Right About Now with Ryan Alford - Weekly News 8.7

Episode Date: August 7, 2020

Radcast Weekly News with Ryan and Reiley.News coverage for this episode: Joe Rogan's stance on video gamingMilitary ads on TwitchWhat's happening with Tik TokeSports drive-ins popping up around the United StatesFollow us on Instagram @RyanAlford and @the.rad.cast | Follow along in our eSports Series www.theradcast.com  If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more, join Ryan’s newsletter https://ryanalford.com/newsletter/ to get Ferrari level advice daily for FREE.  Learn how to build a 7 figure business from your personal brand by signing up for a FREE introduction to personal branding https://ryanalford.com/personalbranding.  Learn more by visiting our website at www.ryanisright.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel  www.youtube.com/@RightAboutNowwithRyanAlford. 

You're listening to the latest Radcast News Update. Here's Ryan and Riley. Hey guys, what's up? It's Ryan Alford and Riley Clark here for the latest news update. What's up, Riley? Hey, what's up? How's your week been? It's been a good week. Lots of podcasting. Oh my gosh, yeah. We had a lot of podcasts today. Or this week. You were on a podcast, we had a few guests. Several guests on our eSports series, and it's been a good week, though. It has been a good week. So, for our news, let's start.

What's the most radical thing you've seen this week? The most radical thing I think I've seen this week, I'll give you two answers. We'll give one... Oh boy, here we go. I know. This is me, like yesterday. Can we get the best app? And I'm like, well, here's one b three and one um i'll give like a fun one or you know like a cool one and then you know a not well you know what i mean yeah but i think my cool one was in my at my apartment the other day after like that really

big rainstorm that happened the other day. It was a gorgeous sunset, first of all, and then there were these two really big, there was a double rainbow right outside my apartment. But I had the full view of the sunset and the rainbow. So yeah, I got the full thing. I like the positivity and the good news. Was there two pots of gold or just one? I didn't go looking, but I should have.

I don't think I've ever seen a double rainbow. Really? Like I've seen a rainbow. You've never seen a double rainbow? I think I've seen a double. Oh, okay. So then that was pretty radical. We'll just leave it at that.

Did you take a picture? Yes. I posted it on my Instagram. Oh, yeah. That's right. I was checking your story. Yeah, right. Did you just go see it?

Yeah, I forgot. I must have just skipped over it accidentally. I hit the forward button too fast. Right, right, right, right, right. No, but I guess my other thing that's, like, not so positive, well, is, like, just what's going on with Ellen DeGeneres. Yeah. Like, it's kind of sad, you know? Like, I feel like you kind of grow up in that you're always watching ellen and it's just

sad when i mean everyone's human but it's just you know those reminders are the people aren't and i who knows like it's interesting how people are piling on and you don't know but usually when there's as much smoke there is there seems to be here there's some fire but right you know you kind of put these celebrities on a pedestal absolutely and if they teeter from it we freak out and it does kind of bother me a little bit again presuming that there's some truth to it that she does all this stuff and comes off like you know you know everything's perfect and she's got that whole i don't know if it's joy or happiness or just stay you know there's like this stuff. And then, you know, you hear toxic work culture.

It's like, okay. Yeah. Kind of makes you sad. It does make you sad. But I guess we'll see what comes out of it. Yeah. All right. What's your radical thing?

All right. Well, staying in the positivity thing here. Yes. Americans were polled on the best dance songs of all time. Oh, no. And this was actually a poll done. 2,000 people were surveyed. With COVID going on, everyone trying to find ways to stay happy

and actually essential songs for what they called socially distant dance parties, I'm sure. I'm sure there's not any real ones going on. So the study had 2,000 Americans, and I'm going to give the top 10, some of which I agree with, some I don't. So I'm going to start. Number one. Wait, is it reverse order? So like number one's the...

Yeah, maybe I'll do 10 to 1. I like it. I like the drama you're shaking up over there. Speaking of shaking up, number 10, Shake It Off, Taylor Swift, number 10. These are the songs guaranteed to make people move and groove during a party. Top 10. Number 10, Shake It Off, Taylor Swift. Number 9, Work, Rihanna featuring Drake.

