What coronavirus will do to our offices and homes post-pandemic is a question that prompts multiple answers on a daily basis. If there are ten questions, you’ll find ten different answers.
About the only thing that’s consistently equal in opinion is that there will be change and it will be profound.
It’s a big topic that exercised Shel and I in the August 2020 episode of The Hobson and Holtz Report aka FIR 198. We anchored the discussion with a broad-brush picture painted by the BBC that started:
One day, the virus will subside. It could be eradicated. But even then, life will not simply return to the way it was before Covid-19. Spurred on by the coronavirus crisis, architects have been rethinking the buildings we inhabit.
We considered and discussed others’ opinions ranging from questions on how long remote working can be sustained in the face of the threat of changing culture and workplace behaviours (no more hallway chats or serendipitous moments, mental health issues, Zoom burnout), and plenty of views on the broad pros and cons of remote working, whether short or long term.
As with so many others, Shel and I have different views which we think makes for interesting discussion.
Here’s the topics menu of what’s in this episode:
- Twitter’s new conversation settings (which are not an assault on free speech)
- Instagram’s terrible attempt to duplicate TikTok
- What the coronavirus pandemic will do to our homes and offices
- How the pandemic is reshaping our approach to social media
- Google’s pandemic-related additions to travel searches
- Amazon Web Services lets brands integrate livestreams into websites and apps
- Dan York’s Tech Report covers the release of WordPress 5.5, the TikTok war, the war against app stores, merging messengers, and the demise of Flash
Listen Now
Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.
Links from This Month’s Episode
- The Immediate Future podcast
- Politemail’s third consecutive year on the Inc. 5000
- Politemails Michael DeRoschers on telling stories with data
- New conversation settings are coming to a tweet near you
- We Tested Instagram Reels, the TikTok Clone. What a Dud.
- Instagram is Reels Complicated Now
- Instagram Creators Say They’re Not Switching to Instagram Reels, Survey Finds
- This is what coronavirus will do to our offices and homes
- With virtual meeting burnout, can companies be remote forever?
- Longing for the days of hallway conversations
- A PwC exec says the global disruption has accelerated the future of work by 5 to 10 years
- Companies Start to Think Remote Work Isn’t So Great After All
- The Office is Far Away. Can Its Culture Survive?
- Schroders to allow thousands of staff to work from home in milestone for City
- Tired of Zoom calls? Company offers at-home hologram machines
- Coronavirus pandemic is reshaping our approach to social media
- More than half of humanity now uses social media — here’s what that means for brands
- Study: U.S. Adults Who Rely on Social Media for News are Less Informed, Exposed to More Conspiracies
- Social media is the most popular method of engaging with brands
- What Brands Mean by Brand Purpose
- Google adds re-opening and COVID-19 info to travel searches
- New Amazon Service Lets Brands Easily Integrate Livestreams Into Sites, Apps
Links from Dan York’s Report
- WordPress 5.5 “Eckstine”
- The TikTok War
- President Trump Orders Bytedance to Divest from its U.S. TikTok Business Within 90 Days
- Internet Society Statement on U.S. Clean Network Program
- Facebook Tests TikTok-Style Video Format on Its Main App in India
- Snapchat Tests TikTok-Style Navigation for Exploring Public Content
- Techmeme’s Curated Content on Epic’s Battle with Apple
- Facebook Says Apple In-App Fees Hurt Businesses During Covid
- Facebook begins merging Instagram and Messenger chats in new update
- Sources: Google plans to eventually replace Duo with Meet
- The rise and fall of Adobe Flash
FIR Zoom Chat
We host a FIR Zoom Chat every Thursday at 6pm UK time (1pm EDT, 7pm CET). For credentials to join the Zoom, contact Shel or Neville directly or request the credentials in our FIR Facebook group or send an email to fircomments@gmail.com. Spread the word to your communications community.
(Photo at top by Klaudia Piaskowska on Unsplash.)
