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Many things irk people about the way modern companies operate. Workplace communication tools and so-called enterprise social media platforms are among the low-stakes but high-impact bugbears. Reading through the latest dull update from that guy in accounts who continually spams the work comms platform, or worrying about when and how to engage with a problematic post can cause plenty of stress. Having to keep up with colleagues on a workplace communication platform annoys many. But new research suggests the much-maligned tools might actually serve a purposeand can benefit workers and the businesses they work for. Princeton University professor Manoel Horta Ribeiro led a study (together with two Microsoft researchers) that looked at how people use Microsofts Viva Engagethe service formerly known as Yammer. The team analyzed 99 companies in-staff interactions before and after they adopted Viva Engage. The study found that using such tools increased the level of connectivity among staff by adding new ways to communicate, rather than shifting the existing ones online. It helped strengthen ties among workers, helped improve knowledge sharing and innovation within an organization, and was found to be more effective than email to allow people at different levels on the hierarchy of a business to communicate with one another. That idea of bridging the gap between different staff levels was one of the key benefits of such tools, according to Ribeiro, who notes that the use of workplace communication and corporate social media tools like those studied highlight how low-level staffers are often the linchpins who keep a business running. We find that in corporate social media settings, low-level employees are actually more central in the network, meaning they are better positioned to spread communication throughout the company, Ribeiro says. Still, despite the benefits and boons encountered in the research, the perception remains that these tools can be the bane of peoples working lives, rather than a means of improving them. So why do people hate platforms like Viva Engage? Its not necessarily an issue with the tools themselves, but with the way people act on them. The thing that people hate about these platforms isnt exclusive to enterprise social media. Its the same thing thats happening with LinkedIn or mainstream social platforms, Ribeiro says. People are gaming the system to become content creators rather than making meaningful connections.
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E-Commerce
Throughout Harvard Square, there are many bookshop brimming with the latest literary fiction and intellectual memoirs, patronized by scholarly types. But in January, a new bookshop popped up in the neighborhood that is nothing like the others. Lovestruck Books is a romance bookstore. It’s Instagrammable entrance is adorned with pink and purple flowers. There’s a coffee shop that transforms into a wine bar for evening events. Besides an enormous selection of romance novels, you can also purchase sex toys and tote bags emblazoned with I read smut. We want to toe the lie a little bit with being provocative and edgy, says Rachel Kanter, the store’s founder. But the most important thing is that everything is done in a way that feels safe and welcoming. Her plan seems to be working. The store has been packed since launch and Kanter has blown through all of her sales targets. Customers don’t just visit the store to discover new books; they come to gather with one another. On a recent Tuesday, I sat on a plush velvet sofa in the corner of the store with a cup of tea. Next to me, a woman was tearfully confiding to an older friend about her divorce. When they left, two women sat down and pondered whether Mark Zuckerberg’s newfound embrace of masculine energy would break up his marriage. Rachel Kanter [Photo: Reagan Byrne/Lovestruck] The Ripped Bodice in Ventura, California, was the first romance bookstore to open in the United States back in 2016. It was so successful that it went on to open another location in Brooklyn, and has paved the way for dozens more to open. There are now 30 romance bookstores around the country, including A Novel Romance in Louisville, Kentucky, and Blush Bookstore in Wichita, Kansas. Most of these bookstores are founded by women, and they’ve become safe spaces for their predominantly female and queer customers to gather and create community. This is abundantly clear on Valentine’s Day. While the holiday is purportedly about celebrating romance, these bookstores are choosing to focus on friendship. Lovestruck is hosting a conversation with best-selling novelist Ashley Poston about female friendships. Sweeter Than Fiction, a bookstore in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, has organized an outing for customers who love sports romance novels to attend a hockey game. [Photo: Sweeter Than Fiction] Romance goes mainstream Callie Lamb opened Sweeter than Fiction in Charleston last October. On opening day, a line of customers snaked around the block. I exceeded my three month sales target on day one of being open, she says. Even now, I can’t keep books in stock. Lamb had spent her career as a buyer for large retailers like Belk and Dollar Tree, but during the pandemic, she decided it was time to