No blog post today – I’ve been too busy podcasting. Check out the latest episode over at www.geekgrls.com – I’m talking Podcamp Montreal, SavvyAuntie.com and what I did on my summer vacation!
Online Authenticity – You Be The Judge
There are still a lot of skeptics out there when it comes to trusting other people online. I speak with people all the time who are not involved in online communities. I ask them why they haven’t gotten involved. I get a lot of answers, but perhaps the most interesting response I get is that they don’t trust what they read in the social media space. In other words, they don’t believe that people are being genuine. This causes some concern to me, especially since I tend to find the opposite to be true. In my 2 + years of being involved in social media, I have only come across only a very few people who were truly misrepresenting themselves. I find it interesting that people have no problem meeting other people at a business meeting, a bar, a conference, or on the street and trusting those people right away. But take away the physical presence, and the story is entirely different. What is it about meeting people online that makes people trust less? It seemsthat if I can’t see you in 3-D, shake your hand, breathe the same air as you, then I can’t trust you. The truth is, I’ve met a lot more people face to face in my life that that I don’t trust than people I’ve met only on the Web. Some people who I’ve known only in person have been capable of great deception and misrepresentation – more than anyone I’ve come across online to this point. In fact, I actually think that meeting someone online actually gives me MORE reason to trust them. Why? Because online, people (the trustworthy ones) tend to exist in more than one place. That makes it much easier for me to verify their story. Case in point: If I meet someone at a restaurant and they give me their business card, I only have a very little information about them. Their name, their place of employment, their email address. Fact is, I don’t even REALLY know if the card they have given me is theirs (unless their photo is on it – rare). Sure, I can Google them when I get home, but what if their name is John Smith and they work for a giant corporation? Not so easy. However, if I meet someone on Twitter, I have multiple ways of verifying their story. I can see how many followers they have. I can ask some of those followers to back up the person’s story. I can check out the person’s blog, see who is linking to it. I can look at where they say they work. I can see pictures of them. Check their LinkedIN profile, their Facebook profile. I can get a pretty good picture in a very short amount of time from someone who has a reasonably broad online presence. I can feel as if I know something about them, have a sense of their honesty and then make a decision on whether or not they are authentic. The key to online authenticity is to have a certain level of saturation through many social networks. Here are some ways you can do that: Don’t just exist on Facebook. Get your name out on other social networks, such as Twitter, LinkedIN, Plurk, identi.ca. Consider starting a blog. Don’t have the time? Try Tumblr instead. Make comments on a variety of blogs. Be authentic when sharing your opinion in these spaces. Be open to people getting in touch with you via email or on your cell phone. No matter what, always be 100% authentic in your interactions. Don’t falsefy or exagerrate facts about yourself. Don’t want to share your marital or employment status online? Instead of fibbing about it, just don’t say anything. You absolutely have the right to share only that information you are comfortable sharing. In the end, it’s up to each of us to judge whether we find someone to be authentic or not, in person or online. If you are unsure of who to trust, the best thing you can do is get involved in the community and begin to listen to the conversations going on around you. You will figure out soon enough who you feel is trustworthy. And anyone who isn’t? That’s what the “Block” button is for. What do you think? Is authenticity more of an issue online or in person?
