The lovely people at This Recording, my favorite blog, have an ongoing series of posts about the things they find funny. Molly was the latest to post, but Lucas, Karina, Danish, Elisabeth, Tyler, Georgia and Alex have all thrown their hats into the ring as well.
My turn. Join in if you feel the urge.
Jeremy's latest haircut, Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Segal on How I Met Your Mother, the lobster scene in Annie Hall, Martin Sheen as serial killer Kit Carruthers in Badlands
Julia Louis Dreyfus in The Adventures of New Old Christine, Bob Newhart, mom bloggers (Heather Armstrong, Eden Kennedy and Chris Jordan), Judd Apatow's television series (Freaks and Geeks and Declared)
people who speak loudly at funerals, the bus ride to the African Village with John Bell at Disney World, Hunter S. Thompson, the finale scene in the season three finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm (and most every other scene in the series),
Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, videos of small children swearing, Tobias' business card on Arrested Development
Kristen knows she can get me to post when she tags me on a meme, although this time around she acknowledged that she might be pushing my aversion to "wonder of me" posts a bit too far.
Boy, did she ever.
I started this one the other night and needed to abandon it because it was just too gross. And, well, it's still pretty gross.
100 Amazing Things I've Already Done
This list is meant to be in response to those lists that are often generated about the things you want to do before you die to justify your time on the planet; the kind of list that will inevitably make you feel like sh*t as you look at your watch and realize that time is ticking and the top of Mount Everest isn't getting any closer to sea level.
So, yeah, this is a list of 100 thing that I have already done. Some are more impressive than others, some are about what has shaped me as a person, but all are things that I can pull out as story fodder ("Did I ever tell you about that time . . . ?"). There is a bit of starf*cking going on in here, so excuse me.
Enjoy. I tag everyone who feels the need for a little self affirmation. You can write the list in your notebook if you feel like it.
Advised three presidential campaigns on young voter outreach
Managed to have the most perfectly 80’s iconic first make out session ever: behind the Space Invaders game; at the roller skating rink; wearing sneaker skates, designer jeans, a velour Izod pullover and a turtleneck with a whale on the collar; while Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” played in the background
Mrs. Kennedy and her readers share their love for Harriet the Spy (and Louise Fitzhugh's other masterpieces) at Fussy. I bought a new copy for myself last year because my childhood copy was read so many times it did not survive. Like all smart, mildly odd and not particularly girlie women of a certain age who love to tell a good story, Harriet was/is my hero.
Kristen posted her annual End of Year meme and tagged me to do it as well. I have been posting these now for a couple of years, always prompted to do so by Kristen.
1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make new year's resolutions. I make resolutions every day to take care of myself physically and emotionally. There is a reason I make these resolutions every day: I don't keep them.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
A whole bunch of folks had babies these year, but the person to whom I am closest was Amy, who gave birth to Jonas Aidan -- who resembles an old Chinese man more than most babies do -- on November 8.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
no
5. What countries did you visit?
I did less international travel in 2007 than I did in 2006. I spent a few days in Switzerland (Geneva) and a few days in England (London) in March and, in October, I went to Greece. All trips were work related and two out of three of those trips were with the great Johnny B.
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
a social life that extends a little bit further than drinks at Smith & Wollensky
patience, but I'm not holding out any hope
hope for the political future of our country
7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
I have a few . . .
I'll always remember June 16, the day I visited my grandmother after her apartment fire, because it will be difficult to ever get the sight and scent of her apartment out of my mind, as well as the sadness of seeing her on the balcony of her temporary living space, looking lost -- and old.
On a happier note, I'll remember April 8, the day Andrew and I met up at the Sackler. He was giddy (as much as Andrew can be giddy) about the pottery and I was giddy about spending time with him again.
Finally, I'll remember October 6, the day John and I explored Athens with Michael Darragh. I knew I was getting ready to move on, but I loved seeing something new with John, who has helped me to see so many other new things, often inside myself.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I really do think I grew as a manager. I wasn't always "nice," but I was always incredibly invested in giving my team the opportunity to strengthen their skills and, therefore, their value to the group. I think that's rare. Rarer than it should be.
