I am trying to be a good dad and husband by embracing some of the thoughts echoed at Christmas from His Majesty, King Charles (and Joe Wicks) through digital detox.

Today’s announcement that Ofcom is launching an investigation into X following reports that AI Chatbot Grok is creating sexual deepfakes is a good reason why I am perhaps wise to put the phone down.

I – like many accounts I follow and people I know, rarely post on the site anymore. My last original post was back in October 2023 about a cricket portrait I saw at Sunbury Antiques Market at Kempton Park Racecourse. (It is of course worth recognising that on all social media – the vast majority of users are consumers and less so, active users). X is pretty much useless now for following live sport and even people like Fabrizio Romano (the transfer gossip king for those less familiar) now utilises Instagram just as well.

In Parliament, MPs continue to use Facebook as a key channel, but they’re also increasingly on LinkedIn and Instagram. Companies who previously had dedicated response teams on social media and especially X have migrated to their own customer chatbots or into the arms of Meta’s WhatsApp. The group that appear to be clinging more so than others to X are the political lobby (and Iran’s Supreme leader, bizarrely).

As I have always argued in these infrequent blogs – things change. Especially in the media. Who would have thought ten years ago that YouTube would become the second most watched service on our TVs – it comes out top among Gen Z. No wonder there’s talk of a super app between BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Or who would foresee the dominance of podcasts. We thought Twitter / X was the future once – gone are the days when I used to draft client posts and check it didn’t exceed the character limit.

We are awash with pod/vodcasts (general shows), Substacks, Reddit and sub-Reddits, influencer experts alongside newer forms of traditional media: Manchester Mill or London Centric.

These are particularly telling when reading the latest report this morning from the University of Oxford’s Digital News Report. It’s noteworthy and for those with a soft spot for traditional news, we do see it with our own eyes. Syndicated stories that once received 200 pieces of regional coverage, now receive 50 if you’re lucky. The others that used to publish these stories no longer exist or encourage you to self-publish. Journalists I speak to or do events tell me that they can see what stories get no engagement. Why would we encourage our clients to follow this route if we knew it wouldn’t secure coverage anyway?

More tellingly, with a competition for eyes, clicks and subscriptions, those everyday stories we once published as a matter of course are no longer being written or are being thrown to AI to write up. But also by the fact that things like ChatGPT and Google AI can summarise these things without the need to even click on the story. The economic model is changing before our eyes

From a PR perspective I would observe and advise the following things. Quality completely overtakes quantity and evermore ‘the quick and dirty’ survey story seems to be on borrowed time. PR companies selling hundreds of pieces of coverage per item are selling Trojan Horses. Additionally, how you tell the story is not just ‘messaging’ and ‘the ask’ but how engaging it is from a human perspective and what it looks like too. The newsroom and social media is a window into your company – if it dry, text heavy and inward looking, then why would I wish to engage?

Perhaps the most important thing undoubtedly is trust and authenticity. In a world where platforms like X are reflecting the excesses and Orwellian negatives of AI and where people are switching off from the news, then trust is a currency that cannot easily be bought. People should always remember this.