Google strikes the right note this Black Friday, Elon Musk reinstates Trump’s account for fun and everyone say hello to Mastodon - the ‘newbie’ social media platform

Ludacris x Google

This Black Friday is going to be Ludacris-ly good.

Google has partnered with the three-time Grammy award winner to release a new, shoppable music video in honour of Black-Owned Friday.

‘Buying All Black’ is dedicated to promoting black owned businesses across all sectors, featuring more than 100 products, from over 70+ Black-owned businesses, and highlighting business owners, creators, athletes and more.

And it’s pretty special. The music video/interactive experience gamifies the Google search process by giving viewers the ability to guide Ludacris on his journey, as you spend a day with him in the world of black-owned businesses.

Google launched Black-Owned Friday in 2020 as a way to support black-owned businesses that were facing serious systemic challenges during the pandemic.

It introduced a black-owned business badge, enabling business owners to self-identify as black-owned on Google searches, and created promotions and campaigns that reimagined the annual shopping event as a day to celebrate such businesses.

Speaking on the collaboration, Ludacris said; “Throughout my career, I’ve been able to pursue many of my passions, but some of the work I’m most proud of are my business ventures. I’ve always understood the importance of Black-owned businesses and the impact they make on their communities, and I’m proud to support them.”

Song of the month?

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Trump is back on Twitter - sort of

Chief Twat Elon Musk (Twit*. Got to stop doing that) has moved the point of no return which means…

Trump is back. *Collective sigh on behalf of all humanity.*

Musk reinstated the former President’s Twitter account after launching a Twitter poll asking users if they thought it was the right thing to do. This is after saying that no decision on account reinstatement would happen until the platform had formed a ‘content moderation council’ to rule on such moves.

But on Friday, he sent out a tweet stating that it was ‘Freedom Friday’ before lifting the ban on the accounts of The Babylon Bee, Kathy Griffin and Jordan Peterson.

But here’s the doozie. Trump hasn’t tweeted and he says he won’t. Trump Media & Technology Group has invested *a lot* of money into Trump’s own social media app Truth Social, and one of the terms of the funding is that Trump commits to posting exclusively on Truth, even if his Twitter ban is lifted.

Which Musk knew. Ergo, he did it for attention. Ergo, twat.

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Say hello to Mastodon

Twitter users are migrating to other platforms as their beloved blue bird goes cuckoo under Musk’s control.

And of them is Mastodon; a decentralised, open-source and interoperable platform that lets users set up servers to communicate with each other. Think Twitter plus Tumblr plus Email. A delicious smorgasbord of social media.

The app, self-described as ‘radically different social media’, is designed to put power back in the hands of the people. You can post, reblog and boost. Share videos, pictures and audio. Pretty much build your very own infrastructure. It’s just there to facilitate. And to its credit, it knows exactly what the people want.

“You know best what you want to see on your home feed. No algorithms or ads to waste your time. Receive your posts in chronological order, and make your corner of the internet a little more like you,” it writes on its website.

Okay… we’re listening..

“Each server creates their own rules and regulations, which are enforced locally and not top-down like corporate  social media.”

Keep going…
“Social networking that's not for sale. Your home feed should be filled with what matters to you most, not what a corporation thinks you should see.”

Sold. Oh wait, not sold. Whatever. We’re on board.