22 Mar FAUSTIAN PACT: THE CHALLENGES OF UNFRIENDING SOCIAL MEDIA; BUDGET CUTS MAY WIDEN SKILLS GAP
FAUSTIAN PACT: THE CHALLENGES OF UNFRIENDING SOCIAL MEDIA
Online news outlet Broadsheet announced on Instagram this week that it would be unfriending Meta and shifting its content to Whatsapp, Apple News, and Google News instead. The move is in response to Meta’s refusal to stop paying Australian media outlets for their content once their existing deals expire later on this year, and Broadsheet’s decision is a good example of how reliant mainstream media outlets have become on social media platforms to drive traffic.
And it’s not just Meta. The US House of Representatives moved to force social media outlet TikTok to separate itself from its parent company ByteDance earlier this year, and the Australian Government is considering a similar ban. TikTok is already banned from government devices, but with more than 8 million Australians using TikTok, Five Eyes intelligence agencies are rightly concerned that TikTok could still pose a security risk because the Chinese Government could be using the platform to gather intel and spread disinformation
While it’s understandable that governments and media outlets are keen to separate themselves from unaccountable social media outlets that are aggressively eating their lunch, the reality is that 46 percent of Australians aged 18-46 get their news from social media outlets and the potential exit of Meta and TikTok from the local market will leave a gap that needs to be filled.
BUDGET CUTS MAY WIDEN SKILLS GAP
The Australian skills gap is at risk of widening as businesses cut their learning and development budgets amid the economic slowdown.
Research from Deloitte Access Economics and RMIT Online found that one in eight medium and large businesses are planning to cut their training budgets by 50 per cent this year. This will result in Australia missing out on skills valued at $2.6 billion or $5.6 million per day.
Deloitte Access Economics partner John O’Mahony said that these slashed budgets are likely to cause a decline in productivity across the country. Businesses also risk hurting employee morale, which may force them to move jobs.
THIEVES OF TIME
Luxury watches are under attack as the number of stolen luxury watches has surged in the past year to $1.9 billion.
According to the world’s largest watch database, The Watch Register, the number of watches recorded as lost or stolen has more than tripled over the last year.
The Watch Register managing director Katya Hills said that with the amount of violent street robberies escalating, many owners are afraid to wear their timekeepers out in public.
Beware: the thieves of Time!
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