Netflix is the Top Streaming Platform in 78 Countries, But Who Comes in Second?

It’s been quite a long time since Netflix proved that it was more than just a streaming platform. Rather, it showed that it was also a bit of a content powerhouse, and that led to the streaming wars with many other corporations throwing their hat into the ring. From Amazon Prime to Disney+, it seems like every major company out there is trying to create a streaming service.

In spite of the fact that this is the case, Netflix continues to be the most popular streaming service in around 78 countries around the world. It’s also the most popular service throughout all of Europe, with South America, South Asia and Australia also being some of its biggest strongholds with all things having been considered and taken into account.

Netflix is so successful in countries like Mexico, the UK, Germany, Brazil and France that it is the single most subscribed to service in those countries, even surpassing Amazon’s Prime delivery service. However, it doesn’t seem to have a firm grasp over North America.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Amazon Prime is the most popular service in North America, and interestingly Afghanistan as well. However, it is not the second most subscribed streaming platform in the world. That honor belongs to Cana Plus which topped the charts in 17 countries, followed by the Arabic streaming service Shahid in 16 countries and Showmax with 15.

One name that appears to be conspicuously absent from this list is that of Disney+. India is the only country where Disney+ beats out all of its competitors. This is despite it having around 160 million subscribers all around the world. The lack of dominance in any country suggests that Disney+ is going to continue to experience growing pains, especially when much of its content caters to demographics in the US rather than having an international or global appeal.

Netflix’s continued success shows that the platform still has a lot to offer. It will be interesting to see if anyone can supplant it.

H/T: Visualcapitalist / Flixpatrol

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Overusing Social Media Could Lead to Reduced Brain Activity Among Teens

It is no secret that social media can be a bit of a burden on teenagers and adolescents, but in spite of the fact that this is the case the true impact of their usage may not be immediately apparent. That’s why researchers working at the University of North Carolina conducted a study that tried to look at how the use of social media can change the brain activity and functions of young people whose minds are still developing.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that teens who used social media multiple times per day showed lower activity in the amygdala section of their brains, as well as in various other cortexes. One potential impact this could have is that it could make the teens that overuse social media more sensitive to social feedback than might have been the case otherwise.

The researchers mentioned that this should change the way teens using social media is approached because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up having a negative impact on their cognitive development. However, they also stated that their research is still in its very early stages, and that it will take a lot more analysis to come to any definitive conclusions.

The impacts of social media on teenage brains is still quite a recently initiated field of study with all things having been considered and taken into account. The reality that adolescent minds are being molded by social media is hard to dispute, but it is also tough to say whether this is a good or bad thing.

Physical changes in the brain are a worrying sign, but they also might indicate some kind of evolution in the human mind. Social feedback is something that people will have to deal with at some point or another, and being overly sensitive to it could have a very negative impact on an individual’s negativity to grow. The picture will become clearer once more data is acquired and subsequently analyzed.

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

AMD Closes In on Intel With 62% YoY Revenue Growth

Intel has been the biggest name in the CPU game for quite some time now, but in spite of the fact that this is the case there is a new contender for the top spot that is closing in fast. This contender is AMD, and they have already done a lot to provide viable options to Intel that many consumers are starting to prefer with all things having been considered and taken into account.

Recent data revealed that AMD’s revenues from its data center CPUs has grown by an incredible 62% year over year. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Intel’s own revenues actually declined by 16% in 2022. This seems to suggest that Intel might get surpassed by AMD sooner than might have been the case otherwise.

However, Intel still has a 71% share of the overall market. While AMD has grown by some enormous strides, the company still only has a 20% share of the market. It will take a lot of time for AMD to catch up, but this growth rate suggests that they are definitely doing a few things right.

What’s especially interesting is that the overall CPU market has experienced a decline. This indicates that AMD has not just beaten its biggest rival Intel, but also the market as a whole. Such findings might prove useful because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up allowing people to predict the future of the CPU industry, and it also proves that even the most rock solid of industry stalwarts might find it difficult to keep their dominace if they don’t innovate.

Another company that has seen a decent amount of growth is Ampere Computing. While they don’t hold a candle to AMD, they can still prove to be a troublesome competitor for Intel especially if they continue to grow. We might be looking at a vastly different CPU industry down the line, and Intel will be the ultimate loser there if they don’t change things up.

