#Exclusive content for the streaming service but leave everything else free

[hiyaluronic]

Anyone else have anxiety flashbacks at the state of the role when three people on a couch were talking about a streaming service?

but, in all seriousness, I’m happy I can drop the twitch sub I have to support them directly AND you mean I get perks too? 🤩 awesomeness!

I love the critical role abridged and the cooldown — that alone is worth the money. Especially since marisharayguns has retired, I believe? (which no ill will there, they are a boss and deserve to relax and enjoy cr as a fan.) because some episodes my attention will not hold and then I fall behind and dread the catch up.

so yes I subbed and dropped my twitch sub and am happily ready to watch all the new things, lol.

[imagine-that-one-thing]

Dripping in Diamonds.

Authors Note: Hello, I am not sure what this or where it is leading but here is an AU as you will be able to pick up on if you wish to read. Enjoy! :) xx Harry Masterlist found HERE

Most people, looking from the outside in, would say I have it all, and to a certain extent on some days they are accurate, but on others, they are far from right.

Most would suppose I have it all because of the array of cars that grace the driveway of a mansion that has more square feet than I could have ever envisioned, an estate that accommodates more silently, shivering walls of secrets and disgrace than anyone could ever apprehend. Let’s not neglect the diamonds— oh the gorgeous Diamonds— Diamonds that grace my neck and drip with cold stone tears. Others observe the magnificent terrace of roses but they overlook the thorns that caress the stem that draws blood. But yes, I have it all. The luxury vehicles, outfits, brilliant diamonds, a chauffeur and superficial love.

As I make my way to descending the white Italian marble staircase, the exclusive element that echoes is the character of my heels catching each stair as I delicately make my way down steps. The manor is tranquil and doesn’t have the slightest flicker of a homespun, warmhearted quality. It’s bland, bitter, and motionless, but wealth is scattered everywhere, from across veneers to the contemporary interior. In the corner of my eyes, I notice our majordomo watching me. He is someone who oversees the day-to-day responsibilities of the business enterprise, he speaks, makes arrangements, and takes charge when my husband is unable to or is simply too lazy to do so himself. I halt in my tracks and turn to face him. He adjusts his posture before beginning to speak, “lovely day for a drive,” I inform him and he instantly nods. He knows better than to ask where I am going, he understands I will not say, he knows my desires to escape, after all, his eyes are everywhere, he witnesses everything, he identifies everything.

“Off the grid?” He queries and I nod, “very well, as it stands at eight-fifteen A.M, I have yet to see you and do not know your whereabouts if Mr Archibold questions. Be safe.” He delivers me his typically feigned smile just as the second head in charge enters. I like to refer to her as the majordomos sidekick. As demeaning as this may appear, I sometimes refer to them as Cogsworth and Lumiere. Cogsworth has the position of majordomo in the castle, alongside Lumiere who is the castle’s Maître d'hôtel. To me, it makes perfect sense to reference them as the two characters, but since everyone else in this gosh- damned manor have sticks up their asses, I refrain from exercising the terms unless we are alone, purely because half the crew has no sense of humour. Not to mention, they bow down at my husbands every movement and worship the soil he marches on.

I dismiss the two and I saunter out the front entrance. The warm summer breeze kisses my body incredibly, nearly emitting a sense of developing clarity over me. I felicitously sweep down the stone steps to approach the walkway where my car and chauffeur await me.

“Mrs. Archibald, you seem content this morning,” my body shivers at being called Mrs. Archibald, I resent the name. I eschew it the best I can. But, I dismiss the contempt when my chauffeur produces me his contagious smile and luminous eyes that could melt my heart if I had one.

I lost that thing years ago. I’m surprised I even have a heartbeat.

“I could say the same about you, Mr. Styles,” I curl my lips up into a smile as he reaches for my door and opens it for me, instead of sliding in, I take in his features in this impeccable sunlight. He’s radiating, quite literally and beautifully I may add.

“Where are we off to on this summer day?” He questions and I incur his eyes subtly attempting to look me up and down.

I refrain from smirking at his wondering eyes and alternatively, I take in a breath, embracing the summer morning air, “You decide, you’re the driver.”

“Madam, all due respect, but your husband would consider that kidnapping,” Mr.Styles snickers in a somewhat whimsical manner and I roll my eyes at him.

“All due respect Mr.Styles, but I sign your paycheck, not my husband,” I respond and with my free hand, I glide my sunglasses to cover my eyes before I relax between the leather interior of the car while the door seals.

The car emanates of a mix of pristine leather and a masculinity scent.

I shift my sunglasses to rest back on top of my head as Mr.Styles opens the privacy divider so I can observe him as he starts the car, “I require some sort of location on where you’d wish to go.”

I hum a sigh as I stare at him through the rearview mirror, a slight smirk kissing my lips as I catch a glimpse of him adjusting the tie around his neck. “Choose something with a pleasing view that is at least two hours away.”

“Is a five-hour drive too long for today?”

“Hmm, as thrilling as that appears, it is too far. I can’t go off the grid for ten hours, not today,” I respond with a heavy sigh, as much as I would love to leave for such a long time, I actually have to pretend to appreciate my husband’s company tonight.

“Oh, yes,” Styles nods, “that Garla, I remember now. How about a two and a half hour drive?”

“Seems fine, if that ridiculous tie my husband forces you wear is irritating you, you can take it off.”

I am not inspiring him to leisurely take that tie off that is suspending excellently, encompassing his neck, but I am also not~ not encouraging him.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to get fired, kind of need this job.”

“Positive,” I consent, his right hand reaching for his tie and untangling it as his left-hand stays caressed to the steering wheel as he drives.

I lean back on the leather and become comfortable, enjoying the quietness and the breeze that is managing to press through the small crack in the window.

When Nate, my husband is in the vehicle, he insists on having the windows up and the AC on. Nathan has a distaste for wind clasping to his face and blowing through his hair, he much prefers to stay relaxed with the AC sweeping through the car while he stays glued to that damn phone of his. God ever forbid if we end up in a desolate region where there is no phone service, the man would go bonkers and disremember how to breathe.

“Mrs Archibald-”

I swiftly cut Mr Styles gentle sounding voice off, “Please don’t call me that when Nathan is not around.”

Mr Styles clears his throat and nods, “Madam, what do you prefer?”

“My name.”

“Which is?” He questions with his eyes intently focused on the road. For a moment I cock my head to the side and stare at him from my position in the back of the car.

How does he not know what my name is?

“Do you not know my name?” He immediately challenges out of curiosity. Certainly, he grasps that Mrs Archibald isn’t my only name. Of course, I know his name.

I nod while he briskly lifts his eyes to glance at me in the rearview mirror, “Harold,”

He chuckles and I swear in the blink of an eye everything kindled into a brighter shade, “No, my name is Harry,”

“On your forms, it states Harold,”

“Well, yes. Harold enunciates more formal than Harry. I uh-”

“You lied,” I raise a brow, savouring how he suddenly begins to squirm and become flustered.

“I uh- no, well, yes,” he stammers, “I just-”

“Relax,” I interrupt his range of stutters and nervousness as he endeavours to think of what to say, “It isn’t a big deal,” I shrug, not caring about such an insignificant thing. My husband would flip if he found out, but I don’t care about minimal information. “Why’d you do it?”

“I didn’t think I would receive the job as Harry, I thought a posher calling name would benefit me. I just- I honestly needed the job, I am sorry Madam.”

“It is fine, Harry or Harold, whichever one you are going by,” I chuckle teasingly and I observe as he attempts to conceal a developing smirk that is gathering at his lips.

“You have yet to tell me what you wish to be called,”

“Eleanor. How long until we arrive at this unknown destination?”

“Well, Eleanor. Look out the window, we are here.” Harry informs me and I drag my eyes to look out the window where they cast upon an array of limestone-carved arches and beautiful crystal water that glimmers against the rays of the sun. “Man O’War Beach, Dorset, one of the best-hidden beaches,” Harry’s voice takes my attention right before he steps out of the driver’s seat and opens my door. Harry offers his hand and I press mine it to step out.

Automatically, my body is encompassed by the settling breeze of the beach and the satisfying echo of meagre waves resting against the delicate sand and few pebbles, from what I can observe from up here.

I wander to the edge of the South West Coast Path and inhale a deep breath before I begin to stroll down the stone edges steps, “Eleanor,” Harry’s voice distracts me and I turn around to face him with my head cocked to the side, unaware of what his problem may be. “You can’t march down there on your own, especially in heels,” Harry gestures towards the heels that grace my feet.

“You’d be surprised at what I can do in heels, Styles.”

“Although I am sure you can do quite a lot, you shouldn’t walk the steps on your own.”

“Well, join me,” I shrug, turning back around and walking down the stone steps to the wonderful beach in view.

My hair brushes to fall over my shoulder as the wind whispers around me and I clasp my hand to hold my dress from flowing in the wind while my other hand holds my heels.

I take a breath and feel a sense of harmony and clarity coating over me, a relaxing aura. Without much consideration, I conduct myself to the water’s edge and enable the stream to ripple over the tips of my toes and escort its way over my feet. 

Saltwater remedies all wounds and for a moment the ocean pacifies my restless soul as it continues to embrace my bare skin. I rise further in, rumpling my dress to cut off mid-thigh as I wander further into the ocean. 

“Eleanor, what are you doing?” Harry’s voice becomes raised against the character of the seaside.

I turn around to confront him with a grin, my hands allowing my dress to fall to the water as I take a few steps backwards, relishing the feel of the water cleansing my soul and body. I launch my hands up in the air, “Embracing, simply embracing.” … “You should try it,” my voice comes off as more of a giggle while I spin myself around like a child, appreciating how the water feels urged against my skin. 

He shakes his head as he crosses his arms over his white button up, “I don’t have a change of clothes.”

“Neither do I,” I acknowledge, “Embrace, Harry.” I encourage but he resists and continues to observe me from the shore while I enable my feet to curl into the damp sand beneath me. 

I sigh as I leave the water and sand adheres to me as I stroll towards Harry, “Did you have fun?" 

"Mhm, shame you are no fun,” I mutter, wrapping my arms around me as I feel the breeze becoming chilly as it brushes against my half damp body and dress. 

