Mediaboss Marketing

Introduction

Over the last decade, social media has increasingly become a resource for patients seeking information about their health. Studies have shown that the majority of patients are now seeking medical information online,1,2 with patients preferring sites such as Facebook and Twitter.3 These sites have grown to serve as free, attractive, and easy to use apps, with up to 85% of patients using social media to search for health information.4 Physicians and others in the medical field have knowingly increased their presence on these platforms to better educate and disseminate factual medical information, understanding that social media may be the first place that patients turn to for advice and information.57

As with many other fields of medicine, social media research in ophthalmology has primarily focused on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.811 However, these are not the only social media sites that patients are turning to for medical advice. With over 52 million and growing daily active users, Reddit is a popular social media site that patients are frequently turning to for specific medical advice because of its discussion forum type format.12 Reddit has proven to be a source of valuable patient information in other medical fields, such as dermatology, psychiatry, and radiology.1315 Despite its growing popularity, Reddit has yet to be fully explored within the field of ophthalmology.

Reddit offers a unique patient perspective because unlike other social media sites, its users are largely anonymous. This allows for them to make candid posts and comments in the various, individual communities that Reddit hosts on its site, known as subreddits. Within these subreddits, users are given the opportunity to upvote or downvote posts and comments to increase the visibility of information that the community deems useful. The vast majority of ophthalmology information can be found in two main ophthalmology subreddits, r/EyeTriage and r/Ophthalmology. A previous cross-sectional study analyzed the content of posts made in the r/EyeTriage subreddit, giving some insight into the information that patients are seeking within this community.16

The goal for this study is to investigate the other ophthalmology subreddit, r/Ophthalmology, to determine what topics in ophthalmology are of greatest interest to Reddit users and whether ophthalmic care is being recommended to those seeking advice. This information will allow us to better understand the perspectives and discussion of the ophthalmology patient population on Reddit.

This cross-sectional study analyzed posts and comments on the Reddit subreddit r/Ophthalmology to understand eye-related patient concerns. r/Ophthalmology was created on June 29, 2011 with the goal of answering general questions about eye topics by the public.17 As stated by the moderator, u/arcadeflyer, specific patient questions should be redirected to a different subreddit r/EyeTriage.18 Additionally, every post on the subreddit includes an automatic comment by an automoderator that explicitly states that questions from patients about their personal health will be removed. Despite this, many posts on the subreddit continue to be patient questions, providing a wealth of data for analysis. The subreddit is frequented by a wide variety of ophthalmic professionals, including ophthalmologists, optometrists, and ophthalmic technicians. Every user that makes a post is required to identify their background within the text and every user on the subreddit has the opportunity to self-identify their profession, which appear next to their username when they make posts or comments. Posts on the subreddit include advice, links, questions, topics for discussion, personal stories, and educational resources.

The public and anonymous posts and comments on r/Ophthalmology were accessed using the Python Reddit API Wrapper. This allowed the Python software to access the data structures within the Reddit interface and extract the necessary data. There was no interaction with individuals to retrieve this data and this data can be accessed without a Reddit account. Given the public and anonymous nature of this data, Institutional Review Board approval was not needed.19 Posts and comments from March 18, 2018 to November 9, 2020 were analyzed and those that were deleted or removed on or prior to November 9, 2020 were not included in the analysis.

After the extraction of posts and comments, the data was pre-processed to prepare it for analysis (Figure 1). The automoderator comment was removed from each post and excluded from analysis. Following this, all text within post and comments was analyzed for unique references to ophthalmic conditions from the American Academy of Ophthalmologys (AAOs) Eye Health A-Z through a keyword search and the frequency of each reference was evaluated. To isolate posts and comments for references to different types of medical care, the data was parsed for posts and comments that included ophth, opth, opto, eye doctor, professional, physician, primary care, appointment, medicine, medication, insurance, prescribe, or prescription, similar to previous methodology analyzing medical Reddit data.13 The resulting posts and comments were then evaluated to determine if they mentioned or recommended either ophthalmic care or other medical care. Medical care is defined as medical intervention, treatment, or professional evaluation.

Figure 1 Data processing and analysis flowchart.

