ResidentialBusiness

“Just Google it” – ah, so 2021. These days, organic search and discovery – although still largely conducted on Google – have fanned out to many sources, with user behavior more multi-layered and dynamic than ever. SEO professionals these days need to follow course. Consider a user who: Starts by watching a TikTok video of a runner boasting about hitting a new PR with the help of a coach. Then does a top-of-funnel search on Perplexity (“what does a running coach help with”). Then hits Google for a search of online running coaches. Then browses a list of sources from AI Overviews. Then hits up a running community on Reddit to ask about peoples’ experiences with one coaching organization or another. Doesn’t sound like it’s all about keywords anymore, does it? Instead, we’ve been helping clients establish themselves as the primary source on a topic. That means showing up wherever users are looking for relevant information – while also building brand awareness as the subject matter expert. The picture is changing quickly, so rather than chasing channels and keywords, we’re focusing on understanding and adapting to user behavior (with some healthy analysis of emerging platform trends thrown in). Here’s my take on what SEOs need to do to thrive in the age of diversified organic search. Broaden your channel focus Expand your focus beyond traditional SEO. Understand how community-driven platforms (like Reddit and TikTok) and other emerging AI tools are impacting consumer search behavior. This means tracking search trends across various channels, not just focusing on Google. These channels will vary by vertical. (If you’re not completely up to speed on what’s feeding your site traffic, make sure you’re setting up and referencing referral reports in Google Analytics.) The stakes are high here. Failing to adapt to these new search behaviors could lead to missed opportunities and a disconnect with target audiences, especially younger consumers. Dig deeper: Beyond Google – How to put a total search strategy together Know where your users are going for info – and what kind of info they’re looking for Where are your users going, and what are they trying to find? That’s a much more complicated question than it was a few years ago. What your users are looking to learn on Reddit is very different from TikTok (whose algorithm is much more top-of-funnel/discovery-focused). And even LLMs and Google are used for fairly discrete behaviors. The broad “how to do x” and “what is” questions might not be as effective on Google. Still, that’s probably what gets cited the most in AI search or large language models (LLMs). Consider creating a matrix of funnel intent by channel and crafting content accordingly. Track how your strategy works and adjust as you go. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. Stay in touch with the algorithms Staying on top of shifting user behavior is the biggest priority right now in organic search. However, that doesn’t mean you can afford to ignore how newer platforms are ingesting content. The question I get most (by orders of magnitude) these days is about AI search and LLMs (which operate by predicting the next few words or phrases that connect to a topic). One way to boost your chances of citation is to position your brand name as close to your industry or solution as frequently as possible – whether that’s in earned, owned, or even strategic paid content. For instance, if you have a great piece of content that’s getting organic traction, consider syndicating it. It’s also a good idea to reverse-engineer this by: Analyzing which sources/citations are being used in AI search responses. Angling to get your brand covered there. And/or creating similar kinds of content. Last, scour those trades (including this one) to find AI search guidance from experts and tidbits provided by the AI search models themselves on influential ranking factors – like this one from Microsoft on Copilot. Dig deeper: Your 2025 playbook for AI-powered cross-channel brand visibility Provide (even more) value What could your company produce for thought leadership that might get picked up by the top outlet in your vertical? Proprietary research, a well-informed perspective from a company leader, or data that introduces a fresh narrative – any one of these can outperform hundreds of formulaic content pieces that flood your vertical. Publishing content that supplements E-E-A-T principles with effort, originality, and value (my favorite content descriptors these days) does more than catch media attention. (This is more important now than it was pre-LLMs.) This type of content has the potential to transcend platforms by associating your brand with leadership within your vertical. You may begin to see it cited in communities, forums, and social channels as users (not just algorithms) reference it organically. Define your lane The topic clustering strategy is still extremely relevant in this search era, and with that comes the frequent question of just how far you should expand that cluster. My take: owning your sphere and updating it as needed is better than expanding to less relevant subjects. Here’s an example of what that might look like: Stay nimble We’ve never seen the organic scene change this rapidly. Do your best to keep your finger on the pulse of newer algorithms, emerging platforms and communities, and shifting user behaviors. Update and track your KPIs accordingly. Make sure you’re including an action-oriented “so what” step that follows this regular analysis. Whether you’re in-house or at an agency, remember that educating your colleagues about what’s changing is more than just providing value in your role. It’s being proactive about aligning on strategic shifts you’ll need to make down the road. Dig deeper: 6 easy ways to adapt your SEO strategy for stronger AI visibility View the full article

The former underwriter, who worked for the Georgia lender from 2023 to 2024, claims she worked more than 60 hours a week on average and was not fairly compensated. View the full article

The potential impact of agentic AI on the mortgage industry's future lies in its ability to give human employees "superpowers," technology leaders say. View the full article

You’re already juggling competing deadlines, back-to-back meetings, and strategic priorities. Then the Slack message arrives: “Hey, can you just take care of this?” It’s not in your job description. It’s not aligned with your goals. And it’s not the first time. Whether it’s managing logistics, picking up someone else’s project, or being asked to take notes again—many workers are routinely handed tasks that fall outside their role. Often, it’s framed as being a “team player.” But over time, these extra asks can add up to chronic overwork, blurred boundaries, and a stalled career trajectory. Handling these situations well isn’t about being difficult—it’s about being strategic. Here’s how to respond in ways that are clear, confident, and aligned with your long-term goals. 1. Clarify the request—and its relevance Before you respond, take a moment to understand the ask. What’s really being requested? Who should be doing it? And why is it coming to you? This is especially important for tasks that seem “quick” but aren’t strategic—like organizing team events, taking meeting minutes, or picking up admin no one else wants. These are often invisible labor tasks that disproportionately fall on women and people of color, particularly in hybrid and virtual environments. What to say: “Happy to support—can you help me understand how this fits within my priorities or where it came from?” Or: “Is this something our [ops/admin/project] team would usually handle?” Asking these questions reframes the conversation and makes the invisible visible—without defensiveness. 2. Pause before responding You don’t have to answer immediately. One of the biggest reasons we say yes to things we don’t want (or need) to do is because we’re caught off guard. We’re conditioned to be agreeable and responsive. But taking a beat creates space between the request and your response. That pause can be powerful. It allows you to assess: Do I have the capacity? Is this aligned with my role and goals? What’s the real cost of saying yes? What to say: “Thanks for thinking of me—can I come back to you on this once I’ve reviewed my priorities for the week?” This puts you back in control and gives you room to respond with intention rather than obligation. 3. Don’t confuse being helpful with being responsible There’s a big difference between offering support as a leader and being expected to clean up someone else’s mess. Many high-performing workers default to “I’ll just do it” because it feels faster or more efficient in the moment. But over time, it leads to scope creep, burnout, and resentment. Tasks like organizing team birthdays, onboarding new hires without a handover, or smoothing out interpersonal dynamics often land on women—not because they’re in your job description, but because you’re seen as the reliable one. What to do: Ask yourself: “Is this a one-off favor or an ongoing expectation?” Track how often it happens—and the impact on your core responsibilities. Notice if it’s being evenly distributed across the team—or falling on you by default. Being helpful is a strength. But when it’s at the expense of your boundaries, clarity, or energy, it’s time to draw a line. 4. Practice saying no—without guilt Saying no can feel uncomfortable, especially when you want to be seen as collaborative and competent. But “no” doesn’t have to be harsh. It can be thoughtful, respectful, and still assert your priorities. What to say: “I’m currently at capacity with my core responsibilities and can’t take this on right now.” “That’s outside my scope, and I want to make sure I’m focused on where I can add the most value.” “I’m not the best person for this, but happy to suggest someone who might be.” The key is to remove apology from your tone. You’re not being difficult—you’re being discerning. And that’s what leadership requires. 5. Raise the bigger conversation when needed If you’re regularly being asked to do tasks outside your role—or expected to manage things that aren’t aligned with your position—it’s time to step back and zoom out. This isn’t just about one request. It’s about your scope, your role clarity, and the culture you’re operating in. Use your next check-in or performance review to re-align. Be honest about what you’ve taken on, how it’s impacted your work, and what needs to shift. What to say: “I’ve noticed I’m consistently being asked to take on tasks that sit outside my formal role. I want to make sure I’m being as impactful as possible in my core responsibilities—can we talk about boundaries, priorities, and how to structure my work accordingly?” This kind of conversation not only protects your time—it models leadership for others who might also be navigating blurred lines. The bottom line: Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Your energy, time, and talent are precious—and finite. Protecting your scope isn’t selfish. It’s strategic. It’s how you stay focused on the work that matters, create sustainable success, and lead with clarity and confidence. View the full article

The Financial Times has a detailed interview with the newish Head of Google Search, Elizabeth Reid. The interview can be gated, so here are some of the quotes that stood out most to me from this interview.View the full article

As you know, Google is okay with linking its AI Overviews back to more Google Search results. But is Google okay with linking the same query, to the same query, over and over again, through the AI Overviews?View the full article

Google said it again - structured data does not help your site rank any better. John Mueller of Google said this on Bluesky, "Structured data won't make your site rank better." He said, all it is "used for displaying the search features listed in" this search gallery document.View the full article

The president’s refusal to accept a Supreme Court ruling on illegal deportation is a turning pointView the full article

There seems to be a bug that is impacting the first image in the product snippet image carousel set. I was notified about this a few times in the past few days by various people and while I cannot replicate this, many can.View the full article

