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Yesterday afternoon, finding myself one of the users affected by Whatsapp’s global outage, I ran to Twitter, Slack and my email to ensure they were still working. They were, but the exercise reminded me of how chaotic it can feel to juggle so many means of communication all at once, all the time. This ForbesWomen article sums up the situation perfectly: “All these tools are meant to make communication easier and quicker—but channel overload often does just the opposite.”
In fact, channel overload can clog true communication and create extra work for people. Think about times someone has been trying to get a hold of you and they call, Whatsapp and email you. Where to even start when you respond? Do you use all three? Is it even possible to get back to using just one mode of communication?
Dianna Booher, the author of that ForbesWomen piece, has several tips for navigating the maze of communication apps stealing our time and attention. My personal favorite: “Avoid sending multiple messages in different channels, as if you’re attempting to ‘hunt the other person down.’”
Cheers to that!
Maggie
Featured Forbes Analysis: Barbie, Inc: How A $3 Toy Inspired A Multi-Billion-Dollar Dream World
For a doll approaching retirement age—Barbie will turn 65 next year—she’s showing no signs of slowing down, despite a lengthy career as a fashion model, nurse, ballerina, Army medic, astronaut, paleontologist, dentist, florist, yoga teacher and President of the United States The dynamic dilettante did $1.7 billion in annual sales in 2021, a record high. That same year, Barbie was named the No. 1 toy in the world. And that was before this summer’s Barbiemania.
ICYMI: News Of The Week
Wednesday marked a half-billion-dollar day for Kim Kardashian: Her shapewear line Skims revealed that it has raised a fresh $270 million in funding, pushing its valuation to $4 billion–enough to add around $500 million to Kardashian’s fortune.
Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest has considerably slashed its valuation for Twitter, Wood said this week, a somewhat surprising revelation given her long history of faith in Twitter’s billionaire owner Elon Musk. However, Wood remains bullish on the social media company for a fairly unexpected reason.
Monday morning, the Center for Intimacy Justice announced that it had filed a U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint alleging that social media giant Meta is still censoring ads about women’s sexual and reproductive health. The alleged censorship has a real impact on female entrepreneurs building companies in the health and sexual wellness, many of whom have had to stretch the limits of creativity in marketing their companies.
Jane Birkin, the namesake of the elusive Hermès handbag and collaborator of singer Serge Gainsbourg, died on Sunday at the age of 76 after inspiring a generation of directors, fashion designers and musicians with her classic beauty and effortless style.
The Checklist
1. Watch out for love bombing at work. It’s a term that is primarily used in the dating world, but employers can also lavish excessive praise and attention in the name of maintaining control. Here are some signs that it’s happening to you.
2. Know your options when raising capital for your business. Do you want to bootstrap, crowdfund, or go the venture capital route? Here’s what you need to know about accessing each option.
3. Use AI to your advantage. All the talk about artificial intelligence these days seems to be around the jobs it could replace. But new generative AI tools might help you find one, too.
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