Posts were considered to be recommending any type of medical care if (1) it was mentioned only within the comments of a post and not within the title or body of the post itself and (2) at least 1 commenter encouraged the original poster or another commenter to seek care. Posts were considered to be mentioning any type of medical care if (1) it was mentioned within the comments of a post or (2) within the title and/or body of the post itself. Posts that were found to both recommend and mention care were categorized as recommending care. Comments were considered to be recommending any type of medical care if the commenter encouraged the original poster or another commenter of the same post to seek care. Comments were considered to be mentioning any type of care if it was mentioned within the comment. Again, the presence of both a recommendation and mention was categorized as a recommendation of care. Posts and comments that referenced both ophthalmic care and other forms of medical care were considered references to ophthalmic care. Post and comments that did none of the above were also noted. Ophthalmic care was defined as references specifically to ophthalmologists, optometrists, and eye doctors. Counts of posts and comments in these various categories were then analyzed.

Statistical analysis was done in Python using built-in statistical packages for frequency and count analysis (Python Software Foundation. Python Language Reference, version 2.7. Available at http://www.python.org).

A total of 919 posts with 5345 non-automoderator comments were posted between March 18, 2018 and November 9, 2020. While posts that ask patient-specific questions were said to have been removed by the automoderator, almost half (403/919) of the posts available on the subreddit were found to be referencing patient questions. Furthermore, two-thirds (612/919) of the posts involved conversation surrounding medical care either within the post, subsequent comments, or both. Of the 5345 comments analyzed, 1196 were found to reference any type of medical care.

Amongst the 919 posts analyzed from r/Ophthalmology, the majority either mention (49%) or recommend (9.5%) ophthalmic care (Figure 2, Table 1). 7.7% of the posts mention other medical care and a negligible amount (0.4%) go as far as to recommend other medical care. Amongst the 5345 comments, the vast majority (78%) made no reference to medical care (Figure 3, Table 1). Of the 1196 comments that referenced any type of care, 66% mentioned ophthalmic care and 11% recommended ophthalmic care (Figure 3). Other forms of medical care were mentioned in 22% of comments and recommended in 1% of comments.

Table 1 Number of References to Medical Care in Posts and Comments

Figure 2 References to medical care in posts.

Figure 3 References to medical care in comments.

Searching within posts for ophthalmic conditions found in the AAOs Eye Health A-Z list demonstrated 312 unique instances of these keywords. This analysis revealed that posters were most commonly discussing flashes and floaters (48/312). Glaucoma (24/312), retinal detachments (21/312), and headaches (21/312) were also commonly brought up by posters. Almost half (61/125) of the ophthalmic conditions within the Eye Health A-Z list were absent from post discussions in this subreddit. A chart of commonly discussed ophthalmic conditions in posts of this subreddit can be found in Figure 4.

Figure 4 Top 20 ophthalmic conditions mentioned in posts.

Similar analysis within the comments of posts led to the discovery of 586 unique references to ophthalmic conditions. The most common condition within the comments, cataracts (71/586), differed from that discussed within posts. However, glaucoma (52/586) and flashes and floaters (45/586) were found to be common between the two analyses. A chart of commonly discussed ophthalmic conditions in comments of this subreddit can be found in Figure 5. The conditions discussed within the comments were also found to be slightly more diverse than those in the posts, with only 54 of the 125 conditions absent from conversation. Fifty-eight of the conditions were found to be discussed in both the posts and the comments.

Figure 5 Top 20 ophthalmic conditions mentioned in comments.

The r/Ophthalmology subreddit is a popular social media platform for patients to seek and share information about eye concerns. Analysis of the interactions show that close to two-thirds of posts discuss medical concerns despite these posts being strongly discouraged and deleted from the subreddit. The persistence of posts seeking medical advice on this platform suggests that there is a need for increased patient education on ophthalmic conditions. Patients were found to discuss a variety of topics within this group, with conversation in posts and comments largely being dominated by discussion surrounding retinal detachments, cataracts, and glaucoma. As these are common ophthalmic concerns of patients seen in-office, this study highlights topics that could benefit from increased patient education.