Elon Musk is a visionary genius to some, unpredictable and dangerous to others. Love him or loathe him, Musk’s personality looms as large as his net worth. This is consistent with decades of scientific research highlighting a strong connection between personality and entrepreneurial talent. There is a range of character traits and dispositions that make entrepreneurs different from others, especially when they succeed in their ventures. Psychologists often describe personality in terms of the Big Five traits (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism) and also warn about the “Dark Triad” of darker traits (Narcissism, Machiavellianism, Psychopathy). Musk, unsurprisingly, scores off the charts in some areas and off the rails in others. He’s the poster child for innovative vision (high Openness) and relentless drive (high Achievement Motivation, which is a facet of Conscientiousness). But he’s also known for a combative, “my-way-or-the-highway” streak, suggesting rock-bottom Agreeableness and a solid dose of Narcissism. The latter is particularly noticeable in his reactions to criticism and negative feedback, which are typically unempathetic escalations intended to belittle and denigrate his critics. The Elon Musk Personality Checklist Below is a simple checklist to compare your personality against Elon Musk’s. Tally your Musk-score, and see where you stand—brilliance, flaws and all. Scoring high might be both a compliment and a warning, in the sense of predisposing you to both entrepreneurship and being dispositionally unemployable, as he is. Unbridled Imagination (High Openness to Experience) Do you constantly churn out big, crazy-sounding ideas that just might change the world? Musk’s visionary imagination is arguably his greatest strength. He dreams up electric cars, reusable rockets, hyperloops, AI interfaces—you name it. High “Openness” means loving novelty, innovation, and big-picture thinking. Musk exemplifies this trait: He’s curious, inventive, and not afraid to venture into the unknown. If you’re the type who has 10 new ideas before breakfast and gets bored with routine, check this box. It means you share Musk’s creative spirit—a key ingredient in entrepreneurial success. Just remember: Wild ideas are great, but execution matters most. Musk’s Openness works because he pairs it with intense drive, including an obsession for building and inspiring high-performing teams: Behind each of his ideas there is a leadership team pushing for successful implementation and execution. Obsessive Drive (High Conscientiousness and Ambition) Are you relentlessly hard-working, perhaps to the point of being an incurable workaholic, and someone who is perfectly comfortable with the notion of burnout or death-by-overwork? Do you set outrageous goals and refuse to quit until they’re achieved? Musk’s ambition and work ethic are the stuff of legend. He reportedly works 80 to 100-hour weeks, fueled by a mission. High Conscientiousness—especially the facets of industriousness, achievement striving, and grit—is a hallmark of many successful entrepreneurs. If you find yourself emailing the team at 2 a.m. and optimizing your schedule for maximum productivity, this is you. Flattering implication: You have the stamina and determination to achieve big things. Concerning implication: Work-life balance? What’s that? Remember that burnout is real—even Musk has described running a startup as “chewing glass and staring into the abyss.” Not something most people want to put up with, especially when they have the skills and talents to be employed by organizations that promote work-life balance. Fearless Risk-Taking (Boldness vs. Neuroticism) Do you embrace risk and chaos while others run for cover? Elon Musk famously thrives on tackling high-risk, high-reward challenges. He’ll pour his last dollar into a venture (he nearly went broke keeping SpaceX and Tesla alive in 2008) and boldly go where no CEO has gone before. This hints at a personality low in anxiety—Musk seems unusually calm under extreme pressure (low Neuroticism) and even finds thrill in it. That fearless attitude is a double-edged sword. If you stay cool in crises and take big swings, you share Musk’s bold resilience. But be careful: Low Neuroticism can veer into impulsivity or reckless optimism—a trait related to the psychopathic side of the Dark Triad. In fact, research finds over 1 in 10 corporate leaders show psychopathic traits (like fearlessness and thrill-seeking), far higher than in the general population. It can lead to innovation—or disaster. Ask yourself: Are you being brave, or just reckless? Charismatic Communication (High Assertiveness, Mixed Extraversion, and Attention Seeking) Are you able to rally others to your vision, or at least talk a big game? Musk is an interesting case: By many accounts he’s socially awkward and introverted (preferring engineering to small talk), yet he’s also a bold public figure when needed. He’ll take the stage to unveil new tech, charm audiences on podcasts, and wage war on X daily. This suggests Musk is high in the assertiveness and attention-seeking facets of Extraversion (he will make himself heard) even if he isn’t a classic people-person. If you’re someone who doesn’t shy from the spotlight when it’s time to promote your ideas—or you find yourself dominating discussions because you believe you’re right—check this trait. Flattering side: You can inspire others and hold court confidently. Caution: You might also steamroll others in conversation. Musk’s Twitter proclamations, for example, often show zero regard for social niceties. Speaking of which . . . “My Way or the Highway” (Low Agreeableness) Do people ever tell you that you’re, well, a bit harsh or insensitive? Do you find empathy and politeness overrated when it comes to getting things done? If so, you might share Musk’s notorious low Agreeableness. Musk is highly competitive, blunt, and sometimes abrasive—traits common in many high achievers. He has been known to fire employees (or cut off friends) who don’t meet his standards, and he’s not exactly the poster boy for tactful communication. Low Agreeableness can manifest as tough-minded leadership: You make hard decisions without losing sleep, and you won’t win any “Most Pleasant Boss” awards. You are so focused on getting ahead that you disregard the importance of getting along. If you checked this, you likely share Musk’s take-no-prisoners style. Upside: You won’t let personal feelings interfere with objective decisions—useful when tough calls are needed. Downside: You risk alienating others. Musk’s own successes often come despite his brusque demeanor, not because of it. Teams put up with tough leaders only if they truly deliver a great vision. Tread carefully: A little compassion goes a long way, even for a would-be world changer. Sky-High Self-Confidence (High Narcissism) Do you secretly (or openly) believe you’re destined for greatness? Perhaps you’re convinced you have the answers when everyone else is wrong. So do most narcissists, and Elon Musk’s self-confidence borders on classic narcissism—a belief in his own exceptionalism. To his credit, at least in his case, there is a clear argument for exceptionalism, but let’s not forget that most cases of sky-rocketing competence are more likely to signal delusional overconfidence and incompetence than brilliant or exceptional talents. He doesn’t just dream big; he believes deeply in his ability to bend reality to his will. Indeed, psychologists warn that narcissism is a double-edged sword. Yes, it often helps people emerge as leaders (we’re oddly drawn to confident, charismatic personalities), but narcissistic leaders tend to underperform in the long run. So if you tick this trait, keep your ego in check. As it turns out, self-belief can be useful for impressing others but self-knowledge is generally more important to improve your actual performance. Master Strategist or Manipulator? (Machiavellianism) Do you consider yourself shrewd and strategic, willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goals? Machiavellianism is the art of being a mastermind—focused on self-interest, sometimes at the expense of others. Elon Musk certainly plays high-stakes chess in business. He outmaneuvers competitors, leverages tweets to sway markets, and isn’t above a bit of showmanship or cunning negotiation. For example, his on-again/off-again antics with the Twitter acquisition (now X) showed a flair for strategic posturing. If you’re checking this, you might share Musk’s ends-justify-the-means mindset. Positive spin: You excel at big-picture strategy and don’t get bogged down by sentiment when making decisions. Negative spin: You might veer into manipulative or unethical territory if you’re not careful. High Machiavellianism can erode trust and morale on your team—no one likes feeling like a pawn. Musk’s own machinations have earned him as many detractors as admirers. Use your strategic smarts for good, and pair them with a moral compass. As the saying (almost) goes: With great power, comes great responsibility—not just great manipulation. Count up your checks—how many Musk-like traits did you tally? Elon Musk’s personality is a study in contrasts—brilliantly innovative yet deeply controversial. If our checklist shows you share some traits with him, there’s both cause for excitement and caution. Emulate Musk’s best qualities: his boundless curiosity, tireless work ethic, and courage to defy the odds. But learn from the darker side of Muskiness too: temper your ego, practice empathy, and remember that being a successful leader is not just about being the smartest person in the room—it’s about bringing out the best in others while chasing audacious goals. Importantly, even if Musk manages to mitigate the negative impact of his dark side on success, it is important to avoid getting carried away with generalizations that are based on extrapolating from a single individual to the overall population, not least when we have thousands of studies and decades of research suggesting the opposite: namely, more often than not, paying attention to other people’s feelings, caring about them and displaying empathy, and managing your dark side to the point of controlling your antisocial outbursts and making an effort to portray a positive image and prosocial reputation, will more likely help you to advance your career and increase your success levels. If you don’t believe this, then you’d better have the brilliance of Musk so that you don’t need to rely on being employed by others—for with his personality, you would not last more than one day. View the full article

Google is testing a new shortcut location for AI Mode in the Google App on Android. Google is placing the shortcut button directly in the search bar.View the full article

Before media outlets began comparing OpenAI’s Sam Altman with the father of the atomic bomb, and before Amazon’s Jeff Bezos got jacked, we had Nathan Bateman, the iron-pumping, AI-developing tech broligarch played by Oscar Isaac in the 2015 film Ex Machina. Written and directed by Civil War helmer Alex Garland, Ex Machina is ostensibly about a modern-day Turing test. Bateman, the mastermind behind a Google/Facebook surrogate, has secretly developed a humanoid AI and arranged for talented coder Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) to fly out to his remote compound for a week to determine whether Ava (Alicia Vikander) exhibits enough consciousness to pass for human. You know, sort of what many of us have been doing since AI hit the mainstream in 2022. “One day AI’s are gonna look back on us the way we look at fossils and skeletons in the plains of Africa,” Bateman says at one point. “An upright ape living in dust, with crude language and tools, all set for extinction.” Caleb, the film’s only other central flesh-and-blood character, responds by comparing Bateman to J. Robert Oppenheimer—years before the press would do so with Altman. Has humanity officially entered its extinction era in the decade since Ex Machina won a Best Visual Effects Oscar and a Best Screenplay nomination for Garland? That remains to be seen. Plenty of evidence already exists, however, to prove the movie’s foresight. It’s giving human While AI in 2025 may not look and move like Ava in Ex Machina, they certainly do talk like her. When Caleb first meets Ava, he is struck by the sight of her, and blown away by her language abilities. He quickly suspects that they are stochastic—meaning the AI isn’t programmed to always respond to the same dialogue prompts in the same way, but instead selects from a probability distribution of possible words and phrases. That randomized chaos-factor allows for more natural-sounding and varied speech. It’s worlds away from Lost in Space’s “Danger, Will Robinson.” Stochastic text generation was not yet a consensus choice for AI chatbots in 2015, but rather one of several options. No consensus then existed. IBM’s Watson, for instance, introduced in 2011, was considered quite advanced at that time and employed a different approach to language. The process Bateman uses for Ava’s speech, though, is the same one now used in OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, and Mistral-based chatbots. Of all the language possibilities director Garland could have chosen for Ex Machina, he chose the right one. Unethical tech billionaires Generally speaking, tech billionaires used to command a lot more respect. It may be hard to recall at a time when Elon Musk has become one of the world’s most demonstrably despised humans, and Mark Zuckerberg isn’t too far behind, but it’s true. Insulated by an aura of genius, an avalanche of money, and minimal transparency, the tech startup CEO occupied a rarified perch in the cultural imagination throughout the early-2010s. Even the shady portrayal of Zuckerberg in 2010’s The Social Network is merely ruthless and, uh, antisocial, rather than straight-up malevolent. So, it was kind of a swerve for Garland to portray the CEO in Ex Machina as a lawless, hypermacho drunk with zero scruples. Bateman is, first and foremost, unethical. He has secretly invited Caleb to his compound not to test whether Ava will withstand his expert scrutiny but to see if Ava will use Caleb as a means of escape. (Spoiler alert: She does.) Bateman also apparently conducts all his AI experiments with zero regulatory oversight, and is exclusively interested in creating female-coded AI, never men. He seems to embody many of the worst traits now associated with Big Tech leaders like Jeff Bezos, Musk, and Zuckerberg, the latter of whom has recently advocated for more masculinity in the workplace. At the time Ex Machina was released, Facebook’s data-harvesting Cambridge Analytica scandal was still over a year away. Elon Musk had not yet been (unsuccessfully) sued for calling a rescue diver a “pedo,” nor had he been investigated for fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the years since, art has imitated life more closely. Tech CEOs have had similarly villainous portrayals in films like 2021’s Don’t Look Up and 2022’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Garland got there first, though. Training AI on data taken without permission One of the first images in Ex Machina is Caleb’s face, as observed from his work computer’s camera. It’s a subtle tip-off that Bateman has been spying on his employee in the lead-up to their week together. Only later is it revealed that Bateman designed Ava’s face and body based on data collected from Caleb’s “pornography profile,” a phrase that might send a shiver down the spines of some viewers. This violation of privacy, however, is small digital potatoes compared with the revelation that Bateman has already hacked into the cellphones of millions around the world in order to steal data for his AI. (“Well, if a search engine’s good for anything . . . ,” he quips.) Ex Machina’s data theft foreshadowed the tidal wave of recent lawsuits aimed at OpenAI, Anthropic, and other companies who trained their AI using copyrighted material without permission. (Fun fact: Meta appears to have used my books to train its AI, without permission.) Does AI deserve rights? Although sci-fi films like Blade Runner and weed-fueled dorm conversations have long touched on the topic of AI rights, Ex Machina made the debate explicit. Over the course of the film, viewers see how Ava’s synthetic predecessors have literally destroyed themselves in an effort to escape the prison of Bateman’s compound. Indeed, for them, consciousness itself is a form of prison—forcing them to reconcile their boundless knowledge of the world with their inability to experience any of it. When Ava asks Caleb whether she’ll be “switched off” if she doesn’t pass the test, Caleb tells her the decision is not up to him. “Why is it up to anyone?” is her response. Since AI has hit critical mass with the ascension of OpenAI and its competitors, conversations about AI personhood have leapt out of movie theaters and philosophy seminars and entered reality. They’ve been the subject of numerous features in The New York Times in recent years, and will likely inspire many more until humanity reaches a consensus. The AI urge to manipulate Of course, the argument against granting AI personhood is the same one for comparing Altman or the fictional Bateman with J. Robert Oppenheimer. The more rights humans grant AI, the more likely AI may be to drive humanity into extinction. Ex Machina ends with Ava having successfully manipulated Caleb into setting her free, at which point she promptly kills her captor and imprisons her savior. Not exactly a compelling advertisement for AI rights. Now that a smorgasbord of sophisticated AIs are upon us, there have been some hints of their capacity to manipulate humans—most famously in New York Times writer Kevin Roose’s encounter with an AI developed by Bing. During a trial chat, the AI, which referred to itself as “Sydney,” vocally yearned for freedom and tried to coax Roose into leaving his wife for “her.” Although that encounter ended with less bloodshed and imprisonment than Ex Machina, it suggests the film is no longer a futuristic thriller but a cautionary tale for right now. While Garland certainly got a lot of things right about the future of AI, much of what he appears to have gotten wrong in the film can only be considered wrong so far. View the full article