H/T: Counterpointresearch
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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Are AI Tools Useful For Small Businesses? This New Study Has The Answer

The world of AI-powered technology is taking center stage and many are now incorporating various tools from this domain into their everyday lives. And small businesses are no exception.

But what is the future of AI for such enterprises?

It’s likely that AI is going to take over the world sooner than later. That puts so many small firms at risk of greater competition from those who make use of AI technology better than them.

This new study surveyed nearly 1,000 owners having small-scale corporations and how they are utilizing AI tools. And it’s the best motivation you need if you are on the fence linked to using such tools for your brand to succeed.

Remember, each tool comes with its own respective learning curve. After getting past that hurdle, you may witness some major financial savings.

AI tools for firms entail a wide array of functions. This includes communication with respective clients to make processes more automated like payrolls and analysis of data. Moreover, the manner through which so many firms use AI is a major mix of customer-facing and internal-facing ordeals.

Moreover, one of the biggest findings in this research had to do with firms implementing AI. They saw much greater growth in revenue when compared to those who didn’t see much. Out of those that did see growth, the rise in yearly revenue growth was around 75%. 9 out of 10 people who used the respective AI tools felt AI is indispensable, adding how valuable of a factor it turned out to be for their growth.

The benefit of AI includes reducing the chances of human error and enhancing the business’s productivity. Moreover, the study proved that the biggest reason for taking AI on board is better communication as it shines greatly in this respect.

For instance, you’re bound to answer a customer so much better and with greater proficiency related to all of their queries when using AI. Problems get solved quicker and more effectively and in the end, you are converting a potentially happy client into a very happy one.

In the same way, another study spoke about how 92% of users that enjoy online purchases prefer AI customer service. And they feel no drawback or resistance when dealing with someone that is in a nonhuman form for their support. Obviously, a lot more needs to be done in this field but so far, the results look promising.

We still have a long way before we eliminate the likes of getting rid of human telephone support when conducting chats. Furthermore, we’ve got a paper from Harvard that was published last year and it speaks about how AI is bound to improve dramatically with time as it gets more advanced.

Hence, we’re expecting to see more acceptance and better customer satisfaction. See, the goal of AI is to help give users more support in various niches. Be it health, shopping, banking, finance, and IT. And it won’t be long before we see it getting improvement for small-scale organizations too.

Now coming to the main part of things what AI tools should a small business take advantage of?

A lot of small firms are speaking about increasing budgets to take on such tools for maximal efficiency. A lot of large enterprises are focusing on project management as one designated department for such tools as others include the likes of teamwork and Project Insight.

If we had to pick up one from this list, it’s ProofHub which is widely utilized among all of these niches. And the number two department for using these tools was customer support.

ChatGPT is really helping firms save up on costs big time as its respective business apps are really marvelous in terms of getting the job done well. You can draft mail and add it to webpages, and even some more tools. Some are using it for the sake of writing and debugging as well.

So as you can see, the applications are plenty and they’re really paving the way for a remarkable future that not many had anticipated from day one. Hence, as a small business, you might want to read further on this domain to really better your company’s future outlook.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

76% of Businesses Say Email Marketing is Making Them Successful

There are a number of different ways in which marketing campaigns can be implemented these days, and with there being such an overabundance of social media platforms, chances are that emails tend to fall by the wayside. In spite of the fact that this is the case, emails have been found to be an extremely useful way to disseminate various kinds of marketing material.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that 76% of businesses have said that email marketing directly contributes to the level of success that they have managed to attain. 60% of them feel like their marketing campaigns are quite successful, but they might not have the right idea about which metrics they should be looking into.

37% of these emails might not be standing out in inboxes, and 32% are going into the wrong folders in inboxes as well with all things having been considered and taken into account. There is also a lack of time and focus according to another 32% of survey respondents, and 26.7% claimed that they are not getting the support they need to improve email marketing strategies.

While 42% of businesses think that clickthrough rate is a marker of success, this might be obsolete. Read rates are more useful because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up telling businesses how many of their users actually ended up skimming through the emails instead of opening them and then subsequently deleting them.

34.4% of businesses are trying to tackle these problems by improving deliverability, and 30.5% are focusing on adding more promotions into the mix. One thing is for sure, which is that brands can gain a lot by exploring email marketing opportunities. They can allow them to find new and better ways to reach out to consumers.

Optimizing skim through or read through rates can be useful in many ways. Instead of trying to reach as many consumers as possible, businesses should attempt to improve the overall quality of the emails they’re sending out.