While it is clear that patients are looking for medical information within this subreddit, these results also demonstrate that 75% of comments did not mention or recommend users to seek any type of medical care. Of the comments that referenced care, only a minority went as far as to recommend some type of medical care. These findings highlight the discrepancy between the number of users seeking medical advice on this platform and how often they are told to see a professional for their concerns. This can partially be attributed to the growing amount of self-diagnosis that patients partake in, given the amount of health information accessible to them, and medical advice they receive from others on the internet. Patients may be hopeful to receive medically accurate information about their concerns online, however a previous study suggests that ophthalmologists make up a minority of the self-identified users that frequent the other ophthalmology subreddit, r/EyeTriage.16 This can result in a greater reliance on the advice of other Reddit users, increasing the risk of misinformation. In addition, many of the posts and comments mentioning ophthalmic care do so in the context of users wondering or unsure if they should seek this type of care. A study analyzing the r/EyeTriage subreddit also found that patients posting about ophthalmic concerns demonstrated anxiety and worry with patients most commonly seeking diagnoses, highlighting the potential vulnerable state that patients may be in when seeking ophthalmic care information online.16 This suggests that there is room for improvement in educating patients about circumstances in which they should seek ophthalmic care. Ophthalmologists can play a key role in improving patient education about a variety of sight-threatening conditions by understanding what ophthalmic information patients are seeking online as a result of this study. This type of education will improve patient outcomes and better educate those who may be giving advice to others online.

When considering what patients are discussing within posts, the increased frequency of flashes and floaters appearing in conversation suggests that patients are turning to this platform to ask others what they should do when experiencing these symptoms. While one of the most common reasons for acute onset flashes and floaters is a posterior vitreous detachment, patients should be aware that they need to be appropriately evaluated in order to rule out a possible retinal detachment.20,21 Patient education strategies aimed to decrease delayed presentation of certain ophthalmic concerns may be useful tactics for ophthalmologists to use in office. One particular acronym, FLASH, can help patients remember the following symptoms for vision-threatening eye emergencies: flashes and floaters, loss of vision, aching pain, second image, help.22 This education can also help address the other commonly brought up topics in posts, glaucoma and headaches. Patients experiencing acute angle closure glaucoma may often presents with headaches and blurry vision,23 both of which are encompassed by the acronym. This can help patients with these concerns know to seek immediate medical attention as opposed to turning to the advice of those on the internet. It is important to note that patients are not exclusively bringing up acute medical concerns in posts. Posts are also made by those seeking more information about chronic conditions they may have such as glaucoma, astigmatism, dry eye, and uveitis. These results can help guide further patient education both on social media and in the office.

Within comments, users of the r/Ophthalmology subreddit are found to be commonly discussing similar topics to those found in posts. This suggests that the comments may be frequently used for other users to give advice on topics brought up in posts. As there is no qualification necessary for a layperson to give medical advice online, it is important that eye professionals are acutely aware of the discussions taking place. The knowledge of the results of this study can help inform ophthalmologists and optometrists on what education they should focus on disseminating. The benefit of this is twofold: (1) Patients are inherently better educated about eye conditions and can more appropriately assess when to seek medical care and (2) if they are giving advice on the internet, they will be less likely to spread misinformation to others. Methods of patient education can be divided into social media resources and non-social media resources. Outside of social media, ophthalmologists can make use of the variety of patient education resources available through the AAO, including pamphlets, videos, and diagrams.24 Many ophthalmologists also have personalized patient education information sheets that can be included in after-visit summaries. These resources are additionally helpful from a patient perspective because they can include links to reputable resources that patients can rely on to further their own education on particular topics. These types of resources tend to be more static, whereas the wide spectrum of social media platforms can give ophthalmologists creative freedom to decide how to disseminate patient education, including text, photo, and video-based material. While engaging in social media can be time-intensive, it is important for physicians to recognize that up to 80% of their patient population is seeking information about their health online.25 Within the field of ophthalmology, social media has been gaining more momentum and the AAO provides guidelines that may help ophthalmologists use social media to market their practices.26 Extending use of social media to educate patients can help ophthalmologists reach those who may otherwise lack other resources to access health information while also helping to build their practice.25

