile web visits, in the same period, up 189% from October.

    Besides the U.S. elections, Bluesky also got a boost when X was briefly banned in Brazil.

    "They got this spike in attention, they've crossed the threshold where it is now worth it for people to flood the platform with spam," said Laura Edelson, an assistant professor of computer science at Northeastern University and a member of Issue One's... Read More

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