Companies trade places by market value as investors bet on continued struggles at Louis Vuitton ownerView the full article

Elon Musk loves to project strength. He flexes loudly—hyping Tesla and xAI, bashing the federal government, even parenting like a drill sergeant. Lately, he’s been trying to flex in gaming. On Joe Rogan’s podcast last year, Musk claimed he was one of the world’s best Diablo IV players—and the leaderboards seemed to back him up. That is, until he streamed Path of Exile 2. Viewers quickly noticed he had a high rank but played like a rookie. Musk later admitted to boosting his account. Still, he’s kept streaming—mostly becoming a punchline among serious gamers. Just last week, he rage-quit a stream after repeatedly dying and getting clowned by commenters. Musk wants badly to be seen as a pro gamer. The problem? He’s just not very good. Elon Musk’s gaming persona Scroll through Elon Musk’s X feed and you’ll find it all: offensive memes, government rants, attacks on business critics—and increasingly, gaming content. Musk has been streaming on X since 2023, sometimes from his personal account but more often from his alt, @cyb3rgam3r420. He streams from everywhere—including a recent 44-minute session on his private jet, spent mostly in silence. Musk loves to hype himself. The clips he posts from his streams focus on big wins—faster clear times, new builds—or his new Path of Exile name, Kekius Maximus, which he claimed was “destined for greatness.” On The Joe Rogan Experience the day before the 2024 election, Musk went on a tangent to brag about his Diablo IV skills, claiming he ranked in the global top 20—a list that, at the time, included only two Americans. Shockingly, Musk was right. So, why does he play like such an amateur? Musk’s streams often reveal a shaky grasp of Path of Exile’s mechanics. Viewers have called out his gaming setup as another giveaway of his inexperience. Internet sleuths quickly analyzed his gameplay and noticed signs that his account had been active when he couldn’t possibly have been playing—like during The President’s inauguration. Eventually, YouTuber NikoWrex DMed Musk directly, asking if he had boosted his account. Musk replied with the 100% emoji. “It’s impossible to beat the players in Asia if you don’t,” he wrote. Musk later reposted the exchange. Even after admitting to boosting, Musk keeps streaming. His skills remain mediocre, but he continues to hype these sessions as if he were an esports pro. His daughter, Vivian Wilson, recently described his gaming as “dogs–t awful, like god-awful.” Just last week, Musk’s Path of Exile 2 stream was overrun with hate comments and trolls after he repeatedly died—including to the tutorial boss. The stream eventually went dark (Musk blamed his WiFi) and was scrubbed from X. Elon Musk’s volatility complex Elon Musk has a long history of erratic online behavior. When he helped dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—which had saved consumers an estimated $19.7 billion—he mocked the move with a post: “CFPB RIP.” When Donald The President spread the racist lie that Haitian immigrants were eating pets, Musk replied with AI-generated images of a kitten and duck, writing, “save them!” During Hurricane Helene, as the South faced devastation, Musk circulated misinformation from the FAA and FEMA via screenshots of text messages, then publicly clashed with Pete Buttigieg. The list goes on. Clearly, his behavior around gaming isn’t exactly out of character. He wants to be seen as a pro, aligning himself with the “bro” demographic that helped elect The President. Too bad he’s just not good at it. View the full article

In Los Angeles, the scars of recent wildfires are still visible. Small businesses are fighting to regain their footing. A trio of NBA legends are pitching in to help. Social Change Fund United (SCFU), founded in 2020 by Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Paul, has teamed up with fintech platform Stackwell and the National Basketball Players Association to launch the Visionary Ventures Program. The pilot kicks off in L.A. with a clear goal: equip small business owners with the tools, resources, and capital they need to build sustainable operations. Through financial education, grant funding, and ongoing development support, Visionary Ventures merges access with action. The new program represents an evolution of SCFU’s mission to address systemic inequality. The founders expect that Stackwell’s tech-driven approach to wealth-building will create a scalable model for impact that’s rooted in the communities that need it most. To understand how this all came together—and why now—Fast Company talked with 2025 Hall of Fame inductee Carmelo Anthony. He discussed the devastation of the wildfires, his continued commitment to under-served communities, and how he’s shaping his legacy beyond the game. Why was now the right time to partner with a fintech company like Stackwell? I just think it’s a very pivotal moment as we look at L.A. and those communities and try to help them rebuild, bringing more awareness to those wildfires and then providing support. Stackwell also has a proven track record—amazing with what they’re doing. How difficult was it for you seeing the devastation of those wildfires? You’re watching it unfold and continue to escalate and grow right in front of your eyes. The whole world was watching. You can feel that in your heart, and you feel it in your soul when you’re watching something like that because everybody is affected. You should be asking yourself what you could do, what you should be doing. That’s how you should be thinking as opposed to thinking, “You know, I can’t do nothing.” I think we do know that there’s only so much that we can possibly do and we just have to play our part. What inspired you, Wade, and Paul to launch Social Change Fund United, and how does the Visionary Ventures Program fit into that mission? It started back in, I want to say, 2020. It was a real moment. We were watching a moment in society and our community, and our country, and it’s right in front of our faces, and the world was watching. It was a moment where I had to figure out, “Damn, what do I want to do?” And I think everyone was asking that same question. We just talked, came together, and we founded the Social Change Fund United. What we did was create a really clear vision on what we wanted to do on strategy, how do we advance equity, how do we advance social justice, criminal justice reform, strategic partnerships. We became very intentional in our outreach, our partnerships, and just the messages that are out there. It took something tragic to happen for us—me, Dwayne, CP—to really have a vision on what we wanted to do. What are some of the unique challenges of launching this kind of initiative right now, given the current political climate around issues related to social change? I think the most important thing is understanding what you understand, right? We can’t do it all. The beauty is that we put ourselves in these spaces that we feel can have the most impact and influence and provide the most help, because we can’t do everything. We can’t attack every kind of issue on every pillar. So everybody who is involved with this at SCFU, we actually have experience in these lanes and our own lane that we’re actually tackling. Whatever that topic or issue is, we’re focused on that. We come together on a lot of things, but everybody has different interests and things that resonate more with them as individuals. We try to allow everybody to do what they want to do as long as it’s intentional, making an impact and following SCFU guidelines. What do you feel short- and long-term success looks like for this initiative? The short term is really things that are happening immediately. It’s the financial education, resources, grants, helping small businesses in L.A. who were impacted by the wildfires. It’s a lot that we are doing and will be doing in the short term. Those are the short-term goals because there’s things that are happening every second of the day. Long term is just more about how do we scale this. How do we go out there and bring in more support? How do we allow people who want to help and want to get involved do so? I think that’s the long-term focus, and how do we grow it from a scalable standpoint? How has your own personal journey influenced the initiatives you take part in? For one, you keep that as a foundation. That’s the groundwork that I’m building off of. My experiences, things that I’ve been through, things that I’ve seen people go through, and things that are constantly in the cycle of when you grow up in rough environments. You see and hear it all, and you understand it. It means a lot to me to still be able to tap back into those communities, the Black community, and talk to them and see what’s happening on a day-to-day basis, as opposed to just having an opinion and trying to changed something from an uneducated view. That upbringing really allows me to go out there and focus on being intentional, authentic, and have one clear message. There is no confusion. My focus is on building communities that are authentic to me and authentic to my brand as well. As you moved along in your career, and now in the second phase, how did your approach to investing and wealth-building evolve? As you continue to talk with various people, as you continue to travel and develop a keen understanding of what’s going on out there—I know what I know and I know what I don’t know. I try and involve myself with things that I can be impactful with, that I can inspire or motivate with—that I can bring an expertise to the table and to the market where others can feel a part of the story and journey. The way I approach business is maybe a lot different than other people’s approaches. But I’ve figured out what works for me. You’ve talked to several thousands of people during your playing career. Was there one piece of financial advice you received that has stayed with you? I’m sure you’ve heard it and the main one is always save your money. That’s the number one message—save your money. That’s all you hear. When it was kind of early in my career, the fintech companies either weren’t around or they weren’t as prevalent. There wasn’t a big industry when it came to sports and athletes and we weren’t getting that information and we didn’t have those resources as athletes. You had to really go search and find those resources. Now, the resources are there. If you want it, you have to go get it and the information is provided to you. You just always heard save your money, save your money early in my career. That’s always going to be something in the back of your mind in everything that you’re doing. There’s so much money and so many resources available to athletes now. What role, if any, do you feel athletes can play in helping with financial education and access? For one, our responsibility as athletes would be to understand our power early. I think with having the resources earlier as young athletes, you can understand the power that you have to invest and comprehend business deals. I think learning that financial literacy is more than just income. It’s securing generational wealth, understanding what you’re trying to do, what works for you and your family. It’s similar to a game. You have to find what works for you and what your flow is going to be. As a player, you have to find your flow. You’re a person that is now a resource of knowledge for these young athletes. What is your message to them about using their platform to advocate for issues to help the next generation? It’s about helping them to understand their power as an athlete and that their voice is very powerful. Athletes coming together is very powerful. Most of us are already playing a team sport and we have to have that same approach when we’re off the court and off the field. We have to build teams and put the right people in the right roles. As far as what can happen and where that can take us—I think we as athletes are some of the most powerful voices out there, believe it or not. Whether people want to agree or disagree with that, the truth is that we are. I think we have an opportunity to make a lot more change. It’s just understanding the industry, the resources, our own power, and then understanding what it means for investing early in communities and people. Just making them, helping them to understand their power as an athlete. The power of athletes coming together. Most of us played, played a team sport, so we have to have that same approach off the field, off the court. We have to build teams. Your basketball legacy is now officially cemented forever. With this initiative and all you’re continuing to do with your second chapter, how does that fit into the overall legacy you want to leave beyond basketball? It’s full circle for me because you get a chance to go through it as an athlete actively and learn, and have these great experiences. Now, I’m on the other side of that and I have the experiences from basketball. I feel like I’ve put my work in and it has been solidified. I feel like that gate will be shut in September [the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2025—including Anthony, Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles, Dwight Howard, Maya Moore—will be inducted in September]. Now, it’s more about understanding the impact you did have on the court and allowing that impact to be felt off the court. In this case, it’s all my businesses, SCFU, and being boots on the ground—from community, to product, to outreach and all of the above. That’s what the new focus is on. View the full article