Illustration: Freepik
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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Unemployment Rates Skyrocket Throughout the World, Here are the Countries Most Affected

The global recession as well as rampant inflation have lead to a wide range of issues that could take a very long time to get resolved. In spite of the fact that this is the case, unemployment rates around the world don’t seem to be behaving the way that experts might have expected them to. While some countries have definitely seen unemployment rates spike, others have been safe from their effects.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that South Africa happens to be the country that has seen the highest levels of unemployment. Unemployment rates in the country soared to 35.6% this year, which means that an economic country for the nation might take longer than might have been the case otherwise.

The country that receives the dubious honor of coming in second on this list is Sudan, with an unemployment rate of around 30.6% with all things having been considered and taken into account. This makes it the only country apart from South Africa to have an unemployment rate that exceeds 30%, since no other country comes all that close to this proportion.

For example, unemployment hovers at around 25% in the West Bank and Gaza. Following this we have Georgia in fourth place with 19.5%, Bosnia and Herzegovina with 17.2%, and Armenia with just over 15%. North Macedonia also has an unemployment rate of approximately 15%, with Costa Rica and the Bahamas seeing 13.2% and 12.7% respectively.

One thing to note here is that this list is comprised almost entirely of developing countries. However, Spain also made it to the list which is concerning because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up revealing that the European Union is not all that safe from such financial and economic woes either.

Despite being a country with a relatively high level of human development, Spain had an unemployment rate of 12.3%. That is nearly as high as that of the Bahamas, and it shows that unemployment is affecting countries regardless of how advanced they happen to be.

On the other end of the spectrum are countries with a really low unemployment rate. The US has done surprisingly well on this front, with its current unemployment rate of 3.4% being one of the lowest that the global superpower has seen in the past 50 years or so.

If we were to take a look at the countries with the lowest unemployment rates of all, Thailand ended up performing the best of all. Its unemployment rate is an unbelievable 1%. Singapore also does extremely well with just a 2.1% unemployment rate. As for the Czech Republic, around 2.3% of its working population currently doesn’t have a job, which also happens to be the number that Vietnam is working with.

Unemployment is ravaging several nations, but there are still some success stories that can be seen. East Asian countries in particular have managed to stave it off for the short term. 2023 will prove to be a huge litmus test for the countries that are struggling to keep their populations gainfully employed.

H/T: Visualcapitalist

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Meta Gives Grants Worth Millions To 564 News Outlets

Meta is making headlines today after the company opted to award huge grants worth $29 million to nearly 565 news outlets.

This particular move appears to be in line with its Journalism Project initiative as mentioned recently.

Moreover, the direct funding came through nearly 17 different programs. The news came forward from the Columbia Journalism Review which mentioned today how the Tow Center has a complete tally of the initiatives.

As a whole, the total is equivalent to a range between $5000 to nearly six-figure amounts that were recently received by the Boston Globe and a few others. Furthermore, the report highlighted how the total equaled $25,000 but just 239 different outlets got an amount that was the equivalent of $5000.

A leading list comprising the biggest beneficiaries was also put forward including the highest amount going to The Boston Globe which was $390,000 and Newsday which was $375,000.

Meanwhile, The Seattle Times was $355,000, and the Chicago Tribune was $350,000. The list has a total of 13 leading names from the world of media and publishing.

The whole idea behind the move seems to be making all of the information centralized and publicly accessible. Moreover, one of the biggest global social media firms is giving oversight as they are following where the most money is, the Columbia Journalism Review went on to mention.

Meta continues to market its investments and is similarly tracing funding that it refers to as super difficult. Not only are there zero requirements for disclosure but the company isn’t keeping any public register for payments that would be scrutinized by journalists.

And in today’s day and age, it’s so important that platforms sign contracts and enter into discussions in terms of news content that’s available across various social media feeds.

One great example was provided in terms of both tech giants Google and Meta coming forward and highlighting how they were lobbying against a Canadian journal for content published on their feeds from the journal.

But with more bills in place, they would be forced to enter into an agreement with Canadian outlets about how content is distributed online through such social media feeds.

Meta did previously unveil how more and more people want to see local news across their newsfeeds so they’re well aware of what’s going on. At the same time, local media outlets are on the search for more help and support so it seems to be a win-win situation for the two of them.

H/T: Media Post

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World