Reddit as a social media platform for health information offers unique advantages and perspectives. Unlike other social media sites, Reddit allows for patients to easily create accounts that give them anonymity. This has been found to facilitate more supportive and instrumental conversation about medical conditions, especially in situations where stigma may be involved.27 The platform creates a space in which patients do not feel like they are broadcasting their concerns or revealing too much personal information to those that they know, as they would on sites such as Twitter and Facebook.2830 The r/Ophthalmology subreddit may possibly attract more ophthalmologist subscribers than that of r/EyeTriage given that the subreddit more adamantly discourages patient-specific questions. Physicians are well aware of the professional consequences of giving specific medical information on the internet.31 The anonymity provided by Reddit and the rules of the r/Ophthalmology subreddit gives ophthalmologists the freedom to interact within the group without feeling obligated to respond to patient questions, making it more likely that they have a greater presence there than in r/EyeTriage. This makes the subreddit an accessible platform for ophthalmologists to disseminate education materials for patients while getting input from other users of various backgrounds, already found to be effective in other fields of medicine.32,33 This type of engagement with patients and others can help increase overall ophthalmic knowledge in the general population.

This study is not free of limitations, both with Reddit itself as a data source and the study methodology. As this study relies on data directly from the r/Ophthalmology subreddit, it is important to consider that this forum is also frequented by others with an interest in ophthalmology, such as medical students, residents, and other eye professionals. With 56% percent of available posts discussing topics outside of medical advice, conversations would be expected to fall outside of mentioning or recommending any type of medical care, serving as a confounder when attempting to determine whether patients are appropriately being recommended to seek care. Additionally, the subreddit rules make it likely that more posts were made discussing patient-specific questions but were deleted prior to data extraction from the site. Further research into the posts and comments in this subreddit since the time of data extraction may prove valuable in better understanding the conversations about ophthalmology on this social media platform. In evaluating the conditions that patients are discussing on r/Ophthalmology, it is possible that conditions outside of those included in the AAOs Eye Health A-Z list were discussed and not captured in these results. A more exhaustive list of ophthalmic symptoms and diseases may yield greater information about topics of conversation. The pre-processing methodology used to identify posts and comments with references to medical care has been previously described, but may have unintentionally excluded a small number of conversations related to patient questions. Future studies analyzing Reddit data may benefit from a more robust natural language processing approach to thoroughly process this complex data source.

In summary, Reddit data, specifically the r/Ophthalmology subreddit, offers unique insight into the conversations that patients are having about their eye health on social media. Patients were found to ask specific questions about their health on the platform, leading to increased self-diagnosis and spread of medical advice from other Reddit users. Within these patient-specific conversations, ophthalmic care was often mentioned, but there is room for increased patient education in this space to better inform patients about both acute and chronic ophthalmic conditions. Ophthalmologists, and others in the vision community, can use the results of this study to tailor patient education towards commonly discussed ophthalmic conditions found in the r/Ophthalmology subreddit. This approach can help improve patient safety while decreasing the spread of misinformation.

There is no funding to report. The abstract of this paper was presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 2021 as a poster presentation with interim findings. The posters abstract was published in Abstract Issue 2021 in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science: https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2773677.

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

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11. McGregor F, Somner JEA, Bourne RR, Munn-Giddings C, Shah P, Cross V. Social media use by patients with glaucoma: what can we learn? Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 2014;34(1):4652. doi:10.1111/opo.12093

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16. Mahjoub H, Prabhu AV, Sikder S. What are ophthalmology patients asking online? An analysis of the eye triage subreddit. Clin Ophthalmol. 2020;14:35753582. doi:10.2147/OPTH.S279607

17. r/Ophthalmology. Reddit. Available from: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ophthalmology. Accessed March 28, 2021.

18. u/arcadeflyer. Sticky: new Subreddit, r/ eyetriage, for patient questions. r/Ophthalmology; January 27, 2019. Available from: http://www.reddit.com/r/Ophthalmology/comments/ak7i27/sticky_new_subreddit_reyetriage_for_patient/. Accessed March 28, 2021.

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20. Hollands H, Johnson D, Brox AC, Almeida D, Simel DL, Sharma S. Acute-onset floaters and flashes: Is this patient at risk for retinal detachment? JAMA. 2009;302(20):22432249. doi:10.1001/jama.2009.1714

21. Sharma P, Sridhar J, Mehta S. Flashes and Floaters. Prim Care. 2015;42(3):425435. doi:10.1016/j.pop.2015.05.011

22. Jairath N, Commiskey P, Kaplan A, Paulus YM. FLASH: a novel tool to identify vision-threating eye emergencies. Int J Ophthalmic Res. 2020;6(1):336343.

