Mediaboss Marketing

One morning in her freshman year, Jasmine Sun got a text from her mom: Dont you have class right now? Why are you in your dorm?

Her mom, Joan Chen, lives in the Seattle area and had noticed that Jasmines location cursor on Life360, the location-sharing service where family members can keep tabs on each other, was still in her dorm room at Stanford. Like many college students, Jasmine had overslept and had skipped lecture that daysomething she didn't necessarily want her mom to know.

My mom liked Life360. Jasmine groans at the memory from her current dorm room at Oxford University, where shes spending the semester. But I didnt have options about what I wanted to share.

Now her family has a way of sharing what they want to when they want to. In November, ahead of her winter quarter at Oxford, Jasmine gently suggested that her mom and teen sister, who still lives at home, both download an app that had just announced its launch on Twitter: Cocoon, founded by two former Facebook employees, Alex Cornell and Sachin Monga.

On paper, Cocoon sounds a lot like Facebook: it wants to connect people in virtual space. The difference is that it only wants to connect family members in small, distinct groups. Imagine a feed of updates from family membersyour brother announcing that hed landed on his work trip, a video of your niece learning to walk, a location cursor on a cousin backpacking through Europeall attached to a messaging capability that threads conversations, and all restricted to the members of your group (12 is the current maximum).

Its not necessarily about broadcasting highlights or crafting my identity or gaining status, Monga says. You occupy this space with just these people. Theres no network.

Cocoon is one of a new wave of apps aiming to change the way we interact on social media. These new platforms dont encourage you to accumulate likes or followers, or require that you diligently craft an online persona. Instead they want you to connect with a small, curated group of people, and thats it.

Apps like Dex, founded by Kevin Sun, often make use of an old business standby, customer relationship management (CRM) software. CRMs are reliable and bland, akin to an Excel spreadsheet: theyre used to log the name of a contact alongside other relevant information, like birthdays, quirks, or passions.

I was one of those people that had a spreadsheet for my friends and personal relationships, says Sun, the founder of Dex, a personal CRM that its website claims gives you relationship superpowers.

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Theres also Monaru, founded by three Irish students who felt unmoored when they left college and came to the US. It employs a virtual concierge to help members remember birthdays, sending reminders to buy gifts or call a relative. Patrick Finlay, a cofounder, tinkered with Excel and set up reminders to call his loved ones but found that intertwining his personal and professional lives was weird. Instead, for a fee, Monaru pings you every so often if the app notices you havent called a close friend or loved one.

But if Dex and Monaru are trying to redefine the CRM, Cocoon wants to redefine social networksand thats a much bigger task.

Unwanted overlapping

The current social-media model isnt quite right for family sharing. Different generations tend to congregate in different places: Facebook is Boomer paradise, Instagram appeals to Millennials, TikTok is GenZ central. (WhatsApp has helped bridge the generational divide, but its focus on messaging is limiting.)

Updating family about a vacation across platformsvia Instagram stories or on Facebook, for examplemight not always be appropriate. Do you really want your cubicle pal, your acquaintance from book club, and your high school frenemy to be looped in as well?

Social media treats everyonea friend, a family member, an acquaintancethe same, says Courtney Walsh, a lecturer in human development and family sciences at the University of Texas who consulted for Cocoon. I would argue that what we are doing is impersonal on social media.

Cocoon aims to change the way we share. It launched on Thanksgiving, with more than 10,000 users signing up from 163 countries that week, according to Monga. Everything you post stays within the group. The app is its own small world: a feed is the home screen, greeting users with updates since they last signed on; messaging capabilities include threads to help corral conversations. Photos, videos, and links are shared in a vault that all members can access.

We dont track time spent, which is a pretty common goal to optimize for, Cornell said. We dont care about that. The whole point is that you should be able to check in and want to connect with it. I want them [users] to have the warm fuzzy feeling, versus the crippling anxiety of logging on to Twitter.

Conor Muirhead, a software developer based in Washington state, first heard about Cocoon through a group chat at his workplace, and it piqued his interest. He is morally opposed to using Facebook products because of its data practices (although he begrudgingly uses WhatsApp as a way to keep in touch with his family, which includes his dad Jim, who lives in Canada). He and his wife also recently took in a foster daughter and wanted a safe place to share pictures with the wider family. We wouldnt share photos and videos [otherwise], he says. We totally want our family to see the cute things shes doing.

