backfiring. Meta is tracking employee keystrokes. And someone is selling
shuttered startups' Slack archives to AI companies — without asking employees.
Episode 56 covers five stories that hit differently when you put them together: the structural burnout baked into IC roles, a contradictory survey on workplace communication volume and trust, what Fortune 500 CEO silence actually cost in 2025, Meta's dystopian Model Capability Initiative, and the unsettling new market for your organization's internal message history.
Chuck Gose and Jenni Field break it all down — no buzzwords, no PR spin, just what communicators actually need to think about.
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WHAT WE COVER THIS WEEK
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00:00 — Intro + Jenni at the IOIC Festival
02:16 — IC Is Absorbing a Crisis It Didn't Create
The Equilibrious "Shifting Ground" report: 88% of IC practitioners
report wellbeing impacts, 83% report burnout — and the STEADY framework
makes the case that neutral language isn't safe, it just moves the risk.
https://www.equilibrious-comms.com/shifting-ground
07:39 — Half Say Volume's Fine. 44% Are Overwhelmed.
Korbyt + Reworked survey 1,175 employees: the trust data, the manager
problem, and why "reduce, don't produce" is the governance conversation
most orgs haven't had yet.
https://www.gokorbyt.com/resource/ebooks-guides/the-state-of-workplace-communication-survey/
13:50 — CEO Silence Didn't Build a Shield
Golin's CEO Impact Index: Fortune 250 CEOs lost nearly 3 trillion earned
media impressions pulling back from media. What "engagement without
endorsement" looks like — and why it applies inside your org too.
https://golin.com/new-normal-ceo-communication-guidelines/
19:22 — Meta Tracked Keystrokes. Employees Called It Dystopian.
The Model Capability Initiative captured keystrokes and clicks across
Google, LinkedIn, Slack, and GitHub. Comms around it: minimal. Trust
damage: significant.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/22/meta-tracks-employee-usage-on-google-linkedin-ai-training-project.html
24:48 — Your Old Slack Messages Have a New Owner
SimpleClosure's Asset Hub has brokered ~100 deals selling shuttered
startups' internal data to AI companies. Employees weren't asked. The
legal question of who owns internal communications is largely untested.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91528808/shuttered-startups-are-selling-old-slack-chats-and-emails-to-ai-companies
30:38 — Freq-Outs: Speaker vetting at conferences + internships