What should the End of Social Media for Teens Look Like?
Australia is set to implement the world’s strictest laws banning social media access for teenagers, a sweeping change that will redefine the daily lives of many young Australians. Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) are in the crosshairs, with detailed implementation plans currently being ironed out. While this decision addresses growing concerns over the role of these platforms in the lives of young people, a critical challenge lies ahead: ensuring that this ban is executed thoughtfully to avoid alienating a generation of digital natives. How should their experience end?
"Yes, I Would Like an End-of-Life Receipt, Please"
We’re already familiar with receipts marking the beginning of a transaction, confirming ownership or service access. But what about the end of a product’s lifecycle? Could a receipt offer evidence of responsible disposal or recycling?
Will I Die Before Fish Go Extinct?
Will you outlive your parents? Probably. Will you outlive the global average lifespan (72 years)? Hopefully. I’m 52 now, aiming for at least another 20 years. But here’s the sobering thought: Will I outlive fish? The World Counts projects global fish stocks could collapse by…?
Leaving? Had enough of my personal brands opinion?
It’s not the first time a stupid statement has dissolved a business. And I am sure won’t be the last.
When consumer opinion is confronted with terrible behaviour, their loyalty can shift in a heartbeat. It is a unique kind of challenge: the Cultural Ending. This occurs when consumers’ cultural values, opinions, or tastes no longer align with the brand or product experience. Unlike traditional business challenges, cultural endings are nuanced and unpredictable, making them one of the most complicated and difficult types of endings to design and mitigate.
The rabbit hole is endless scroll. There are no bunnies at the bottom, just more hole.
There is something poetically appropriate about endless scroll and its role in consumption. Where other versions of consumerism have certainly aimed for an infinite delivery of a product or services to the consumer. None have succeeded to balance the content so well with the distribution method. Endless Scroll is the High-fructose corn syrup of your social brain, served through lit screen until your battery dies or you emotionally break under the strain of FOMO.
Digital transformation is half done
Many companies are wrangling their businesses on to a digital footing. Some have failed and gone under. Successful ones are celebrating their new found efficiencies, smoothness of customer sign up and integrated logistics. What is common amongst all of them is the sparse attention placed on the end of the customer experience. Why is this a problem?