Month: June 2012

Brian & Melissa: Social Media Rows

Carl Setzer

Perhaps you’ve heard this trending story about Brian Presley (an actor) & Melissa (a model). (if not, here’s a brief summation here) via Huffington Post

Just read David Amerland’s piece, When Melissa Met Brian: A Lesson in Social Media Ethics over at Social Media Today.

So, my take. Melissa started with the assumption that Brian was attempting to cheat on his wife with her and ran with that. In analysis, this seems an act of arrogance on her part. (The man in the seat next to you is talking to you. The only reason is he wants sleep with you?)

Be that as it may, she unleashed the mindless reactivity of the internet. It’s amazing how quickly that can get launched and how nearly impossible it is to put that “genie back in the bottle”.

Sure, it’s important for us social media users to think before we post, but we should also consider thinking before acting on something we read. Always remember there are two sides to a story.

(Mea cupla: I saw this as it was trending hot on Twitter and thought Brian a cad. As this has shaken out, I’m realizing he’s not as culpable as first appeared. In particular, at no point does he proposition her, or even ask for a phone number).

The Death of Advertising?

Carl Setzer

Earlier this week I read an article lambasting the advertising revenue model. I can’t find it right now, but the basic critique was “it never worked and is even worse no”w.

Now, most newspaper revenues, in the recent past at least, came from advertising. Subscriptions didn’t cover a fraction of expenses. Advertising covered the rest and provided profit.

Clearly that model is now damaged, but is it dead? It once worked. Can a business either lower expenses enough, or engage enough advertising to be profitable?

Clearly, businesses still see value in advertising. They still heavily invest in ads. I think part of the challenge for tge advertiser lies in the expanding advertising market. They need to spread the same dollars further.

Then there’s the moral issue: everyone hates advertising. What do we do with that?

Anyway, my rambling early AM thoughts did a Friday. Cheers, everyone!

Gaps With Career Sites

Carl Setzer

Having spent a goodly amount of time the past few years unemployed, I’ve utilized all the major “career” sites a great deal.  One thing I’ve lamented for years: their focus on job search. Now, that’s a particularly important tool and need, but there’s so much more to managing one’s career. Guidance on ways to maximize your current role, how to navigate advancement/promotion, whether you’d do well as a manager, or should focus on being an individual contributor…all these things, and more, would be helpful. Another good thing that would be accomplished by such content: bringing in and audience greater than the job-seeker/recruiter crowd. Expanding the value of the site could well make for richer and more dynamic engagement. And, perhaps, more people would be encouraged to manage their careers better, outside of crisis mode.

A Song That Launched A Thousand Memes

Carl Setzer

The young and effervescent Carly Rae Jepsen’s cute toon, “Call Me Maybe” has been causing great delight within the interwebs. This PR firm in Jersey was featured on HuffPo, and my attention was caught.

But then I found SMU’s Womens’ Crew Team…

Which is apparently a reply to Harvard’s Baseball Team’s video…

It’s going a bit crazy on the YouTube…

And (yes, ‘and’…and my last bit here…), my chums at Vista Print have a “business” card you can hand out.

I get a kick out of how a simple little song can inspire such a wave of creativity. Shows you another power of the internet!

So, to close this out, here’s the original tune…enjoy!

(Hey, if this inspires you to craft something…leave me a note in the comments…)