Shifting Trends In Blogging.

Last week I found some time to go to my reader. I read posts from friends Marya and Margie Clayman, back to back. Marya commented that the latest trend in blogging is to blow everything up. Margie questioned whether Margie had anything to blow up. Oh, crap.

Not "oh, crap" to their thoughts. More like "oh, crap" to concern for what the experts are/aren't doing now. Who cares what the experts say (thanks to friend  Pam for her post)?

Many of the bloggerazzi are going to convince you that you must do this or have to avoid that if you desire success. These bleating voices are trying to establish credibility by predicting a trend (that might come to fruition, or not) or creating a trend by sending followers in a certain direction. Take these suggestions with a grain of salt. One size never fits all. One size only fits the designer.

Social media (blogging is a form of social media) is merely another form of networking. Networking is nothing more (and nothing less) than engaging with others. Just because social media doesn't require deodorant, mouthwash or clothes doesn't mean the rules of engagement change. It is that simple. Don't make it complicated.

Is there anything you see in the world of social media that wouldn't work at a face to face get together?

A Puzzlement.

Driving around on Tuesday, I was listening to WSCR-AM, the Chicagoland sports talker.  Each time the hosts mentioned Twitter, they followed with "I mean a social network". The hosts indicated they would explain these corrections later.

source: Wikipedia

I also happened to be listening when the hosts cleared up the "Twitter, I mean social network" statement. CBS which owns WSCR-AM (among other outlets) sent out a memo directing on-air talent to not reference their Twitter handle. Quoting the memo, the hosts relayed "Twitter is the pipeline, our content is the product" or translated "Only reference the station website to avoid building any brand other than CBS and sponsors".

Ignoring the potential social media marketing disaster (experts can break that down better than me) I am still left with a question. I don't think corporations make decisions based on stupidity, I think corporations make decisions based on greed (I mean decisions based on maximizing shareholder wealth). Therefore, I don't understand the directive to not mention Twitter. What could make a corporation  happier than a cadre of on-air talent building the company brand even when the talent isn't on air? That's free labor, and corporations love free labor. So why the Twitter ban? I think either CBS is concerned about complaints from sponsors (why do we pay for advertising and Twitter doesn't) or CBS is scared the talent will build a loyal following that is portable. A portable and dedicated audience for the talent means the non-compete clause that keeps radio hosts off air between jobs means less. That transfers power (and $$$) to the hired help and corporations hate that.

So was the "no Twitter mentions" directive driven by sponsor complaints, management anxiety or my need for a topic? Have you encountered other examples of insecurity driving bad policy? How did that make you feel?

Disable Autosend.

I was out and about Monday afternoon to pick up my wife's Valentine's Day gift. While in the car I was listening to the Chicago sports talk station.  The topic was Jeremy Lin, or more specifically tweets about Jeremy Lin. In short order these tweets were shared and dissected:

source: Wikipedia

• Pat Fitzgerald (or someone representing Pat Fitzgerald), Northwestern U. football coach tweeted that at last there was someone in the NBA that plays hard and says the right thing.
• Floyd Mayweather tweeted that Lin was a good player but his success/publicity was because he wasn't black.
• Jason Whitlock tweeted a thinly veiled reference to penis size. Whitlock's tweet was meant to be humorous and Whitlock failed to be funny.

I have always found one of the best features of social media was the ability to review my thought before expressing myself by hitting send.  I wonder what Lin, a Harvard, graduates thinks about the tweets listed above?

Have you ever posted something online that didn't turn out the way you had intended? Do you find e-communication simpler or more complicated than "live" communication?

Happy Twitterversary To Me.

I joined Twitter on November 30, 2009. My primary reason for joining Twitter was to test my belief that Twitter was an ideal tool to drive demand during off-peak hours in a B2C environment. That test has long since ended. My hypothesis was proven wrong, but that was due to lack of participation from the business owners not a Twitter deficiency. By the time the great experiment was over, I was hooked on Twitter.

source: Wikipedia

Firsts.