23. Khazaeni B, Khazaeni L. Acute closed angle glaucoma. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing; 2022. Available from:. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430857/. Accessed March 13, 2022.

24. Patient education. Available from: https://store.aao.org/patient-education.html. Accessed August 7, 2022.

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26. Use social media to market your practice. American Academy of Ophthalmology; January 1, 2016. Available from: https://www.aao.org/eyenet/article/use-social-media-to-market-your-practice. Accessed August 7, 2022.

27. Choudhury MD, De S. Mental health discourse on reddit: self-disclosure, social support, and anonymity. In: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media, ICWSM 2014. Michigan, USA; January 1, 2014:7180.

28. Choudhury M, Gamon M, Counts S, Horvitz E. Predicting depression via social media. 2013.

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33. Latack KR, Yuen F, Wang C, Nguyen BT. Online community queries on hormonal male contraception: an analysis of the Reddit Ask Me Anything experience. Contraception. 2021;104(2):159164. doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2021.02.009

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Ophthalmology Inquiries on Reddit: What Should Physicians Know? | OPTH - Dove Medical Press

Web2 social media sucks. But decentralization of social media is going to change how we all think about social networking, says Rick Porter of DSCVR.

Social networks were the flagships onboarding many new users to web2 in its early days. They became central to the way we connected with friends, family, and colleagues. Today, theyre the prism through which we see ourselves as a society.

Big Tech behemoths have tipped the scales too far in their own favor with walled gardens and exploitive terms. All while reaping enormous returns from our personal data. But disillusionment is growing.

Were waking up to the realities of one-sided bargains struck with centralized social platforms. Chinks in their shiny armor are becoming visible. Meta, Facebooks parent, recently experienced a revenue decline for the first time, while profit has fallen off for the third straight quarter. And, Meta shares have dipped, part of a downturn that began when it reported a drop in Facebook usage at the end of last year.

Finally, Meta users and media partners are realizing that they cant rely on these platforms. Instagram recently made a sudden change to its feed format to become more like TikTok. Users were outraged. Celebrity creators that rely on the platform like the Kardashians even protested. Intrusive advertising and lack of transparency further contribute to the dislocation now felt by many users.

Twitter is faring worse. Elon Musk has openly talked about changing the core dynamics of the platforms functionality. The saga of Musks stalled acquisition is headed for court. Conflicting claims and counterclaims are doing little to enhance Twitters reputation, or reassure account holders that their best interests will be served.

These are just some of the problems weve come to associate with centralized social media. Data leaks, such as the one experienced by 533 million Facebook users across 106 countries, have exposed vast amounts of personal information. The sharing of troves of full names, phone numbers, email addresses, and profile details leaves victims vulnerable to criminal attacks. And most of us now realize that platforms themselves harvest and sell user data for it to be raked over and exploited by advertisers. For many, this feels like a breach of trust, as well as an unacceptable infringement of privacy.

Control of content or lack of it is another drawback. Creators opening an account with Instagram must allow it to use, distribute, modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate and create derivative works of their content. Feeds curated by platform algorithms are increasing bias and polarization.

What if there was a viable alternative? One where users could stay safe and retain ownership of their content or even of the platform itself?

Blockchain-based technologies have now advanced to the point of providing viable solutions for these web2 pain points. Decentralized social media offers the chance to rethink the relationship between social networks and their users, from the ground up rather than the top down.

Decentralized architecture means there does not have to be a single platform owner. Web3 can also enable users to guide the platforms they use and own their social communities. These facts result in a totally different dynamic. It obliterates any requirement to sign away content distribution rights. Or, one day find the platform where you publish has transformed into an entirely different product. Web3s unique ability to define and protect ownership now empowers creators to share and monetize their work as they see fit.

Web3s perceived complexity has, until now, inhibited mass adoption. But companies able to build easily navigable bridges from web2 will be well placed to attract the flow of new users. My co-founders and I created DSCVR (pronounced Discover) with exactly this principle in mind. Our axiom being, If youre capable of using social media in web2, youre capable of using DSCVR. Another hurdle for mainstream adoption has been user experience (UX). Im confident we now have the tools to address that.