He was hesitant to download yet another app but was intrigued by Cocoons promise that it wouldnt sell his private information to a third party. While it is free for now, Monga and Cornell say they eventually intend to monetize the app by selling subscriptions, not ads.

They seemed to be making the pitch that they wanted this to be a private, protected, secure place, says Muirhead.

That privacy is what Jasmine and Joan were able to negotiate when she was at Stanford and now at Oxford. With the app, Jasmine is able to share her location by city instead of GPS coordinates.

I think it brings us closer together [to not share exact location], Jasmine says. It feels more equal.

Kate Eichhorn, an associate professor of culture and media at the New School and author of The End of Forgetting: Growing Up With Social Media, has a name for this second wave of post-Facebook social media: micro-networks.

To Eichhorn, its only natural that the past decades data missteps have created a desire for smaller, better-defined networks. In fact, young people already create their own version of this using current social-media apps.

Tweens and teens are very aware of reputation management, she says. They already are creating micro-communities on Facebook and Instagram. Theyre looking for other places to do that.

How the subscription-supported business structure is received could be key to the success of apps like Cocoon. Eichhorn said shed be interested to see how that plays out after almost two decades of free social media accessible to anyone willing to hand over personal data. People arent used to paying.

Are people concerned enough about privacy to actually let go of the idea that these platforms should be free? she says. Will they subscribe to gain their privacy back?

The other big question is: Does it work? Does using an app actually make you feel closer to your family?

Anecdotally, both families I spoke to have noticed that the type of content posted on the app is more open and honest than the stuff posted to Instagram or Facebook.

Jasmine, for example, noted that she could post a hasty, even not-so-clear shot and feel fine about uploading it in a way she wouldnt with Instagram. There are norms [on Instagram], she tells me, saying she uses a finsta (a fake Instagram account) sometimes for closer friends.

Trust breeds authenticity, says Miriam Kirmayer, a clinical psychologist and friendship expert. Its much easier to share the less curated parts of our lives when we feel accepted for who we really are and are less fearful of perceived judgment or rejection.

Cocoon is a new app with a fairly small set of users, and that means bugs. The messaging isnt always smooth, either: chat defaults to photos over text, which made it annoying to use for the Muirhead family during dad Jims recent medical emergency. The family got so frustrated and annoyed by the double-tapping that they just switched over to WhatsApp.

Still, such micro-networks and the control they offer might redefine how we think about and use social media in the next decade, whether it is Cocoon or another app that follows in its wake.

In the tech world, people crash and burn quickly, but the idea of these controlled micro-communities is something that will persist, Eichhorn says.

Excerpt from:
Why private micro-networks could be the future of how we connect - MIT Technology Review

Prince Charles and Prince William are reportedly growing even more worried about Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex hoped to live a quieter life in Canada after stepping down as senior members of the royal family, but the media has proven just as invasive across the pond. Things have gotten arguably worse without the royal familys protection, which has prompted Prince Charles and Prince William to reach out with love and support.

Harry and Meghan have allegedly found it more difficultdealing with the media in Canada without the protection of the royal family.Their decision to step down has made the situation even worse, as the paparazziare looking for every opportunity to catch the couple in public.

According to Express, Charles and William have grown very concerned about Harry and Meghans well-being and have reached out in a show of support.

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After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution. We intend to step back as senior members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages. This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity. We look forward to sharing the full details of this exciting next step in due course, as we continue to collaborate with Her Majesty The Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge and all relevant parties. Until then, please accept our deepest thanks for your continued support. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex For more information, please visit sussexroyal.com (link in bio) Image PA

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Jan 8, 2020 at 10:33am PST

A source claims that Prince Charles and Prince William have told the Sussexes that they are welcome to return to the U.K. and will not be forced to take on any royal responsibilities. They are also preparing for the worst and are setting up a plan to get Harry and Meghan back if things turn south quickly.

Harry and Meghan announced their plan to away from the royal family earlier this month. As part of their new deal, the couple plans on splitting their time between the U.K. and Canada, though there has been some doubt about them ever returning to the U.K.