Harry rolls his eyes and purses his lips into a precise line, “I am fun,” he hums as his hand’s press to his buttons and the peaks of his fingers begin to unbutton. “Here, use this until we get back to the car,” he hands me his white shirt and I take it from his hands with a little reluctance. My eyes flutter to browse his tan skinned that is a sharp plane of alps and abs. He is so toned and divine. 

I strain my eyes away from his body despite how lovely it is to admire. 

I bring it up to my arms and draw it around my front to shield me from the breeze, “Shall we?” He gestures towards the steps that lead up to where the car is. I give him a nod and transit across the sand. 

[anthonyguidetti]

Questioning ViacomCBS’s Streaming Strategy

ViacomCBS is one of a few media mega conglomerates. Comcast, Disney, and AT&T are also in that list, and those three have a robust streaming strategy. Comcast has Xumo as their free live TV platform, and Peacock as their streaming service. Disney has, of course, Disney+ for family-oriented content, as well as Hulu as their HBO-style platform, and ESPN+ for sports fans, and they can be combined. AT&T has HBO Max, merging the wide range of their properties under one roof. ViacomCBS on the other hand has a long list, which includes CBS All Access and Pluto TV and Showtime and BET+ and Noggin. Compared to the others, there is an obvious problem. 

AT&T owns Warner Bros., HBO, and Turner which all own a great deal of content. The same goes for Comcast owning NBCUniversal, and Disney owning seemingly everything else. They all have a great deal of valuable properties which they are using to beef up their streaming services. Netflix used to be filled with content from 3rd parties, notably the shows Friends and The Office, but now those two shows will eventually leave for their corporate homes at Peacock and HBO Max, respectively. The same goes for Disney finishing out their contracts with Netflix to move their remaining Marvel and Disney content to Disney+. The whole idea is if you know who owns what, eventually they’ll all be with their corporate streaming service.

When Viacom and CBS merged, some things have come together. CBS airs movies from the Paramount vault on weekends, Pluto TV features more content from CBS properties like CBS Sports HQ, CBS’s Pop channel simulcasts its shows to other Viacom channels, and, for a short period of time, The Late Late Show aired the previous night’s show the next day on Comedy Central. The same can’t be said for CBS All Access, their dominant streaming platform with around 5 million subscribers, a number far lower than Disney+. They had announced that more Viacom content from their channels and Paramount would be added to the platform, with little communication beyond that. Some Paramount movies have been added, but not much else has been discussed. No one knows if CBS All Access will retain its name, or if another service will be revealed, but that’s not their only issue. 

Even if ViacomCBS put all their eggs in CBS All Access, raised the price to make it compete with a service like HBO Max by adding in Showtime and the rest of their brands and services, it would be missing crucial content. South Park landed a multiyear $500 million deal exclusively with HBO Max that gains its entire library as well as new episodes 24 hours after they air on Comedy Central. Another big draw, SpongeBob streams on Amazon Prime. Comedy Central’s Reno 911! reboot airs on Quibi, as well as other deals for Viacom’s library across various other streaming platforms. The point is, at least for right now, much of Viacom’s valuable library is streaming elsewhere. Of course these deals aren’t in perpetuity, their contracts eventually will end and they will need a home elsewhere, but considering South Park was on Hulu for six years, initially a three-year deal, one could assume the same three year duration for the HBO Max deal, meaning if CBS All Access ramps up content within this year, a major asset to Viacom will be missing for years.

Not to mention Viacom formed Comedy Central Productions with the sole purpose of developing content to distribute to third-parties, like Quibi. This is in line with Viacom making deals with third-party platforms, as Nickelodeon announced a SpongeBob spinoff for Netflix in addition to a Paramount movie skipping a theatrical release and heading straight to Netflix. Another former Comedy Central show Lights Out with David Spade was cancelled amid COVID-19 and low ratings, with reports indicating Comedy Central looking for a third-party home. With the possible sale of Lights Out, and The Daily Show being extended to 45 minutes, this could be a signal from Viacom that 11:30pm on Comedy Central is no longer attainable. Either way, the question becomes what does Viacom keep for themselves and what do they sell? If you sell your valuable existing assets, in addition to new ones that could be promising for your brand, what are you left with?

Although Viacom can point to linear ratings increases, especially in the coveted 18-49 demo, what does this mean for their cable channels? ViacomCBS has announced several layoffs in various divisions, one in particular was TV Land, Paramount Network, and most importantly Comedy Central consolidating into the rest of the Entertainment division at Viacom. In doing so, Comedy Central experienced deep layoffs in their development division, and is now under the control of one president overseeing many brands. Comedy Central was once a dominant brand in comedy, and as the New York Times article discussed, with much of the buzz focusing on Netflix’s great push for comedy, that may not be the case anymore. Especially when Viacom spends some $200 million to air Seinfeld across its channels. Seinfeld’s a great show and is sure to pull in ratings, but does this signal an even greater loss for development for the channels?

At this point in time, ViacomCBS does not have a solid streaming strategy publicly in place, so if they can make multimillion dollar deals with third-party platforms in the meantime, it’s a solid short-term business move. ViacomCBS doesn’t have the same leverage as other conglomerates, as evidenced with the various carriage disagreements Viacom has had over the years. The CBS network along with the news and sports that come with them are incredibly beneficial to Viacom. YouTube TV announced Viacom channels would be added to their service, and it is very likely when Hulu + Live’s CBS deal needs to be renewed, you can almost bet Viacom channels will show up, on two platforms that have been Viacom free since their inception. 

In the past, Viacom had to be very careful about engaging in streaming, with the CEO in 2017 publicly stating their intentions on keeping their shows on cable, to provide a better value for cable, which ensures their carriage on cable systems, which provides Viacom with lucrative carriage fees, especially when ad sales are down. Now as a merged company, and with time proving streaming inevitable, ViacomCBS has much more leverage together. While they can engage in streaming with less consequences than in the past, they still have to make sure they don’t anger cable providers too much. Still, it explains their possible reasoning as to why CBS All Access is still missing key Viacom properties. If Viacom added its channels’ shows to the service, it could cause cable carriers to drop their channels. Viacom’s channels are available in over 80 million cable households, compared to the 5 million on CBS All Access, meaning a great loss, and an uphill battle to regain subscribers.

In short, we’re in a very strange time for old and new media. Companies are still trying to figure out how to deliver content in ways that consumers will be happy, and the companies can still make outrageous amounts of cash. ViacomCBS still rakes in insane amounts of cash regardless of their streaming situation. While they may not have, at this moment, a streaming platform to rival HBO Max and Peacock, they’ve certainly added a tremendous deal of content to Pluto TV, both from ViacomCBS’s library as well as licensing other content. ViacomCBS also owns part of Philo, a OTT online cable service geared for those who don’t need sports and news. They also have several deals with social networking websites to provide exclusive content, like The Daily Show’s Emmy-winning Behind the Scenes and several podcasts for ViacomCBS’s various shows. ViacomCBS certainly isn’t out of the streaming industry, but if they want to keep their brand relevant, CBS All Access at the very least needs some help.

[kettlequills]

Pearl!Nightlight AU

for @nxghtlight.

Nightlight’s entire world began and ended with Moonstone. Had Nightlight been any other, it would have been an excessive statement – for when others said that their lives revolved around one person they seemed to mean it in a planetary sense, celestial objects orbiting one another, independent yet inextricably linked. Yet, to Nightlight, his existence depended on Moonstone same way a mirror depended on its owner to look into it and give it life. Without Moonstone, he was a blank and silvery plane of fragile but pretty glass, waiting for the slightest chance to reflect the vivacity of another and bathe in his temporary usefulness.

And Nightlight spent a lot of time waiting, because Nightlight was a pearl, and the purpose of his existence was to be an extension of Moonstone. Unfortunately, Moonstone was a very capable gem on her own and had very little need of his services in order to be the most successful and excellently praised lawyer in White Diamond’s extensive and austere court.

Therefore, Nightlight was given a lot of time to fall back on a passive pearl’s purpose, which was to display the importance of the owner, by being very pretty and very still and very exclusive (and very bored, but Nightlight did his best ignore that). He knew perfectly how to hold himself in an absolutely still position, like a porcelain doll wrapped in grey and black silks, knew how bow his head demurely just so that the light of any room would occasionally gleam and shimmer over the pale and iridescent gem on the back of his neck, casting his eyes in the slightest shadow, allowing for the most subtle, the most clandestine watch over his mistress, ready to leap to her side at any moment. He prided himself on it.

Nightlight had a great private dislike for the white pearls, who were as far from a properly behaved private pearl like Nightlight as it was possible to be. They were so… unprofessional.

White Diamond had thousands of them, all identical pretty things, and their sole activity seemed to be distracting the much beleaguered guards, all sweating quartz soldiers, fighting to keep their minds and eyes on the task at hand rather than on the giggling slender creatures dipping and skipping over the walls that towered above them. They never waited, obediently just out of sight, in endless courtrooms, listening to the pleas of guilty gems, the judgements and the merciless convictions – no, the white pearls were free to run. They were free to dance, and sing any song they pleased, praising their Diamond every morning, noon and night, wild creatures lost in the reckless abandon of lunacy.

Moonstone never wanted Nightlight to sing. He hadn’t been made to sing. He had been made to remember endless lists of the condemned and the guilty, to keep track of who was shattered and who was not. In Nightlight’s eidetic memory, the doomed and dead faces of destroyed gems marched, in neat rows, regular and ordered, just like everything else under White Diamond’s control, all but for the white pearls, who were different because White Diamond wanted them to be a constant test, holding temptation out on a gleaming platter and then sending them to Moonstone when they failed. Failure to comport oneself properly was not an option.

Nightlight dared not to admit that he envied the white pearls, sometimes. He had never run in his life, but it looked like fun.

Fun, however, was not Nightlight’s purpose, except when Moonstone wanted it to be.

Nightlight craved those moments, those infinitely precious, taboo moments. They were very rare and very difficult for Moonstone to orchestrate; Moonstone was a good, sleek, professional gem, highly in demand and exhaustively busy. Nightlight had been Moonstone’s pearl for centuries, and only six times in his life had Moonstone decided to tempt herself away from her dry judgements for some quick and temporary wickedness. Little to his knowledge but greatly to his despair, in those moments he was just like the white pearls, desperate to exist under somebody else’s touch, even for half a fleeting moment.

