This week’s edition starts with the latest on the Russia-Ukraine crisis. The gaming industry has cut off Russia in a bid to support peace, following the Ukrainian government’s public call to “all game development companies” to “temporarily block all Russian and Belorussian accounts”. Following a slow response, a flurry of announcements were made by large gaming publishers over the weekend, including French mega-publisher Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Microsoft.

News:

• Brands no longer pass the Gen Z sniff test just by “being digital”. 60% say they’ll happily go elsewhere if brands fail to reach their high digital expectations.
• Instagram’s newest tagging feature credits and acknowledges collaborators for their work, such as photographers, artists, and writers.

Start-up:

• Allpriv is an all-in-one cybersecurity solution for remote work. The tool and software attaches to one’s digital device to help drive efficiencies and support security measures. Allpriv solution is hardware agnostic (e.g. PC, Linux, Mac).

Insights:

• LinkedIn users now have 13 options to choose from when describing a career break including bereavement, caregiving, and travel.

• Twitter releases its 2022 Trends Report, highlighting the great restoration, fan-built worlds, and finance going social as 3 key trends.

• Netflix is launching a daily trivia series called Trivia Quest. The 30 episode series will be interactive like Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.

• A new prediction shows second-hand clothes will make up 27% of customers’ wardrobes by 2023. The 360° resale options are here to stay.