The first three Twitter accounts I followed were Ana Marie Cox, Rachel Maddow and Zach Zaidman. Zach answered a tweet I sent about the Chicago Bears the first week I followed him. I'm still following Rachel. I had to whack Ana Marie after a year due to a following/follower imbalance with the Twitter API, but I just refollowed Ana Marie while getting the link for this post.

My first follower was Sima Dahl and if you're not following Sima, what are you waiting for? Sima returns each and every one of my tweets, FB posts and email. I'm both proud and grateful of building a friendship with someone I have yet to meet face to face.  Enough about Sima, I'm sending her a thank you email today.

Today.

I'm following over 3500 and have approximately the same number of followers. The following has been built one at a time, no 'bots. I have fallen in with a bunch of Social Media denizens: novices, enthusiasts and experts (real experts, not self proclaimed experts). I have met and connected with numerous activists/advocates. I have been adopted into and joined multiple tribes. I have also developed relationships with a ton of fine fun people. I am not listing names for fear of accidentally excluding someone.

So to everyone I treasure on Twitter (you know who you are): Thanks for the support, exchanges and RT's. I look forward to another great 12 months and thanks for being in my life.

ROL: Knowing When.

ROL is an abbreviation for Return on Life. Return on Life is all about making small incremental changes that yield large returns on life enjoyment. This week's ROL is about the courage to quit.

Hi, Margie.

I met Margie Clayman through a guest post she wrote about the Rolling Stones and Social Media. We exchanged comments and Margie encouraged me to post my presentation "Fab Four Networking". I subscribed to Margie's blog, often sharing and always enjoying her insight. Margie's post yesterday indicated I won't have the opportunity to appreciate Margie's musings for a while.

Bye, Margie.

Margie is taking some time away from social media. Her decision was driven (according to Margie) by many factors including: a collaborator's disloyalty, 2 e-contact suicides and the fact that social media had become a drain instead of a pleasure. Comments, including mine were all supportive. There is a quiet lesson beyond Margie's self-driven sabbatical.

Thank You, Margie.

Our society operates under the notion that quitting is always bad.

• "Winners never quit and quitters never win."-Vince Lombardi
• "Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul."-Douglas MacArthur
• "Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever."-Lance Armstrong
• "Quitting doesn't enter my mind."-Jimmy Buffet (Jimmy Buffet?)

The stories of the athlete/entertainer/business person persevering through failure after failure after failure to ultimate massive success are repeated ad nauseum in a multitude of different packaging. Unfortunately the stories of those that lost spouses, families, years and/or lives by blindly charging ahead without taking a few quiet moments to evaluate efficacy, efficiency and enjoyment are never told. Strength lies not in forging ahead forever. Strength is admitting when it's time to stop.

Suicide: 3 Observations For Those That Remain.

I have been very lucky during my time on Twitter to find and engage some of the early adopters/opinion makers of social media. Sunday, as I was checking on my feed some of these Social Media mentors were speaking in ominous terms about a friend of theirs, Trey Pennington. I have never met nor do I follow Trey Pennington. Still as an observant person with a background in funeral service, my sense was that Mr. Pennington had died suddenly, perhaps at his own hand. An engine search using "Trey Pennington, suicide" led to a post that confirmed my suspicion. If you are a family member, friend, follower or fan of Trey Pennington, I am sorry for your loss.

For obvious reasons, discussing suicide in the open is uncomfortable. As my aforementioned Social Media friends take to their blogs to start the coping process, I want to offer 3 observations for those left behind talking about the death of a friend.