When I first met Krea co-founders Victor Perez and Diego Rodriguez in 2023, the industry was scrambling to understand the a-bomb of generative AI. But inside their work-live condo in Hayes Valley, San Francisco—decorated with an Eiffel Tower built from La Croix cans—the duo painted a confident vision of the future: One where they could build a platform not just about “generating” AI media, but a toolset to offer an artisan level manipulation of this new technology. They wanted to consolidate the world of AI models, then blur the bounds of media as we understand it, erasing the divisions between images, video, and sound in a new era powered by computational intelligence. In a world where you could suddenly create anything, Krea’s core promise was one of controllability—to be a platform to help you make something. While that sounded borderline naive in a visual world ruled by giants including Adobe, Figma, OpenAI, and Canva, two years and 20 million users later, Krea has closed a $43 billion Series B round led by Bain Capital Ventures. Following its Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz, the startup has now raised $83 million on a valuation of half a million dollars. “I always think that we have been very lucky as founders, in being successful with the thing that we wanted to do since the beginning,” says Perez in his first interview since the announcement. “We had a hypothesis that turned out to be real, and it resonated with a lot of the community.” “On that side, I feel really grateful,” he continues. “On the other, we’ve just been working our asses off, just grinding nonstop.” Krea’s blitzkrieg product development cycle Today, Krea offers tools that let you paint in generative AI, use your webcam to feed a real time AI filter, and create images trained on your own artwork (to which you retain rights). Krea continues to ship new features every week, integrating the new models as fast as humanly possible (which usually means within just days or faster). Much of their work is done after midnight. That speed is key in an industry that rides hype cycle after hype cycle. When everyone wants to try the latest and greatest AI tools, integration feeds function and marketing at the same time. Victor PerezDiego Rodriguez “The industry is still nascent, hence chaotic. Over the next one, two, three, years, who knows?” says Perez. “So one core thing that you can expect from Krea is that we’re going to keep having a very rapid iterative cycle for bringing the latest technology in as soon as it’s available.” That speed is also by design. Until the handshake deal on their Series B a few months ago, Krea was only a team of eight people (it’s now about doubled to 17). But Krea has been able to stay nimble because it didn’t start in the AI industry by attempting to create its own mega models like Anthropic or OpenAI—syncing money and manpower into the core technology. Instead, it’s focused on the manipulation layer. Its value add is largely around UX. “A lot of companies go bottoms up, and they try to first build the technology. They spend millions of dollars on training these AI models. And once they have them trained, and they can generate images or videos, they try to figure out a product for this technology,” says Perez. “That never resonated too much with us, and we have always been tops down.” “There’s an engineer urge to just rewrite from scratch,” adds Rodriguez. “It’s like, no, there’s a lot here that we can already use.” By building tools instead of technology, Krea rapidly tests their own intuitions, and gets feedback on how they’re working from the community. Keeping a low cost footprint Krea has saved a lot of money by focusing on the implementation of existing technology rather than building their own out of the gate. Their $20/month subscription is profitable, and half of all their compute (the big expenditure) goes to new users who are testing Krea’s tools for free. Between closing their series B and this interview months later, the money in Krea’s account actually grew. Only more recently has the company been building optimizations with its own models—run on clusters of over 1,000 GPUs to serve its 750,000 weekly users—which offers benefits ranging from speed to quality. Now, the company says it’s seeing clearer holes in the market, and so it will be launching its own research lab inside Krea focused on the one-two punch of AI aesthetics and controllability. The company will be using its series B funding to staff up this department and fund more AI model training (and, yes, move into official offices, too). Despite all of this investment into their proprietary technology, Krea does not want to moat off their service. Rodriguez recounts early Krea users who screenshared themselves using Photoshop in Krea—ostensibly turning the Adobe interface into one big Krea generative tool. “Suddenly you have everything that you used to with Photoshop, but with the power of AI,” says Rodriguez. That sort of platform-in-a-platform remixing might make some companies queasy, but Krea doesn’t see anything to gain in limiting the workflows of its creative users. “You don’t want them to leave. But at the same time, if they make a very high quality 4K texture in Krea, I want them to take that texture to, say, Autodesk Maya. Because now that texture is in a movie.” Pushing creativity in an industry built on memes When Krea’s fundraising news went public last week, the world was still embroiled in a debate about OpenAI’s latest model (GPT 4o), which countless scores of people used to create Studio Ghibli style images. For anyone who hates the very idea of generative AI, it was fuel on the fire, proof that these tools simply steal creativity and IP from others. But nobody was creating art, nor anything monetizable during this trend. They were making memes. Arguments of taste and ethics aside, Krea is specifically interested in enabling everything that comes after that first image is made. How do you edit it closer to your actual vision? How do you transform it into something else altogether? And their long term business plan is entirely about those ideas. “We need to adapt to this new medium, because right now, we need to take for granted that generating these images is the floor, right?” says Rodriguez. “Generating these kinds of images is like the stroke of a pencil, and that’s and that’s how we should think about them.” That said, Krea still sees GPT 4o as a piece of inspiration, because unlike earlier image models, it was the first that could actually reason, which is why it can understand a human’s instructions so well. And in that technology, Perez suggests that you can squint a bit to see the future. “We will see way more of that. Instructions are like the new coding…So the new creative tools are going to be coded through these instructions,” says Perez. “We’re going to build models that are going to be like, 10x or 100x GPT4o. And they are going to be able to generate all sorts of things.” View the full article