One reason Harry and Meghan decided to step down was to livea quieter life outside of the public eye. While they enjoyed a quieter life inCanada over the holidays, things have reached a tipping point since theirannouncement.

Harry and Meghan, for example, issued a statement warning the media against intruding on their private lives after the Duke of Sussex reunited with his family in Canada last week. Before the announcement, cameras caught Meghan hiding behind a row of bushes while she walked her son, Archie Harrison, and their two pets.

In light of the situation, palace courtiers say that the royal family is worried about Harry and Meghans safety. Although they dont expect the couple to return to the U.K. in the near future, they are making plans in the event that their stay in Canada turns bad.

The palace is very worried about the Sussexes, because theyare vulnerable outside the embrace of the family, the insider shared. Theyare making contingency plans in case the Sussexes suddenly turn round and say:Can we come back under your wing?

The insider added that the plans are for the future and thatPrince Charles and Prince William are not setting up a timeline. They justbelieve that Prince Harry and Meghans situation is very fragile and could getout of control quickly.

A few weeks ago, Harry and Meghan announced that they are nolonger going to be senior members of the royal family. Aside from living partof the year in Canada, they revealed that they want to become financiallyindependent from the crown.

Prince Harry met with Prince Charles, Prince William, and Queen Elizabeth in the days following his stunning announcement. Following the meetings, the royals revealed that Harry and Meghan will no longer be using their HRH titles.

The couple also plans to pay back the money that was used torenovate Frogmore Cottage, which was around $2.5 million.

It is unclear how Meghan and Harry plan on funding theiryearly endeavors, but they certainly have a lot of options to explore.

If what the sources say is true, then moving to Canada mightnot be in the best interest of Meghan and Harry. Although Meghan lived inToronto while filming Suits, it is acompletely different ball game now that she is a member of the royal family.

The biggest issue with relocating to Canada is the media.The press is Canada enjoys more freedom of expression than their Britishcounterparts, which could create a lot of problems for the couple down theroad.

If they do get tired of living in Canada, sources say theroyals will welcome them back with open arms.

Prince Charles has not commented on Prince Harry and Meghans decision.

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Prince Charles and Prince William Have Been 'Reaching Out' to 'Vulnerable' Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Ontario Government Protecting Students from Emerging Issue of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus

TORONTO Today, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, and Ross Romano, Minister of Colleges and Universities issued the following joint statement on the province's ongoing response to the emerging issue of the 2019 novel coronavirus:

"The health and well-being of Ontarians, including our postsecondary students and faculty from Canada and abroad, is our number one priority. Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health, and Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health, are in regular contact with leaders in the education field informing them of the province's extensive protocols to monitor, detect and contain any cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus. Most recently, Dr. Williams and Dr. Yaffe led briefings this week with leaders from Ontario's colleges and universities to provide the most up-to-date information.

Ontario is working closely with the Public Health Agency of Canada and local public health units to continue to actively monitor and respond to this emerging situation.

Existing protocols have been strengthened surrounding the identification and control of the 2019 novel coronavirus in Ontario. Everyone should take comfort in knowing that our skilled health care providers are bringing their considerable experience to effectively monitor and respond to any reported cases, including the two confirmed cases in Toronto.

To students who may be concerned about false information circulating online, the province has put in place new and trusted resources for you to stay informed, including a dedicated web page on the 2019 novel coronavirus.

We want to assure everyone that the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Colleges and Universities are working in cooperation with our partners in both the health care and postsecondary sectors to ensure the continued safety and well-being of our college and university communities."

To help educate Ontarians about the 2019 novel coronavirus, how they can protect themselves and what to do if they suspect they may be at risk, the province has launched a dedicated web page. There will also be regular updates provided to the media and key stakeholders to ensure the public is fully informed.

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Ontario Government Protecting Students from Emerging Issue of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus - Government of Ontario News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trumps impeachment trial may not result in his removal from office, but it could help determine whether his Republicans retain control of the Senate in the November congressional elections.

For the handful of senators who face tough re-election battles this year, their vote to acquit or convict Trump, or even to call witnesses in the trial, could loom large when voters consider whether to give them another six-year term, analysts said.

