Post Thanksgiving Holiday & EOY Thoughts

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For all those who celebrate, Happy US Thanksgiving. I hope you all ate well and had your bellies full of good food.

With Turkey Day and Black Friday & Cyber Monday behind us, I've been giving the end of the year and the new year a lot of thought.

I always think it's wise to take a step back as the year comes a close and evaluate things.

• What worked?
• What needs to improve?
• What should be getting rid of?
• What should be added?

A debrief at the EOY can be helpful. It can also be stressful and sometimes a the same therapeutic.

In the new year, 2025, my main goal is to get some standard operating procedures in place. I want to have a central hub for project management, a central communication area, a document/file storage place, and just be all around more organized.

We all drop the ball on stuff, but this past year looking back, though it's been a decent year, things can be improved.

Everything can be improved in some way.

Do you do a debrief at the EOY? How do you go about documenting stuff? I want to know! Hit that reply button and let me know your tips!

The Latest From The Entrepreneur's Enigma Podcast

Web Jawn

If your audience’s sources of influence and your marketing budget don’t align, you’re gonna have a bad time - SparkToro

Yes, this is a rant. It’s a rant about where leadership teams allocate their marketing budget vs. where their potential customers actually pay attention.

SparkToroRand Fishkin

The truth. A must read.

The End of The Twitter Era

I’ve been thinking a lot about how social networks die. Will Twitter decline like MySpace, or collapse like Digg?

SandofskyBenjamin Sandofsky

This is an important, though long, read. It's worthy of your time.

Is Microsoft Using Your Word Documents to Train AI?

Nobody wants their proprietary content scaped by AI.

How-To GeekTony Phillips

Not really surprised by this, but definitely disturbed.

Why Smart Businesses Keep Building the Wrong Systems (And What I’m Doing About It)

There’s a pattern I keep seeing with successful businesses - the smarter they are, the more likely they are to build sophisticated systems they’re not ready for. After years of watching this play out, I’ve finally mapped the evolution stages that determine what you actually need – and what you should ignore.

Alex StandifordAlex

A good read and important to take to heart, especially with an EOY debrief.

Australian Government Votes to Ban Under 16s from Social Media Apps

The Australian Government has agreed to the new laws, which will come into affect in 12 months time.

Social Media TodayAndrew Hutchinson

Kind of insane. It's a story that I'll definitely continue to watch.

Threads Will Now Display Alternate Feeds at the Top of the Main Feed

Yet another feature replicated from Bluesky.

Social Media TodayAndrew Hutchinson

Too little to late for me. Never could get into Threads.

Is Threads Really Scared of Bluesky?

Bluesky is on the rise, but is Meta really worried about it?

Social Media TodayAndrew Hutchinson

Um, yes. Meta is busy copying key Bluesky features they have to be nervous, if not downright freaked out.

Bluesky now displays replies by ‘hotness’

Not everyone is happy about it being the default.

MashableShannon Connellan

And the controversy begins.

If Big Tech social platforms are junk food and the Fediverse is a healthy home-cooked meal, then what is Bluesky?

A critique and analysis of Bluesky using food analogies

Elena RossiniElena Rossini

Great take on Bluesky. Fair critiques. Always a good read.

5 GEO trends shaping the future of search

What’s next for search? Dive into five GEO trends shaping how we optimize for AI-driven search engines like ChatGPT, Google Gemini and more.

Search Engine LandChristina Adame

A great article that really spells out what you need to focus in the future of search.

Bing Webmaster Tools Shows Data For Bing & Yahoo But Not ChatGPT

Bing Webmaster Tools shows search data for Bing Search and Yahoo Search but not OpenAI’s ChatGPT search feature. I actually forgot that Bing Webmaster Tools has Yahoo Search data but that was the deal when Yahoo closed Site Explorer in 2011 and I guess that deal still lives on.

Search Engine RoundtableBarry Schwartz

This could be a pullback from the relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI.

ChatGPT search: Does it deserve the fanfare?

Learn about the latest AI-powered platform challenging Google’s search dominance with interactive, context-aware information retrieval.

Search Engine LandEd Coles

Intrigued that there's a new player in town in the search market.

ChatGPT Search Shows 76.5% Error Rate In Attribution Study

ChatGPT Search misattributes news content 76.5% of time, Columbia study finds, raising concerns for publisher visibility.