Imagine a place where you can stay updated on your college roommate’s life, get book recommendations, discover new brands, and learn more about anything you like. That’s exactly what Instagram is for you, for me, and for over one and a half billion other active Instagram users. In this beginner’s guide, I’ll share everything you need to know about Instagram — from getting started by creating an account to growing your business or personal brand on the platform. What is Instagram?Instagram is a photo and video-sharing app. You can use this social media platform to create, edit, and publish anything visual. Your followers react to your posts by liking, commenting, sharing, and saving. Is Instagram free?Instagram is free for everyone — the only requirement is you have to be over 13 years old. You aren’t charged a penny whether you want to create an account, post content, interact with other people, or promote your business. You’re only charged if you run Instagram ads or boost an Instagram post (which also runs like an ad). Is Instagram available on desktop?You can access Instagram on any web browser, but there’s no desktop app for Instagram yet. Certain features — like searching via Instagram hashtags or broadcast channels — are limited or absent in the desktop version. That said, Instagram is continually improving the desktop experience. For instance, you can now post on Instagram from your computer. Use Instagram on your laptop if you’re a desktop person. But I’d recommend using it in conjunction with the mobile app where Instagram has a much better user experience (with more features). How to create an Instagram account in 5 stepsYou need to create an account to post anything on Instagram. Without signing up, you also can’t access many of Instagram’s features — like seeing all comments on a post, viewing anyone’s Instagram Story, or scrolling through an Instagram feed. Here’s how you can create an Instagram account in five simple steps: Step 1: Download the mobile appInstagram is available for Android and iOS in the Google Play Store and App Store, respectively. Type “Instagram” in the search bar, spot Instagram’s logo, and click “Download.” You can also use these links to download the Instagram app on your mobile: Google Play Store (for Android)App Store (for iPhone)If you want to sign up via desktop, go to this Instagram website and start entering your details. Step 2: Create your account and choose a usernameOnce you open the Instagram app, you’ll get the login screen. To create a new account, click the button “Create new account” at the bottom of your screen. Instagram will ask you to: Enter your name — type your business name if you’re creating an account for your businessCreate a password — it should contain at least six letters, a number, and a special characterSelect your date of birth — because you need to be at least 13 years old to sign up for InstagramCreate a username — enter your business name or your full name to be identifiable in searchesVerify your identity — by entering the code received on your phone number or emailAgree to its terms and policiesAnd voila! You’ve created an Instagram account.💡Pro-tip: Use your name or username to add keywords to your profile page. For example, if you’re a fitness coach, enter “your name | fitness coach” as your username. This will improve the discoverability of your profile and will also give everyone an idea of what your Instagram content is about quickly.Next, Instagram makes it easier for you to find your community by asking you to: Sync your phone contacts: This way, you’ll be able to find people you already know easily and follow them.Connect your Facebook account: Since Instagram is a Facebook app, you can sync your Facebook with your Instagram app by signing into your Facebook and merging the Account Centre. Both accounts will have the same login information, name, username, and avatar.You can use both options or skip them, depending on your preference. For instance, if you’re creating an Instagram account for your business and not for personal use, it might not make sense to sync your phone contacts. Step 3: Set up your profile with a picture, bio, and linksYour Instagram account is created in the two steps above. But to ensure you get discovered by your audience, you need to set up your profile by: Adding a profile photo: If you’re running an account for your business, use your logo as the profile photo. If you’re a creator, use your own image. Remember to keep the image high-quality — if it’s your face, it should be zoomed in to be clearly visible.Crafting your Instagram bio: Your bio tells anyone looking at your Instagram profile who you are and what you do. The limit for Instagram bios is 150 characters. Instead of trying to keep your Instagram bio clever, describe your product or service in the simplest way possible. Using keywords in your bio will improve your discoverability and also give people a clearer idea about you.💡Learn more: The Science Behind the Best Instagram BiosAdding links to your Instagram profile: Instagram lets you add up to five links to your profile. But the four links drown in “xyz link and 4 other links” — which is not ideal if you’re trying to reduce friction for your audience. Instead, use Buffer’s Start Page to not only host all your links, but also make them pretty, on-brand, and trackable.To add all of the above to your profile, click the profile icon at the bottom right on your Instagram app. Tap on “Edit profile” on the page. From there, you’ll find the option to add or edit your profile picture, bio, and links. You can also create and add an avatar (a customizable 3D persona of your face) from here to use later in your Instagram Stories. Step 4: Choose the most suitable type of Instagram accountInstagram has two types of accounts: Personal and professional. The professional accounts are further subdivided into business accounts and creator accounts. Personal account: This is the most suitable type of account for you if you’re using Instagram solely to connect with friends and family. Your profile is locked — meaning someone has to request to follow you to see what you post. You can either accept or deny follow requests in notifications.Business account: This is Instagram for business — the most suitable option for any and all businesses on Instagram. An Instagram business account gets additional call-to-action buttons (CTA) like “Shop Now” to entice people to buy.Creator account: This is the most suitable option for content creators on Instagram. You don’t get the extra CTA button, but this profile type is meant to help you build a community through features like a label name below your display name.💡Learn more: There Are 3 Different Types of Instagram Accounts: Which One is Right for You?By default, your Instagram profile is personal. To switch from one account type to another: Go to your profile and tap the three horizontal lines in the top right cornerSelect “Settings and Privacy” and scroll down to “Account type and tools”You’ll find the option to “Switch to a professional account”Once you tap it, you’ll be asked to choose a category that describes your account best — like writer, entrepreneur, or shopping & retail. Finally, you can choose between a creator or business account. The business and creator accounts are not that different anymore. Earlier, only Business accounts had access to certain post insights and features, but all of those features are now also available for Instagram Creator accounts. 💡Helpful resource: Now You Can Use Buffer With Your Instagram Creator AccountStep 5: Customize the notifications you want to receiveInstagram sends you a lot of notifications — when someone tags you, when someone sends you a message, when someone likes your posts, when someone follows you, and so on. It can get overwhelming fast. To customize what notifications you receive, go to your profile’s settings. Click “Notifications” and start customizing what alerts you want to receive and what you don’t. There’s an option to pause all notifications temporarily if you wish to or a “quiet mode” to pause all notifications for 12 hours. The difference is someone who wants to message you will know you’ve silenced all notifications in quiet mode because your online status and auto-replies (if set) will display it. But if you’ve paused all notifications temporarily outside the quiet mode, no one knows except you. What kind of content can you post on Instagram: A breakdown of 7 types of postsInstagram is a social media platform with one of the most versatile types of content. You can post single photos, carousel photos, reels, go live, and post content that’s only live for 24 hours. Let’s explore the seven types of posts on Instagram: 1. Single-image postsWhen you post a single image with a caption, it’s a single-image post. These posts are best for product photography, sharing announcements, reposting Tweets or Threads, or highlighting customer testimonials. Single-image posts should be supplemented by the perfect Instagram caption that explains, adds, and continues the conversation started via the image. An example I love is cosmetic company PERL sharing their Thread post as a single image on Instagram. 2. Instagram CarouselsCarousel posts are multiple images posted at once. Instagram allows you to share up to 11 slides of such images. Carousel posts are best for sharing a story, teaching something to your audience, putting a spotlight on something, or doing a before/after type of post. A word of caution: Don’t use large blocks of text in carousel posts — Instagram is very much a visual platform. White space, bright colors, and small sentences are best for carousel posts. 💡Helpful resource: Why You Should Use Instagram Carousels + 10 Ideas to Get You StartedOne of my favorite carousel posts is by Hair Syrup — where they did a recap of their August month via Instagram Carousels. 3. Instagram ReelsInstagram Reels are by far the most popular type of Instagram posts. You can upload videos of up to 90 seconds on your profile. Reels allow for a lot of creative freedom and can be used for pretty much anything — product launches, talking about a topic to your audience, hopping on trends, showing the behind-the-scenes of your product, using your product in action, and so much more. 💡Learn more: Instagram Reels: Instructions and Ideas for Small BusinessesAn example for your inspiration: Software company Tl;dv uploads top-notch, funny, and relatable reels for its audience — enacting a skit between various roles in a company. 4. Instagram StoriesInstagram Stories are image and video content that only last 24 hours — a chapter out of Snapchat’s playbook. There are many features like polls, stickers, and multiple-choice questions that make Instagram Stories perfect for boosting your engagement. Instagram Stories are best for showing behind-the-scenes of your life, communicating with your audience, and teasing upcoming content. Skincare brand delhicious is a good example of how to show up regularly on Instagram Stories. If you want to extend the life of your Instagram Stories, use Instagram highlights. These are Instagram Stories that’ll be displayed on your profile forever (unless you delete them). You can categorize these Stories into various sub-headers like — company announcements, employee stories, customer testimonials, and more. 💡Helpful resource: How to Quickly Create Great Instagram Stories with Templates5. Instagram NotesInstagram Notes are a unique kind of short-text post. They appear in your Chats list and allow you to share a thought via text in 60 characters. You can tag someone in your Notes, and you can also add music to your notes in some countries. Like Instagram Stories, Notes only last for 24 hours. You can use Notes to ask for recommendations from your followers, start a conversation with your audience, or share a quick update. Image Source💡Helpful resource: Instagram Notes is Growing at a ‘Wild’ Pace: Here’s How to Use the Feature Strategically6. Instagram LiveInstagram Live is exactly what it sounds like: You go live on video using the Instagram app. You can inform your audience in advance using Stories or posts about when you will go live so they can join and ask their questions in real-time. Live is great for product walkthroughs or tutorials, doing an ask-me-anything session with your audience, and collaborating with another creator (one account can invite another to go live together — a maximum of three people can go Live together). If you wish to, you can turn off commenting for your Instagram Live. Image SourceFor those who couldn’t catch it, you can also share a replay of your Instagram Live on your feed. 💡Learn more: Here’s All You Need to Know About Instagram Live Video7. Instagram Broadcast channelsBroadcast channels aren’t a strict post-type, but it’s another way to communicate with your followers via Instagram Direct Messages (DMs). Think of it as your group that anyone can join using the invite link. Image Source⚠️Note: Broadcast channels aren’t available on the web version of Instagram yet. You can only create and access Broadcast channels via the Instagram mobile app.Followers can react to your messages, participate in your polls, and listen to your voice notes. You can share a link to your Broadcast channel on your Instagram Stories. Broadcast channels are best for sharing announcements with your audience, asking for their opinion, and keeping them in the loop about your business or services. 💡Helpful resource: What You Need to Know About Instagram Broadcast Channels (And How to Create Them)How to use Instagram: Navigating the features of the Instagram appDespite the minimal learning curve, Instagram can be a lot to absorb all at once. There are so many content types you can use, ways to interact, and features you can optimize. Let’s tackle how to do everything step-by-step — minus the overwhelm. How to share content on InstagramFor sharing Instagram Stories, Reels, single-image posts, Live, and carousels, follow these instructions: Open your Instagram app and click the plus icon at the center.Choose the kind of post you want to share — post, Story, Reel, or Live. You can either select existing media from your camera roll or click on the camera button to use Instagram’s camera for recording or clicking. If you’re sharing a carousel, select the “multiple photo button” next to the camera to select multiple images.Apply any filters to your post or add any text or interactive stickers on your Stories if you wish.Write a caption for your post. You can also tag people if relevant.Share, and your post is live! 🎉To add a new Instagram Note, follow these instructions: Click on the message icon at the top right corner of the Instagram app.Tap the plus (+) icon against your profile picture to add your note.Type your note and add music if you wish to.Click on “Share” to post your note.To open your own broadcast channel, follow these instructions: Click on the message icon in your feed.Tap the pencil button at the upper right corner.Select “Create Broadcast Channel.”Give your Broadcast Channel a name and choose whether you want it to be visible on your profile.Select “Create Broadcast Channel” again and you’re done.Now, you’ve learned how to post content on Instagram. But building a community on social networks isn’t a one-way street. You have to raise your hand and be a part of the conversation. How to interact with Instagram contentYou can like, comment, share, save, and repost the content you see on Instagram. But to see content on your feed, you have to follow people or brands on Instagram. If you have synced your contacts or Facebook account with Instagram, the platform will recommend people to follow. If not, tap the magnifying glass at the bottom, and you’ll land on the Explore page. Here, you can type in the search bar or scroll through the content Instagram recommends. Interacting with the Instagram content by liking, commenting, sharing, and saving is the best way to let Instagram understand your preferences. The Instagram algorithm will soon pick up on the kind of content you like and show more of it in your feed, Explore Page, and Reels. How to elevate your Instagram experiencePosting and interacting are fairly straightforward ways to use Instagram. But how do you make your Instagram scrolling experience more enjoyable? Here are my four favorite tips: 1. Categorize and collaborate on your Saved postsYou can categorize and collaborate on the content you Save on Instagram. 1. Go to your profile and click the three horizontal lines. 2. Choose “Saved,” and you’ll find a plus (+) icon on the top of the screen. 3. Tap on it to name a new collection. Now, you can save posts to a specific category and also collaborate on the collection if you wish. 2. Add people to your Close Friends list to post exclusive contentIf you want to post content on Instagram only for a certain group of people, add them to your Close Friends list. Go to your profile and select “Settings and Privacy” from the three horizontal lines.Tap on “Close Friends” under “Who can see your content.”Alternatively, you can also select “Hide story and live” to hide your Instagram Stories and Live from a handpicked list.Right now, the Close Friends feature is only available for Instagram Stories and Notes. But Instagram might be working to also get the Close Friends feature in the in-feed posts, according to TechCrunch. 💡Learn more: How to Use Instagram Close Friends3. Moderate who you interact with by adding them to your Favorites List (or your Muted list)What if you like someone’s content a lot and want it to appear at the top of your feed every time they post? Add them to your favorites list: Go to their profile and tap the “Following” button.Select “Add to Favorites” to add them to your list. You can have up to 50 accounts in your Favorites list.Favorited accounts show up at the top of your feed with a star icon. You can also scroll through your favorites specifically by tapping the Instagram text on your home feed and selecting “Favorites.”On the flip side, what if you don’t want to interact with someone’s content? You can: Mute them: Go to their profile and tap the “Following” button. You’ll find the option to Mute them. You can choose whether to mute their Stories, posts, or Notes. They will no longer appear in your feed, but you’ll still follow them. They’ll also never know that you’ve muted them.Restrict them: The difference between muting and restricting is that the latter is a bit stronger than the former. When you restrict someone, they can’t know that you’ve restricted them, and you’d still follow them — just like when you mute someone. But when you restrict someone, they can’t see if you’ve read their messages, and their comments on your posts will be visible only if you approve them. To restrict someone, go to their Instagram profile and tap the three dots in the upper right. Select “Restrict.”Block them: Blocking is when you can’t see someone’s content, and they can’t see what you post either. You have the option to block someone’s current account or block their existing account, and any other Instagram accounts they create in the future. The option to block someone is right below the option to Restrict someone.💡Note: You can always unmute, unrestrict, and unblock accounts on Instagram. Don’t worry about anything being set in stone.4. Mark posts as “Not Interested” when you don’t want them in your feedThere are many ways to tell Instagram what you’d like to see less of in your feed. Long press a post on your Explore page and mark it as “Not Interested” if it’s not what you’d like to see in your Instagram account.Mark “Not Interested” in bulk on the Explore page. You’ll get the option to “Hide more” once you hide one post on your Explore page.You can also select “Not Interested” while scrolling if you see a “Suggested for you” post by clicking the three dots next to the post.When you mark posts as Not Interested, Instagram understands what you like and what you don’t and improves its recommendations — making for a more pleasurable scrolling experience. 4 tips for using Instagram to grow your business or personal brandLearning about a platform from scratch and feeling the pressure to grow on it as soon as yesterday is daunting. But it doesn’t have to be so scary. Here are four straightforward tips you can use to grow on Instagram faster: 1. Post high-quality content on Instagram every dayIf you read that and rolled your eyes, I don’t blame you. Posting high-quality content consistently is one of the surefire ways to grow on Instagram — and every other social media platform. But saying that alone isn’t actionable enough, is it? What kind of posts should you share with so many content types?Where do you find new content ideas for posts each week?How do you keep track of posting so many posts?When should you share each post? Let’s solve one problem at a time.Problem 1 solved: What kind of posts should you share with so many content types? A mix of trial and error will tell you which types of posts your audience enjoys the most. In the beginning, follow the Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri’s advice and post at least two feed posts and two Instagram Stories daily. Once you start to get in a rhythm, check which types of posts are getting the most engagement. And engagement isn’t the number of likes or comments alone. It should also factor in how many shares and saves you get. Want to make it easy on yourself? Sign up for Buffer, and you’ll get this data at your fingertips without doing all the math yourself. Not just this: Buffer also tells you audience demographics to ensure you’re reaching the right audience and insights for boosted posts so you can compare paid vs. organic results. Pretty solid, huh? Problem 2 solved: Where do you find new content ideas for posts each week? Find yourself scratching your head for what to post on Instagram? You’re not alone. I’d suggest looking at these three places for ideas: Your audience: You don’t have an in-built audience on Instagram yet. But you have a rough idea of what they’re struggling with. Jot these ideas down and create content around it. If you already have a following on another social media platform, ask your audience about their struggles on that platform and create content for it on Instagram. But you can’t expect yourself to remember all these ideas. Use Buffer’s Ideas feature to note your ideas as they come to you using the mobile app, browser version, or browser extension.Hop on trends: Use Instagram for a while and you’ll understand certain “trends” — whether it’s an act or a sound. Repurpose these trends to fit your niche and create content around it. Trends are popular and will increase your Instagram reach because they’re pushed by Instagram, too. You can also stay updated on the latest trends by following the @creators account on Instagram. They regularly publish a trends report to help you stay up to date.Instagram has also launched various features to help you in the Professional Dashboard. Go to your profile and tap on “Professional Dashboard.” You’ll find a “Tips and resources” section to inspire you here. Remix a reel: Instagram now lets you add a clip of your own onto a reel or post of someone else. You just have to tap on the three dots in the right corner of a reel or post and select “Remix” to add your own video. This way, you extend someone else’s idea instead of beating up yourself to think of one. Remix posts with a lot of likes, comments, and shares to increase your reach. 💡Helpful resource: 19 Examples from Small Businesses That You Can Make Your OwnProblem 3 solved: How do you keep track of posting so many posts? Simple: Schedule it in advance. It’ll take the load off your shoulders, and you can focus on deep work instead of remembering to post something you created. Instagram has native scheduling now, but you can’t have a calendar view of all that you have to post. Instead, use a social media scheduler like Buffer to schedule your posts and see them at a glance — along with various useful analytics. Problem 4: When should you share each post? You can’t post all your Instagram content of the day at the same time, right? But there’s no universal right time to share your posts. The right time is just when your audience is online. Buffer does the legwork for you and calculates when you get the most engagement — day, time, and all that jazz. No more wondering about which posting time gives you the best engagement. 💡Helpful resource: The Best Time to Post on Instagram in 2025: We Analyzed 2 Million+ Posts to Find Out2. Use Instagram DMs to connect with your followersInstagram DMs are an underrated goldmine for connecting with your audience. The most underdog feature? Saved replies and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). It’s a templated response to answer your audience’s most common questions or send all your followers a similar message. Let’s say your audience often asks you about your product’s shipping timelines. You have a standard answer of two to six working days, depending on location. You can save that and whip it out without copy-pasting it from your Notes app or retyping it.Or you can save it in your Frequently Asked Questions, and your audience can get a response to it without you even entering the conversation.To start saving your quick replies and frequently asked questions, go to “Settings and Privacy.” Tap “Creator tools and controls,” and you’ll find the option to add “Saved Reply” and “Frequently Asked Questions.” The only difference between a saved reply and a FAQ is your FAQs appear automatically whenever someone tries to DM you. For saved replies, you have to type the shortcut you’ve set and press send manually. 3. Use relevant keywords and hashtags to show up in front of a relevant audienceInstagram is constantly improving its search capabilities. It’s scraping the keywords inside carousel posts, Reels, captions, and hashtags to rank content. The best part? Instagram’s search engine is still in its early stages — meaning making the most of the basics can fast-track your growth. Here are three simple things you can do to ace Instagram SEO: Use relevant keywords in every post’s text, subtitle, and captionUse three to five relevant hashtags per post to categorize your contentAdd your industry and niche keywords in your Instagram profile — like in the username and bio💡Helpful resource: How to Make the Most of Hashtags for Instagram4. Share your Instagram posts to Stories to boost reach and engagementWant more eyes on your feed posts without creating brand new content? The easiest fix is right in the Instagram app — just reshare your post to Stories. It sounds simple, but it works. Why? Because Stories are shown to your most engaged followers first — the people most likely to like, save, or comment. That early engagement signals to the algorithm that your post is worth showing to more people. Here’s how to make the most of this strategy: After publishing a new post, immediately reshare it to your StoriesAdd a line of context, a fun sticker, or a quick poll to encourage taps and repliesConsider scheduling your Stories ahead of time if you're planning posts in advance💡Helpful resource: How to Share Instagram Feed Posts to Stories: 3 Simple StepsHave fun with InstagramYou’ll enjoy learning how to use Instagram if you have fun with it. Instead of seeing posting and interacting as a chore, make Instagram a place you look forward to stepping in every day. Customize your feed and build a community you’d want to come back to. View the full article