8, Get Lucky, Daft Punk. I love Daft Punk, so I can get behind that one. Hey Ya, Outkast. I like Outkast as well. It's been a while. I love that one. Hey. All right.

We're getting radical here. Just Dance, Lady Gaga, number six. Dancing Queen, ABBA. Okay. All right. You can hear all these songs. Uptown Funk, Bruno Mars. We've got a blend of old and new here. Uptown Funk. Yeah. Okay. All right. You can hear all these songs. Uptown Funk, Bruno Mars. We've got a blend of old and new here.

Uptown Funk. Yeah. I can see that. Stayin' Alive, the Bee Gees at number three. And our top two, number two, Billie Jean, Michael Jackson. Love it. You can get behind that one. And number one is pretty, you know, it's about dance songs,

and it's I Want to Dance with Somebody, Whitney Houston. Wow. I want to dance with somebody. I want to feel the heat. Okay. Yeah, actually, next week on the news, Ryan's singing. I will be singing. Many talents, and I have many talents, all very average,

and singing would be at the very last of any of those because there's no talent whatsoever. But my radical, you know, I think it's cool, like top ten dance songs. Like we go down to the lake

and it's like playlist city when we're on the lake, especially like on Friday, Saturday night. It's like we're always finding playlists. So maybe I'll add these top ten.

I was going to say, are you going to make that your playlist and everyone's six feet apart on your boat just individually dancing to all ten of these songs maybe yeah you should take a video of it you know they had a top 40 list and i was kind of going through it seeing if there's anything else i would have bumped up i don't know but i don't know if if i want to dance with somebody

went to houston i can see where it gets people dancing because it's definitely got that beat but i think i'd add billy jean michael jack I think that one, me doing the moonwalk on the boardwalk or something, that sounds more appropriate. Yeah. I just wonder the age of who they polled for that because I feel like I wouldn't have necessarily put all those up there, but to each their own. It's 2000, so anything more than 500 is supposed to be actually, you know, representative of the nation as long as they've done it with proper techniques, you know, not to get into scientific studies and data. But 500 people is the minimum to be representative of the U.S.

So 2,000 should be representative. That's interesting. Yeah. So anyway, radical. Well, that's the news of the U S so 2000 should be representative. That's interesting. Yeah. So anyway, radical news of the week. Yeah. Well then, um,

our news, I think that we should talk about today. A couple of things. So first, um, did you hear what happened with Joe Rogan, um, on his podcast the other day?

I did. I do follow him and I've been following the news around it. Oh yeah. That's been interesting. So for those of you who might not know about what's going on, Joe Rogan, um, on his podcast and made a comment about video games, um, not being like, uh, actually productive for, um, human humans and, um, also said that it was addictive, um addictive and a waste of time. But I think it's important when we're talking about Joe Rogan's addictiveness with video games is to understand this is coming from a personal place.

I mean, he did have a personal addiction to video games, and it was something that he did talk about. I mean, when you have that kind of money to put that kind of software and hardware into your house, I think it's safe to say he can be addicted. Get rid of like a $10,000 T1 line to his house. Yeah, exactly. So he gets the fastest connection. Yeah, I think so.

So he can shoot people before they even knew it. Yeah, right. I mean, you know, we've been doing this esports series, and obviously it's booming with the competitive side of it. And I think that's essentially what he was doing 15, 20 years ago. But look, as a parent, I'm going to talk out of both sides of my mouth. It's like seeing the growth of it and having the guests that we've had on and seeing the marketing potential, people are spending time there no matter how you feel about it.

Right. And there's everything in moderation including including moderation and so there's no doubt that there's some addiction going on there so i can see it i can see it how you know between the the way the games are set up the way they they reward i'm sure the neurons in your brain with winning and then the add-on stuff that they spend money on and all those things. I see the potential for that, but at the same time, it's like you can obsess and go overboard on anything.