Search Engine JournalMatt G. Southern

Well this isn't good. 😜😵‍💫 It's still making stuff up! This isn't good or ready for primetime.

YouTube Previews AI Tools To Overcome Creative Blocks

YouTube previews AI-powered Inspiration Tab upgrades to help creators generate ideas, outlines, titles, and thumbnails.

Search Engine JournalMatt G. Southern

AI is everywhere! Now in YouTube is using AI to help with creative blocks. This is how AI SHOULD be used!

A few thoughts on domain verification for social media

Both Mastodon and BlueSky have the concept of “self-verification”. Rather than trust a central authority to assess your notability and then bless your account (as Twitter used to do), they let anyone self-attest using Domain Verification0. What does that mean? You tell the service what your website is. The service gives you a secret code1. […]

Terence Eden’s Blogedent

Terence is a very smart coder. His thoughts on domain verification is quite interesting. Worth a read!

Breaking down the DOJ’s plan to end Google’s search monopoly

Not being made to sell Android is a “silver lining” for Google.

The Verge

Though this will never happen, with the new administration coming in. Here's good primer on the current Department of Justice's plans.

The Enshittocene: How the Internet Got Worse in the 2010s

The 2010s was a period of the internet colonized by platforms, which caused ‘enshittification’ of web products. Users and developers both suffered, but are fighting back now through the decentralized web.

CyberculturalRichard MacManus

Richard MacManus was the founder of ReadWriteWeb.com and now writes Cybercultural.

The WTF Is Going On With WordPress Section 😵‍💫

Judge signals support for WP Engine injunction

A decision on whether Automattic will face a court-ordered injunction is expected after Monday, as a Northern California court considers WP Engine’s claim that Automattic and its CEO, Matt Mullenweg, engaged in attempted extortion against the rival hosting company.

The RepositoryRae Morey

Looks like things aren't going Matt Mullenweg's way. Shocker! 😵‍💫😒

WordPress.org Forks ACF Pro in Unprecedented Move Against WP Engine

In an extraordinary escalation of his public feud with WP Engine, WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg has overseen the release of a forked version of the hosting company’s premium ACF Pro plugin on WordPress.org.

The RepositoryRae Morey

This crap needs to stop.

Mary Hubbard commits to transparency in first call with WordPress community

In her first public call with the WordPress community, the project’s new Executive Director, Mary Hubbard, faced tough questions and addressed them head-on, even offering an apology for the alienation many feel amid WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg’s war with WP Engine.

The RepositoryRae Morey

Here's hoping. Mary has quite the uphill battle and big shoes to fill.

WP Engine Updates Its Original Legal Complaint Against Automattic and Matt Mullenweg

After Automattic launched the WP Engine Tracker website to monitor the number of websites departing WP Engine hosting, WP Engine updated its ongoing lawsuit against Automattic and its founder, Matt…

WP TavernRob

Yep... this crap is getting even more real!

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Web Finds & Other Fun Stuff

Bluesky Resources – Fediverse Resources

I've added to my Fediverse Resources site a whole page of Bluesky resources. Check it out!

| Security Education Companion

A free resource for digital security educators

SEC logo

Great resource from EFF.org

#3 Evan Prodromou (Social Web Foundation) - For a Better Web | Vivaldi Browser

In this podcast series, Bruce interviews people from across different communities and industries who, in their own way, are fighting for a better web. In this episode, Bruce’s guest is Evan Prodromou…

Vivaldi TechnologiesBruce Lawson

A good podcast about the Fediverse from Vivaldi, the browser makers.

Forever ✱ Notes - A free framework for Apple Notes

Discover Forever ✱ Notes, a unique digital note-taking framework designed for Apple Notes users. Organize your thoughts, streamline your workflow, and enhance your productivity with our simple, intuitive system. Explore Hubs, Collections, and Tags today!

Beta

This is pretty epic!!!!!

E-E-A-T needs to be a focus for businesses online.

A quick plug for my podcast coaching client's podcast. It's really good. Ben Yagoda is an author and journalist. He was one of my journalism professors at University of Delaware. By far my favorite. Have a listen to his show. It's really good.

That's It For This Week! Keep Rocking It!

-Seth

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