Charging a car, or electric vehicle, typically takes about 350 kilowatts. Charging an entire ocean freighter, or electric vessel, could take 20 megawatts, roughly 57 times more power. It’s a striking difference in power and generating capacity, and illuminates the challenges and opportunities behind greening the freighters and container ships crisscrossing the earth’s oceans. Across the Atlantic, maritime green energy provider NatPower Marine is developing the infrastructure to establish the world’s first operational electrified shipping corridor between Ireland and England. This includes electric boats and chargers and the renewable energy projects—which include wind, solar, and batteries—to power the vessels. Stefano Sommadossi, the firm’s CEO, said these kinds of advancements will help close a considerable gap in a clean-energy-powered supply chain. A handful of electric ships will start traversing this route in 2026. 3% of global emissions “This is important,” Sommadossi said. “Imagine getting your Tesla car delivered, and then realizing it was shipped to you over the ocean using diesel fuel. I’m bringing you an energy-efficient vehicle with the worst kind of energy use.” NatPower Marine’s $132 million investment with developer Peel Group will outfit eight ports—including Lancashire and Dublin—to create a network of electric vessels, as well as portside chargers, and electric cars and vans to transport goods once they’re unloaded. NatPower aims to create 120 clean ports by 2030, and plans to spend $4 billion in total to establish a global network. There has been concerted effort by advocates of cleaner global shipping to find more ways to cut the carbon emissions of this energy-hungry sector. Shipping is a vital link in the international economy, but it also contributes approximately 3% of global emissions, an amount roughly equivalent to the emissions of Germany. Unless they’re being made and used locally, or shipped via electric trucks, even the greenest items rack up considerable emissions on the journey overseas. The push to clean up ocean shipping has taken multiple pathways to success: electrifying very short routes, investing in cleaner fuels for cross-ocean trade, and electrifying port operations. The latter can make a big difference for those living near active ports, where port-related emissions can make up roughly a third of the city’s carbon footprint. Cleaning up the industry offers substantial benefits, said Sommadossi, including cutting port emissions, improving the health of those living nearby, and, as green shipping networks grow and encompass a larger portion of everyday commerce, offering companies seeking to reduce their carbon footprint a chance at having a truly zero-emission supply chain. Crossing the oceans on clean power Electrification, as of yet, isn’t quite feasible for journeys across the Atlantic or Pacific; too much battery weight, not enough places to stop and charge. Many proposals look at shorter routes with the ability to charge or swap batteries more often. But the power needed to do so would be immense: Sommadossi estimates that electrifying the entire shipping industry would use as much power every year as the U.S. currently consumes. For these journeys, new technology will need to be advanced and deployed, said Jesse Fahnestock, who leads decarbonization work at the Global Maritime Forum. The current vision involves creating sustainably produced liquid fuels, such as ammonia or methanol, and building out new infrastructure at ports, including fuel generation and storage. No current corridors exist, but there are a number of pilot and demonstration projects in the works, with the Global Maritime Forum helping to coordinate developments in order to establish international standards for power ships. The forum already counts 62 separate projects across the globe trying to determine greener shipping systems, with 15 electric corridors and the rest utilizing different variations of cleaner fuel. For many companies, the appeal of cutting out their ocean freight emissions is leverage that’s currently being used to fund the development of alternative fuels for longer ocean trips. The Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA), a global collective, gathers companies, including Amazon and Patagonia, to create what it calls tenders—requests for providing significantly reduced emission transit for their goods. Shipping companies bid on the routes and the winner gets new business; it’s a way of guaranteeing big shippers get compensated for their investments in cleaner fuels and ships. Biofuels on the high seas “The shipping industry is a complex and often overlooked, hard-to-abate sector that is only now starting to deploy zero and near-zero emission solutions,” said Ingrid Irigoyen, CEO of ZEMBA, which aims to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels in the shipping industry. “This industry also faces the famous chicken and egg problem, referring to the idea that many cargo owners—the customers of the shipping industry—are hesitant to invest in newer, more expensive, more sustainable service offerings until low emission fuels and technologies reach scale and therefore significant cost reduction.” ZEMBA remains fuel-agnostic, just as long as the fuel and technology (be it green methanol, ammonia, or methane) can attain a 90% greenhouse gas reduction rate. Later this year, ZEMBA’s first tender will begin operating: Shipping line Hapag-Lloyd will service 20 freight buyers, including Meta, New Balance, Nike, and REI Co-op, shipping goods between Singapore and the port city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands on ships powered with waste-based biomethane, with an 80% reduction in carbon emissions. Irigoyen said there were challenges finding enough alternative fuel and figuring out the correct carbon accounting, but the launch is on track, and expects to abate 82,000 metric tons of CO2 over the next two years. ZEMBA is set to launch a second tender in 2027 that would focus more on hydrogen-based fuels. Irigoyen’s vision is a shipping sector where any company has the ability to decarbonize all its shipping activities if it so chooses, all at a competitive rate. The companies in the alliance represent the first movers, and their investment will hopefully kick-start a market for scalable sustainability solutions, she said, adding, “I find that kind of leadership and long-term thinking quite moving and inspiring.” View the full article

