Blog - The Social Media Professor

Elon Musk Flips the Twitter Coin

November 16, 2022 by Niklas Myhr Leave a Comment

Trying to make sense of all that is going on at Twitter under Elon Musk, Abby Little of Chapman University’s The Panther Podcast reached out to me for an interview. Thanks Abby for the conversation in which we discuss Twitter use cases, its business model moving from a reliance on advertising toward subscriptions such as Twitter Blue or Fintech transaction fees, Elon Musk’s innovation process, impersonations and trolling, content moderation, and the future of the platform. Spoiler alert, Elon Musk will either turn out to be the best or the worst thing to ever happen to Twitter!

During the first few weeks under the ownership of Elon Musk, Twitter has been a constant in the news in spite of the midterm elections, war in Ukraine, and other world events. Mr Musk himself continues to communicate via the platform that he so clearly enjoys and in spite of his super-user status, he doesn’t show any intentions of holding back the punches. By contrast, he goes after senators as well as his own employees in a non-apologetic and confrontational manner.

News are also leaking out from frustrated employees who share any email that is sent by Mr Musk as well as audio recordings of what he says at all-hands meetings. Most recently, he has demanded employees commit to working “extremely hardcore” meaning “long hours at high intensity”

At least the continued Twitter journey is unlikely to be uneventful. Also, in spite of all the negative news surrounding the “honeymoon” phase of Musk’s Twitter reign, it would be premature to discount the possibility that he eventually could turn this platform into something quite powerful. Yet, it could also crash and burn and turn into a case study of could-have-beens, should-have-beens. A coin flip indeed.

Again, take a listen to the podcast interview in which I address:

Twitter use cases
Twitter’s advertising business and alternative business models
Elon Musk’s innovation process
Impersonations and trolling
Twitter Content moderation
The layoffs at Twitter
The Twitter Blue subscription plan

Elon Musk Biographer Walter Isaacson on Creative Geniuses

October 28, 2022 by Niklas Myhr Leave a Comment

Monica Myhr, Walter Isaacson, Niklas Myhr, Tulane University — Monica Myhr, Walter Isaacson, Niklas Myhr at Tulane University

Imagine an early morning with Elon Musk at a rocket launch at Cape Canaveral and ending the day chatting with The Social Media Professor in New Orleans. Well, that was a day in the life of Elon Musk biographer Walter Isaacson last week.

While visiting our daughter Selma at Tulane University last week, Monica and I took the opportunity to listen to Walter Isaacson as he was being interviewed by President Mike Fitts. Currently Isaacson works at Tulane University as a history professor but is more known as a biographer. During a free-flowing conversation, they covered a range of topics both on being a biographer and also on what it takes to be a creative genius or a so-called Renaissance People.

Walter Isaacson certainly has covered a number of extremely creative people in his previous biographies, most recently one on Jennifer Doudna, the Nobel Laureate who cracked the gene editing code. When he had written the biographies of Leonardo da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin, he got a call from Steve Jobs who asked “are you doing me now?”. At that time, Steve Jobs knew that he didn't have much time left and Isaacson took the job.

Walter Isaacson and Mike Fitts at Tulane University

Isaacson shared that he found some common denominators among his subjects:

First, they all operate on the intersection between the arts and the sciences.
Their creativity is also fueled by an unbounded curiosity that often lasts until their very last breath.
They are also quite difficult people to work with as their mission to accomplish things, solve problems, or come up with new innovations often overshadows considerations of personal feelings.

Leonardo da Vinci could wonder about the most ordinary things such as “why is the sky blue?” He also wrote “describe the tongue of the woodpecker” in his journal. Why would he be curious about that? Regardless, the resulting inquiry into the matter eventually resulted in the discovery that the long tongue, three times the length of its beak, could serve double duty to also wrap itself around the brain as a cushion to avoid concussions when the woodpecker smashes its beak into a tree.