And yet, Nightlight was content. How could he not be? His time was spent in the service of the most beautiful, the most lustrous, the most clever and efficient Moonstone, and he loved her, and he was made to love her, to reflect her in all her dazzling glory, and nothing else.

And then he fell to Earth, and everything changed.

Moonstone had been chosen as part of White Diamond’s accompaniment to Earth in the absolute chaos following the death of Pink Diamond. Blue Diamond never travelled without her Sapphires, and White Diamond never left her palace without her Moonstones. As it turned out, it was very lucky that one of the Diamonds had brought gems capable of imposing order, because they certainly weren’t.

Blue Diamond was inconsolable – understandably, Moonstone had said, sympathetically. Yellow Diamond raged – quite right, Moonstone had said, the rebels needed to be crushed. And White Diamond was downright compromised – just confused, and grieving, Moonstone had said uncertainly, but there were rumours, ugly ones, that she was being, well, illogical. Passing unfair judgements, confusing law she had put in place herself, like she couldn’t even remember it.

Moonstone regarded the law as a sacrament, and couldn’t bear to believe that her beloved Diamond could make a mistake on her holy code. Nightlight made very sure to only think it in his most secret thoughts, but privately, he wondered if maybe most gems tried very hard to forget the long and boring details of the taxes that Moonstone was getting very upset about, and White Diamond was simply seizing the chance to ignore Moonstone while she could.

“Everything is in complete disarray!” Moonstone had exclaimed to Nightlight not three rotations in to the lawless terror of the Earth colony after Pink Diamond’s shattering, uncharacteristically flustered. “These pink gems act like, like beasts!”

Nightlight had nodded very gravely. He knew exactly what Moonstone meant.

Pink Diamond’s quartzes were not half as restrained as White Diamond’s quartzes, and there were so many of them, broad shouldered, powerful, muscled, on display everywhere, stalking massively to and fro, forbidding and terrifying. They were always glaring at Nightlight when he saw them, and Nightlight learned very quickly how to hide in a shadowless corridor, how to tuck himself in against the door so that no one noticed him, because Pink Diamond’s quartzes hated pearls like Nightlight.

Nightlight was too scared to ask why – but he heard whispers. Whispers that cropped up most frequently when he was around, a pearl with his pale uniform that marked his mistress clearly under the authority of White Diamond. Whispers of the White Pearl gone renegade, the Pearl who fought alongside the traitorous Rose Quartz, the Pearl who had helped her shatter Pink Diamond.

The thought of the Renegade made him shiver. The other pearls in the palace (Nightlight communicated with them in gasps – not quite looks, not quite murmurs) regarded Renegade with a cautious fear, privately, they pitied her. They were all very sure that none of them wanted their mistresses ask them to fight and hurt and die again and again like Rose Quartz did – the worst sort of mistress (No pearl ever openly conceived of an ownerless life. Thoughts like that led to shattering). He was not alone in hearing the traitorous whispers.

Moonstone heard them too, and listened to the story of pearl that had turned on her mistress for love of a common quartz soldier, and began to doubt.

Markedly overnight, Nightlight was asked to leave while Moonstone rested, had to stay outside when reports were being given, was left behind. There was now in Moonstone’s eyes a constant suspicion, as it Nightlight himself was standing before her in the courtroom disguised as their daily life, on trial for crimes someone else had committed. He burned with the unfairness of it all, but he was only a pearl. He couldn’t speak on his own like the Renegade Pearl. If it felt bad and unfair and wrong now, it would be better later. Moonstone had always known what was best. Why would this be any different?

Nightlight fidgeted with his hands. He just wanted Moonstone to take the hurt and the confusion away.

Nightlight’s discovery of humans made a new sun rise in his life. There was a village not far from the base in which Moonstone was stationed, and ever since Moonstone had taken up banning him from the room she was in, Nightlight had to get increasingly inventive in order to escape the quartzes. He hadn’t meant to sneak off and visit the human village. But he had heard strange noises, shouting and laughter and splashing, and had caught his first glimpse of humans, at play in the stream that flowed nearby their village of primitive organic matter.

They came in different types, like gems, but Nightlight felt very anxious and confused that they didn’t seem to have a Diamond. Whenever he tried telling them that they were missing something, they only frowned and shouted, and then tried to poke at him with pointy things to make him go away. There were Tall Ones, which he didn’t like very much because they were stern and disapproving and always tried to shoo Nightlight away when they saw him, Small Ones, and the Awkward Ones in Between that seemed to do very little other than slouching around. The Small Ones were his favourites.

They had big round eyes, little hands that were always sticky, warm soft human skin, and they burbled and giggled without fail when he peered over them, marvelling at how tiny and fragile they were. He didn’t know why the Tall Ones kept the Small Ones around, because they didn’t seem to serve a purpose, but Nightlight liked to think, that they, like pearls, were there to make the Tall Ones happy. It only made him like the Small Ones more, because they were clearly very good at their jobs and Moonstone liked efficiency – whenever he observed the Tall Ones and the Small Ones, there was laughter going on (so much laughter! It would have been unsanctioned in White Diamond’s court).

Privately, Nightlight thought that the humans were the best at laughing that he had ever seen. They seemed to laugh with all of the strange organic bodies, odd flesh jiggling. He had tried laughing like they did (very secretly, whenever Moonstone sent away), from the gut, but it sounded too high and false when he did. He wondered what their secret was, and if he could learn it. They never laughed when he was visible, and Nightlight wondered quietly how he could make them understand that he just wanted to learn how to be as happy as they were.

Maybe Moonstone would be just as entranced with Nightlight as Nightlight was with the humans if only Nightlight could learn their secrets.

As a pearl, Nightlight’s job was to know Moonstone before Moonstone knew herself. He was an extension of her will, a tool of her mind, an implement of her purpose. So when Yellow Diamond demanded them to judge the importance of the silly little human zoo Pink Diamond had created, Nightlight did his job. Moonstone had often asked Nightlight to do preliminary research when she was too busy, and Nightlight knew very well that Moonstone knew nothing about humans.

Nightlight had a dilemma. He clearly misunderstood a fundamental part of the humans. Every time he looked at them, it seemed that they were performing a new and different bizarre new ritual, and he didn’t understand anything about them. Their very strangeness was the most exciting part of them, but also the most frustrating. He had no idea how to present his knowledge on humans, so naturally, the only next step was showing Moonstone how to learn herself.

Moonstone, Nightlight knew, was very smart, the most clever and efficient and perceptive gem he had ever known. She would sort this out, he was sure.

Nightlight trotted back to the base, a Small One bundled carefully in his arms. He had seen it on its own down by the river, waving its chubby fists. He’d asked it politely if it minded coming back and showing Moonstone about its kind. The Small One had burbled at him in a way that he didn’t think was supposed to be negative, and Nightlight had nodded gravely, not wanting to be rude, and thanked it for its cooperation. He wondered if he should try and warn Moonstone beforehand that the Small Ones spoke just as incoherently as the Tall Ones.

Upon reaching the base, Nightlight noted that everything seemed unusually… quiet. There were no quartz guards stomping around, glaring at him and being large and threatening. The silence was pregnant and deep, tense, as if the whole base was holding its breath. The Small One stirred. Nightlight bounced at as he had seen the Tall Ones do, and the Small One laughed.

Nightlight couldn’t help but grin back. Moonstone was going to be so surprised and pleased!

Juggling the Small One, Nightlight palmed open the door to Moonstone’s office. She was sat behind her desk, and glanced up in surprise when he walked in. The light glittered off her beautiful pale eyes, as cold and remote as the moon, and her nails tapped the desk like the points of distant stars. There was something cosmic in Moonstone, the gravity of deep space seemed to linger in her unsmiling mouth, thin-lipped, the radiance of galaxies was in her reserved bearing, her narrow shoulders, the tall, isolating frame, like a satellite moored deep out in the currents between the stars.

Nightlight loved her. And he loved the Small One, and he was desperately excited for his love to collide. Nightlight knew Moonstone would be annoyed at his inefficiency, but he knew he couldn’t just tell her about the humans.

“Pearl,” said Moonstone, with thick heavy disapproval, “What in the name of the stars is that and why have you brought it to me? Is it – one of those – natives?”

Beaming, Nightlight presented the Small One to her. Moonstone glance between his face and the Small One, and seemed to settle on a decision, because she sighed heavily. Then, grudgingly, she rose to her feet and walked around her desk in order to inspect the Small One more easily. She plucked the Small One from his arms, seizing it by its thigh. The Small One swung helplessly from her vicelike grip, blankets falling off its small pink form.

Moonstone had only half a second to inspect the creature before the air was split by an earshattering yell. The Small One’s face was crinkled up, incandescent with anger, and it screeched as if Moonstone had just committed treason against the Diamonds. Both gems winced, their projections flickering in response to the painfully loud sound.

Nightlight reached for the Small One instinctively, prepared to bounce it as he had seen the Tall Ones do, hating the wailing, but Moonstone shook the Small One, her face furrowing in disgust and fury. It only bawled louder. Nightlight stared in horror as she swung it lightly, her fingers digging hard enough to leave white prints as she shifted her grip.

“QUIET!” Moonstone thundered.

The Small One wailed on, ignoring her order. Nightlight gazed at it with entreaty. Moonstone despised disobedience. Please, please, he tried to tell it with his stare, just do as she says, Moonstone always knows best. The small one appeared to disagree, because it was wailing louder and louder.

“I said-“ The Small One’s screeching drowned her out. Moonstone snapped, her teeth bared in annoyance. Her eyes turned malicious, and Nightlight, out of habit, found himself covering his gem and bracing himself for a corrective slap.

Her gem glowed and her weapon appeared in her hand, a small, sharp chisel. Nightlight swallowed, eyes fixed on the chisel. He remembered that chisel – shoved sharp and quick into his neck whenever he needed to update his clothing for the latest court fashion. Moonstone was meticulous in every part of her job, including where it extended to her pearl.

She aimed at the Small One, frighteningly, searching for its chubby little neck. Nightlight stared and quivered. No! No! Moonstone couldn’t hurt it! He knew that what Moonstone was doing was very bad, but – Nightlight closed his eyes and balled his fists, rocking back and forth a little on his heels.

Moonstone knew best. Moonstone knew best –

“If you will not obey, perhaps you need some time to think over your disobedience while you reform!” Moonstone snarled.