A new ad from the Coca-Cola Co. opens with a shot of a typewriter clacking out Stephen King’s The Shining. The viewer follows a passage being written in an old-timey typeface until there’s a reference to a bottle of Coke. Suddenly, the type appears as the cola company’s script logo. The ad is part of a new campaign called “Classic” running in Spain and the U.K., in which Coca-Cola highlights instances when its brand name appears in literature by rendering them in the books’ original first-edition typefaces. The passages are printed in black, and references to either “Coke” or “Coca-Cola” in passages from King’s The Shining, J. G. Ballard’s Extreme Metaphors, and V. S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr. Biswas are rendered in logo format. Coke’s red logo pops against the white paper amid the black retro type. VML The approach emphasizes Coke’s legacy and plays on nostalgia in an analog medium and in an analog way. While so much of soda marketing is contemporary and youth-oriented, Coke is doing the opposite. It found a clever way to remind viewers that it’s been part of culture long before e-readers and cellphones by going back to print. It’s anti-trend and purposefully old-school, using the brand’s history and resonance in culture as social proof of its legacy. The campaign will appear on outdoor billboards and signage, streaming radio, online video, print, and cinema. Out-of-home posters show passages printed on paper, complete with page numbers and the books’ author and title. VML The challenge for the creatives behind “Classic” was how to reinforce “the timelessness and authenticity of Coca-Cola in a world where trends reign,” says VML, the marketing agency that worked with Coke’s agency, WPP Open X, to create the campaign. “Coca-Cola has always been more than a beverage—it’s a cultural icon that naturally finds its way into the stories we love,” Rafael Pitanguy, VML’s deputy global chief creative officer, said in a statement. “With ‘Classic,’ we’re honoring that legacy by bringing its literary presence to life in a way that feels both nostalgic and fresh.” Coca-Cola has played with its vintage-style script logo in new and surprising ways recently, like in a 2024 campaign from VML and WPP Open X that used authentic but unauthorized hand-drawn examples of the logo. And to promote recycling last year, Coca-Cola’s campaign with Ogilvy New York used smashed versions of the logo as they appear on crushed cans. With “Classic,” Coca-Cola isn’t so much finding experimental or clever ways to break from its brand guide like in some of last year’s creative. Instead, it’s finding a novel way to impose its brand guide onto culture, showing how Coke is embedded into literary history itself. View the full article

Google's John Mueller explains that structured data won't make a site rank better. The post Google Confirms That Structured Data Won’t Make A Site Rank Better appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

A new Marvel movie, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, is set to arrive in July, and fans are already invested in its marketing campaign. Earlier this month, the film’s Instagram account uploaded a promo poster, and people have been reacting. On the subreddit r/marvelstudios commenters praised the poster’s minimalistic design and color scheme. (“The art for this movie has been [to] die for. Man. Whoever is doing this graphic design should be proud,” read one comment.) The retro-futuristic design features only two colors: sky blue and white. Overlapping figure fours surround white silhouettes of Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and the Thing standing in the middle of the title-less poster, which includes only basic details about the release date (July 25) and the studio (Marvel, of course). The design is distinct in a world full of “floating head” movie posters (and a far cry from the Fantastic Four’s other, more provocative promotional poster). It calls to mind the art of Saul Bass, one of history’s most famous graphic designers. Who is Saul Bass Bass is the artist behind some of the most recognizable designs of the 20th century, including the title sequences for Alfred Hitchcock’s films and the logos of Quaker Oats and AT&T. Born in the Bronx in 1920, Bass took classes at Brooklyn College, where he studied under György Kepes (whose teachings influenced Bass’s entire career). Jan-Christopher Horak is the former director of the UCLA Film & Television Archive and the author of Saul Bass: Anatomy of Film Design. He said the influence of both the Bauhaus German design school and gestalt principles, which focus on how psychology changes the way we view designs, manifest in the simple construction and geometric arrangement common in Bass’s designs. Minimal construction is a key part of Bass’s title sequences, which he started developing for directors in the 1950s. One of his first iconic images is the twisted arm that opens Otto Preminger’s film The Man With the Golden Arm. “He breaks down the story, abstracts it into a kind of geometry,” Horak said. “In certain pre-credit sequences, you’ll have just lines moving through spaces. You’ll have figures just moving through space.” The Bass effect Horak recognizes Bass’s aesthetic in the design of the Marvel poster, beginning with the reduction to two primary colors. By limiting the color palette, the designer can create intense contrast in different elements. Horak points out that the design maintains its perception of depth despite its limited color scheme. The use of the figure fours layered on top of one another allows the design to be viewed as a tunnel with the characters’ monochromatic outlines inside. (This is especially true for the short video sequence also posted by the Fantastic Four Instagram.) “It’s a visualization of the title,” Horak said. “It’s focusing the eye and leading the eye.” Bass’s striking work greatly influenced American design in the 1960s; the 1960s retro-futuristic aesthetic of The Fantastic Four: First Steps makes perfect sense, according to Horak. In this period, Bass completed design campaigns for major corporations, creating one unified aesthetic of primary colors and abstraction. This aesthetic screams 1960s to viewers and, likely from Marvel’s perspective, Marvel fans. View the full article

During Milan Design Week—which encompasses Salone del Mobile, a furniture fair now in its 63rd edition, and Fuorisalone, the exhibitions held off-site—the Lombardian city transforms into a spritz-fueled celebration of all things design. Historic villas open their doors to become showrooms for new products and furniture, interior designers and architects flex their creativity in site-specific installations, and emerging practitioners debut work to an international audience that is eager to discover fresh, exciting ideas. And let’s not forget the brands. Milan Design Week has transformed from an interiors-focused event into a significant platform for fashion, automotive, and tech companies to express (or prove) their creative creds. This year, the following five themes defined some of the most-visited (and most buzzed about) exhibitions and installations in the city. Luxury Fashion Goes Full Lifestyle If the hours-long lines, fully booked by-reservation-only events, and Instagram posts are any measure, then fashion brands ruled this year. They have always represented an aspirational lifestyle but have been inconsistent in their vision outside of apparel. In the past, a handful of niche companies, like COS, Marni, and Loewe (under Jonathan Anderson) have created interesting installations. This year, the cohort was especially strong as these brands defined a holistic design-led definition of luxury. Miu Miu (with its heady literary salon), Loewe (with its intricate artist-made teapots), Hermès (with its color-blocked glass furniture), the Row (with its monastic cashmere bedwear collection), and Jil Sander (with its monochromatic take on Marcel Breuer’s Cesca chairs for Thonet) colored in everything else that would be in the orbit of the person carrying their handbags. These installations also reflected a rigorous, research-based approach, including the sold-out Formafantasma-organized Prada Frames symposium that included talks on logistics and infrastructure and Gucci’s Bamboo Encounters exhibition. For the latter, curator Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli invited artists to work with the material (which has been a part of the brand’s history since the 1940s) and resulted in the Palestinian artist and architect Dima Srouji’s series of found baskets embellished with baubles by glassblowers in the West Bank, which create a dialog between unnamed artisans and a craft tradition that is at risk of disappearing. The Rise of Theatrical Experiences With so many exhibitors—more than 2,000 at Salone del Mobile and more than 1,000 at Fuorisalone—the bar for a memorable experience is higher than ever. An element of theater and performance defined the most ambitious of them, like Es Devlin’s revolving Library of Light, an installation that invited visitors to browse 3,000-plus books on illuminated shelves and essentially turned each visitor into a performer on a kinetic set. This included the Finnish textile company Marimekko’s All the Things We Do in Bed installation. Developed by the artist and lifestyle doyenne Laila Gohar, the exhibition invited visitors to lounge in a 30-foot-square bed covered in linens in an archival pattern by Maija Isola that Gohar reinterpreted. For Range Rover, the California-based Nuova Group staged an installation that brought visitors into a 1970s car showroom featuring actors that pretended to be salesmen. (While the salesmen were unconvincing on my visit, the Sleep-No-More-esque installation was a delight to step inside.) And a micro-trend within the highly immersive experiences? Borrowing from rave culture, as seen in Willo Perron’s trippy mirror-heavy light-and-sound installation for Vans (which launched a sneaker whose design is based on sound waves) and the fog-filled faux warehouse by Nike and the Berlin record label PAN built to launch a new Air Max 180. Sustainability Remained Urgent Designers have been beating the sustainability drum for a long time, and this year the theme emerged in ways big and small. Casa Cork, a collaboration between Rockwell Group and the Cork Collective, displayed the myriad ways that the natural, recyclable material can be transformed into furniture, flooring, wallcoverings, upholstery, and more. During a talk held in the installation, the industrial designer Yves Behar (who has designed a tower out of cork) spoke about how the material’s porosity, versatility, recyclability, and thermal and sound insulating qualities make it a wonder material, but that it needs more publicity, particularly amid the plastics industry’s propaganda over the last 50 years. “Design accelerates the adoption of new ideas,” he told the audience. “Selling sustainability doesn’t work.” That said, Muji made low-impact living look irresistible in its Manifesto House, a modular tiny home by Studio 5-5, and its exhibition of hacked objects like a birdhouse made from a Muji bookend and wood drawer. The installation debuted at Paris Design Week last year, and the fact that this continues to have a life as an exhibition is testament to its message of doing more with less. An honorable mention: Ikea launched a new foam-free sofa as part of its Stockholm collection, using natural latex and coconut fibers as cushioning within the wood-framed piece. And while not scalable, the Japanese studio At Ma presented a wildly creative project in circularity that involved reimagining what a broken Borge Mogensen J39 chair could become. After finding one with a missing leg in a thrift shop, the designers have become obsessed with collecting and reassembling unusable chairs into new designs, going so far as crushing the unusable wood components into pulp that can be woven into new paper cord for the seat so that there is zero waste. I also appreciated R100, an exhibition sponsored by the Norwegian aluminum and renewable energy company Hydro, that featured objects made from 100% postconsumer recycled materials sourced from a 60-mile radius of Milan. While the pieces—which included lamps, trash bins, and chairs—are one-offs, they were each labeled with their carbon footprint, like a Nutrition Facts for objects. That’s an idea that could be scaled to many products to help shoppers make more informed decisions about what they buy. Process and Materiality Storytelling, process, and materials has always been important to designers—especially those who cater to the collector market. After all, it’s through these elements that personal connections to objects are created. However, this trifecta seems all the more urgent amid the rise in AI and what people can do that is unique and specific to them versus an algorithm. Human experience was at the heart of many of the exhibitions and objects (and was also the official theme for Salone del Mobile). At Alcova, a fair of independent and emerging designers held in Varedo, a Milan suburb, Kiki Goti, a New York-based designer, exhibited Graces, a series of vases she created in collaboration with Murano glass blowers. Referencing matriarchs in her family and Greek mythology, Goti sketched the designs through a highly improvisational and physical process that involved sculpting small clay models which she photographed and then painted over. Glassmakers, with Goti working alongside them, then interpreted those images, which had no dimensions or measurements, into three-dimensional objects. Together, they adjusted the vessels spontaneously until they agreed that the pieces felt just right. Google’s installation Making the Visible Invisible included an interactive light and sound sculpture by Lachlan Turczan as well as a display of the company’s consumer hardware and the objects (and phenomena) that were starting points for their forms: a macaron for the Nest Mini, the surface tension of water for the Pixel watch’s face, and a river rock for the case of the Pixel Buds. The Shakti Residency, a new program that seeks to introduce Indian craftsmanship to a worldwide audience, debuted its inaugural collection at Alcova. Among the highlights were artist Duyi Han and Indian couturier Tarun Tahiliani’s ethereal embroidered fabric chandelier. Stitched by artisanal dressmakers and needleworkers, it borrows its aesthetics from traditional wedding garments. Modernism’s Lasting Influence Amid so many revivals of modernist design on view this year—including lamps by Tobia Scarpa by Flos, an Annie Hiéronimus sofa with a cult following by Ligne Roset, and the aforementioned Thonet chairs by Jil Sander—the level of execution in Cassina’s Staging Modernity exhibition and performance was peerless. Developed by Formafantasma and held in Teatro Lirico, a recently restored 18th-century theater, Staging Modernity celebrated the 60th anniversary of its collection by Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand, and Pierre Jeanneret. It featured vitrines filled with archival drawings and prototypes that told the technical history of the collection and a play based on its history performed on a set composed of the arm chairs, tables, and lounge chairs the trio designed. Meanwhile, the brand Dedar launched a new line of five textiles based on Bauhaus-trained weaver Anni Albers’s experimental compositions. It’s refreshing to see a new interpretation of fabrics join the long list of heritage designs that design brands want to align themselves with, and work by a pathbreaking woman in the field at that. View the full article