Walter Isaacson also shared some failures from his career such as when he aborted his biography on Louis Armstrong as he simply could not get a sense of who he really was. By then he had done extensive research into the pride of New Orleans for two years but he still could not figure out if he was happy when he smiled, whether he liked white people, etc, etc.

I knew everything there was you could possibly know about Louis Armstrong. Except for who he was.
Walter Isaacson, October 21, 2022 at Tulane University on why he aborted Louis Armstrong biography

As he is currently working on the official Elon Musk biography, he shared how fascinating it is to capture a very intriguing man but also that it was difficult to capture a life that is very much ongoing. Like drinking from a firehose. After the Elon Musk biography, his plan is to go back and do a biography of someone who has been dead for at least 2,000 years like Aristotle… Out of frustration, Isaacson recently strayed from his normal observer, interviewer role when he asked Elon Musk:

Can't you just focus on getting us to Mars and get us to an era of sustainable energy and not have to solve problems in Ukraine or whatever else, like buying Twitter?
Walter Isaacson, October 21, 2022 at Tulane University on asking Elon Musk without revealing the answer

While chatting with Walter Isaacson after his talk, I asked him if he believed it was possible to change the world and still have a good, well-balanced family life. He said that it seemed to be difficult. But he himself wasn't about changing the world, merely about chronicling others who do so and stated that he had a great and happy family life.

We also learned that Walter Isaacson grew up on the 5500 block of Magnolia Street a few blocks from Tulane University only a block from the 5600 block of Magnolia Street where Monica and I lived our first year together while I was teaching at Tulane University for my first teaching job! Small world!

The Core Premise of BeReal

August 5, 2022 by Niklas Myhr Leave a Comment

The premise of countering the stylized, staged, manicured, perfectionist, big-time influencer post is sustainable, but the idea of taking a photo in a random two-minute time slot could get old.
Niklas Myhr quote on BeReal in Time, August 4, 2022

The explosive growth of emerging social media platform BeReal has naturally caught media's attention as it tries to understand what the fuzz is all about. In this regard, The Wall Street Journal and Time have reached out to The Social Media Professor for interviews about the essence of BeReal. Our discussions have primarily dealt with three issues:

What makes BeReal special?
What makes people leave other platforms?
Is BeReal here to stay?

What makes BeReal special?

Gen Z (or Generation Z representing the cohort born between 1997 and 2012) is the age demographic that has most enthusiastically adopted BeReal. What seems to attract these young users is that BeReal offers a low-pressure environment where it is okay to share rather mundane pictures of what you are up to at a random time each day, even if nothing exciting is happening in your life at that time.

Creative constraints

BeReal chose to include some constraints in the creation process, which has leveled the playing field between casual users and full-time creators. Creators are limited to sharing only one snapshot a day, using both the front and the back camera to capture more of your surroundings. Also, unless you want your post to be flagged as being “late”, you need to share your photo during a specific and randomly assigned 2-minute period.

Having our Goldendoodle Simona nearby provides for good BeReal postings

With this time constraint, BeReal effectively reduces the time creators have at their disposal to set up, take, and share a photo. Users can also not simply upload old photos from their phone as this would defeat the purpose of BeReal which is to capture what is going on at a very specific time.

Other limitations include the lack of editing options, so creators cannot work on filters to create the “perfect” image. This lack of filtering options harkens back to 2013, when the #nofilter hashtag started trending on Instagram as a reaction to the overuse of filters. Even if filters are still available on Instagram, this was perhaps a precursor of apps like BeReal, which speaks to the preference of many users who find it refreshing to share and see pictures in their raw, authentic, and original forms.

Forced participation

One noteworthy aspect of BeReal is that it forces you to share an update yourself before you can see anything of what is going on with others. This ensures that everyone on the platform participates in contrast to other platforms on which many users have become passive observers of what others share.

What makes people leave other platforms?