How Labels Make Us Miss the Point
Labels. Our world is consumed by attaching labels to things, and then identifying with those labels entirely, to the point where the entire meaning of what that thing represents is lost. Consider politics. Our politicians are depicted in both Canada and the U.S. based on labels. It’s not how well they can do the job, their integrity, their honesty that people concern themselves with. What is more important to people is to apply labels (“She’s a woman with a pregnant daughter”, “He’s an old guy with health problems”, “He’s black”.) In Canada – (“He has no personality”, “He can hardly speak English”, “She’s a livewire”). (DISCLAIMER – The above quotes are NOT personal opinions of mine (I have a policy NOT to get involved in politics online). I’m simply trying to make a point.) My point is, the real effectiveness of the entire election process is lost, because people apply labels, and then are led to believe that this is what our candidates actually represent. Turn to social media, which these days is ripe with labels. Community Builder, Enabler, Trust Agent, Social Media Guru…these are all words I’ve heard in my travels around the Internet lately. There is nothing inherently wrong with using these words to describe an aspect of the subject matter. Where the line goes fuzzy is when people start to identify with any of these things. When people are identified with being one thing or another, then it’s easier for them to push other people aside. The feeling is “You’re not a [insert label here]…what possible contribution could you have to make?” There’s also a point where labels can give people a false sense of credibility – something they can hide behind. Just because you put on your blog that you are a “Community Builder” or a “Social Media Expert” doesn’t make you that thing. What gives someone authenticity and credibility is their actions. Some characteristics of this kind of person include: He writes/presents well, clearly articulating concepts and opinions. She debates cleanly and presents an honest alternative to the status quo. He teaches others. She is accepting of other points of view but stands up for what she believes. She is friendly, open, generous and kind to people, even her detractors. He doesn’t change his “label” every three weeks to meet the current trends. Labels are necessary in order to make sense of our world on a practical level. But attaching anything more to a label than it’s role as an identifying marker stifles the ability for people to move beyond, to what is deeper. In the end, the underlying truth of defining this new media space will be lost unless we move beyond superficial labels and begin to explore what is really going on here.
CNN Wants YOU!
A 4.0 earthquake rattled the San Francisco area last night. I was up late, hanging out on Twitter when it happened. I follow many people on Twitter from the San Fran area, so the sudden influx of earthquake-related tweets was at once fascinating and a bit disconcerting. Fortunately, it was a minor quake and there doesn’t appear to be any reports of injuries or damage. Having lived through many a quake myself (I lived on the Queen Charlotte Islands, where a fault very similar to California’s San Andreas Fault exists), I can definitely relate to the jolt that even a minor quake like this sends through you. At the time of the quake, I jokingly tweeted “San Fran earthquake on Twitter. You heard it here first, folks! Where is CNN?” Much to my surprise, I received this response from @flourish: @flourish is Trish Higgins, and she’s a Producer at CNN. It’s the first time I’ve ever asked “Where’s CNN?” and CNN actually answered me! This past weekend, sitting in a hotel in Indianapolis, I was watching with great interest the coverage of Hurricane Gustav on CNN. Frequently, they would throw to a reporter, sitting at a desk, reading through piles of..you guessed it…Twitter posts, from people in the hurricane zone. This is it, people. It doesn’t get any more live and on location than those people who are living it at that second. CNN knows this, and is seizing the opportunity in a big way. The immediacy of micro-blogging has great power. You can dispatch all the camera crews in the world, but none of them are going to be able to get the reaction of someone sitting in their chair AS an earthquake happens. Twitter, on the other hand, has the power to do this. This is the new news gathering. The world is changing before our eyes, in 140 characters or less.
Content and The Next Generation
Tomorrow I begin teaching my first video production class to a group of about 40 future web and new media designers. I have another 40 to teach on Monday. I’m pretty excited about it. We’re going to have a ton of fun, learning to write, shoot, and edit video and discovering the power of video as a Web medium. At the same time, I’m thinking about some serious things too. It occurs to me that this particular group of students, at this particular time, are squarely centered on the sharp, bleeding edge of the Internet. Social media is a burgeoning industry, and every day new and innovative ways to interact online are revealed (Chrome and Ubiquity are two that I’m pretty fired up about right now). Computers are smaller, faster, and more connected than ever before. And that’s only going to continue to grow and evolve at lightning speed. As information disperses more and more widely, there is a real danger that the line between content and creator will become blurred. This is risky business. It’s so easy now to just mash it up, plop it on YouTube, and walk away. Peer to peer sharing is widespread, without a second thought to the source of the content. In our copy-and-paste world, plagiarism is at epidemic levels in our secondary and post-secondary schools. I know that the whole issue of copyright and ownership has been beat to death out here in the Blogosphere. But it is critical that the content creators of tomorrow understand the gravity of the situation. Nearly all of the knowledge in the world is now available at the click of a button; this is a dramatic shift from even 5 years ago. And more content is coming online every day. According to this article, Technorati alone tracks more than 110 million blogs. Today’s students are the people who are going to be creating the Web of the future. At some point we must begin to consider the continued integrity of the content on this future Web. I believe that those of us who have been in the Web industry since its inception about 10 or so years ago and in other forms of “traditional” media before that, have a responsibility to these up and coming creatives. We must ensure that they understand how to create good content. But we absolutely must pass on the utter importance of creating content that is real and true and unique, for this is the underlying motivation that will generate that good content. It’s up to all of us to maintain the integrity of the Web, by upholding copyright and plagiarism laws and by not tolerating content that is racist, hateful or harmful to others. Now that the Internet, social media and new media are becoming more common on the curricula of our schools, we must instill more than just a knowledge about what is hot and new. We must instill a sense that we are all ultimately responsible for what the Web becomes.
