Blue Ticks, Tall Poppies & AI Marker Words
5 in 5 - Brave & Heart HeartBeat #209 ❤️
This week we'll be talking about the latest blue tick drama, which includes the EU getting involved, Donald Trump and his social network privileges, and why the Metaverse hasn't taken off in offices yet.
Plus, is tall poppy syndrome blocking female leaders, and what are AI filler words?
Let’s get into it.
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#1 - The EU Strikes Again
This time, against X and the ever-controversial blue tick.
For a potted history of the blue tick, it used to be a gift bestowed on you by Twitter when the powers that be deemed you had enough followers, or general notoriety to be considered interesting enough to be copied. The blue tick proved that you were “verified” – you were actually who you said you were.
Flash forward to Musk-mania and the blue tick became something you could buy, because he had turned Twitter into X – something that was making a lot less money than Twitter, after paying an exorbitant price for it.
This led to various backlash, disasters of people claiming to be brands and saying mad stuff, and Stephen King going off on Elon Musk. Which was, by the way, great.
Now, the EU, who are famously currently on a global rampage against Big Tech, have deemed the blue tick naughty enough to be their next target.
The EU just announced that paid-for blue ticks are deceiving to users and abused by malicious actors, threatening hefty fines if they don’t get it sorted. Like, 6% of their global revenue hefty.
According to the rules, enabling any account to pay for verification is a breach of the EU’s Digital Services Act, because it means users can’t tell if the accounts are authentic or not.
Th DSA have deemed them to be “deceiving” to users, and have given X a chance to prove they aren’t. Musk has, obviously, announced he will fight it to the death.
Can’t wait to see how…
#2 – The Donald Trump Effect
Three days ago Trump was allowed back on all Meta social networks.
Following the riots at capitol hill, in 2021, when over 100 police offers were injured, Trump was accused of inciting violence and repeatedly spreading disinformation, and banned from most social networks – including YouTube, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Musk let him back onto X following a poll in which just over 50% of people voted “yes” to allow him back on, and now Meta and Facebook have lifted all restrictions on his account.
While his accounts, which have over 60 million followers combined, and were often some of the most popular in the US, were re-instated in 2023, they were still subject to additional monitoring. Not anymore.
Meta said they have a responsibility to allow political expression, and that US citizens should be able to hear from presidential nominees on an equal basis.
The Biden campaign called Meta’s decision “greedy” and reckless” and condemned it as a direct attack on “democracy” and “safety”, and compared it “handing your car keys to someone you know will drive your car into a crowd and off a cliff”.
#3 - Why Aren’t We In The MetaVerse Yet?
Back in 2021 Mark Zuckerberg rebranded himself as the Meta man, and Bill Gates was so excited about it that he predicted that in “two to three years” we’d all be having meetings in the MetaVerse rather than on the “Hollywood squares of Teams”.
WRONG.
It’s been three years and we would go so far as to say that we’re no closer to remote working in the MetaVerse, but why?
Well, the CEO and founder of VRdirect, a company which focuses on VR software for companies, says “there’s no point in using a new technology for something that’s perfectly fine in a video call.” - and this is from a guy trying to sell it!
He says that the best way to use VR is when it is actually needed - for example to bring safety training to life, or training staff in something situational such as welding or sports.
We couldn’t agree more, we think we’ve been so focused on using VR for meetings - where we literally don’t need it at all - that we’ve missed out on the ways it could actually be used.
News flash for everyone who works in offices - the world doesn’t revolve around us.
#4 - Tall Poppy Syndrome & Women Leaders
The World Economic Forum’s latest Global Gender Gap Report shows that the number of women being hired into senior leadership positions is on the decline. It was never huge in the first place, hitting a high of 37.8% in 2022 then falling to 37.1% in 2024.
This despite having more soft skills, such as team leadership, strategic leadership, and collaboration, according to LinkedIn profiles.
While today’s figures still have 1.8% on those from 2018, the seniority slump is still very much present – which is when the percentage of women in the workplace drops the higher up the career ladder we go. And for women of colour, the picture is even more bleak – they hold less than 1% of top boardroom roles.
Something called “tall poppy syndrome” could also be to blame – when people are attacked, resented criticised or belittled because of their achievements or successes.
A 2023 study showed that almost 90% of women feel that they are being penalised and undermined because of their achievements at work. This can manifest in different ways. For example, 77% of respondents said they had their achievements downplayed, just over 72% were left out of meetings and discussions, and 66% said others had taken credit for their work.
The report calls for systemic changes, like skills-first hiring, inclusive practices, flexible working, and the availability of upskilling and career-growth opportunities.
#5 - The AI Word Test
How do you spot if something was written by AI?
Apparently, AI loves using the same words, here are some to watch out for.
The word “delves” shows up 25 times more often in academic papers written since the advent of LLMs, and the words “showcasing” and “underscores” are used 9 times more often than before.
Another weird one is the phrase “intricate interplay”, which apparently comes up all the time in LLM written text, despite the fact that we’ve never seen it anywhere before then.
These words show up a lot more in text written by non-native English speakers too. Either they use AI to write English text more often because they need help with the language, or they’re less likely to be able to spot weird phrases when they re-read the paper.
Lesson learned - proofread anything you get AI to help you with…
Brave & Heart over and out.
Bonus
Productivity Hacks
This week we are incensed by the “lazy” productivity hacks that a pretty baggy Guardian columnist is suggesting, including doing press ups while the kettle boils!?!
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