Nightlight shook. He was in the unwelcome position of suddenly realising that he knew more than Moonstone. It was virtual heresy. Everything he knew told him not to object to, to obey his mistress however she required, but feeling was growing up inside him, something which demanded action, something violent and explosive. Because humans did not reform, and when they got injured, it was permanent.

Nightlight couldn’t let Moonstone hurt the Small One!

With the Small One’s screeching ringing in his ears, Nightlight leapt forward, shoving Moonstone back so hard that she hit the desk and fell with a thunderous crash. Nightlight cradled the Small One, his eyes closed, still braced for punishment. He was shaking so hard that if it wasn’t for the Small One he was holding, he might have destabilised himself.

Bad gem, bad gem, bad gem, Nightlight had been a bad gem –

“Pearl.”

Moonstone’s voice was absolutely icy with fury.

“Drop it.”

Quickly, jerkily, but he couldn’t believe his own insubordination, Nightlight shook his head.

“You dare…?” Moonstone sounded more surprised than angry. It didn’t last. Nightlight heard her release the sharp breath that meant she was straightening up, setting her shoulders back. She often did it when she was working, preparing herself to do something unpleasant. And when she next spoke, her voice was as cold as the frigid depths of space.

“I knew this would happen. There’s been talk… That pearls have become rebellious. But I didn’t believe them,” Moonstone hissed. “I thought, for sure, my own pearl would never betray me. But look at you. Defying me.”

Nightlight hunched his shoulders and sank slowly down to his knees, trying to make himself look small. The Small One was quieting, and Nightlight had a vain hope that if he hid it against his stomach, Moonstone would forget it was there. Nightlight could always come back, he done it before, but the Small One couldn’t. He’d seen the mess they left behind, the red liquid, the stench.

“My pearl…” Moonstone purred. “Are you really going to invite a punishment over some wailing primate?”

He could hear her walking closer, knew her step as intimately as he knew his own. He knew the minute she stopped in front of him, knew that her polished silver boots would be in front of him, the buckles that marched up her calves (there was a trick to getting them undone with his teeth), knew the reflection of his own face would be distorted and wavy in the shiny boots. Her cool hand made contact with Nightlight’s smooth jaw, trailing over his cheek in something like a caress before her fingertips slid under his chin and lifted it sharply.

“Look at me,” she demanded, and he did, opening his eyes to gaze up at her, the soft fall of her white hair outlining her face, her sharp eyes, intent with something piercing.

“I own you,” she reminded him, the pointed tip of her thumbnail digging into his cheek, holding his head in place. “You do not strike me, and you certainly do not disobey me over some little…” Her lip curled. “Savage. Do I make myself clear?”

Nightlight’s mouth moved, but under the fierceness of her that steely stare, he couldn’t breathe a word. All his breath seemed to have left him, sucked out like a popped balloon. Limply, he sagged against her hand and averted his eyes from her own politely.

He was a pearl. He was designed to obey. He couldn’t simply choose not to.

“Good.” Moonstone sounded pleased by his acquiescence. She reached down and lifted the Small One from Nightlight’s slack arms. He stared up at her beseechingly, her tall and proud profile leaning away from him. Her gem flashed again.

Nightlight closed his eyes and looked away. He didn’t want to see it. Moonstone knew best. (But not this time, not this time!)

In the tense, taut silence, there came an abrupt and violent intrusion. A new blaring sound, so loud that Moonstone dropped the Small One, snarling a curse. Nightlight shot forward and caught the Small One, clutching it tightly as it started to wail.

The colour drained from Moonstone’s face. “The claxon,” she whispered, and then she suddenly looked at Nightlight in horrified betrayal. “The rebels are attacking! We have been betrayed! You-!”

Nightlight shook his head rapidly, leaping to his feet. She looked abruptly more furious than he had ever seen her, furious and betrayed and upset, and a terrifying grimace warped her face as she raised the chisel threateningly. Moonstone swung at him with the chisel, and before he knew what he was about, Nightlight ducked past her and charged out of the door, sprinting away from his mistress and the only home he had ever known, with the Small One held protectively against his chest.

The world around him was filled with fire and fighting. Gems collided with a deafening crashes. The air was thick with smoke and animalistic snarls, gems grappling like beasts, eclectic flashes bright light as gems fused and fell apart and shifted. War cries echoed, terrifying the Small One until it screamed a cry of its own. Nightlight bolted like a scared rabbit, ducking underneath war axes bigger than his entire body, in a panic so blind and absolute that he had no concept of anything other than running forward. Every shake of the ground under his feet sounded like Moonstone running after him, chasing him further into the terrifying depths of the battlefield.

The Small One was screaming. Nightlight was howling himself, drowned out by the shrieks of pain from mutilated gems, smoke from dissipated forms wavering around his feet. Visibility reduced to around a few feet. Gems flashed and glowed, appearing as forms momentarily silhouetted against the shifting greyness. A lithe form wielding a spear leapt out of the darkness, teeth bared, bright blue eyes alight with hot electric battlelust, and Nightlight shrieked, barely having time to recognise another pearl – Renegade! – before he pelted off in a different direction.

He wanted Moonstone, Moonstone would protect him. But Moonstone would hurt the Small One.

With nowhere left to go, Nightlight ran, and ran. (It wasn’t as fun as the white pearls made it look.) He was sobbing breathlessly as he went, tears streaming down his cheeks, blurring his eyes. He stumbled, hiccupping miserably, heard a mace thud into the ground too close behind him and bolted again, like a spooked horse. He had never run so hard or fast before in his life. His fragile clothes, meant for prettiness rather than function, tore, one shoe fell from his foot. His bare foot was scratched and bleeding, but he ignored the pain jagging up into his leg with every step. Nightlight very rarely felt pain and it was a new and unwelcome sensation, but in his panic driven state, it was easy to block it out.

He had to get the Small One to safety. Moonstone would be so angry. Oh, she’d be so angry, she’d shout, he hated it when she shouted-

He had been running for some time when the battlefield began to fade away, isolated gems struggling in small groups – one purple fusion was bringing down jasper fusion with repeated strikes of her gauntlets, the percussive thuds like a second drumbeat to Nightlight’s superfluous heart. Familiar shapes rose against the rapidly darkening sky. Bolts of electricity shot down and struck the towers of the base, crackling down the stone. But in the distance…

The human village!

Hope sparked in Nightlight’s chest, and he redoubled his pace. The ground flew away past him like a map yanked off a table, and he settled into a rhythm, huffing shortly out of his nose, silver eyes narrowed and fixed on his destination. Only one thought ran through his mind – get the Small One to safety.

So fixated was he on his goal that he almost didn’t notice the black agate until it was too late. An enormous scythe struck the ground bare inches from Nightlight had been only seconds prior, and he yelped, jerking sideways more out of instinct than out of any intelligent understanding of his near miss.

He stumbled and sprawled over, automatically twisting to land on his side and protect the Small One. It wailed, and anxiously he patted it, checking that it wasn’t broken.

Then he looked up, and regretted it instantly.

Looming over him was the tallest black agate he had ever seen, tall, but thin, like a normal agate that had been stretched and pounded flat, holding a massive black scythe and raising it slowly over his shoulder for another strike. It wasn’t a rebel, Nightlight could see his white diamond insignia proudly displayed on his chest. Glittering yellow eyes narrowed with glee, and the black agate’s thin dark lips split into a sharktooth smirk.

“Be very afraid, little pearl,” Black Agate cooed, and Nightlight stared up at the enormous point of the scythe in distant and numb horror. He was too petrified to move.

Dimly, Nightlight realised that Moonstone would be aggravated if he was shattered, and rolled to one side just as Black Agate swung.

The scythe’s point buried itself a quarter-inch into the dirt just beside Nightlight’s head, severing a lock of hair. Nightlight jumped to his feet, screamed, and ran for his life. The Small One, excited, started screaming too, and the Black Agate roared, and started chasing them.

“PITCH!” Someone (a human, Nightlight thought confusedly) yelled, and out of nowhere cracked a bright yellow whip, fizzing with electricity, which wrapped itself around the top of the scythe and sent Black Agate soaring over Nightlight’s head. Nightlight halted immediately, eyes wide, as Black Agate ploughed into the dirt with enough force to poof a lesser gem.

Slowly, he raised his eyes to look at his unlikely rescuers.

It was a human Tall One and a gem, both rebels, he thought. The human Tall One was a huge specimen, dressed in a thick red coat and wielding two fearsome sabers. He clearly knew the Black Agate, because he was chuckling maliciously as Black Agate gulped with fear. The second gem was the shortest agate Nightlight had ever seen, a Yellow Agate this time, snapping an electric yellow whip between his soft hands with a lazy smirk.

“Sandy here isn’t going to have to show you the way back to the gem battle, is he?” the human Tall One said pointedly, and Black Agate got to his feet, contemptuously summoning his scythe. Nevertheless, he flinched back when the yellow agate, Sandy, flicked the whip at his ankles. He sneered at them both, paused, looked long and hard at Nightlight for a moment, then stalked off without a word.

“Huh,” said North. “That was… unexpectedly easy. For Pitch. What the hell did you do to him last time you two fought, Sandy?”

Sandy just grinned, and tapped his nose.

Awestruck, Nightlight gazed in wonder at his two new heroes. They both looked down at him.

“That’s the look I like to see!” The human Tall One boomed in laughter. “Name’s North, this village here is under the protection of Rose Quartz and the rebellion. Your business here?” he asked, not unkindly, clearly noting how rattled Nightlight looked and the bundle in his arms.

Right on cue, the Small One started crying. North’s demeanour changed instantly. He hurried forward, sheathing his sabers. Sandy, Nightlight noted, kept his whip out, eyeing Nightlight cautiously.

“Gem with a baby, four words to spell disaster,” North muttered, but he stopped in front of Nightlight, a curious respect in his eyes as he gestured with his broad hands. “May I?”

Nightlight blinked, unused to being asked permission for anything. He looked down at the Small One, whose bright eyes peered back. Nightlight’s heart swelled up with warmth, and he bounced it, making the Small One giggle. Then, regretfully, he gave the Small One back to the Tall One.