Beyond that, and despite the fact that not being able to work with John every day SUCKS, I see the new job I will be taking on in 2008 as a big achievement because it is getting me back into advocacy work.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Folks, I ate like a pig.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
This year, it became pretty clear to me that I am getting old. Everything is falling to pieces. No major illnesses or injuries, but a general state of decay has set in. Lordy, it ain't pretty.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I love the brown jacket I bought at Anthropologie, but my Nikon D40x makes me swoon. Just ask Wyatt.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Al Gore for keeping up the fight, John Edwards for his populist message, Elizabeth Edwards for telling cancer (and her critics) to f*ck off, Wayne Coyne for continuing to have more fun than the rest of us, Jon Corzine and Martin O'Malley for fighting the death penalty, Heather Armstrong for her persistent honesty and humor. There are probably others. There are some good folks out there.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
How about appalled and angry? Ann Coulter is, and always will be, scum. She's just embarrassing.
14. Where did most of your money go?
eating out and clothes
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I don't think I got excited enough this year, but I got excited when I got the invite to go to Greece and I got excited when I met the folks with whom I will be working in the new year.
16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Don't give me a hard time, but Not Ready to Make Nice by the Dixie Chicks had the right amount of righteous indignation to get me to sing along every time I heard it. It was released in 2006, but I bought the CD this year.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you
happier or sadder? sadder
thinner or fatter? definitely fatter
richer or poorer? richer
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I wish I had taken care of myself more: emotionally and physically.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
read about Britney Spear's persistent downward spiral
updated my status on Facebook
20. How will you be spending New Year’s?
I think I will be at Julia's.
22. Did you fall in love in 2007?
I was already there.
23. How many one-night stands?
zip
24. What was your favorite TV program?
I loveHow I Met Your Mother, although Kid Nation was a sincere source of fascination.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I don't hate people. I dislike a few, but they're irrelevant.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I honestly can't remember (what I did -- I am well aware of how old I am.) I'm at the point where I'm not a big fan of birthdays.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I could have used some more time with friends and less time working.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
This was the year of the headband.
34. What kept you sane?
That's awfully presumptuous of you . . . I guess Steve did the best he could.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I watched every episode of Homicide this year and I fell in love with Kyle Secor (aka Baylis). Someone needs to give that man (and Andre Braugher) a job.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
There's no one political issue that stirs me. I get riled up pretty easily day to day and there have been points throughout the presidential campaign where I was ready to impale myself, usually because of some ridiculously folksy thing Mike Huckabee said or because I can not believe that anyone would give serious consideration to Rudy Giuliani as President of the United States. But, I was thrilled with the recent Supreme Court decision to enable lower court judges not to follow federal sentencing guidelines for crack offenses, addressing the longstanding disparity between sentencing for crack cocaine and powder cocaine offences. That was one of those, "Wait, someone actually wants to right an injustice?" moments that comes so infrequently.
37. Who did you miss?
I missed Chris. But I took care of that, didn't I?
38. Who was the best new person you met?
I really like Cooper. He tells great stories (I like stories involving his son in which he adopts a voice that sounds like Beavis -- or Butthead, I can't tell -- with a lisp) and, in general, is just a f*cking charming guy. Plus, he was apparently a rock star in a former life. I hope we stay in touch . . . and I wish him the best.
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
Sometimes doing what's right for you hurts more than doing the wrong thing. (I think I knew that already.)
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I try to keep the house nice and neat I make my bed I change the sheets I even learned how to use the washing machine But keeping things clean doesn't change anything ("Hate it Here" by Wilco)
I'm tagging Kaitlyn, Qui and Samantha, although I am not sure any of them will do it.
WhyMommy at Toddler Planet was recently diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. She posted about her diagnosis and asked her readers to share the post -- literally cut and paste it to their own blog -- to spread the word about this easily misdiagnosed and very aggressive form of cancer.
