Aging Selfies Go Viral: In the last week you’ve probably seen your friends age a couple decades in social media. The trend is thanks to FaceApp, which uses algorithms to age your photos, sometimes with hilarious results and unclear Terms of Use. But further investigation shows Facebook’s Terms of Use aren’t that different. Follow @OldCelebsLOL on Instagram to see what your feed will look like in 30 years, and of course AdAge put brand spokespeople through the filters (including Mr. Clean, Little Debbie and Flo). Download FaceApp here.
What Should We Watch? Channel surfing behavior is shifting into thumbnail surfing behavior. A recent Nielson survey found that US adults typically spend a little over 7 minutes perusing content aisles across multiple streaming services. And The Hustle points out that’s before media giants like Disney, NBCUniversal, and WarnerMedia launch their streaming services (starting in 2021). That’s a lot of indecision!
The Most Influential Egg in the World: This week TIME Magazine published their fifth annual roundup of the most influential people on the Internet, including expected choices like Lil Nas X, AOC and Trump, but also beauty blogger James Charles, YouTuber Germán Garmendia and the creator of the World Record Egg.
This Could Make You Twitch: New research this week shows Twitch is the No. 1 platform for streaming live video, accounting for 70% of all livestreamed hours watched during Q2 2019. Most of Twitch’s viewing time was centered on the platform’s top 5,000 streamers, which collectively generated 2 billion hours of viewing time in Q2. YouTube had 19.5% of the live stream industry in Q2 2019 with more than 735 million viewership hours. That’s a lot of streams!
Don’t Try This at Work: Someone made a Google Chrome plug-in that allows you to covertly stream Netflix movies in a browser window that looks like you’re on a video chat for work. Install the plug-in, boot up a Netflix movie, and click the button. Voila! It’s called Netflix Hangouts, and I am not liable for you having this information on a Friday.
GREG SWAN 