North smiled and took the baby, setting it in one arm. He grinned encouragingly at Nightlight, and used his free hand to slap Nightlight’s shoulder hard enough that he stumbled forwards. Eyes round, he stared up at North with the same dazzled expression as a deer in beautiful, large headlights.

“I’d better bring this little one to Ombric,” said North, “Sandy.”

Sandy nodded. The human Tall One walked away, disappearing into the fortified village. Nightlight was left outside, staring at the short Yellow Agate, feeling unexpectedly bereft, unsure of what to do. He had no orders here. Unexpectedly, Sandy smiled, sympathetically, as if he understood everything that Nightlight was feeling, and extended a hand.

Uncertainly, Nightlight took it. Sandy’s hand felt soft and warm, like human skin. Sandy cocked his head, deep golden eyes questioning. And who are you?

“Nightlight,” the pearl whispered, and smiled back.

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Derby, Dragon Con And Burning Man Go Virtual

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Every year, Americans cap off the summer with a collective mini-vacation called Labor Day — an event marked with barbecues, trips to the beach, catching a ballgame and pretty much doing as little labor as humanly possible. It’s something of a unique entity, insofar as it’s the only holiday considered best celebrated by strenuously avoiding the thing actually being celebrated.

But like almost everything else that’s happened since COVID-19 lockdowns began in March, Labor Day 2020 will be something of an oddity even by its own unusual standards. This Labor Day will come and go without parades, hot dog eating contests at the beach or various other local festivals. They’ve been called off as too likely to draw large and uncontrollable crowds.

Home barbecues will likely go on, albeit with social distancing in place to prevent COVID-19’s spread. And almost everyone will still get a long weekend off, although how noticeable than will be for work-from-home employees who’ve long since lost track of what day it is remains to be seen.

But we come this week not to bemoan the losses of Labor Day 2020, but to praise the innovators who’ve worked overtime to keep at least some of the holiday’s events going — albeit in digital form.

For example, the Kentucky Derby will be run on Saturday (Sept. 5) for the 146th time this weekend after being postponed from its normal May. However, the new date won’t be the only thing different about the derby this year.

Instead of a packed house at Churchill Downs dressed in suits, dresses and hats fancy enough for an English royal wedding, the racetrack will be fan-free. It will only host socially distanced jockeys and enough track personnel to actually run the race.

Going to the race as a spectator isn’t an option — but in the COVID-19 era, if you can’t go to the race, the race will come to you. Fans can watch via NBC TV or one of the various streaming services one might have chosen to replace cable.

NBC’s app and Web site will also carry the “most exciting two minutes in sports,” although the network doesn’t just want you to see the race, it wants to help a socially distanced home audience actually experience the event.

That’s why NBC Sports’ Rutledge Wood will be hosting a virtual watch party from his home. The event is proving popular enough that the online registration to party with Wood has actually filled up.

And for those who want to have their own derby party, NBC Sports has released a “Kentucky Derby at Home Party Pack” for downloading. By NBC’s description, the pack contains “recipes for traditional Kentucky Derby foods and cocktails, printable decorations, at-home fashion tips, kids’ crafts and more.”

But there are those who may be thinking, “Learning how to make a mint julep or getting fashion tips from sportscasters on how to work a Kentucky Derby fascinator into my end-of-summer look sound great, but I’m just not that into horse racing.”

Well, good news — we have other iconic options for you that are happening virtually this weekend.

Dragon Con 

For those who prefer dragons to horses, there’s “Dragon Con.”

What, you ask, is Dragon Con? Well in a normal year, it’s Greater Atlanta’s annual answer to San Diego’s Comic-Con, a gathering of fantasy and science-fiction enthusiasts.

Dragon Con usually includes celebrity appearances, panels on upcoming media projects and a public venue where it’s not only considered acceptable to be dressed in a full set of chain-mail body armor, it’s highly encouraged. But this year, the costumed mingling is on hold because Dragon Con is going online — creatively renamed “Dragon Con Goes Virtual.”

Running on three streamed channels, the event will feature the ability to catch greatest-hits moments of conventions past or watch exclusive content created for this year’s event. There will also be live panels, online social mingling and even the annual costume competition (with attendees taking part from the comfort of their living rooms).

And yes, the merchandising experience has made the digital jump with the rest of the festival. There will be a Virtual Vendors Marketplace, art show and Comic and Pop Artist Alley. Dragon Con is promising attendees a six-day, around-the-clock shopping experience “with our amazing vendors and artists” — and the first “infinite-aisle” shopping experience the convention has ever presented.

Burning Man 

But what if dressing up like a Star Wars stormtrooper to play virtual Dungeons and Dragons (one of the advertised events) with sci-fi and fantasy fans worldwide isn’t enough of a draw for you? Well, we’ve saved the weekend’s best and biggest digital event for last — Burning Man.

The annual trip out to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert for the world’s cool, trendy, technologically sophisticated and truly dedicated party animals has been called off this year, replaced by Burning Man’s online version. There will be eight online “multiverses” meant to give fans (known as “Burners”) a chance to experience Burning Man minus the desert experience.

How’s the weeklong event (which runs through Sunday) going so far? Well, according to one Mashable reviewer, “the experiences were designed by volunteer Burners themselves, so it is no slight to the org to say that many of these multiverses are a mess. The Ethereal Empyrean Experience crashed my computer. The app page for Multiverse IIR is full of reviews from Burners who paid $8 to enter but couldn’t get it to work. (Some multiverses are free, others cost a few bucks.) The Infinite Playa‘s paid experience is still coming soon’ at time of writing, halfway through the official event week.”

But the same reviewer also wrote that the overall experience is “fun as hell,” particularly for someone wearing a virtual-reality headset. Apparently, hugging another Burner’s digital avatar is incredibly cathartic, and bringing VR capability to Burning Man does in fact create new experiences one has never been able to enjoy before.

“I’ve had the experience of waiting for a friend to join me at the Man many times before, but I’ve never done so 60 feet in the air while chatting to a random dude from the Netherlands,” the Mashable writer noted.

But some Burners aren’t buying into the virtual experience and are heading by the hundreds to the Black Rock Desert itself to celebrate Burning Man in their RVs.

What exactly they plan to do without the people, art exhibits, foam parties or giant Burning Man effigy is a bit unclear. But whatever it is, those interview by local media confirmed they’d stay some 6 feet apart to prevent COVID-19.

“It’s a socially distant ‘burn’ this year, and everybody is really spread out across the desert,” attendee Mike Fowler told local media. The Burners say they plan to leave after Labor Day weekend and that they will leave no trace behind, as is the Burning Man tradition.

As for the virtual Burners, will this be their new tradition? That seems doubtful.

Most reviews have branded the multiverse concept as fun and highly reviewed certain parts of it, like the VR journeys or the beautifully designed “Temple” setting for congregation among burners. But many have noted that it still isn’t really a stand-in for experiencing the real thing live, in person and possibly on acid. Given the chance, nearly all surveyed responded they’d like to get back to the real Burning Man as soon as it’s safe to do so.

That’s the same way we imagine horse racing and dragon fans feel this weekend as they attend virtual versions of their favorite events to send off the summer. While some parts of the digital transformation will likely stick, we imagine these events might not quite be among them as replacements for the real thing.

But as extensions of them instead of full-on replacements? The idea of Burning Man or comic-book conventions becoming both physical and digital events every year going forward doesn’t sound like such a fantasy-like possibility.

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NEW PYMNTS DATA: HOW WE SHOP STUDY – SEPTEMBER 2020

The How We Shop Report, a PYMNTS collaboration with PayPal, aims to understand how consumers of all ages and incomes are shifting to shopping and paying online in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our research builds on a series of studies conducted since March, surveying more than 16,000 consumers on how their shopping habits and payments preferences are changing as the crisis continues. This report focuses on our latest survey of 2,163 respondents and examines how their increased appetite for online commerce and digital touchless methods, such as QR codes, contactless cards and digital wallets, is poised to shape the post-pandemic economy.

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Complete Web Developer Course 2.0

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Learn Web Development by building 25 websites and mobile apps using HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, Python, MySQL & more!

What you’ll learn

Build websites and webapps

Build HTML-based mobile apps

Get a job as a junior web developer

Bid for projects on freelance websites

Start their own online business

Be a comfortable front-end developer

Be proficient with databases and server-side languages

Requirements

No pre-knowledge is required – enthusiasm is all you need!

A PC or Mac is required

No software is required in advance of the course (all software used in the course is free)

Description

You’re here because you’re ready to start building professional, career-boosting websites.

Or maybe you’re coding already and want to take things to the next level?

I’m here because I’m the creator of the best-selling, highest-rated coding courses on Udemy—and I love to share my secrets with you.

Welcome to The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0

Based on feedback from over 25,000 5-star reviews, I’ve created The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0, the sequel to my global smash-hit: Build 14 Websites course.

It’s my most current, in-depth and exciting coding course—to date.

Designed for you—no matter where you are in your coding journey—my next-generation web developer course is overflowing with fresh content. Jam-packed with high-quality tutorials. And crucially, features the most advanced, hot-off-the-press software versions.

It’s your fast-track to iron-clad coding results.

We’ve left no stone unturned.

I guarantee, this is THE most thorough, laser-focused and up-to-date coding course available ANYWHERE on the market—or your money back.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, an innovator or the next Mark Zuckerberg just waiting to happen, here you’ll find everything you need to get up and coding—fast.

And it’s all in one perfectly-packaged, super-convenient online solution.

“It is hard to find a complete course out there that is like this one. I am amazed at the value of the content and I would without a doubt recommend it to anyone looking for a complete web developing course.” -Daniel Lim

From zero to break-neck speed in just six weeks.

What else makes my course different? It’ll take you from beginner to expert in just six weeks (or take it at your own pace—whatever suits you).

“I went from total novice to getting my first paid client, before I’d even finished the course. Almost unbelievable!” Priti Palmer.

Don’t be the one to get left behind

Get started today and join millions of my happy students, many of whom have changed careers, created second incomes or added critical new skills to their tool kits.

Oh, and did I mention you get FREE unlimited hosting for one year?

Sign up to The Complete Web Developers Course 2.0 today and revolutionise your learning. Effortlessly embed the fundamentals. Refresh your groundwork. Dig deeper than ever. Start building powerful apps and cash-earning websites today—and enjoy bigger, brighter opportunities.

