Drew Benvie

Founder & CEO of @Battenhall, commentator on social media, @TEDx speaker, this year's Campaign Mag CEO of the year. Wrote the page on social media on @wikipedia

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

20 years ago tomorrow, the first tweet was posted. Thanks @jack for the memories

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

Had to delete my old Twitter account as the mobile wouldnt register

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

Tickets are now available for the whopper annual social trends conference by @Battenhall, The Year Ahead in Social. I’m hosting, all the speakers are 🔥 and we’re taking over The British Library

11th November 8:30-10:30am

https://t.co/lJjl0tKoFG

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

This settlement of $17bn is enormous, dwarfing any previous tech or social settlement to date. Only tobacco and drugs have been bigger, which is quite the picture being painted.

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

Meta settling the trial with so many proposed changes is a game changer. If they work, then school time locks, overnight curfews, face filter bans, no like counts, and the biggie 2hr daily limits should change how all social media works for child safety. https://t.co/KCXsZVUzxQ

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

Day one of the Meta trial, and this is not about the effect of content on Instagram & Facebook, as Meta can't be held liable for others' posting of content. Prosecutors are focused on Meta's understanding of the harm its apps can cause, while misleading children & their parents.

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

LeBron 🙄

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

The Morocco Norway match is really blurry wondering if all the matches will look like this. Also ITV & HBS having a mare with the loss of sound and loss of pictures 🤦🏻‍♂️

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

Just come off BBC Radio interview about Twitter's 20th birthday and I called it Twix. A: it has a ring to it. B. need more covfefe

[Battenhall @battenhall]

Today we’re launching Battenhall Labs — our new global innovation unit focused on applying emerging tech across marketing & communications. 🧪

From AI personas to proprietary measurement tools, Labs turns complex data into practical advantage for brands. 🤖

Find out more in our latest blog from our Chief Innovation Officer and Labs lead, Phil Sheard: https://t.co/vLB71tvuEZ

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

An ineffectual social media ban for kids will be the legislation's undoing.

Or worse, those who experience real harms from social media, dark social, messaging apps, the dark web or AI will be less safe as a result.

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

A social media ban for kids in the UK seems inevitable now, but to do it on safety grounds is fraught with problems.
- There are already age restrictions, they don't work
- Kids use VPNs already to for example use apps at school
- Social media isn't the problem: dark social is

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

Working on keeping young people safe has been one of my biggest priorities over the last five years, and why I founded Raise. The reality of online safety is highly nuanced and the approach needs to be both sophisticated and progressive. I’m hopeful that the UK can achieve both.

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

In my role as head of the youth social media safety nonprofit @raisegeneration I commend @leicesterliz’s announcement of the government’s three month consultation on social media use for under 16s in the UK.

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

What I’d love to see: progressive tech reforms, education programs and a better understanding of how agile teen digital escape artists really are. If govts think banning social media for kids will make lives safer, they are sorely mistaken as to how the real world really works.

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

Australia’s under-16 social media ban is now in force, and here’s the biggest reason it will backfire: Teens are safer on social media than on the alternative, which includes messaging apps used as social networks, dark social, and fake-age permitted adult social.

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

We’re about to find out what’s more harmful to teens than algorithmically shaped, moderated and peer-protected social media. It’s AI companions, dark social and fake social IDs.

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

Twitch and Kick added to the list of social media that will be banned for Australia’s under-16s from December 10th.

https://t.co/HuYW1LICg4

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

Can’t believe the Italy score vs South Africa just turned on to see them draw level. Scrum penalty against the Springboks too nuts

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

Big day today it’s the annual Battenhall social media briefing event at The British Library in London. 300 brands registered to attend this year and I need to finish learning my lines. 🙏🏼☕️💥

[Drew Benvie @drewb]

Proud as punch to win two
agency of the year awards at PR Week last night. https://t.co/J6LfhoCqmr