First You Learn the Lesson….Then You Teach
Life is full of lessons. Every day I learn at least one thing that I didn’t know the day before. I would say we probably all do. The past 5 years or so have been a time of tremendous learning and growth for me. I’ve bought a house, gotten married (yes, in that order – which I highly recommend!), become a full-time entrepreneur, worked hard to weed out the negative people in my life, and reconnected with some wonderful old friends. I’ve discovered a rich and fascinating online world, and made some really great new friends here. It’s like I’ve been climbing up a slope of learning these past few years. The path was really steep sometimes. Occasionally I stumbled, even fell. Other times it leveled out; it was pretty smooth sailing. I’m grateful to have had plenty of help on my journey, from incredible friends, and of course my family. Now I feel like I’ve come to the top of the mountain. I can see pretty clearly what lies ahead of me, and more importantly, what I need to do to get there. As I begin to travel down the other side of the mountain, I am able to release some of my new knowledge as I go. This is happening in all aspects of my life right now. Professionally, I have the amazing opportunity to pass on my more than 18 years of media industry experience to young people who are just starting out in their careers. Now that I am happily married, I find myself passing on advice to my single girlfriends about dating, finding the person that’s right for you, and being happy in a relationship. And, now that I’ve weeded out the bad energy in my life, I’m able to help others to do the same. I know that once I am through this teaching phase and at the bottom of the mountain again, I will climb the next mountain of learning. There are many more mountains to climb, many more challenges to face. I am happy to know that I’ve made it this far, and that I have something to offer as a result. And I am excited to know there’s much more to come. Photo by Matt Phillips on Flickr.
Social Media Best Practices
Superbloggers Mitch Joel and Chris Brogan have asked people to contribute their “Social Media Best Practices”, so I thought I’d chime in with my own: Comment on Other People’s Blogs This is my personal favourite, because I think it is truly the best way to get involved in social media – for the beginner, it allows them to have their say, even if they aren’t ready to have their own blog. For people who have been around the circles for a while, it’s a great way to stay connected and self promote. For the social media expert, it’s a great way to help others and spread the word about new and exciting things within this fascinating space. So get out there and join in the amazing conversations that are going on. Now, according to the rules, I’m supposed to tag some other people to contribute, so here goes: Bob LeDrew (Flacklife) Joe Boughner (42 Points on a Double Word Score) Jay Moonah (Media Driving) Stacerella (strangeaddiction.com) If I didn’t tag you – then write your own post – just follow these steps or go to Mitch’s blog to check out the full details: Blog it. Link to Mitch’s blog Tag it “social media marketing best practices” And then tag someone else. This is kinda fun, eh?
What is the scariest thing you've ever done?