“Excellent course gives you everything you need to know for doing awesome websites!” – Steven De Jesús

Don’t believe me? I offer full money back guarantee if you haven’t earned your money back within 60 days of completing the course.

Ready to open new doors and become a smart, in-demand web developer?

Here’s what you get with The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0

You’ll get access to twelve chapters that dig deep into the nitty gritty of building successful websites.

Each chapter is supported with over 40 hours of clear, intelligent video tutorials and practical website challenges.

All at your fingers tips. Right now.

The course starts with the fundamentals. I’ll show you insider tips to work quickly and efficiently with web technologies like HTML5, CSS3 and Python.

Once you’ve got that locked down, I’ll show you how to build your own responsive websites using more advanced techniques such as iQuery PHP 7, MySQL 5 and Twitter Bootstrap.

By then you’ll be developing blogs and eCommerce sites with WordPress, and learn smart ways to add dynamic content, using APls to connect to sites such as Google Maps and Facebook.

As we all know, the best way to learn is to do, so you’ll complete fun website challenges at every turn. Plus, as you fly through the course, you’ll use your skills to put a site together as you go. The final challenge is a full Twitter clone.

“Very easy to follow along with how the course has been divided into small topics. The summary pages at the end of each topic are very useful to review if you have to take a break from the course, allowing you to pick up right where you left off.” – Andrea Price-Lace

Over 12 chapters you will learn:

How does the web work?

Setting up your (free) hosting

HTML

CSS

Javascript

jQuery

CMSs and WordPress

Responsive Design

PHP Coding

MySQL Databases

Putting it all together: Making a Twitter clone

Bonus Chapter: How to make $10,000 while learning to code

What else will you get?

A friendly, informal community to support you every step of the way

Personal contact with me, the course tutor

Ebooks that will show you how to start earning before you’ve even finished

Lifetime access to course materials

Hands-on learning to lock that knowledge in

A deep understanding of how to code, design and build powerful websites

FREE UNLIMITED WEB HOSTING FOR ONE YEAR (worth $199) *Limited to one year per student not per course*

“There are TONS of books, expensive courses, and crappy videos online that you could waste hours upon hours on. DON’T. Just take this course. You’ll see.” T. Henderson

Never waste another minute learning from out-of-date books, clunky and expensive online courses and yawnsome YouTube videos again!

With The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 everything’s ready to go, in one convenient, mapped-out platform.

Plus you’ll get fast, friendly, responsive support by email, Twitter and on the Udemy forums. Or enjoy chatting with 100,000 other students in my friendly forums.

“Great course!!! Easy to follow and gives great support if needed! Both the instructor and fellow students are quick at helping out.” – Malin Singleton

Take a peek at my bio below, to see how I gave up my successful career to teach others to code part time. Since making that decision, my life has changed beyond compare.

I guarantee that ANYONE can benefit from taking this course, whether it’s earning some extra money or changing your career altogether.

So what are you waiting for? Transform your world and sign up now to get a free copy of my exclusive 20 page ebook ‘How to make $10,000 while learning to code’.

“I learned more in the first few HTML tutorials then I did with 70% of code academy.” – Louis Elliott

Taught by

Hi! I’m Rob. I have a degree in Mathematics from Cambridge University and you might call me a bit of coding geek.

After building websites for friends and family for fun, I soon learned that web development was a very lucrative career choice. I gave up my successful (and sometimes stressful) job as a teacher to work part time and today, couldn’t be happier.

I’m passionate about teaching kids to code, so every summer I run codeschoolorguk in the beautiful city of Cambridge. I also run the popular web hosting and design service, Eco Web Hosting, which leaves me free to share my secrets with people like you.

You wouldn’t believe the freedom that being a web developer offers. Sign up and find out for yourself why so many people are taking and recommending this course. I genuinely believe it’s the best on the market and if you don’t agree, I’ll happily refund your money.

“If you’re looking for a genuinely effective course that gears you up to competently build polished, professional websites that people will want to pay you for, I personally guarantee this is the ONLY course for you.” Rob Percival

Sign up to The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 and join me in this amazing adventure today.

“The course is excellent. I haven’t completed even half the course but couldn’t wait to share my review based on the experience so far. This is just the perfect recipe for students who have little or no knowledge of the technologies required to develop websites. (It also helps the students who know them). The one thing that impressed me a lot was the motto – Learn by Doing. I personally knew these technologies as I had studied them in college but I really learned them while doing this course!! And there’s the difference. The practical hands on knowledge is really helpful. Kudos! Keep up the good work :).” -Veeresh Kamble

Who this course is for:

Anyone who wants to learn to code

Anyone who wants to generate new income streams

Anyone who wants to build websites

Anyone who wants to become financially independent

Anyone who wants to start their own business or become freelance

Created by Rob Percival, Codestars by Rob Percival Last updated 6/2019 English English [Auto-generated]

Size: 4.94 GB

   Download Now

https://ift.tt/2523YcW.

The post The Complete Web Developer Course 2.0 appeared first on Free Course Lab.

[digital-strategy]

https://ift.tt/2PVgtaN

The path forward for premium media is seemingly clear: Put up a paywall.

Digital advertising is a duopoly-dominated mess; any print or broadcast cross-subsidy you might have is declining at one speed or another. Your loyal core digital readers may be only a tiny fraction of that big “monthly uniques” number you put into press releases — but some of them are willing to pay for what you do. Reader revenue is relatively reliable, month to month or year to year, and it’s at the center of media company plans for 2019 and beyond.

But how many paywalls will people really pay to click past? It’s worked for The New York Times; it’s worked for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. But does it work for local newspapers? Metro dailies? Weekly or monthly magazines? Digital native sites?

The data thus far isn’t super encouraging, and that’s the world that New York magazine and Quartz walk into with their just-announced paywalls. New York’s was announced yesterday:

New York Media is now joining other publishing companies or individual publications that have recently added paywalls, including Bloomberg Media, The Atlantic and the Condé Nast magazines Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Wired.

Subscriptions for the New York Media sites will cost $5 a month or $50 annually. For $70 a year, the company will include a subscription to New York magazine, the onetime weekly that started publishing every other week in 2014.

The pay model, which will allow readers a number of stories free before shutting off access, will go into effect the last week of November, according to the company, which would not specify a date for the change.

Quartz, the business news outlet recently purchased by Japan’s Uzabase, made its move this morning:

The Quartz membership is an education in the global economy that’s written to equip you to make more informed decisions at work, in your investments, and in life. Each week, we take you outside of the news cycle to provide analysis, context, and insider insight about one of the players or phenomena that’s upending global markets and rewriting the rules of business. You can read the first installment on our race toward a cashless future (and who wins and loses in it) today. The exclusive new content published every day is designed to deepen the expertise of leaders, and help those aspiring to leadership get ahead in their careers without stepping out of them. Membership — which costs $14.99 per month, or $99.99 for the first year as a special limited-time founding offer — also brings you the ability to engage directly with Quartz’s journalists via conference calls, and join events with other members.

Even news omnivores won’t pay for everything

Both New York and Quartz have been real standouts in terms of digital strategy. New York has made content verticals work far better than most legacy media companies and built an agile editorial voice that really works for the web; Quartz has been a leader in mobile-first thinking, platform-specific strategy, and new interfaces for content discovery and consumption. Between the two, I’ve probably read 100 of their stories in the past month. They’re really good!

But are they $50 a year good? Or $100 a year good? To go alongside $120 a year for The Atlantic, $90 a year for The New Yorker, $420 a year for Bloomberg, $60 a year for Slate, $50 a year for Medium, debitum ad infinitum?

To be fair, these paid products offer substantially different value propositions, mixing content, membership, and experience. Quartz is keeping its main output free to read and making an interesting education-and-networking play that makes sense for a business site; New York is building a paywall that can flex open or closed depending on a reader’s predicted propensity to pay; The Atlantic is mostly offering a premium experience while leaving the main site open; The New Yorker and Bloomberg offer relatively traditional meters allowing a set number of articles a month.

But only 16 percent of Americans say they are willing to pay for any online news. If someone’s first digital subscription is to the Times or the Post — how many are willing to pay for a second, or a third, or a fourth news site? Especially if that second or third site costs as much or more than their favorite national daily?

To frame it another way: There’s a segment of the population that can grudgingly be convinced to pay for a news site, out of some mix of consumer reward, civic duty, and peer pressure. But that second or third subscription requires a level of devotion that can be hard to sustain in a digital environment where the links come at you from every direction.

Are you Netflix or Seeso?

Or allow me a metaphor: Netflix and Amazon have convinced many millions of people to pay for streaming video. But how many of those people think: That’s not enough, I need more? If The New York Times is Netflix and The Washington Post is Amazon (of course) — are these premium national publishers Seeso? Filmstruck? DramaFever?

One complicating factor is that the line between magazines and daily news used to be much more clearly drawn. What you got from a print subscription to The New Yorker or The Atlantic was distinctly different from what you got from the local daily — in timeframe, in editorial approach, in format. But premium magazines’ expansion online has typically been in a newsier direction. Real-time reactions to Mueller news; breaking news from Capitol Hill; columnizing off the latest outrage — these are things can now appear at any of a dozen quality domain names. Wired does great writing about technology, of course — but is it so distinct from what other sites offer that its value remains as clear as it used to be? The Atlantic had a lot of scoops in the last election cycle — but is breaking campaign news something it’s really going to be better at than the Post?

On one hand, it’s unfair to lump this class of premium paid products together — each will succeed or fail on its own merits, both editorial and strategic. A business publication like Quartz will likely have an easier time of it than a more general-interest outlet like New York. But I think it is a fair question to wonder how far down the Paywall Solution can filter through the editorial ecosystem. Local newspapers have already hit this roadblock: While the Times, Post, and Journal build subscriber bases in the millions, most metro dailies have struggled to go far into the five figures. Only two non-national papers — the Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe — have more than 100,000 paying digital subscribers. Aggregation theory holds that, in a frictionless marketplace, the Internet tends to aggregate power in the hands of a few large players. That’s benefited Google and Facebook — and, on another scale, the Times and the Post. What about everyone else?

I mused about this idea on Twitter yesterday, and here are some the responses I got — keeping in mind that people who follow me on Twitter are necessarily Very Unusual News Consumers:

I’m sorry to hear about this. I read New York Mag at work; I adore The Atlantic. I already pay for WaPo. I don’t want to pay for every site I frequent online

— Lebanexican (@Lebanexican) November 12, 2018

This. There’s only so much I feel comfortable paying for services that are not essential like food/clothing/shelter is.