1. The family of the suicide needs more support than can be quantified. The family's world has been ripped, shaken and thrown into the wind for the world to see. Getting through each minute is draining. Give them all the love you can. This doesn't mean fawning over the family. The support offered needs to be as accessible as a La-Z-Boy recliner and not much louder than the recliner itself. If you are a "larger than life" person assisting a family touched by suicide, you must be your self.  Now would be a good time to find your volume control and set it to 2.
2. You do not need to know how or why regarding the suicide. These answers don't apply to you. DON'T ASK.  Pursuing these questions makes you a window-less voyeur, nothing more.
3. There are people with a sadness induced pain so pervasive, relief can not be found. When a friend is so afflicted and finds relief, be unconditionally resigned to the fact that suicide was a choice to end their own pain. As a "left-behind" your anger or bewilderment is not the suicide's problem. The decision was made irrespective of you. (This does not apply to the family of a suicide. The family of the suicide is entitled to be pissed off it being pissed off gets them through the day. The family of the suicide can deal with their anger later).

As for lessons learned, don't waste time. If you are currently engaged in a war of words with a loved one, find a resolution. Life is too short.  It's also timely to maybe get an extra hug or kiss from a child or spouse. File that memory away and make a note to add another memory before tomorrow. You never know.

Social Media: Hurricane Irene, Givvy and Mashable

I jumped on Twitter (and Facebook, for that matter) November 30, 2009.  Family and friends immediately asked "Twitter? Do you really care what Ashton Kutcher has for lunch?" I had something else in mind. I wanted to test my hypothesis about using Twitter to drive B2C demand (specifically prepared food) during offpeak hours. I thought using twitter to drive demand was possible and in fact it's being done in L.A. The experiment failed in my laboratory of choice. I came out a big winner, though. I made friends with Twitter and in so doing connected with many wonderful mentors and friends along the way. I still don't care what Ashton Kutcher has for lunch, but that's social media. It can be a wonderful tool or an irrelevant doodad. This point was driven home Saturday, as Hurricane Irene began it's New England coastal tour.

Source: Mashable

I found two post on Mashable that caused immediate response. One post got a bravo, the other post a "so?" but it was the juxtaposition of the post that is my source of commentary. The bravo went to a post about Foursquare being used to find evacuation centers in New York during Hurricane Irene. Social media to save lives, yeah! The "so?" went to a post that included a write-up about Givvy, a Facebook gift finding application. Social media for giving cool gifts, okay?

Source: morgueFile.com

Genie Says, "You Only Get Three."

There's nothing wrong with using social media to find great gifts. There's nothing wrong with using social media to follow Aston Kutcher's lunch menu. It's just that it's like using one of three genie wishes to get ahead in line at McDonald's. I am taken aback at using such a powerful tool for something so mundane. Friends, there is simply more to life.

Find Your Comfort Zone.

Social media can be used to do many good things or it can be used to accomplish nothing at all. And if I wanted to be a heavy handed yutz, I would say "Social Media is an excellent metaphor for life.", but I left my sledgehammer at my other laptop. It's always going to be about striking a balance between the sacred (finding a shelter in a hurricane) and the profane (finding a wall salmon that sings Puccini for an opera loving fishing afficionado). Oh and if you want to know what I'm having for lunch don't follow me on Twitter. That's what Google+ is for.

What uses of social media do you find amazing? Silly? A great big waste?

Congress Needs A Marriage Counselor.

There are riots in the streets of Great Britain. As our progenitor and a close ally, is this a portent of things to come? In response to the violence, Prime Minister Cameron is contemplating social media suppression. Note to Prime Minister Cameron: suppression does little to quell frustration boiling over (see Tiananmen Square) unless accompanied by mass murder (see Tiananmen Square). We share a common language with Great Britain. It's time to proactively keep 2011 riots and warm beer uniquely British.

Children Must Be Taught To Play Together.

Imagine this fictional conversation my daughter:

     "Daddy, Johnny won't play with me unless I give him all my crayons."
     "Have your tried talking with Johnny?"
     "He says he won't talk to me unless I give him all my crayons."
This is truly a conundrum. At least until my daughter comes back to me a third (30th?) time and says,
     "Daddy, Johnny won't play with me unless I give him all my crayons."
     "Sweetie, that's very sad. Johnny sure is mean. I do have a question for you. Have you thought of a plan to deal with Johnny other than telling me that Johnny won't play with you unless you give him all your crayons."
     "What kind of plan?"
     "Why not tell Johnny you won't play with him unless he gives you all his paper?"
     "I never thought of that. Daddy, you sure are smart."
I realize few things in life are not as simple as the above example. Things also aren't significantly more complicated than the example above.

