Social Media Scapegoating: Did you see the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark? No? You’re not the only one, and that’s why the show’s former director Julie Taymor is pissed; she claims that she was fired from her directorial role because of social media — not because she directed a Spider-Man musical that involved all kinds of dangerous technical malfunctions and all-over-the-place performances. Taymor says that experimental theater is always met with criticism at first and that the negative social media coverage of her experimental Spider-Man musical quickly amplified this criticism. Of course, social media expedites word-of-mouth reviews, but it doesn’t change how Broadway runs. Better luck next time, Ms. Taymor. WSJ
Peeping Tom: Do you ever get the feeling that someone is peering over your shoulder and reading TMZ with you or laughing at the 30 Rock episode you are watching on your Netflix streaming account? Yeah, it’s annoying! And creepy! Here are some tips from Gizmodo to get other people’s eyes of your computer screen. Gizmodo
RIP MySpace: Poor MySpace. Even the founders of the dying social network don’t use the site anymore. The last time Tom, you know, your first automatic MySpace friend, hasn’t posted anything on the site since March 2010. Yikes. Forbes
Video of the Day: Ode to Facebook of the day.
Website of the Day: Apparently this is a new facial hair thing; as they describe it, it’s “An Adventure in Facial Hair Perspective”: Beards From Below
More in Media
‘A Super Bowl every two days’: Inside Unilever’s 50,000-creator World Cup play
50,000 creators activated globally, massive in-person pop-ups in host cities, and more are all part of Unilever’s World Cup creator push.
Amazon expands media footprint with iHeart sales deal and new TV outcome tool
Amazon is deepening its role in streaming advertising with an expanded iHeartMedia sales deal and outcome-based TV buying technology.
Media Briefing: Inside publishers’ real Cannes agenda – AI money vs agentic hype
For publishers, Cannes this year isn’t just about showing up for clients and sponsors. It’s a mid‑year checkpoint on two hard questions: who is going to pay for the open web in an AI world, and whether agentic media buying is a real fix or just a freshly branded ad‑tech tax.