Changing social communities, based on blockchain, have inbuilt opportunities for monetization. Most blockchain-native applications require a web3 wallet, for instance, in order to access goods and services. New wallets come with hard-to-remember addresses consisting of long strings of letters and numbers. They also generate a seed phrase (the equivalent of a master password) that must be kept safe or memorized for future reference. So creating a wallet and then linking it to a new social profile can be a challenge for those new to web3.

DSCVRs frictionless sign-up process includes a native wallet that can be used straight away. NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) can be airdropped directly into a users profile, or transferred out of it, with no additional setup required.

DSCVR rewards great content with NFTs, which can be retained and enjoyed or traded for profit. Blockchain infrastructure enables communities to operate tipping, gifting, gating and even commerce functions. For the latter, NFTs are used as a pass to paid-for events, or as a paywall for exclusive content. Afterward, they remain valued collectibles.

Token gating, whether free or monetized, can be used to secure community privacy and confidentiality if thats the preferred option. In the future, communities could even choose to operate marketplaces, auctions, or run promotions collectively. Monetization can thus be shared with the users that fuel the platform, not just those that build and operate it.

All social media platforms serve intrinsic human desires to build communities, join networks and feel connected. How we manage those connections, set rules and responsibilities should be a matter for each community, not a centralized overlord.

Web3 social platforms foster discussion and debate based on an ethos of transparency and collaboration far removed from web2 manipulative oversight. They should also offer the chance to divert from straitjacket templates.

At DSCVR we agreed it was important to have a comprehensive set of community management tools that can be used or not to customize community areas (known as portals) to a high level. This personalization applies to function as well as form. Portal members build together, with the ability to take on specific membership roles and easily assign the relevant permissions to carry out agreed functions.

Web3 alternatives are empowering users to take back control. Building and growing new communities takes time but the seeds have been sown. We have new visions of what successful communities look like and can become. Places where we have ownership of our digital communities. And where creative work and great ideas benefit the originator as much as the shareholder.

This is the true power of decentralization. And why its going to change how we all think about social networking.

Rick Porter is the CEO and Co-Founder of DSCVR, a blockchain-based social platform built entirely on the Internet Computer Protocol.

Got something to say about Web2 social media or anything else? Write to usor join the discussion in our Telegram channel. You can also catch us on Tik Tok, Facebook, or Twitter.

DisclaimerAll the information contained on our website is published in good faith and for general information purposes only. Any action the reader takes upon the information found on our website is strictly at their own risk.

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Web2 Social Media Sucks. Can Web3 Break the Disillusionment? - BeInCrypto

Mini

BeReal is a social networking app that has most recently caught the interest of the internet generation. The French app gives you only two minutes to share what you are doing by taking two simultaneous photos from your phone. It is addictive, it is boring and it will frustrate you.

The social network was invented so that people had a way of keeping in touch with our friends and family, whom they cannot see on an everyday basis; to feel more connected to their loved ones. Soon, things started to change not for the better and instead of putting up photos and videos of what we were doing, we started doing it for the 'Gram, showing off our "best" selves to our friends and followers.

BeReal (pronounced Biril) is a French app that changes all of that. Every day at any random time, everyone on the app will be notified to post a photo. In two minutes. Which, in all honesty, is way scarier when you actually do it. The pressure is is very...Real.

With BeReal, it is what it is. And it is very boring. If Instagram is filled with photos and videos of beautiful people at exotic locations, engaging in all sorts of adventures, BeReal is your half-naked neighbour sitting in the living room eating Dal Roti, watching Netflix. The app does not give you time to freshen up and fix your appearance.

At any given point in the day, you could receive a notification on your phone, saying its Time to BeReal and you have to post within the two-minute window. The app takes two photos simultaneously one from the back camera and one from the front and if you post late, it notifies your friends. So, everyone will know if #WokeUpLikeThis really happened or if its just a hashtag.

The whole point of the app is to be authentic and sometimes being authentic means being mundane and boring. The apps official description even says, BeReal wont make you famous. If you want to become an influencer you can stay on TikTok and Instagram. Regardless of how many million followers one has on Instagram, everyone is going to look not-their-best on BeReal. It is just a matter of whom you want to look not-your-best in front of.

