Category: Personal Reflections

I just read a Tweet about “Twitter being the future of journalism“. Well, it’s really the “now” of journalism. Right now. Perhaps it’s a great time for one of my favorite Wil Wheaton quips, “I love living in the future”.

Crowdsourcing is one of the greatest pieces of the Internet age. Whether we’re talking about open source software, raising funds, or news, the power of the collective amazes me. The downside stems from volume, and the ability of malevolent players to perform mischief. Yet those voices tend towards discovery with amazing speed.

Hard to gauge how all this will evolve. But the journalistic game changed, radically and permanently. I label this whole phenomena “digitized democracy”. Voices become equalized.

So, just a few random thoughts which I intend to flesh out further. I hope you have wonderful Fridays.

Some things to meditate on if you market towards the teen crowd.

Or if you’re a creepy stalker type.

Either way, read and get learned. Whatever feelings you have towards youth, their feelings reflect the direction culture is migrating towards.

I found this over at Social Media Today.

I like to listen to podcasts on my commute. This got me thinking about how many of NPR’s weekly shows would lend themselves nicely to the podcast format. The first show I thought of, though, is Fiona Ritchie’s Thistle & Shamrock. It’s not carried locally and, unless I find a live stream, I’m out of luck.

Providing the whole show via podcast would work nicely. Broadcast the show intact. You can increase your viewership significantly with minimal increased coast. There’s great power in allowing timeshifting.

I think it’d be a great win for NPR. You?

I noticed this gem trending on Reddit today:Zales Fires Top Earning Saleswoman Because She Needs Surgery. Basics: Zales fires one of their best performing sales staff right after being informed she will need to take a disability leave. However one feels about this, the most crucial piece is that this is from 2009. 4 years later, this is rising on Reddit. You can guarantee that Zales will get hate messaging about this. Reminds me of one of the recurring issues I saw at Starbucks: Starbucks Hates The Military Rumor. This guy kept recycling, often at the most random times. Lesson: be very careful with your PR. Even false accusations will cycle through cyberspace and provide you regular aggravation. True ones will continuously rise up and bite, teeth sharper with each retelling.

I noticed this gem trending on Reddit today:Zales Fires Top Earning Saleswoman Because She Needs Surgery. Basics: Zales fires one of their best performing sales staff right after being informed she will need to take a disability leave. However one feels about this, the most crucial piece is that this is from 2009. 4 years later, this is rising on Reddit. You can guarantee that Zales will get hate messaging about this. Reminds me of one of the recurring issues I saw at Starbucks: Starbucks Hates The Military Rumor. This guy kept recycling, often at the most random times. Lesson: be very careful with your PR. Even false accusations will cycle through cyberspace and provide you regular aggravation. True ones will continuously rise up and bite, teeth sharper with each retelling.

I’m expanding on my thoughts from a few weeks back.

LinkedIn functions as an afterthought for so many. Sharing of personal stories happens on Facebook. Well, most internet interaction seems to happen on Facebook. It had games, myriad other apps for consuming time. Yet, if you’re like me, you have a career to manage. I value my career, even though I’m trying to find a unique path through my work life. So, I’m trying to nurture my LinkedIn account.

Maybe I should call it “curate”. Immaterial, really, the label. What’s important is deliberate focus. I seek to expand my influence. Thus, connecting with new people consistently. At least weekly access, though I shoot for more. Sharing relevant articles. And, though seeking to expand my network, not add everyone in the world. Additionally, I want the heavy lifting done before I’m seeking a new job. That’s one of the cynical parts to LinkedIn. People don’t use the tool extensively until they’re job hunting. True or not, there is that perception. I have noticed more users sharing content, though, and with greater regularity. LinkedIn’s potential should really expand over the coming year.

These are just a few thoughts on what I’m doing with this interesting tool. I don’t think I’m utilizing it to it’s full potential, yet I’m doing better than most.  What are you doing with it? Live it? Hate it? Let me know in the comments. 

Hey everyone,

Point your browser over to my new site: www.NotJustSeattle.com. I’m exploring life in the region, but trying to expand past all the Seattle-centric messaging.

Let me know what you think.

Answering this question seems easy, however it’s proven a deep challenge for me. Too much of my life has been paralyzed by the “need” to earn money. The roots of this, I’m certain, is fear. My challenge, and perhaps yours, too, is to defeat that fear. Only then are we truly alive.

Thanks to Successify for helping me find this.

Just my random thought of the day.  There are ways to build demand without creating suckers. Only focusing on maximizing profits from your customers can’t be sustained. Once a critical mass has been reached, you will have a growth rate the approaches zero rapidly

Go forth and do great things.

I assume all of you readers are using LinkedIn. Do you have any strategy? At this point, my main focus has simply been to connect to >1 person / week, which I’ve had no problem accomplishing. However, I’m confident that there’s much more I could be doing. I’d love to hear what success you have, ideas, etc.