Every fortnight I curate some of the observations and insights that were shared on social media. I call these Friday’s Finds.

Can we all please stop using Medium now?

“Just so we are clear. Medium takes your content, rolls it up into a pretty SEO friendly package for themselves and sells it. Oh, and turns us all into seals waiting for someone to throw us a fish in the process. If you are lucky, you might even get a cut. You know. Like the sort of cut artists get on Spotify. Profit share I think the cool kids call it.”

The Atlantic — Social Media Are Ruining Political Discourse

“The politics of flow likely will continue to redefine political discourse in our country. Flow makes video games and social-media sites more engaging, but the phenomenon might already have refashioned political discourse and permanently changed the institutions that depend on reasoned debate. And yet, flow’s engagement is so gratifying for so many, it’s difficult to let it go. Even if the public decided that the civic costs of social media outweigh the private pleasures, it might be too late, and too hard, to turn back. If it triumphs, the best we can hope for is a new breed of media-savvy AOCs with good ideas—and a sensitivity to the cost of expressing them in social-media form.”

Solving the problems that plague our cities might be easier than you think by @jen_keesmaat

“There are abundant examples of other simple, immediately implementable solutions to enhance transit capacity from around the world. In Boston, parking lanes are converted to bus lanes during peak periods, significantly cutting down travel times on heavily used bus corridors. Calgary has implemented transit signal priority so that some buses receive extended green lights at certain intersections. This has produced up to 10 minutes in travel-time savings each way. Montreal has transformed movement by relentlessly building an extensive network of safe cycle tracks, allowing cycling to become a genuine transportation option, even in the cold of its winters. An estimated 536,000 Montrealers use their bikes as a method of transportation – just more than 30 per cent of the city’s total population.”

Work experience poor predictor of future job performance via @cvandeneede

“Previous work experience generally is not a good indicator of how well employees perform in a new organization,” Van Iddekinge said. “Our research found a very small relationship between the amount or type of experience that employees possessed when they came into a new organization and how they ultimately performed in that job. There’s almost no relationship in most cases.”

Ernst & Young [UK] Removes University Degree Classification From Entry Criteria As There’s ‘No Evidence’ It Equals Success

“Our own internal research of over 400 graduates found that screening students based on academic performance alone was too blunt an approach to recruitment.

“It found no evidence to conclude that previous success in higher education correlated with future success in subsequent professional qualifications undertaken.”

“I knit in city council because it helps me concentrate. Tonight I decided to knit in red when men spoke; green for women. Day 1 results.” —@MontgomerySue Mayor of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce

Knitting by Mayor Sue Montgomery