GenZers are recording their firings and layoffs, and the videos are going viral on TikTok and elsewhere. This is shining a harsh spotlight on organizations’ approach to letting people go, and it’s not pretty. What’s worse is how some companies plot to avoid being subjects of these videos. Also, in this episode:

• Bluesky has taken its first big steps into the fediverse as two protocols battle it out for supremacy in the 21st century of the VHS-Betamax wars, but there may be alternatives in play.
• Most big legacy news organizations are blocking the crawlers OpenAI sends out onto the web to collect content to train its models. This has implications for AI’s ability to deliver news in response to prompts, but it also has implications for journalism.
• The ethics ratings of virtually every profession have fallen in the U.S., regardless of the industries in which these professionals might work. Does this put the onus for strengthening ethical behavior on professional associations, and what, exactly, can they do about it?
• LinkedIn offers users an “Open to Work” badge to let others know you’re seeking new employment. Does it work, and are there other consequences for showing so blatantly that you’re looking for a job?
• The Apple Vision Pro is out, and while marketers are exploring ways to deliver their messages in mixed reality environments, a lot of people are sending their headsets back to Apple and looking for a refund.
• In his Tech Report, Dan York shares his thoughts on the Bluesky announcement. He also discusses how Google is killing independent websites, Google’s $60-million payout to Reddit so it can train its models on Reddit’s content, Reddit’s plans to go public, and WhatsApp’s introduction of markdown-style formatting.

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We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog. Neville’s Asides blog is also available.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this podcast are Shel’s and Neville’s and do not reflect the views of their employers and/or clients.

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Links from this episode are on the FIR Podcast Network website.

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