I ♥️ news, but if I have to choose between my utility bill and the six subscriptions/recurring donations to news orgs I currently have… 🤷🏽‍♀️

— Wendi C. Thomas (@wendi_c_thomas) November 13, 2018

I think about this quite a bit from a consumer perspective. I do NYT but not WaPo, New Yorker but not Wired/Atlantic. ESPN but not The Athletic. If I let it, I could be nickel and dimed to death with subscriptions.

— Dan_Rowinski (@Dan_Rowinski) November 12, 2018

Especially if they all cover the same things/people/topics. There's a lot more value that can be unlocked when outlets selling subscriptions offer something truly unique & different. That's how the subscription model bring a host of new voices to the fore (IMO).

— Terrell Johnson (@terrellwrites) November 12, 2018

Icksnay on the aywall-pay. Will simply read other content sources — sorry NYM.

— Al Poochini (@alpoochini) November 13, 2018

I get to read ten articles a month on various news sites. Sometimes only one or two articles per month before I'm shut down. I'm not going to pay for news, but it does mean I don't get to check the primary source when I'm reading commentary about something.

— Missus Bennet (@poornerves) November 12, 2018

You can't subscribe to everything. I appreciate @NewYorker's version. There are occasional "must read" stories there that someone I follow links but not enough for me to replace one of my newspaper subscriptions when choosing what to buy.

— Jane (@Poeia) November 12, 2018

Or….it makes it harder for everyday people to discover the great words from the honkers of our time, I wouldn’t have read Ta-Nehisi Coates “Reperations” essay of a paywall had stopped me, or much Ta Nehisi at ALL. Pros and cons, happy to see some people getting some pay for wrk

— Elliott Troy (@AngloGyptian) November 12, 2018

Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, NYT, Economist, New Yorker, The Athletic, Spotify. I like Slate and NY Mag and VF but at a certain point it's enough. Rather go without than pay for more

— Daniel O (@DanOfromNYC) November 12, 2018

exactly. for me it just means i don't read the stories. they should just use ads to pay the bills. or i just reset my browser if I really feel like reading it

— The Count (@Alan87374847) November 12, 2018

Hmmm… I read a ton of content from all of these sources. But I only have subscriptions to @newyorker and @TheAtlantic. I have just been helping myself to free NYMag copy, just because I could. I fully expect to pay up now!

— Chris Daly (@profdaly) November 12, 2018

I'm happy to pay for WaPo and 7 other newspapers (not including the NYT) as well as The Atlantic and The New Yorker. I want to support the sites I rely upon. But I realize I may not be typical.

— Jeri Dansky (@JeriDansky) November 13, 2018

Illustration by

Louis Richard

used under a Creative Commons license.

via Nieman Lab

[bizmediaweb]

How to Attract and Engage More Twitter Followers

Want to learn how to get followers on Twitter? Great. You’ve come to the right place.

This guide will not only teach you how to grow your audience, but how to attract the right followers. That is, people who are most likely to engage with you, share your posts with their network, and become new fans or customers.

Bonus: Download the free strategy guide that reveals how Hootsuite grew our Twitter following to over 7 million users and learn how you can put the tactics to work for your business.

41 smart ways to get Twitter followers

1. Share great content

Great content is what gets people to talk about you and share your posts—increasing your reach and growing your followers. And the key to great content is knowing your target audience and what they are interested in.

Everything you post on Twitter must be valuable to your audience. It should help them solve a problem, keep them informed, entertain them, and/or engage them.

Your tweets should also be concise, well-written, and accompanied by compelling visuals whenever possible. Our guide to using Twitter for business will teach you everything else you need to know about creating, curating, and sharing great content.

2. Tweet at the right time

While Twitter feeds are no longer strictly chronological, timing is still important if you want your content seen by the largest possible audience. When is the best time to tweet? Based on an analysis of over 40,000 tweets from @Hootsuite, the best time to post on Twitter is at 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. Start there and test different dates and times to find out what works best for you. When do you get the most likes, comments, and retweets? That’s your sweet spot.

3. Tweet the right amount

If you bombard the audience with too many posts, you might turn people off from following you. But too little might suggest to some that you’re not worth following.

There’s no magic number for how many times a day you should post. At Hootsuite, we suggest posting once a day at the very least. Pay attention to how your existing followers react to find the frequency that works best for you, and keep a close eye on your Twitter analytics.

4. Schedule your tweets

Using a tool like Hootsuite to schedule tweets in advance will not only save you time, but it will make it easier to post at the optimal times (and frequency) to drive engagement. And more engagement is what you need to get Twitter followers.

5. Curate sharable content

Try to introduce people to new things, brands, and ideas that are relevant to your line of business and your audience’s interests. Be on the lookout for “firsts” or new trends. Everyone loves to be the first to share something new and interesting with their own networks. Become a trusted source of that type of content to attract lots of new followers who want to be in the know.

6. Don’t be too promotional

People use Twitter for many reasons, including researching brands and products, but giving off a pushy salesperson vibe on Twitter is rarely a good look. It can turn off potential new followers and annoy existing ones.

If you find the right moment to ask for a sale, go for it, but make sure it’s something that adds value for your audience, such as an event or special offer, rather than just “Look at our product, isn’t it great?”

7. Be funny (if appropriate)

Amusing tweets are among the most retweeted. But it’s hard to be funny and even harder to be consistently funny. Don’t try to force humor if it’s not your strong suit and/or doesn’t fit with your brand voice.

8. Write (and edit) well

Saying a lot in a few words is no easy task. As Mark Twain famously said, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”

Although you now have a 280 characters to play with, writing for Twitter is an exercise in brevity. How do you say enough to get people’s attention and compel them to share, reply, or like your Tweet? The answer is you need to be as good an editor as you are a writer.

Read and use these 12 quick editing tips for social media marketers. Your followers will thank you for it. If you’re looking for more inspiration, check out these 11 Twitter accounts that will make you a better writer.

9. Use compelling visuals

People love eye-catching images, GIFs, and graphics. They help your content stand out and will draw in a scanning set of eyes. And according to Twitter, tweets from verified users that include photos receive an average 35 percent boost in retweets.

If you’re looking for tips on how to create and curate compelling visuals for Twitter, check out these 14 great resources for creating quick and beautiful images as well as our GIF guide for social media marketers.

10. Try Twitter video

Twitter has become one of the most popular places for people to watch, share, and talk about videos online. Video can engage, inform, and entertain in a way other mediums struggle to, which makes it a magnet for new followers. Plus, tweets with videos receive a 28% boost in retweets (on average).

You can create or upload videos, and can even live-stream video on Twitter so long as it’s on-brand and relevant to your audience. Take a look at your Twitter video options.

11. Tweet questions that get a response

As the old adage goes, “You don’t get what you don’t ask for.”

Asking a question is one of the best ways to generate engagement. It could be a simple, fun question, such as a local movie theater asking, “What was your favorite moment in the new Star Wars movie?”, or a Twitter poll (see below).

Or you could ask for specific feedback about a product or service, so long as you are prepared for some negative responses. Questions lead to engagement, which leads to increased visibility for your tweets, which leads to more followers.

12. Run engaging Twitter polls

Again, an increase in engagement can lead to an increase in followers. And Twitter polls can also be highly engaging. They can be used to ask serious questions about your industry, elicit feedback, or simply get people talking about and retweeting your brand in a fun way. Read Using Twitter Polls to Boost Audience Engagement for some ideas.

13. Optimize your Twitter profile and bio

Your Twitter bio is indexed by search engines, making it a highly visible first point of contact for potential new followers.

A good bio should:

Showcase who you are and what you do

Convey your brand personality

Target your ideal audience with keywords

Include a call to action

Get more tips on crafting the perfect bio and attracting new followers.

14. ‘Pin’ your best tweets to the top of your feed

Adding a pinned tweet to your feed acts as kind of an extension of your bio. It’s one of the first things that people will see when they come to your profile to decide if you’re worth a follow.

Use the pinned tweet to showcase your best content. And make sure to switch it up every so often to highlight seasonal events or trends.

15. Link to Twitter from other social profiles

Promote your Twitter account from your other social profiles to get new followers. But don’t just post a link to your profile and tell people to follow you. Instead, give people a reason to with an exclusive offer, a poll, or tease content only available on Twitter. You can also add a link to your Twitter account to your Facebook, Instagram, and other social profiles.

16. Embed your Twitter timeline on your website

Follow these instructions. This makes it easy for your website visitors to discover your Twitter content and follow you without leaving the page.

You can also cross-promote your Twitter feed by embedding tweets in blog posts, adding your Twitter handle to your email signature, newsletter footer, and other communications.

17. Add Twitter buttons to your website or blog

Twitter buttons are another great way to promote your account and gain new followers. You can create buttons that let people follow you with one click, share content with their followers, @mention your handle in a tweet, and more. Our guide to using social media buttons has all the details.

18. Perfect your #hashtag game

Hashtags can help you gain more followers by getting your tweets seen by a relevant audience. Tweets with hashtags generally get twice as much engagement as those without them, too.

If you sell baby products, for example, you might want to tag a product post with the popular #newmom hashtag. For more on this check out our detailed tutorial on using hashtags to make your content more discoverable.

19. Tag relevant people and brands in your posts

This will get your content in front of the people who matter. And if it’s valuable to them and their audience (it should be!), they may respond with an @mention or retweet. This kind of endorsement from an influential Twitter user with a similar audience to your own can gain you new followers very quickly. Just be selective about who you target and don’t spam people with irrelevant or salesy tweets.

20. Partner with Twitter influencers

Influencer marketing works on the principle that potential customers are much more likely to respond positively to a person they already trust vs. a business they don’t have any connection to. If you partner with a relevant influencer (you could ask them to promote a product or join a Twitter chat), their dedicated Twitter followers are likely to take note of who you are.

21. Engage your local community

If you are a small or medium sized business looking to reach a local audience, you should join relevant discussions within the community and follow other local businesses. Even larger brands and online businesses can share news and content relevant to specific areas to attract locals who might be interested in what they have to offer. Start by adding a location to your Twitter profile.

