Category: Digital Life

Digital Legacies

Carl Setzer

I just received an recruiting email, where the writer found me via my long neglected Indeed.com resume. It got me thinking about all the sites I’ve used over the years, that I’ve eventually abandoned, or at least dropped into neglect. Profiles on Monster, Indeed, NWJobs, MySpace…what do these say about me? To the recruiter emailing me about positions at Microsoft, what is there expectation of who I am, and would any elements of my current reality match?

On a somewhat related note, Om Malik recently posted You’ve Go (No) Mail. He talks about the sense of loss accompanying the ending of his Gigaom email. I’ve felt these twinges in the past, with the suspending of my Starbucks and Microsoft emails. But those were different at an elemental level. Regardless of my emotional connections to those institutions, I didn’t found them. They didn’t hold my name, they never represented me at the same level. The closest I could imagine is with this site, and the email associated with it.

carlsetzer.com is mine, it is me. If this were to become part of a larger institution, which subsequently failed, I expect that would hurt at a deeper level than the losses I’ve felt.

These footprints we leave across the web, and that the web leaves upon us. Intertwining, weaving with all those others, those we love, those we don’t, and the masses we’re unaware of, the active and neglected, loved and forgotten, all blend into this thing: the internet.

Growing Healthier

Carl Setzer

A few years ago, my weight crept past 220 lbs. With clothes tight, belts tighter to the point of needing replacement, I felt fear. In my mid-40s, all the diseases associated with obesity stared me coldly in the eye. Even more frightening, I noticed a few people, slightly older than me, with major mobility issues. All that lead to a call to get healthy.

Now I didn’t race for the nearest cross-fit course. I just added back some things I love: cycling and walking, also attacking some dietary “low hanging fruit” (limit soda, cut back on sweets, smaller portions) and ten pounds dropped quickly. But each additional drop presents challenges. So I adopted several smartphone tools, the main one now being MyFitnessPal. And I keep looking for better tools.

About 6 months back, I noticed my wife’s Fitbit laying unused and asked to try it out. I hated the thing! It displayed, in great detail, my sedentary life. So, I parked the thing. Then, around New Year’s, my fallow account got friends connecting to me. Funny, that motivated me to find the Fitbit and relaunch the tool. Now, though, the lack of activity challenges me to grow forward. I’ve been trying to add more activity to my life, deliberately so. Small steps, small steps; pun completely intended.

Last night I noticed the nutrition tab in MyFitnessPal and was, again, horrified. Too much fat and carbs, too little of myriad key nutrients. For sometime I’ve thought about building a menu about achieving great nutrition. Well, time to up that. So, a brand new life project. Got ideas, suggestions, etc, let me know.

Automating Your Blog? No!

Carl Setzer

Just got an email that promised to “put your blog on autopilot”. Of all the things to automate, pawn off, whatever, with social media, this NOT a solution. EVER! The closest thing I will ever do is suggest a copywriter. However, this is YOUR voice. It’s better to spend a few minutes a day on this than rehash commodity content. Oh, and there are SEO considerations as well.

Personally, I’ve seen blogs that are publishing the same content as others. Occasionally the EXACT same posts. Those sites lose all credibility with me.

One person I know experimented with one of these services. Their blog’s rankings grew rapidly, for a brief time. Then, abruptly, their rankings and page views plummeted. I believe Google sees when you’re pumping out the same content as “everyone else”, and you get banished to SEO hell.

It’s better if you can just do this yourself. Blogging shouldn’t be that deep or time consuming. Share your expertise, your value add, how you see things. Really, that’s it. A copywriter can figure out your voice, your unique take on things, and create relevant and distinctive content. As someone who loves to write, and loves to help people find their place/their audience on the internet, I love to do this for folks. What’s most important is putting forth that unique voice. That’s what distinguishes you from all the others who do the same sort of thing.

Living La Vida Browser

Carl Setzer

This morning I popped onto my computer to get some work done. After a bit of work (some email, updating social media, zap out a few blog posts) I’m struck the fact that nothing on my computer is open safe Chrome. I also have my task manager open, and a document for my son (for school). My browser has really become the center piece of my computing.

I’ve noticed this coming for some time. Yet, today, it gives me deeper pause: how will this affect us going forward? One obvious piece: tablets & phones. The more tools available via browsers (at least those optimized for HTML 5), the more effective and powerful these devices become. More and more of my work gets done on my tablet. I expect this will drive us more into the world of such tools as Chromebooks as well. Hard-drive space will become less critical for the average user. I expect the demand for laptops will whither, much like desktops have. Don’t get me wrong: there will always be demand for laptops and desktops, but the average home user won’t need the power features. Email, documents, Facebook simply don’t demand the power of your average laptop.