In the past week, at least 60 people have done what WhyMommy asked them to do, spreading the message to their own readers. Those without blogs have emailed it to their friends and family, spreading it even further.
This is an amazing illustration of the organic power of social media. This isn't a manufactured campaign. This isn't about asking a mom blogger to write about something that doesn't matter to them -- whether it's a cause that doesn't touch their heart or a product that doesn't rock their world.
This is about a real women -- and the women who trust her -- having an impact and, hopefully, saving lives.
Here is the full post (share it with the women you love):
We hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and there are millions living with it in the U.S. today alone. But did you know that there is more than one type of breast cancer?
I didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did my monthly breast self-exams, and found no lump, I’d be fine.
Oops. It turns out that you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer. Six weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was red, hot, inflamed, and the skin looked…funny. But there was no lump, so I wasn’t worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics didn’t clear up the inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast specialist and did a skin punch biopsy. That test showed that I have inflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer that can be deadly.
Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.
There is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer out there, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by mammogram. It does not usually present with a lump. It may be overlooked with all of the changes that our breasts undergo during the years when we’re pregnant and/or nursing our little ones. It’s important not to miss this one.
Inflammatory breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors who notice a change in one of their breasts. If you notice a change, call your doctor today. Tell her about it. Tell her that you have a friend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill her. Now you know what I wish I had known before six weeks ago.
You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.
Can You Hear Me Now? One in four young people between the ages of 18 and 24 only have cell phones -- no land lines -- and even more, 29 percent of 25 to 29 year olds do, according to a survey from the CDC. Other correlating factors include lower incomes and race and ethnicity: 15 percent of Hispanic adults, 13 percent of Black adults and 12 percent of Asian American adults only have cell phones, while 11 percent of white adults do. It's a reality that pollsters and political campaigns are contending with in the lead up to the 2008 election.
You Will Learn to Like This. MomMeTV is Internet TV for, by and about moms. But it doesn't really feel like user generated content. Yet?
Facebook Rules. According to Compete, Facebook has been growing since September, with a 23 percent growth in April and the greatest density of users in the Northeast. Is it a coincidence that the Northeast also has the greatest density of colleges and universities?
My fascination with mom blogs has always been the fact that so many of these women are willing to admit that -- sometimes -- they are just not that good at their job.
The creators of True Mom Confessions, one of whom -- Rebecca Wolfe at Girl's Gone Child -- is a mom blogger herself, takes that to a whole new level. Just like Post Secret, which Rachel Sklar at Eat the Press compares the new site to, it's funny, frightening and sad all at that same time. And like Post Secret, I like the idea of it more than I imagine I will like reading it on a regular basis. I like the honesty, but I am also a sucker for the great writing of folks like Heather Armstrong or Mrs. Kennedy.
Jesse sent a message today to alert us that the Bloggies had been awarded. Jesse sends lots of messages about things that he finds online. He's like the grandma that cuts out things from the newspaper and sticks them in an envelope and sends them to you at college and makes you wonder why the h*ll she's sending them to you.
But then you remember that you always were an ungrateful grandchild and that it's actually a nice thing to do and you should really just shut up and appreciate it.
ANYWAY, this post is really about the fact that Dooce didn't win a single one of the FIVE categories for which she was nominated (Heather Armstrong = Susan Lucci?) but that I have decided, with no question at all, that she is perhaps the reason why Al Gore invented the Internet.
She makes me laugh, she makes me cry, she makes me want to take pictures.
Thank you, Dooce. You are, without rival, the best.
End the Death Penalty — Maryland's new governor, Martin O'Malley is a rock star in so many ways. His efforts to eliminate the death penalty in the state — and replace it with life without parole — make him a hero in my eyes. On Wednesday, he outlined his reasons for opposing the death penalty on the op-ed pages of The Washington Post.
Show Off Your Decorating Talent — Mashable posted on Tuesday that HGTV has launched a new social network that allows amateur interior decorators to brag and get feedback on their rooms, Rate My Room. 5,500 people are lovin' Jim's kitchen. What do you think?