Oh, absolutely. So you've got to just kind of put checks and balances, especially for kids. You've got to monitor it accordingly and make sure they're staying active and know the things so i think joe's just being honest and i think there's some truth to it absolutely but at the same time i think we've got to move past some of the stigmas of and i've tried to do that myself like especially with this esports series going okay this isn't just a lazy you know non nonproductive.

There's ways to get camaraderie out of this. There's ways to get communication. This is the way kids interact now. And so if there's ways to pull the positive out of it, a way to make it productive. And some of these kids are making thousands of dollars, hundreds of thousands of dollars. So I don't know.

There's a lot to unpack there. there well i think his point with i mean he's i think he's trying to bring more like realistic expectation into video gaming that not everyone who plays video game like what you're talking the other day not everyone that plays a video game is going to turn around and make a million dollars at the next tournament yeah and while there's truth in that like i think I think, you know, the, the YouTuber that was talking about, um, uh, what Joe had said, um, PewDiePie, that YouTuber name, uh, he was talking about the fact that, um, I mean, he gets it, like not everyone realistically is going to become a millionaire, but I think it's interesting to bring this point into it too like where I think Joe Rogan's coming

in from the you know you can take those eight hours a day that you're playing video games and you know like he works on his splits right or he's over there like jiu-jitsu yeah right or like breaking boards in half and like that's awesome but there are some people that the kind of intellectual stimulation they're getting from video games is, you know, it's, that's sustaining them. Like that's what they need, you know? And so I think there's just, everyone has their own thing, but I definitely don't think I can see, um, you know, Joe Rogan having a guest on his podcast and then, you know, he's like, Oh, actually my mind's changed. So, uh, exactly. I mean, the one thing I would say is, look, I played video games. I definitely binged on video games when I was a kid. And, you know, obviously it screwed me up. It screwed me up majorly. You see how I am. It screwed me completely. seriousness there wasn't the outlets for the competition and for maybe some of the more positive outcomes because it was all in you know your bedroom at the couch there wasn't the online

component which there's good and bad to that too but right it was just you sitting there binging for eight hours and whether or not that's productive or not, or whether or not that's getting you where you need to go, we can argue that it likely isn't. But some of the better things that are coming out of esports, the building the camaraderies of the team, the more organized activities around it. And you're even seeing some of the gamers that are on top. You see some of their routines, and not saying every one of them,

but their workout routines and their mental, how they prepare for things. And so, again, I think it's all about balance and finding that. No, absolutely. The other news we're going to talk about today, I think kind of goes into this a little bit in the sense of so much time online can make you exposed to certain targeting ads. And particularly, this is kind of a change of topic, but it goes similarly, I think. The military has been using avenues like Twitch and other things like that to recruit for the military, which Twitch, like, if you enter all your information into this

portal, you'll get a free Xbox or whatever. And then you go in, but it's actually just an army recruitment site. And there's actually no Xbox. Like, that's not okay. No. It's called the Baden Switch. Right. But yeah, what are your thoughts on that? You know, I don't have a problem. Look, it's a free country. Like, these platforms are there for marketing and communication. Right. And, you know, the thought and the notion that the military is recruiting kids that might not have any other opportunity in a platform with which they're consuming media and content anyway,

I don't have a problem with, you know, at its surface. If those practices, like you said, are misleading and misguided, I have a problem with anything that's quote unquote false advertising. But the notion of using the media to potentially recruit kids

that are spending a lot of time on games that might have no other avenue. Like, think about it. It's kind of the same thing with professional sports. 99.9% of kids aren't going to become the next LeBron James. Right. And while the avenues in these sports are probably greater odds and better opportunities with all the leagues and all the games and all that, but there's still probably an 80% chance

that you're not going to get into a professional money-making position of esports. So the notion that the military itself is marketing itself to kids and giving them an avenue, as long as it's on the up and up,'m okay with yeah i think like even when you go to like college games and stuff like that i mean if you look closely there's tables of army recruitment people there do you know what i mean and i think in the same light it's the same thing right it's just on a virtual platform now where it's literally shown but i think the thing is like i think some people um some representatives they just didn't necessarily like it because a lot of people that