I know, also, that there are affects coming that I can’t predict right now. That’s the thing that excites me. Some right, perhaps right this second, is thinking of a new way to do X with this new reality. And it will change the way we live. This might define a key part of “me”, this excitement. I see change and feel the possibility. Hence, I gaze towards the future and see possibility, delight, wonder. Happiness, then, consumes me. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Living La Vida Browser

Carl Setzer

This morning I popped onto my computer to get some work done. After a bit of work (some email, updating social media, zap out a few blog posts) I’m struck the fact that nothing on my computer is open safe Chrome. I also have my task manager open, and a document for my son (for school). My browser has really become the center piece of my computing.

I’ve noticed this coming for some time. Yet, today, it gives me deeper pause: how will this affect us going forward? One obvious piece: tablets & phones. The more tools available via browsers (at least those optimized for HTML 5), the more effective and powerful these devices become. More and more of my work gets done on my tablet. I expect this will drive us more into the world of such tools as Chromebooks as well. Hard-drive space will become less critical for the average user. I expect the demand for laptops will whither, much like desktops have. Don’t get me wrong: there will always be demand for laptops and desktops, but the average home user won’t need the power features. Email, documents, Facebook simply don’t demand the power of your average laptop.

I know, also, that there are affects coming that I can’t predict right now. That’s the thing that excites me. Some right, perhaps right this second, is thinking of a new way to do X with this new reality. And it will change the way we live. This might define a key part of “me”, this excitement. I see change and feel the possibility. Hence, I gaze towards the future and see possibility, delight, wonder. Happiness, then, consumes me. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

The value of Facebook

Carl Setzer

Lately, I’ve been considering all the changes Facebook has blasted out over the years. Particularly, I’ve been wondering about the Facebook pages I manage. In particular, the many changes to the way business pages interact with the general user concern me. I first noticed this with my personal page feed. Business page content gets filtered out, rarely appearing in feeds, even MY pages in MY feed. I’m also noticing a drop in engagement: comments, questions, dialog, et al. This video takes that concern and provides some flesh to its bones.


Now I wonder about Facebook’s value to small businesses in any capacity. If content and connection gets buried, lost, or goes out to irrelevant audiences, there is no value. Well, little. Ok, well, lesser. The value of Facebook is still immense. Facebook is still a key piece to a social media strategy. It’s THE place, with diverse demographics and a truly global reach. Or, as I like to say, it’s the place with the eye-balls. So, there’s still value in the gorilla that is Facebook, but it’s role and impact have just changed.

Expect that, within this perpetually changing landscape, it’s place and value will change yet again. And again…

Celebrity and Personal Branding

Carl Setzer

Just read Tony Hawk’s Media Empire Grows With Help From Complex over at Adage. They talk quite a bit about the brands that celebrities are building. This leaves me wondering when saturation happens, when we have so many celebrity brands that we can’t see find anyone. We already have so much content, so much internet-based activity. Will we ever get to the point of “not being able to see the forest through the trees”?

My first thought is “no, we won’t”. We have tools for sifting through the massive forest of data. I guess the real challenge is how to differentiate yourself, fully connecting to an audience. The world of general is where the blizzard is. Specialization is where one can still be differentiated and engage deeply.

Kaki King: Some Social Media Thoughts From A Fan

Carl Setzer

I discovered Ms. King several years ago. Today, for no obvious reason, I was in the mood for her percussive style. While listening on Reverbnation (her account’s pretty neglected there, fyi) I found this embed code. So I, being me, needed to plug that in and see how it looks.

Just some thoughts, though, on her online presence (that is a key part of “what I do”, after all).

  • Facebook seems to be her main touch-point with her fans.  The page looks great and current.
  • Twitter is pretty solid, much the same. No major points to bring up.
  • Instagram is not too shabby. It’s not that powerful a media player yet, but solid enough to be a great touch-point with fans. A good blend of personal and work. 
  • Now, her website; that’s an area I would invest some time. Very sparse, and not much touch for fans. Other than a few tour dates, and links to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Soundcloud, it’s pretty vacant.
  • And, lastly, the aforementioned Soundcloud. Shows album covers, and has links to iTunes and Google Play, and back to her main site. And that’s it. No music on the site at all. I think it would be wise to have something there, perhaps one song from each album. Some kind of sampler. Also, perhaps some more recent experiments. Just to keep engaged. The empty account, that is linked to by her main page, is pretty awkward.

Just some thoughts from someone who spends a lot of time working in this space, loves Kaki King’s music, and would really love to see her grow as a professional artist. 

More of my websites

Carl Setzer

I started a WordPress site some time ago in order to explore the platform. Recently, I relaunched it as my poetry site. I’ve heard so very much about focusing your sites. So, I’m trying to do something with that. Besides that one, I also have NotJustSeattle.com, where I focus on the local. Soon, I’m going to port my tech writing to its own site. This will also, then, be my professional/business presence. I’ll move my portfolio there, too. Trying to find another name besides “Setzer Consulting”. Feels too bidding. I’ll try to have the URL for in to that.

So, please check out my other sites and stay tuned to see how things change.