Divorce is Not An Option.

My wife and I often disagree passionately and occasionally coarsely about day to day household agenda items.  If my wife and I chose to consistently repeat our original thought as to the best course of action, nothing would get done. The dishes would remain in the sink, the garbage would stay in the house, bills wouldn't be paid and the kids would have no clothes. If my wife and I upped the ante by complaining loudly and longly to our friends, "My wife/husband doesn't understand reality. If he/she refuses to get his/her head out of her ass we will accomplish nothing." The part about accomplishing nothing is patently false. We would accomplish losing all our friends, but the house would still be a disaster. Luckily, my wife and I (and most committed couples) find a way to work it out. One or both parties may be less than thrilled with the compromise, but it's time to move forward.

Paging Dr. Phil.

I can't imagine how tough it is to a member of Congress.  You have multiple offices, multiple residences and a multitude of staff members. Bills are long and not written in plain English. The cost of running for office and the 24 hour news cycle make it nearly impossible to compromise on tough choices. Too bad. Nobody is forced to run for office.  All US leglislators are in Congress of their own volition. It's time to engage with the opposition and accomplish. The option is to kick off your shoes, open a warm beer and watch the riots in the streets.

Any suggestions for Congress? Any thoughts on ways to end this mess?

Ralph Waldo Emerson Trust 30 Challenge: Speak Less (or at least softer).

This trust 30 prompt from Laura Kimball is about speaking less in order to do more. The Emerson text she utilizes is about trusting an inner voice no matter what the rest of the world says or thinks. As support, Ms. Kimball uses a cookie fortune "Speak less of your plans, you'll get more done". Emerson and Cookie go well together. Thanks, Laura.

This two pronged idea for producing results is expressed over and over.

• A picture is worth a thousand words. 
• Put up or shut up. 
• Don't tell me, show me. 
• More eloquently stated by Theodore Roosevelt, "Speak softly and carry a big stick".
• Most eloquently written by Master Emerson, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds".

Simply put, follow your own voice. Screw common wisdom. Ignore the whispers and forge ahead. If you spend your life doing as others suggest, you'll be living someone else's life. I realize this is easier said than done, but there is one sure fire way to set a successful course for your internal compass.

Don't talk about what you are going to do. DO what you are going to do. As Cookie said so very nicely, "you'll get more done". Doing instead of talking doesn't provide fodder for Master Emerson's little minds. Even if those little minds want to give you a piece of their mind (not like they have mind to spare) you'll be too busy doing to engage in conversation. Yes, Virginia, doing instead of talking is the ultimate flip-off.

Needless to say, the prompt reflects back at me. Family and friends consider my dabbling in blogging and other such social media falderal inconsequential. Plus, I talk about needing to spend more time trolling for readers for this blog. So less talking, more marketing and shove the results in the face of naysayers.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Trust 30 Challenge: Invent the Future.

This prompt from Cindy Gallop is about setting long term goals.  Rather than a "to do list", the challenge is to paint the picture of my future. Once I see the future, I can go about the mundane task of filling in the details.

In the future, I see myself in a nice house with a white picket fence in the suburbs. I will have three nearly perfect children, Amanda, Xavier and Fred.  Wait, that's someone else's future. I gotta get a new crystal ball.

My future includes serving as a creator/facilitator of life cycle celebrations for the secular community.  I plan on speaking to secular humanist and atheist gatherings about the importance of ceremonial celebrations and explain the dynamics of creating life cycle events based on music, literature, science and history. My business will have been built via face to face networking and social media. I also will offer consulting to small businesses on building a business via social  media.  If I have time available, I have a very specific website in mind that I would love to develop.

That is a very aggressive future. It's time to start writing down the mundane details.

What about you? How do you see your future? Without a vision for your future you will merely travel life's path as a bystander and wind up living someone else's future. How can you start living your future today?