are on twitch are 12 and 13 year olds right and so from that perspective like i get it but um you know teach their own i guess it's the same difference again i think if you go to like any college campus or anything like that i mean see all these advertisements, but they're just in like a live form, you know? And I think once you start seeing them online, it's like, oh my gosh, wait a minute, like that can't be there. And it's like, well, you see it all the time. You walk by it all the time on campus or wherever it is you're at. But kind of on the same note, what do you think about the whole TikTok situation? Yeah. Here's what I think. We talked a little bit about this before the episode and things like

that. I certainly believe in free speech and free, we have liberty, we have the ability to do what we want to do. But, you know, I don't know enough about the back end of the technology platform, having not been privy to it, to know. But I assume if it's a Chinese government that owns the, you know, is involved in some ownership, a Chinese company that has to report to the Chinese communist government. Right, right. It is what it is. has to report to the Chinese Communist government. It is what it is, no matter what my opinion is on the Chinese Communist Party. They are a communist party, and they do collect data from their companies, and all of their business have to kind of have a transparency to the government that's a little different than ours.

Not that our businesses aren't transparent to the U.S. government, but it's different. It's a different system. And so not being naive to the fact that I'm sure there's data being collected, then I don't have a problem with the government trying to step in to make sure that our data isn't managed properly and maybe it should be run or sold to a U.S. company. Like a version of TikTok?

Well, I think that a company would buy it in its current entity. I've heard Microsoft and others, U.S.-based companies, buying it, and it would probably in a lot of ways stay exactly what it is. But all that data would be housed on servers in the U.S. and not being transferred. And there would be some kind of breadcrumbs back to where that all is living. And right now, I think it's just going into the data is going to the netherworlds of the Internet back to the Chinese companies that are running it.

And so part of me gets a little frazzled of the government kind of stepping in. And then part of me is like, well, you know, it makes sense. Yeah. And so, you know, I'd like that we didn't take a brash and just shut it down because you've got a lot of people that are on the platform doing things. I like that there seemed to be tempering the just shut it down, but if they can get the company sold and get it into hands that we feel like are managing the data properly,

then I think that's the appropriate course. Do you think Instagram Reels are trying to do something similar to TikTok? Do you know what I mean? Oh, yeah. I mean, social video, whether it's, you know, Triller became the number one app over the weekend in photos and videos for a couple days. I think it's dropped back now.

I think most people aren't going to want to move from TikTok if they don't have to because they've got all their user base and all that. So they got nervous because the president's like, I'm going to shut it down tomorrow. And I think people flocked elsewhere. So I think you're going to see some splintering of people moving, whether it's Reels with Instagram.

I mean, look, Instagram's a behemoth already. And so anything that's backed by them as long as the app is as good as it needs to be, the technology, and maybe some bonus features, which I would imagine it I wouldn't imagine it being an exact, you know, copy of everything that, that TikTok is, but if there's some plus one, plus two features that, that people can gravitate around, um, I think you'll see people naturally migrating a little bit, or even if it's not migration, it'll just be an expansion of, of the platforms they're on potentially. But that's where it's just getting so so splintered as far as you've got Facebook, you've got Instagram, you've got TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter. What else? Messenger.

Obviously, they all have their place, but it's getting a little exhausting of where you share your worldview, whether that's a dancer or your political or how active you are on all the platforms like which ones are you more active on like which ones are you not and you know you can't be super active on all of them that's just exhausting yeah i mean it's even from you know bringing it back to the marketing standpoint you know brands were just not saying just now but in the last six months, starting to get their hands around how to use TikTok for brands. You're starting to see some of the ad platforms develop on TikTok. And now it's kind of like if you're a brand that spent

money or time or thinking about it, and you're in the same thing of like a kid that's got a million followers or something, they're going, oh, wait a second. And so I think you're probably seeing a little bit of pause with that because I don't know how much money you want to dump in it if there's the potential of it being locked down. Exactly. And so, you know, it'll be interesting to see where it goes. So I guess to end on like kind of a positive note, or I think something kind of fun and sweet, the drive-in esports arenas. Yes.