Plan(ned) Parenthood — I just ended my cell plan with Verizon last weekend and now I come across this new plan from Planned Parenthood via Freakonomics (although it's frustrating that they don't provide a direct link to the plan!) Check out the comments on the post because it looks like the anti-choice folks are pretty adept at the social media as advocacy tool, getting their folks out to spread their word. The plan comes courtesy of Working Assets and they have a special offer through to the end of March. BuzzFeed considers the conversation about the plan buzzworthy.
Plug in for Cash — I'm with Cory at Boing Boing. Avoid the Dallas/Forth Worth airport if you can. Apparently they're pretty hard up for cash because they're charging you to plug in your laptop between flights. For frequent travelers, the Air Power Wiki lets you know where to find (free) outlets in airports. Check it out before your next trip. (There's a bad link to the wiki in the Boing Boing post.)
Dooce Does Her Part — In addition to the fact that she makes me laugh, I love Heather Armstrong at Dooce because she is making her own special contribution to eradicating stigma about mental illness. She'll make you wish you never laughed at a Britney Spears joke after you read her post on the topic this Thursday.
Dooce was the one that pointed me in the direction of this Craig Ferguson monologue in which he too says, "Leave her alone." 167,000 views on YouTube can't be wrong.
The folks at Sportsvite stopped by the other day to tell me about their site, which is a social network site that creates a bridge into the "real" world by allowing people to organize their sports teams online, or find a team to join. I found 43 ultimate frisbee players here in DC, which would be cool, except that I don't know how to play ultimate frisbee, but Jake does . . .
Blog the Campaign in 08 is a new blog looking at "how social media is changing the political landscape," which I guess I do here from time to time as well (and anticipate doing more of over the course of the next year and a half until I get sick and tired of analyzing social media and become a dictator of my own country in which I control all media). Marianne Richmond, one of the editors over at BlogHer, is one of four contributors. I found the blog via Buzzfeed — along with The Soccer Mom Vote — when Buzzfeed posted about "Presidential Campaigns from a Mommy Perspective".
I deleted a couple of blogs from the blog roll and added my colleague Jim Dowling's blog, Let's Keep It Simple, because, in addition to the fact that I like what he has to say, I appreciate his subtitle:
It's public relations, not rocket science.
It reminds me of the time my colleague Chris came into my office, exasperated, because someone had just called with a PR "emergency". "We work in PR," Alison, "we're not trauma surgeons."
John Bell is still in Asia and has been posting throughout his trip if you want to check out his posts at Digital Influence Mapping Projector John Bell's Other Blog, although he reports today that random acts of Chinese censorship are preventing him from posting to the latter of the two (the first is TypePad and the second is Vox -- you explain the logic). I particularly liked his post from yesterday about the inadequacy of tools being used to assess influence among bloggers in Asia, in part because of my frustration with the open source tools available here in the U.S.
I'm posting a picture of JB from his trip that I swiped from his blog because I miss him. Plus, he's got the Great Wall behind him.
Last Monday, The New York Times had a profile of "China's hottest Internet company" and its president, Pony Ma. The company is making the government nervous because, with its access to 100 million users, they have the capacity to start a political or economic revolution.
Elsewhere in Asia, on Thursday the BBC had a piece about young people in India using the Internet for worship.
Web Metrics
Movers 2.0 tracks the popularity of Web 2.0 sites, using Alexa rankings. The Compete snapshot shouldn't be so many layers down, nor should the blog search, but I'm still a fan of the one stop shop style.
Politics
With his announcement yesterday that he was officially joining the race, Barack Obama ("Barry" is what the Post says he went by back in high school) also launched his campaign web site. It looks like it has most of the features featured on Edwards' site, with a better presentation (less chaotic). I don't know why, but I actually feel a little depressed that the use of social media has become so run of the mill. I mean, you can use the toys, but do you know the rules of the game? Pete Cashmore at Mashable says the folks at the campaign might, in fact, not know. The opportunity to mark your own territory -- for self expression -- just aren't there. "In other words," says Cashmore, "it's Obama's space, not yours."