Republican strategist James Bowers predicted that the impeachment will play a major role in campaign ads for years.

We will be seeing the ghost of this impeachment for (election) cycles to come, Bowers said.

Democrats need to pick up four seats from Republicans to win a majority in the Nov. 3 election, in which Trump also will be on the ballot.

The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections and Sabatos Crystal Ball, three nonpartisan election services, estimate that between five and seven incumbent Senate Republicans are at risk of losing their seats, as do two incumbent Democrats.

Democratic political groups are scouring Republicans media appearances for statements about the trial they think may incense some voters, like saying there is no need to call witnesses. Then they are using these clips on social media to solicit donations for Republican opponents.

Trump was impeached by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives in December, which alleged he abused his powers and obstructed Congress by pressuring Ukraine to investigate a political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.

Trump says he has done nothing wrong. His acquittal is seen as likely in the Senate because at least 20 Republicans would have to vote for his removal.

Embattled Republicans like Corey Gardner of Colorado and Martha McSally of Arizona might face a voter backlash if they vote to wrap up the trial quickly, as Republican leaders want, instead of calling for more evidence and witnesses, which could potentially upend the proceeding.

It could add to their potential problems, if they look like partisan soldiers and not independent, free-thinking senators, said Stuart Rothenberg, senior editor at Inside Elections.

Voting against further evidence would shore up support from Trump conservatives back home, but it could hurt Republicans chances of appealing to independent voters in states such as Maine, where Republican Senator Susan Collins is hoping to win a fifth six-year term.

Collins already was facing a backlash over her vote for the 2017 tax-cut bill and her 2018 vote to confirm conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Now, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which works to elect Democrats, has launched a website to pressure her to vote for more witnesses and evidence, as she did in the 1999 impeachment trial of Democratic President Bill Clinton.

The normally easygoing Collins has bristled lately over trial procedures, after casting several preliminary votes against witnesses and evidence. She said she likely will vote to subpoena witnesses after both sides present their cases.

This thoughtful approach is what Mainers appreciate most, Collins spokesman Kevin Kelley said.

Gardner has sidestepped the question in Washington and at home in Colorado. A Gardner campaign official said political concerns would not influence his decisions during the trial.

McSally has taken a more confrontational approach, calling a CNN reporter a liberal hack after he asked her whether she would vote to see more evidence, and set up a website at http://www.liberalhack.com to raise money off the incident. An anti-Trump political group then bought http://www.liberalhack.org to fundraise against her. Her office declined to comment.

Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, another Republican running hard for re-election, has frequently criticized the Democrats case for impeachment during breaks in the trial.

Asked by Reuters about Trumps efforts to pressure Ukraine, Ernst said, He will do what he wants to do. Its probably not the way I would have handled it.

Another vulnerable Republican, North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, showed no sign of concern earlier this week, telling reporters that he intends to vote for Trumps acquittal.

Most Americans think senators should act as impartial jurors during the trial, a Reuters poll released last week found.

However, Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, warned that Democrats risk overplaying their hand because many independent voters did not want to see an impeachment trial in the first place.

Democrats are taking a big gamble, because it could just as easily go against them, he said.

Reporting by Richard Cowan and David Morgan; additional reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Cynthia Osterman

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There's something else at stake in Trump impeachment: control of U.S. Senate - Reuters

Call me a skeptic, but the continuous attacks on President Trump starting back when it was candidate Trump and continuing through today have always appeared as not a principled action but a message from the career politicians and the ruling class elites to anyone outside their circle of approval. If you are not one of us, or approved by us, you need not apply.

It must irk a career politician who was getting all their tickets punched and climbing the ladder to see someone come in at the top. The career politician, the Establishment, the ruling class is saying loud and clear, It happened once, it wont happen again. And if you try, we will destroy you, your family and your legacy."

The self-righteous and pious people who attack the president have put their ego, career, and desires above that of the country and citizenry. The media has perpetuated this situation by surrendering investigative reporting and fact-based coverage to the capture of soundbites and face time for themselves. Without a doubt each subsequent president will have to deal with their own impeachment sometime within their term.

Makes one wonder why any decent person would seek office.

Harrison Solt

Ledyard

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Establishment pols and media targeted Trump from day one - theday.com