Is the growth of BeReal connected to the growing dissatisfaction users report on other platforms such as Meta's Facebook and Instagram? Instagram, in particular, has been in the spotlight recently as they have introduced changes to mimic the increasingly dominant TikTok, such as by featuring more video content via so-called Reels and by introducing recommended content by people you are not connected with.

While the simultaneous growth of BeReal could be coincidental, the timing is curious and speaks in favor of this being the perfect storm when a platform like BeReal becomes a refreshing alternative where users, at least for a moment, can stay connected with their friends in a more authentic manner.

Attacking some trees at the summer cabin

Even before the TikTok-inspired changes with Reels, Instagram was beginning to face issues of content feeds being overly saturated with content by professional influencers and ads. Many regular users have become more hesitant to share updates of themselves, self-disqualifying their lives and photos as not sufficiently interesting or good-looking.

As more users become passive lurkers rather than active participants, the user experience on Instagram has become more similar to watching Netflix on your sofa. And by watching an Instagram feed where others present picture-perfect lives, the experience has not always been a happy one. For example, even Instagram's own research show that female teen depression on Instagram is real.

Still, it is essential to remember that people flocking to BeReal for a few minutes each day doesn't necessarily mean they abandon other stalwarts in the business as my Gen Z daughter Selma pointed out. Rather, at least for the time being, BeReal represents a complement to existing offerings rather than as a replacement.

Is BeReal here to stay?

On the island of Utö in the Stockholm Archipelago

The Business Model of BeReal

What business model can make BeReal sustainable from a business perspective? With increasing investments in the platform, that question will likely become more acute as months go by. Still, the most viable options for monetization are not likely to be implemented in the near future:

Allowing for advertisements would be risky as many users likely fled to BeReal as other platforms had too many ads whereas BeReal represents a more genuine, authentic experience. That being said, if BeReal would go for advertisements, the best approach would be for them to curate or steer advertising partners toward ads doubling down on “realness”. Less-than-perfect photos and illustrations of a behind-the-scenes nature can show people that companies are human too. Some brands have already begun experimenting with an organic presence on BeReal in the hopes that the authenticity shines through. Yet, this avenue is not necessarily novel as many brands have now done similar work for years trying to be authentic such as via Instagram Stories.
Charging a subscription fee doesn't sound realistic at this point as the feature set is too limited. Perhaps a subscription for power users could be on the horizon, but the idea of big-time influencers on the platform runs counter to the essence of what BeReal is all about.
Merchandising could be an option through which BeReal could capitalize on at least some of the traction it currently has, even if the risk is that users feel that BeReal would be selling out if they were to start selling t-shirts on being real.

Diversification is yet another option where BeReal could serve as a marketing vehicle to promote other products and services. The risk here would be if these offerings would be presented in such a way that these would become just as intrusive to the user experience as ads by other companies. But while they have the momentum, BeReal certainly has the opportunity to try a number of things. For example, I would not be surprised if they managed to host events, conferences, or meetups of “real people” around the world. Or they could host a concert with “real artists” performing unplugged in regular clothing with no makeup. Lady Gaga appearing as Real Gaga, wouldn't that be a thing?
Looking for mergers & acquisitions is another possibility, as partnering up with someone else or allowing yourself to be acquired could provide the desired combination of the ability to attract an audience with commercialization options. Perhaps Airbnb sees the potential fit of having BeReal help them further enhance its already impressive online community of “real people”?

Is BeReal a fad?

Regardless of the business model implications, another issue is whether BeReal is a fad or a platform that can sustain its momentum and continue its growth for the foreseeable future.

Though the number of downloads is a good measure of an app’s success, that data doesn’t predict whether the app has staying power
Niklas Myhr quoted in The Wall Street Journal, April 20, 2022

Whether authenticity online is attainable at scale or even desirable is debatable as other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have struggled in this regard. A decade ago, you would be hard-pressed to see a single presentation on social media not emphasizing the importance of being “authentic” (and yes, this includes presentations by the author of this article…).