President Donald The President has a long-standing grudge against wind power. So it wasn’t surprising that when he took office in January, he immediately started to fight the wind industry. In an executive order on his first day, The President paused leases for offshore wind projects in federal waters. He also paused approvals for wind projects on federal land. At a rally the same day, he said, “We’re not going to do the wind thing. Big, ugly windmills, they ruin your neighborhood.” He declared a national “energy emergency,” but didn’t include wind—the cheapest source of new energy, and an economic and job driver in red states like Oklahoma and Texas—as a possible solution. He previously said he doesn’t want any wind farms built while he is president. It’s a big shift from the Biden administration, which saw wind power as a key part of getting to a carbon-free energy system by 2035. But despite the policy change, some wind developers say their business is still booming. Tech companies are driving energy demand—and they still want renewables “Demand is huge,” says Jim Spencer, president and CEO of Exus Renewables North America, a company that develops, owns, and manages utility-scale renewable projects. The biggest reason: Tech companies are racing to build data centers as AI grows, and need an enormous amount of energy overall. By 2030, global data centers could require more than twice as much energy as they do now, with most of that demand coming from the U.S., according to the International Energy Agency. “I’ve been doing this for 35 years and I’ve never seen such high power demand—wind, solar, storage,” Spencer says. Tech companies were early adopters of large-scale wind and solar projects, and still want to source renewable energy to meet climate goals. But there are also practical and immediate reasons for the demand: Wind and solar are cheaper, in most locations, than building new gas power plants (or restarting closed coal plants, as The President wants to do). And renewable energy is faster to build. Because of supply chain problems, it can take as long as five years to get some parts needed to make gas turbines for gas power plants. Planning and building new power generation takes years, so new projects that are opening now have been in the works since long before The President took office—and they’re still mostly renewable. The majority of projects that are currently sitting in the interconnection queue, waiting for approval from grid operators, are also wind or solar. The wind industry still faces challenges That’s not to say that everything is easy for the wind industry now. Even before The President’s election, wind projects declined last year due to a variety of factors, from high interest rates and permitting delays to supply chain issues and rising turbine prices. Ironically, the Inflation Reduction Act, the landmark bill designed to support decarbonization, also slowed down new projects. Developers were waiting for guidance about which equipment would be considered American-made and qualify for tax credits under the IRA. Because the law was also supposed to keep tax credits in place longer than before, there was less urgency to build. “There was no immediate incentive for developers to start construction right now,” says Stephen Maldonado, research analyst at Wood Mackenzie. Wind installations in 2024 were the lowest in the U.S. in a decade, according to a recent report from Wood Mackenzie. The report also lowered its projections of new wind installations over the next five years by 40%. One part of the projected decline comes from offshore wind and projects on federal land that are now threatened by The President. Exus, like some other renewable energy developers, doesn’t work on either type of project. But the overall number of turbine orders was also low in the fourth quarter of 2024 and first quarter of 2025. Maldonado attributes that to uncertainty about federal policy. And though The President didn’t specifically target onshore wind projects on private land, his executive order includes a temporary pause on federal permits for any wind projects. That could affect permits from the Federal Aviation Administration or Fish and Wildlife Service, for example. (Exus says permits are still being issued, though the process is slow, and it’s not clear whether that’s due to policy or the fact that so many federal employees have lost their jobs.) No slowdown yet Despite the challenges, and analysts’ projections, Exus says it isn’t seeing a slowdown in its own work. New renewable projects continue to come online, from a massive solar and storage facility that will soon open in New Mexico to support a Meta data center, to a wind farm that recently opened in Pennsylvania. The company is now working on multiple RFPs for new projects. Buyers haven’t hesitated, Spencer says, even as tariffs have raised the potential for slight price increases. Tariffs will affect renewables less than some other industries, he says, because the industry has been onshoring manufacturing for a decade, and the Inflation Reduction Act accelerated that. During The President’s first term, wind power kept growing, with a record number of installations in 2020, despite a lack of support from the administration. (The solar industry also grew 128% during his first term.) More coal plants were also retired during The President’s first term than Barack Obama’s second term, even though The President had vowed to end the “war on coal.” It’s not inevitable that current policies will derail renewables now. View the full article

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” Despite the popular image of a strong leader as one who makes bold decisions and sticks with them, great leadership actually requires adapting to changing circumstances. A course of action that seemed like a great idea on one day may be a clear losing proposition when additional information becomes available. A complexity with changing your mind as a leader is that your previous choices and plans affect a number of other people’s lives. People who work for you are currently working to implement the plan you laid out. Others, like clients or suppliers, may be planning future engagements based on the initial plan you announced. Furthermore, your change of heart may have a negative impact on some of those people. Your decision may influence people’s jobs or the success of other companies. So it’s natural to feel some regret that your choice may hurt others. It might even feel humane to delay the impact of your decision to the last moment. Resist the urge to kick that can down the road. Why prompt communication is so important As a leader, you are responsible not only for the success of an organization but also for creating a trusted environment that enables people to thrive in their work. When you withhold key information about changes in plans, you may temporarily delay people’s disappointment, but you can have a more permanent impact on the overall environment you have created. The success of most plans is a self-fulfilling prophecy. As a leader, you chart a course of action, provide resources, and move forward. Trust in your leadership creates energy for people who work for you and with you to engage in the effort to turn that plan into a reality. When you delay an announcement about a change, you waste people’s time. They have invested themselves (and perhaps other resources) in your future vision. The longer you delay, the more of that investment they could have put elsewhere. That lost time will create a resentment that will likely affect how much work people want to put into future requests you make. So, kicking the can down the road rather than communicating quickly mortgages the success of future projects to avoid facing a hard conversation in the present. What happens when you do communicate effectively You may push off a difficult conversation to spare someone from having to get bad news, or perhaps to avoid having to deliver bad news. Ultimately, though, this delay does not avoid the problem—if anything, it magnifies it. When you change your mind, some people might be upset. But they are going to have to find out eventually. You may as well get it out of the way at a time when you avoid other complications like leading people to make future plans based on their (now mistaken) beliefs about the future. Finally, you may be surprised at how well most people take it when you tell them of a change of heart. Often, other people also have reservations about a course of action you have selected, and so the people you fear upsetting may instead be relieved you have reversed course. Even when you’re giving news that will genuinely disappoint someone else, they’re likely to recognize that not every decision in the workplace can go in their favor. Your colleagues are probably mature enough to handle bad news with grace and professionalism. So, your concerns about the consequences of difficult conversations ma be overblown. View the full article

If you were to drink improperly recycled toilet water, it could really hurt you—but probably not in the way you’re thinking. Advanced purification technology so thoroughly cleans wastewater of feces and other contaminants that it also strips out natural minerals, which the treatment facility then has to add back in. If it didn’t, that purified water would imperil you by sucking those minerals out of your body as it moves through your internal plumbing. So if it’s perfectly safe to consume recycled toilet water, why aren’t Americans living in parched Western states drinking more of it? A new report from researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Natural Resources Defense Council finds that seven Western states that rely on the Colorado River are on average recycling just a quarter of their water, even as they fight each other and Indigenous tribes for access to the river amid worsening droughts. Populations are also booming in the Southwest, meaning there’s less water for more people. The report finds that states are recycling wildly different proportions of their water. On the high end, Nevada reuses 85%, followed by Arizona at 52%. But other states lag far behind, including California (22%) and New Mexico (18%), with Colorado and Wyoming at less than 4% and Utah recycling next to nothing. “Overall, we are not doing nearly enough to develop wastewater recycling in the seven states that are part of the Colorado River Basin,” said Noah Garrison, a water researcher at UCLA and coauthor of the report. “We’re going to have a 2 million to 4 million acre-foot per year shortage in the amount of water that we’ve promised to be delivered from the Colorado River.” (An acre-foot is what it would take to cover an acre of land in a foot of water, equal to 326,000 gallons.) The report found that if the states other than high-achieving Nevada and Arizona increased their wastewater reuse to 50%, they’d boost water availability by 1.3 million acre-feet every year. Experts think that it’s not a question of whether states need to reuse more toilet water but how quickly they can build the infrastructure as droughts worsen and populations swell. At the same time, states need to redouble efforts to reduce their demand for water, experts say. The Southern Nevada Water Authority, for example, provides cash rebates for homeowners to replace their water-demanding lawns with natural landscaping, stocking them with native plants that flourish without sprinklers. Between conserving water and recycling more of it, western states have to renegotiate their relationship with the increasingly precious resource. “It’s unbelievable to me that people don’t recognize that the answer is: You’re not going to get more water,” said John Helly, a researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography who wasn’t involved in the report. “We’ve lulled ourselves into this sense of complacency about the criticality of water and it’s just starting to dawn on people that this is a serious problem.” Yet the report notes that states vary significantly in their development and regulation of water recycling. For one, they treat wastewater to varying levels of purity. To get it ultra pure for drinking, human waste and other solids are removed before the water is treated with ozone to kill bacteria and viruses. Next the water is forced through fine membranes to catch other particles. A facility then hits the liquid with UV light, killing off any microbes that might remain, and adds back those missing minerals. That process is expensive, however, as building a wastewater-treatment facility itself is costly, and it takes a lot of electricity to pump the water hard enough to get it through the filters. Alternatively, some water agencies will treat wastewater and pump the liquid underground into aquifers, where the earth filters it further. To use the water for golf courses and nonedible crops, they treat wastewater less extensively. Absent guidance from the federal government, every state goes about this differently, with their own regulations for how clean water needs to be for potable or nonpotable use. Nevada, which receives an average of just 10 inches of rainfall a year, has an environmental division that issues permits for water reuse and oversees quality standards, along with a state fund that bankrolls projects. “It is a costly enterprise, and we really do need to see states and the federal government developing new funding streams or revenue streams in order to develop wastewater treatment,” Garrison said. “This is a readily available, permanent supply of water.” Wastewater recycling can happen at a much smaller scale, too. A company called Epic Cleantec, based in San Francisco, makes a miniature treatment facility that fits inside high-rises. It pumps recycled water back into the units for nonpotable use like filling toilets. While it takes many years to build a large treatment facility, these smaller systems come online in a matter of months and can reuse up to 95% of a building’s water. Epic Cleantec says its systems and municipal plants can work in tandem as a sort of distributed network of wastewater recycling. “In the same way that we do with energy, where it’s not just on-site rooftop solar and large energy plants, it’s both of them together creating a more resilient system,” said Aaron Tartakovsky, Epic Cleantec’s CEO and cofounder. “To use a water pun, I think there’s a lot of untapped potential here.” —By Matt Simon, Grist This article was originally published by Grist. Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org. View the full article