Social Signals by GREG SWAN

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Some words on Wordle
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Some words on Wordle

Not since HQ Trivia has there been a social game sweeping the social world like this

Greg Swan
Jan 14
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You are reading Social Signals, Greg’s weekly email about creative, technology, and cultural signals worth noting. Today’s email was written to my 6-hour 2020 playlist. If you haven’t already subscribed, there’s a big button right there!


hi.

You’ve seen the strange multicolored boxes in your text chats and feeds. And maybe you have a friend who insists on sending you their score each day. But if you haven’t played Wordle yet, you may not get it. 

Twitter avatar for @ElamBendElam Bend @ElamBend
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January 11th 2022

36 Retweets174 Likes

Wordle is a very lightweight web app that has an extremely simple daily challenge: guess the word. Similar to Wheel of Fortune or Hangman (which yes, is a problematic game in itself), you get to choose from a narrowing focus of alphabetic letters and only get so many attempts before you lose. 

But unlike other word-based thinking games, Wordle is genius in that it’s rooted in social media. There’s one new word a day. It’s simple to win or lose. Your results are highly shareable without giving away the answer. And upon completion (winning or losing), the game gives you a cut/pasteable score that just begs you to share it with someone.  

Not since HQ Trivia has there been a social game sweeping the social world like this. It’s pandemic friendly, not ad-supported, and has great social hooks. And yes, someone tried to rip them off and there’s a trademark dispute. And yes, brands are getting into it. Here’s a fun Twitter thread on the philosophy of games and how Wordle fits.

Twitter avatar for @gelrdrgzangeline rodriguez @gelrdrgz
pivoting to wordle memes
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January 13th 2022

2,705 Retweets27,866 Likes

I’ve been working in an office setting lately (again, more on that soon), and the ‘watercooler talk’ about Wordle easily consumes multiple rounds of conversation each day: how did you do? what’s your go-to first word? what’s your streak?

In fact, I’ve started an IRL Wordle on a marker board for my officemates – because taking a social media phenomenon and bringing it offline and then taking a photo to share online is the most Greg-thing I can think of.

I have to say that it’s pretty exciting that the world is playing a game that tests our collective intellect and makes us feel smart when we win (even if it makes us feel dumb when we lose). That’s what games are all about. And there are roughly 9,000 five-letter words, so I don’t think we’ll run out of words anytime soon. Play here, and let me know your score! -Greg

🐤 The Good Socials

Twitter avatar for @nastywomanatlawclair without the "e" @nastywomanatlaw
the feeling of forwarding an email you have been accused of not sending is probably the same as winning a duel

January 12th 2022

14,825 Retweets138,689 Likes
Twitter avatar for @bryanfrankCommie Bahama @bryanfrank
*hank hill voice* do i look like i know what a metaverse is

January 6th 2022

6 Retweets37 Likes
Twitter avatar for @thegarrettscottGarrett Scott 🕳 @thegarrettscott
Just had my first meeting in the Metaverse. Here’s the top 16 reasons I’ll never take a meeting any other way:

January 7th 2022

4,797 Retweets20,939 Likes
Twitter avatar for @hankgreenHank Green @hankgreen
Zillow should have comments. They should lean into the fact that they are primarily a content platform. I'm not there to buy a house, I'm there to audibly laugh at the 1200 square foot gray box that someone thinks they can sell for $415,000. This is how we drive down prices.

January 7th 2022

2,402 Retweets40,419 Likes
Twitter avatar for @balajisBalaji Srinivasan @balajis
People forget just how completely non-obvious the entire digital revolution was every step of the way. 1995: WWW will fail 2002: Google will fail 2007: iPhone will fail 2013: Facebook will fail
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January 6th 2022

2,040 Retweets8,030 Likes
Twitter avatar for @Palle_HoffsteinPALLE! @Palle_Hoffstein
It's hilarious watching these demos doing all the things game developers learned not to do in 3d space navigation 20 years ago.

Fabian Schmidt @3BodyProblem

What could shopping in the #Metaverse look like? Here is a #VR concept store by CEEK and H&M 👇🏼 https://t.co/69xyFK75Iw

January 5th 2022

1,001 Retweets7,928 Likes
Twitter avatar for @karissabeKarissa Bell @karissabe
Feel like today is a good time to remind the timeline that it's okay to just... not tweet. ty for coming to my ted talk

January 10th 2022

12 Likes
Twitter avatar for @rakeshsatyalRakesh Satyal @rakeshsatyal
Normalize replying to emails with “what.”

January 12th 2022

17,665 Retweets141,203 Likes

🔥 Quick Hits

  • TikTok published a report on the efficacy of driving offline sales.

  • New Metaverse User Safety Standards have been published.  

  • Trump will supposedly launch his social media app in February.

  • GameStop is launching an NFT marketplace and partnerships unit.

  • Disney received patents for virtual world simulators at their theme parks.

  • Remember Serial? Podcasting hasn’t produced a new hit in years.

  • Snapchat added poll stickers, individual chat replies in groups, and reply reactions.

  • Report of the Week: The State of Brand Behavior on Twitter and What’s Coming Next.

  • Tool of the Week: Twitter’s 2022 Planner.

  • Read of the Week: The Roblox approach to designing in the metaverse

  • YouTube of the Week: “Everything is a Remix” (Remastered)

  • TikTok of the Week: Bet you didn’t know the historical context of the target balls!

See you on the internet!
Greg

PS: If you liked this, do me a solid and smash that “LIKE” with the little heart. And share it. TYSM 🙏🏻

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