Sharing the view from Chapman University's Faculty Atheneaum

Yet, the core premise of BeReal is that it is supposed to capture people's everyday lives in a more realistic, authentic manner. However, that doesn't necessarily have to be implemented via random, 2-minute windows during which you snap a photo. The novelty of this particular approach is likely to wear off sooner rather than later.

Still, there are other ways in which BeReal can capture the realness of people's lives. After all, it is not called RealPhotos, so obvious extensions to the current model would be to invite people to share real video, audio, or text snippets based on specific prompts. All would serve the purpose of getting the bulk of people sharing what they are up to right now.

Having experimented with BeReal myself, I can identify with the joy of getting that BeReal notification just at the time when you were up to something unusual or fun in some other way. Or, at least I have often been able to find our dog Simona as a go-to participant in my BeReals!

Still, BeReal is supposed to provide a more realistic view of someone's life in that it captures your average moment rather than just the highlight of your day. One can only hope that apps like BeReal can inspire youth to lead more interesting lives in that it gets them outdoors, socializing with other people, finding scenic viewpoints, and engaging in more exciting activities.

Or, perhaps even better, apps like BeReal can make people feel better about themselves as they see that others are not always having the best times of their lives on an everyday basis. Nor are they looking fabulous every day. In this regard, BeReal deserves credit if the platform can serve as an important reminder that you don't necessarily have to look perfect every day. Instead, you can simply be yourself and that is fine enough.

My rock star brother David Myhr trying to look like a regular guy

But given that BeReal is beginning to spread to older age brackets, the risk is that many users will find themselves at the very same spot such as at a desk at work during most of the BeReal's random notification times. Pictures over time may become very similar to yesterday's post.

It could also be less than ideal to get a 2-minute countdown notification during inopportune times while you drive, sit in class, or are busy at work. Myself, I had the notification alert go off while proctoring my students' final exam. It quickly became obvious that many of my students recognized BeReal's distinctive notification sound as they smiled at me.

Quoted in The Wall Street Journal on Twitter’s Edit Button

April 7, 2022 by Niklas Myhr Leave a Comment

Twitter certainly got some attention this week after it became known that Elon Musk with a 9.2% stake now is the platform's largest shareholder. He also launched a Twitter Poll asking whether an edit button should be made available on Twitter just like on other platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The proponents of an edit button won out with an overwhelming 75% to 25% margin and Twitter quickly made it clear both that the idea wasn't new, far from it, but also that they are in the development of a edit button for subscribers of Twitter's Blue plan.

In the early days of Twitter, it made sense that Twitter didn’t allow for an edit button given that tweets for most were seen as rather ephemeral in nature as they were fleeting by as short snippets in their never-ending timelines. Technically, the tweets would still be up on the profiles of users if you sought them out but the thinking was that if they needed to edit short statements, they might as well delete it and post a new tweet.

Today, a stronger case can be made for an edit button. First, tweets can now be longer, 280 vs 140 characters previously, and many users also post longer stories by replying to their own tweets so users and get a series of statements from you in one fell swoop by browsing through a thread of tweets. Second, the algorithmic feed used today means that some tweets will surface at the top of your feed as you log in regardless of whether it was the most recent tweet or not.

The algorithmic rankings are at least partially based on the engagement that a tweet gets. Therefore, users who have gained a lot of attention, retweets, and interesting comments on a tweet are reluctant to delete the whole shebang for only a minor edit. The concern that likely has held Twitter back from the addition of an edit button is that some people may fundamentally change the nature of the message contained in a tweet and this is the aspect that Dalvin Brown of The Wall Street Journal highlighted with my quote:

Quote in The Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2022

As the article points out, that concern has at least partially been addressed by platforms such as Facebook by including a label on a tweet making it clear that it has been edited. Facebook has faced related challenges in the past such as when a Facebook Group gathered thousands of members say for a noble charitable cause as people could wake up the next day only to learn that they now were members of a controversial hate group after a group administrator changed the name of the group. Same thing with Facebook Events. Now, you are able to make tweaks to an event you create but primarily in the early stages before you get too much traction.