strike out on her own. In 2023, she came up with the idea of opening a romance bookstore. She found a prime location on King Street, Charleston’s shopping district, and poured her savings into transforming it into an aesthetically pleasing venue, with a plant wall, pink bookcases, and marble topped tables to display books. Romance, as a genre, exploded during the pandemic. This coincided with the rise of TikTok. Book lovers took to the platform to promote their favorite titles, driving sales. Today, romance is both a top-selling and fast-growing genre in fiction. In 2023, romance novels sold 39 million copies, more than double the number from 2020. Publishers are now flooding the market with even more titles across many sub-genres, including LGBTQ+ romance, paranormal romance, and romantasy (a blending of romance and fantasy). Romance is a huge category, but most bookstores have a small section devoted to it, Lamb says. There’s a clear demand for a store that specializes in romance. One reason that some bookstores don’t have more romance books is that the genre has has been stigmatized for decades. This taboo goes back centuries, scholars say, as the male-dominated literary establishment dismissed these books because they were primarily written by and for women. But while previous generations of women felt the need to hide their Harlequin romances, today’s readers are reading romances unapologetically. Indeed, some women want to reclaim the word smut as a form of female empowerment, since romance novels have done a great deal to center women’s desires, sexuality, and experiences. There is a tendency to dismiss things that are geared towards women, Kanter says. Romance is a powerful way for women to reclaim something that belongs to them. [Photo: Reagan Byrne/Lovestruck] A Feminine Energy While there’s are some men who feel comfortable admitting they read love stories, the vast majority of romance readersand romance bookstore customersare women. So it makes sense that romance bookstores are unapologetically feminine. The interior design tends to be saturated in shades of pink, red, and purple. They sell jewelry, throw cushions, and candles. Flowers are often part of the decor. /p> For many of these romance bookstores, part of the business model is hosting events and talks. In just one month in business, Lovestruck has already hosted more than 3,400 people at in-store events. The talks tackle a wide range of topics, from discussions with best-selling authors to learning how to play mahjong to unpacking steamy love scenes in LGBTQ+ love stories. The community in Harvard Square has come in out droves to support us, Kanter says. It’s clear they were hungry for this kind of gathering space. For many people, romance bookstores have become a place to escape from current politics, which have increasingly restricted women’s rights as well as the LGBTQ+ community. Indeed, Lamb points out that part of the reason that romance took off during the pandemic is because readers wanted an escape from the harsh realities of life. By definition, you get a happily ever after, she says. Kanter concurs. Her store and events are deliberately designed to be fun and lighthearted. But at the same time, creating a place where women and queer folks can find joy in one another’s presence also feels like an act of resistance in this political climate. Our customers are choosing to put their dollars towards supporting a woman-owned business that celebrates the female experience, Kanter says.
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E-Commerce
This jacket grows on trees. Vollebak, a London-based experimental clothing lab, has released a prototype garment made out of timber panels overlaid on a fabric interior. The long-sleeve hooded men’s Wooden Jacket is a feat of fashion design, turning a stiff material into pliable and stylish outerwear. Once it becomes available, the jacket will sell for $3,295. For now, there’s a waiting list “while we grow them,” Vollebak says. [Photo: Sun Lee/Vollebak] The jacket is par for the course for Vollebak, which experiments with sustainable materials to make its unlikely apparel. The company has also designed an antiviral jacket made from copper, a decomposable hoodie made from pomegranate peels, and a sweater made from natural fibers grown in a petri dish and assembled by a 3D knitting machine. Of course wood pulp can be used to make fibers like viscose and lyocell, which can be turned into fabric for clothing. What makes Vollebak’s jacket unique is that its not made with plant fibers extracted from wood. Rather, it’s made of the wood itself. The key to the Wooden Jacket’s functionality requires close inspection. While it appears to have a solid wood pattern with natural grain, closeups of the prototype fabric show the textured pattern is actually a pliable grid of tiny squares that give the garment flexibility. The prototype design also features two front patch pockets and zippers. [Photo: Sun Lee/Vollebak] On its website, Vollebak says it designed the Wooden Jacket just to prove it could, noting that “turning a tree into a jacket is an absurdly difficult technical challenge. . . . It forces us to tackle, then solve, technical challenges that would otherwise remain completely theoretical.
Category:
E-Commerce
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