First Published:Aug 09, 2022, 10:42 AM IST

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BeReal is an unpredictable and boring social network app and that's what makes it fun - CNBCTV18

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have always been time-poor, with a pressing need to maximise any investment they make in tooling to support their ecosystem growth and business development opportunities. Research from Whitespace is suggesting that such companies are now becoming overwhelmed by the noise and distraction of social media channels, communication technology and networking platforms, which are failing to help businesses collaborate with specialists and experts, limiting innovation.

Explaining the rationale for undertaking the study, The Whitespace 2022 collaboration report, the collaboration and targeted networking platform provider, said it was attempting to assess the current collaboration landscape and whether current technology offerings are actually addressing the needs of modern organisations in a digital era, that is the communication and collaboration tools that are necessary for the world of hybrid work.

Whitespace believes its survey shows that existing tools, while powerful in their own right, fail to hit the mark when it comes to creating truly effective, dynamic collaboration. It added that the world has moved on since collaboration just meant a thread of emails, shared documents and getting together in an office or gathering for a meeting. With the hybrid, dispersed workforce and collaborative teams that span the globe, the emphasis has switched to dynamic, digital collaboration.

A key finding of the survey was that SMEs were searching for a service that covers all aspects of collaboration fitting seamlessly with their existing IT to inspire innovation and new product development.

Three out of five SMEs said they found the current plethora of collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams and LinkedIn frustrating, and 78% said they found traditional social channels both noisy and distracting. Just over two-thirds (68%) said they spend more time than theyd like to sifting through communication tools to find content relevant to them. In addition, 64% said they wanted targeted collaboration communities that are relevant to their interests, expertise and profession.

Three-fifths of SMEs in the survey said they wanted access to high-value communities of influential individuals, where they can hold safe and secure discussions. Over half wanted just one place for online communities, workspaces and client portals, saving time and increasing productivity.

The results also showed that SMEs are particularly interested in finding ways to collaborate externally with experts who they otherwise wouldnt be able to reach. Three-quarters highlighted external collaboration as being important to accessing skills they dont have internally, while nearly three out of five SMEs said collaboration helped them think more creatively to provide innovative offerings.

The SMEs also stated that they are interested in enhancing internal collaboration with the ability to share materials and documents remotely and securely. This was seen as particularly important to enhancing their ability to work from anywhere. Some 68% said better internal collaboration would help their businesses think differently or more creatively.

The survey further revealed that SMEs are particularly interested in IT offerings that focus on high-quality contacts with the ability to bring genuine value to their business. Nearly four in five SMEs said they wanted a platform that provided an easy way to find the right person to collaborate with.

The need to reach out to colleagues and external parties, using technology that makes discussions safe and secure, and the sharing of documents instantly, without fear of security breaches, is particularly important to SMEs, saidWhitespace chief marketing and revenue officer Andrew Webber.

They know collaboration is vital to the success of their work, scoring it nine out of 10 for importance. The Shift collaboration platform gives organisations their own collaboration space, integrated with their existing IT infrastructure, into which they can invite their staff, customers, clients, colleagues and partners to experience a seamless online business development environment. This delivers the high level of curated collaboration that SMEs are crying out for.

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SMEs overwhelmed by distraction of comms technology, networking platforms - ComputerWeekly.com

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) In this episode of The Angie Q Podcast, The Power of Networking were giving you top tips and practices to master the skills of networking. Whether youre trying to grow your career or expanding your network in a particular industry, networking is a skill that will open many doors.

Networking doesnt have to be intimidating. Each conversation that you engage in needs to be intentional and genuine. Networking can change your life for the better.

We are sharing some strategies and our own personal experience with networking. Well also break down several different methods in detail to reach your own personal goals. Each method is proven to work.

Angie is also joined by WNCT intern, DestinyMyles, who shares her experience with networking and her advice to young professionals entering the workforce just like her. You can follow Destinys journey on her Instagram account @DestinyAmyaa.

New episodes of The Angie Q Podcastcome every other Friday. Join the conversation. Wed Id love to hear from you. Send me an email with questions you want to be answered, topics you want to hear, and if youre interested in being a guest.

Email Angie attheAngieQPodcast@gmail.comor message us on one of her social media accounts @AngieQtv.

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The Angie Q Podcast: The power of networking - WNCT