Regardless of your take on the edit button, all the attention on Twitter seems to have had an immediate positive impact not only on the stock price but also on the publics interest in actually using the platform more. I think I will give it another shot to be more active there. Perhaps I'll even try to get my Chapman University students excited about Twitter and see if magic happens, so see you there where I can be found at @NiklasMyhr!

In Memoriam: Dr. Clas Wihlborg

March 16, 2021 by Niklas Myhr 16 Comments

I hate to share the sad news that my dear friend and Chapman University colleague Clas Wihlborg recently passed away in a heart attack during a walk, 73 years young. Clas was predeceased by his daughter Emma who died at the age of 21 in 2011 and leaves behind his wife of 41 years Lavinia (Lee) Wohlfert of Laguna Niguel, California, and three sisters with families in Sweden. A devastating loss also for our family, Chapman colleagues, former students, research collaborators, and a large international network of friends inside and outside of academia.

I just spoke with Lee who obviously is shaken and heartbroken as they still had many plans for the future such as finally making it to Yosemite. She welcomed that I share this update as she would only be comforted if people honored Clas for the great man that he was. If you have a favorite memory of Clas, big or small, feel free to share that in the comments below or in a private message to me or to Rita in the Dean’s office as we will compile all recollections from various sources to share with Lee in some form.

Clas was still energetic and excited last week when he drove by to personally deliver the two hair gels I had asked him to buy at H&M in Malmö, Sweden. That is the way he was, always happy to help out whether it be driving Selma to the airport, proctor an exam for me, empty my mailbox, etc, etc.

He was frustrated that our MBA Travel Course “Business in Scandinavia” that we co-founded in 2010 understandably now had to be canceled for the second summer in a row due to Covid but we looked forward to many future adventures together. Thanks to Clas’s network, we were able to set up meetings with very senior executives of all the Scandinavian central banks, many large corporations, academic institutions, etc.

Clas didn’t worry too much about things but rather kept his inner child alive to enjoy the moment and was never far away from a good laughter. During our travels, a highlight every summer was when Clas delivered an inimitable rendition of Jimi Hendrix’ “Purple Haze” in a live karaoke session at Restaurant Noel’s in Stockholm accompanied by my brother David Myhr. Students’ jaws would also drop when they learned all the things Clas had experienced such as seeing all the celebs at Studio 54 during its hey day in NYC while accompanying Lee who then wrote for People Magazine. Or that he bumped into Cassius Clay (later known as Mohammad Ali) in a restaurant in London in the 1960’s!

At Mikkeler Brewery in Copenhagen with Business in Scandinavia 2019

Clas Wihlborg and David Myhr — Clas Wihlborg singing with David Myhr

I conclude with a brief bio of Clas: Clas Wihlborg joined the Argyros School faculty in 2008 and held Fletcher Jones Chair in International Business. He completed his Ph.D. in Economics at Princeton University and has been a prolific author in International Finance, Institutions, and Law and Economics. He has held faculty positions in Finance and International Business at New York University, University of Southern California, Göteborg University in Sweden, University West in Sweden (Högskolan Väst), and the Copenhagen Business School (CBS) in Denmark, where he was Director for the Center for Law, Economics and Financial Institutions (LEFIC). Clas served on the European Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee and the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA). He also holds an Honorary Doctorate from Lund University in Sweden. At the Argyros School, Clas founded the Chapman Conference on Money and Finance and co-founded and organized for several years the MBA Travel Course Business in Scandinavia.

Thank you Clas for all the good memories, we will miss you dearly, and say hi to Emma!

Sincerely / Niklas