22. Live-tweet events

Live-tweeting events is your chance to engage a relevant audience, showcase your expertise, and offer value to a relevant audience. If you are attending or running a conference or event, engage with people on Twitter by using the official event hashtag. This not only helps you engage with potential new followers at the event, but also reach people who aren’t able to attend. Here are 5 things you need to know to successfully live-tweet an event.

23. Just follow more people

Research shows a direct link between the number of people you follow and the number of people that follow you. When following new users, be sure that they are relevant to your industry. If they are—and your Twitter account is full of posts that they will find valuable—then there’s a good chance they will follow you back.

24. Use your email contacts to find people you already know on Twitter

An obvious source of new followers are the people and brands you’re already connected to. It’s easy to upload your email contacts to Twitter and find their profiles (if they have the feature enabled). You can then follow them and hopefully they’ll return the favor when they recognize your username (remember, it should be consistent across all channels).

25. Use Twitter search to find more followers

Twitter’s search function can help you find relevant users to follow. If you know your audience well, they should follow you back. Just search for a topic or keyword and click on the “People” tab on the search results page.

You can also follow people who follow similar brands and businesses, or your competitors. Again, chances are good that these people would be interested in following you back.

26. Help your Twitter followers get more followers

Mentioning and replying to your followers helps them reach a wider audience. This can come in the form of answering questions, joining discussions, or offering praise or an acknowledgement of some kind. This can help build goodwill toward your brand and the user might return the favor down the road—exposing your profile to their followers.

27. Don’t buy fake followers

While having a higher follower count can make you look more popular on social media, bought “followers” won’t actually engage with you. Why? They’re bots. Other users might notice this and lose trust in your brand—preventing you from gaining new followers that might actually become customers.

For more on why buying followers isn’t a sound strategy, read about the experiment we ran on Instagram.

28. Respond to all comments and @mentions

Replying to people on Twitter who have reached out to you demonstrates to potential new followers that your account is active, responsive, and worth a follow. It’s also simply best practices to engage with people on social. To make sure you never miss a Twitter mention, check out these 15 great tools for social media monitoring.

29. Set up keyword search streams

Of course a lot of people who talk about brands on social media forget to tag their official handles. To ensure you don’t miss any of those mentions, set up keyword search streams in your social media management dashboard. Here at Hootsuite, we set up a search stream for misspellings such as “hoot suite,” “hoot-suite,” and “hootsweet.”

30. Join in on relevant trends and hashtags

Take part in Twitter traditions like Follow Friday (#FF). It’s a great way to help some of your followers get more followers themselves, and you might find yourself included in their #FF posts.

31. Be a trusted source of information

For many industries, such as financial services, real estate, or higher education, being viewed as credible and trustworthy is key to success. Help your audience solve challenges and keep them informed (or entertained), and you’ll earn their trust. When you do that, you’ll see your follower count grow quickly and organically.

32. Join relevant conversations

Twitter is about conversations, not just broadcasting messages. If you want to establish yourself or your brand as a trusted expert or thought leader, take part in industry conversations by offering valuable insights or content that moves the discussion along. Use social listening to find people who are talking about things that matter to you and your audience.

33. Create Twitter lists

Twitter lists are another excellent way to uncover conversations that matter to your business—and then use those conversations to connect with relevant users who would benefit from following you. You can create your own list (and set it as public or private) or follow a public list that someone else has created. Mining other people’s list for potential new followers is also a good way to grow your own following.

34. Host Twitter chats

Joining or hosting Twitter chats is a great way to grow your social following. Using an established hashtag (at Hootsuite we use #HootChat), users meet at a set date and time to talk about an issue, industry, or trend. Done right, these conversations generate lively discussion and build deep connections between participants and brands. They can also increase your visibility on Twitter, which helps attract new followers.

For more on this, check out our guide to running successful Twitter chats.

35. Reshare your best content

It takes time and money to create great content, so it’s worth getting as much value out of it as possible. If you have success with a particular piece of content that is shared widely or generates a lot of discussion, tweet it out again so new people can find it. Just use different copy to go along with it.

36. Test different headlines, images, and tweet copy

Most marketers are familiar with A/B testing—the practice of testing small variations in marketing materials to find the most effective option. Social media A/B testing works the same way. On Twitter you can run tests by posting two tweets a few weeks apart with slight variations—a different headline, copy, or image. Doing this helps you understand the preferences of your followers, which then lets you optimize your tweets and attract even more followers.

37. Run a “follow to win” contest

“Follow to win” or “RT and follow to win” Twitter contests are popular with brands and people alike because of how easy they are to enter. Asking people to follow you for a chance to win a great prize virtually guarantees new followers. Just make sure you continue supplying them with quality content after the contest ends to keep them engaged and make sure they don’t unfollow you.

38. Promote your account with Twitter ads

When it comes to getting more Twitter followers, running a Promoted Account campaign is your best bet. With Promoted Accounts, your profile is displayed in the timelines of potential followers who match your target audience profile, as well as in the “Who to Follow” suggestions and search results.

Read our complete guide to using Twitter ads to get started.

39. Harness the power of your employees

People trust other real people they know, which is why endorsements from friends and colleagues often carry more weight than a message from a business. By engaging with your employees and encouraging them to amplify your company’s message on Twitter, you can expand your reach and gain new followers. Here’s a 7-step guide to turning your employees into advocates for your brand.

40. Use the Twitter algorithm to your advantage

Those tweets you see at the top of your timeline when you log in don’t end up there by accident. Thousands of highly-trained content curators in a top-secret Twitter facility in Greenland scour through the 500 million tweets sent every day.

Actually, no—there’s an algorithm that works away in the background to serve people the most relevant content. This deep dive into the Twitter algorithm will give you insights into how it works and how to make it work for you.

41. Learn from Twitter insights

The most important part of putting these ideas into action is testing and measuring them. It’s the only way to really know which ones work for your business so you can better focus your efforts.

Insights from Twitter analytics let you fine-tune your Twitter strategy to help you get new Twitter followers. Our Twitter analytics tutorial will teach you how to use the tools to optimize your strategy.

Get Twitter followers and save time using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can schedule posts, monitor relevant conversations, engage the audience, and measure performance. Try it free today.

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The post How to Attract and Engage More Twitter Followers appeared first on Hootsuite Social Media Management.

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Music Videos On Vimeo

For Songza individuals, the relocate to Google's music solution starts currently. A great deal else can be stated around since I'm one of those individuals who's entirely in love with the system yet there's nothing like the delight of discovery, so I'm going to leave it to you to click this link as well as discover it yourself People who are curious regarding the architectural diferences in between and Pandora can read this message on my personal blog site, that discusses simply that. Furthermore, having an online topic-based neighborhood can assist Instagram attract marketers that want to get to a certain target market - Instagram's more youthful, music-obsessed followers, that is. Today, there's not a good way for advertisers to target a narrow market on the service since its individuals' profiles are kept free from information that might help an advertiser identify their group information or rate of interests. But nowadays India is a key focus for Google, as company CEO Sundar Pichai-- that was birthed in India himself-- explained in a recent op-ed Not just is India tipped to surpass China as the globe's most populated nation, however its net revolution remains in its very early days -- simply 300 numerous its approximated 1.3 billion populace go on the internet now. Much less than a week later, Eventbrite joined Spotify to add a ticketing component to Spotify's existing Songkick-like performance discovery attribute. A few of the risks as well as difficulties with completing this project includes discovering a legit director, and a manufacturing business who wants to supply the very best they could for the cost I will be paying. For instance, Apple discovered a method to show you lots of, numerous AirPods functions without telling you anything. If Tidal can lock in the mamas with the most recent Beyoncé release or if Amazon.com can convince the fathers to obtain their Garth Brooks choose its service, they may remain later on. For those who have just about any issues regarding in which and the way to employ www.abczdravlja.info, it is possible to e mail us in our own website. Music switches over layouts every decade or two, and also exclusives are just the most recent method to make streaming catch on. I assume we could securely state by the time Rihanna, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Drake, as well as Frank Sea choose to drop I'm changing streaming solutions" deserving tasks in the same year once more, market will certainly have remedied itself. It designs, produces and also distributes guest as well as business lorries, motorcycles, engines, and also turbomachinery and supplies associated services consisting of fleet, leasing, and financing management. Include this to the swirling mire of rumors surrounding Google's new (apparently) cloud-based music service: Sources currently say that Google is tired of working out with labels as well as may, a la Amazon, launch its brand-new service sans licenses. This will certainly be our fourth Kickstarter advocate Make Big Things! Ralston informed us this means thesite could use customers the smoothest possible experience. Lip-syncing social media is entering into initial web content, thanks to brand-new offers with Viacom, NBCU and also Hearst, which will certainly bring short-form video series to the application. DxO is already thinking about and also dealing with combination with live-streaming video apps, also, which would certainly be even cooler. So what happens as you end up being older you might have forgotten the amazing ability that your body needs to heal. Currently, with the surge of streaming and its result on sales and graphes, followers potentially wield more power compared to ever in determining the success of their favored tune. Good friends will additionally be able to include music to your Up Next line up, which resembles a light-weight version of Spotify's collective playlists. August, 2017 - Backers obtain info for workshop, deliver shipment of incentives, instrument fixing. Artists have one billion needs to enjoy with YouTube, inning accordance with YouTube. Digital music solution Rdio has long stood in the shadow of its cooler older brother or sister Spotify. That's exactly what a firm called Samo wishes to provide for the Virtual Reality industry: connect users across all those systems, like the way Amazon.com came to be the everything shop or just how Steam put all your COMPUTER, Mac and also Linux video games in one practical location. The BBC comprehends that the regards to the offer state that the more plays a video clip has, the bigger the share of the subscription swimming pool its publisher gets. Do not hire a company that surface with a collection of solutions for the last 2 months of the fiscal year. Offered electronic streaming services are ending up being a huge part of exactly how artists connect to fans, he claims labels are coming to be increasingly irrelevant, which can diminish the quantity artists make throughout the board. Roku's My Feed" lets you follow TELEVISION programs as well as films you intend to track, while Fire TELEVISION suggests material much like what you've been enjoying, thanks to Amazon.com's referral engine. Some companies succeeded with the modification to a digital style, though, such as Apple's iTunes, an online music store that offers electronic documents of tunes over the Internet.