How sweet are those? Very nice. Yeah, I'm looking forward to them actually happening, though. Exactly. I think it's, you know, without the in-person stuff. And I saw the increase, but saw several celebrities posting. They were at a drive-in movie or something a few weeks ago, a couple that I follow. And so I think picking up on that theme. And people are pivoting into where and how to deliver content and how to deliver experiences outside of it.

So I think it's cool. I think it's cool, too. I think it's interesting, the point about it being more of a mobile platform because obviously the Wi-Fi issues are just like, oh, let me casually bring my super expensive full-on gaming monitor and everything. I think that mobile aspect will be nice. But I'm looking forward to those four locations, Louisville, Kentucky, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, El Paso, Texas, and Laredo, Texas.

Interesting. You know, it must have something to do with the parent company, I imagine, but I'm not sure what the logic was. I'm trying, I have no mental, I don't pretend to be a knowledge base of every city in America, but the four of those don't ring any natural tendencies together. Yeah, as I kept reading, I know there's only four, but I was hoping that one of the cities would have been one that it's like, that makes sense. I felt like Austin, Texas might have made sense or, you know, something like that. But, I mean, nothing against those places. Those are great places.

Yeah. No, they're great. I've been to Louisville. It's nice. Went to a football game there. Oh, really? Yeah. Oh.

Clemson. Played Louisville a few years ago at Louisville. It was okay. They get good fan following, actually, for all their sports. And basketball is usually kind of the thing there but uh but i don't pretend to know what the the uh dynamics or geographic uh you know tendencies that link all those together they're all kind of tier two dma markets uh none of them are you know like top 20 cities in the country or something so Right, right, right. Maybe it's affordability of doing it.

I wonder if it has to do with the partnership, though, because I think Horizon Group Properties and the esports analytic company, Harena Data, I don't know if one of those places or their headquarters or something might be in those places. And maybe that's why there's a connection there.

I'm not entirely sure. But anyway, that's going to be interesting. I'm looking forward to obviously COVID not affecting things to where I could see these popping up a lot more in a more retro kind of space, too. and a more retro kind of space too. And I think it's, again, the growth of this segment and kind of the, I don't know, just a notion. I can't wrap my head like 10 years ago or five years ago, this notion. And obviously COVID has a lot to do with it. But even just, obviously these aren't gigantic markets,

but how mainstream esports is becoming, you know, the process of a lot of companies, you know, two to five years in terms of like what work was actually going to look like, what production was actually going to look like and things like that. So if anything, I do think there's some positivity to COVID speeding up some of that kind of processes, but. Yeah. I mean, I imagine it's going to be mainly mobile based in some way. I don't know what, you know, again, you're not bringing your console. Right.

I don't know if you're on your tablet or on your smartphone. There's a huge extension cord that runs through. There's about 50 outlets. My truck has a plug-in, an outlet, so I might get it going, but I don't know. Most average vehicles are probably not running their Xbox off their car batteries or something. Yeah, no, that probably wouldn't be good. But no, that's the news for this week. Anything else you want to talk about?

I don't think so. Looking forward to releasing some of the episodes for eSports. Got a few more, and then we're working on some specifics around e-commerce. We haven't ironed out everything for the next series so excited about that and we have three more episodes for the radcast for esports um next episode is tuesday at noon and then um yeah we're gonna start our e-commerce series and all my little secrets up here we We'll see where they go. We'll see where it goes. Hey, I guess we can close with, as we look at, you know,

if you're listening or watching, depending on where you're consuming this, our Radcast merchandise. We've got our T-shirts in and some samples for our Yeti cups, or for lack of a better, tumblers. The tumbler, that's what it is Radcast tumblers so you know

be on the lookout yeah on our Instagram page we have all of our merchandise that we're getting we're posting it on there so

cool yeah alright guys that's it for this week it's Ryan and Riley we'll see you next time on the Radical News Update see you next time