The most fun thing about blogging for me (besides the fact that I love to write), is the comments that people leave. So I’m leaving this post up to you. Your job? Answer this question: We reap the most rewards from conquering those things we fear the most. The question is: What is the scariest thing you’ve ever done? I eagerly await your responses. Photo by bast on Flickr
Our Disposable Society
All this talk about the environment. Landfills filling up, global warming, going green…it’s the underlying theme of society these days. It’s not a bad thing that everyone is talking about it…in fact, it’s vitally important. As Canada’s most famous environmentalist, Dr. David Suzuki says: “We’re in a giant car heading towards a brick wall and everyone’s arguing over where they’re going to sit.” Here’s the thing that really ticks me off. As we are bombarded with messages about all of the horrible things we are doing to the environment, big companies continue to make products that are harmful. Here’s just a brief list of stupid inventions that I think are just plain wasteful: Microwave Steaming Bags. Think about it. Do you really need a plastic bag to steam your food in the microwave? How did you do it before the microwave steaming bag was invented? What’s that? In a container? In a pot on the stove? In fact, studies have shown that veggies steamed in the microwave lose up to 97% of valuable nutrients like antioxidants, so there’s not really much point in nuking your veg in the first place. Throw that broccoli into a salad instead. You’ll be healthier and so will the environment. Disposable Toilet Scrubbers. So, I can go to IKEA and buy a toilet brush for $1.50. Or I can go to the grocery store and buy a pack of throw-away toilet scrubbers for $5.99. The toilet brush works just as well, and I can use it over and over. If it gets dirty, I can soak it in a bit of bleach and voila! It’s like new. The toss-away toilet scrubbers are just about the silliest invention I’ve seen. Just slap it on, scrub away then toss it. The commercials even say “Then just throw it away!” What kind of attitudes are we developing when we allow advertisers to tell us just to toss away anything we don’t need? Again, we got along just fine for years using an old fashioned toilet brush. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Plastic bags full of ads that get stuck on my doorknob. This is about the most ridiculous invention ever. I’m not sure about where you live, but where I live, there’s this company whose sole purpose is to fill up these plastic bags with a bunch of glossy, un-recyclable papers advertising various, mostly useless products I can buy in my neighbourhood. They hang the bags on the doorknobs of everyone’s house. It happens about once every 6 weeks or so. Let’s say they distrubute one to even 50% of the households in my city. That’s about 250,000 houses. 250,000 useless plastic bags full of useless, non-recylable paper, about 8 times a year. That’s 2 million plastic bags over the course of a year, most of which end up being tossed in the garbage without even being looked at. Sad, isn’t it. Why do companies keep creating these products? Because we keep buying them. If we are truly going to start making positive changes, we need to stop being such a disposable society, and we need to start taking a stand against these kinds of senseless, wasteful products. Here are a few proactive things you can do right now to start along this path: Stop buying this crap. Write to the companies making these products and tell them you are going to stop using any of their products until they stop producing harmful things. Write to your government representative and tell them you want tougher regulations put in place with regards to how people distribute and advertise these kinds of products. Stop buying this crap.
Step, Don't Leap Out of Your Comfort Zone
I spend a great deal of time outside my comfort zone these days. I have to admit, I’m starting to get used to it. I’ve blogged previously about that “shy little girl” that lives inside of me. The one that wouldn’t in a million years dream of teaching a college class, singing on stage, making a cold sales call. I’ve overcome a lot of fears in the past several years, but I’m not nearly done yet. I have many more fears to work through. Many more steps to take outside of that cushy, warm comfort zone of mine. You see, that’s the thing about comfort zones. Once you’ve stepped outside, the circle just widens. You conquer one thing, and there’s another right in front of you. And that’s a good thing! Here’s the important thing to remember. This ever-expanding circle of comfort needs to move at a certain pace. If it expands too quickly, the risk of failure becomes much higher. (Not that failing sometimes is a bad thing – but that’s another post.) Let’s say you are terrified of heights. Would you immediately go and jump out of an airplane at 10,000 feet in an effort to overcome your fear? Not likely. Maybe you’d start by just climbing a few steps up a ladder. Then maybe graduate to going up a 10 storey building and looking out over a balcony. Then maybe a lookout tower somewhere. And so on, until you work your way up to that 10,000 foot drop. Getting out of your comfort zone does not have to be a death-defying feat of bravery every single time. It’s just a matter of taking a small step. And then another. And another. Each time you take a step, your circle widens. And before you know it, you’ve conquered another fear. There’s no need to take a flying leap out of your comfort zone. One step at a time is all it takes. Just make sure your steps are consistent, and frequent, and you will reap the rewards that overcoming your fears can provide. How do you approach stepping outside your comfort zone?