From the February 19 issue of Newsweek, Jonathan Darman wonders if the real John Edwards has finally stood up.
Research
Jupiter says that 22 percent of teens are watching online video once a week or more. And these kids are more active online overall -- and more socially influential.
comScore breaks the generations down according to their views on cell phones. It's official. I'm old. Give me a phone that rings and takes messages and leave me alone.
Digital Advocacy
Change.org launched on Wednesday as a social network for "social causes". Global warming is the most popular "change" people want to see right now (as it is for Richard Branson) although Amnesty International is the most popular nonprofit, demonstrating how important good branding is. As with all social networks, Change.org will be judged by who joins up and, without a critical mass just yet, that's hard to determine.
Is Memory Miner "a key transformative moment in the evolution of photography" or just really f*cking cool? (Thanks to Josh Spear for giving me something new to drool over.)
Instant messaging provides about as much appeal to me as chewing tinfoil -- but Meebo makes it easier for those people who apparently have an urge to be instantly accessible to their friends, family, co-workers and ladies who want to show you a good time.
Online Education Database has a post from this past Tuesday about the Top 25 Web 2.0 search engines. I don't really know what I am going to use it for, but retrievr, which allows you to search by "sketch" or uploaded image, could be hours of fun. This is one of the results from me using that picture of John from up there.
John Bell in a remake of "Big".
Other Stuff
I don't need your stinkin' money, but these people do. Take a gamble on folks with ideas and no credit via Prosper.
Mommy bloggers are bringing down Matt and Meredith's and Diane's numbers.
Not So Sticky — The Compete blog looks at Stickam, a relatively new social network site that enables users to chat via real time video feeds. They're growing in terms of unique visits, but they aren't doing so hot when it comes to getting people to stick around and engage. What's the problem? It could be that they haven't reached enough of a critical mass that people feel like there's anyone out there to talk to (not sure if all of the unique visitors actually have the technology to participate). It could be that the appeal of relative anonymity that comes with most social network sites gets dashed on the rocks when you're dealing with real time video. Any other ideas?
Personally, I'd Rather Eat a Nacho Cheese Chalupa — John Moore at Brand Autopsy makes an argument for better products and better customer experience as the real key to market share by comparing Starbucks' ad buy with its market share among the other nine in the list of Top 10 Restaurant Chains. For example, while Starbucks (#6 on the list) spent just $16.6 million on advertising in 2005 but managed to secure 1.7 percent of the market, Taco Bell (which is #5), spent 14 times that amount ($231.7 million) to have just .2 percent more of the market share (1.9 percent). Of course, this presumes that better products and better customer experience define Starbucks . . .
Doctor Doctor — John Bell has become a man possessed when it comes to social media and health care. He wrote a great post today about doctors and social media, effectively squashing the notion that doctors aren't embracing the potential that technology offers them to learn from their peers and tell their stories.
Moms with Attitude — I found a new mom blogger to read -- Stacie at Mommy Mosh Pit. She's also at Do You Have One of These? ("Think photojournalism meets scavenger hunt.") I'm joining up.
Procrastination is a bitch. I've got to catch up on a week of del.icio.us tags.
Research
Last Sunday, Pew released a new study on teens' use of social networking sites. More interesting than the research itself is Danah Boyd's comment that the results were likely influenced by parents who stayed close by as their kids responded to the questions about things like privacy, speaking to strangers online and using the sites to flirt and meet new people.
Things that Made Me Laugh
Heather at Dooce wrote about getting her daughter Leta the laughing Tickle Me Elmo doll for Christmas (the video she posted is worth watching). I considered forwarding her this video, but I decided that I might just come across as a little odd. Of course, Heather is odd . . .
We're trying to ban the use of the term "blogosphere" from our office.
I have more of a sense of humor than Crooks and Liars. I'm not going to point out anything about the strength and power of the energy lobby. This is just damn funny (as a sad statement about how pathetic we really are).
I don't work in an advertising agency, but this still isn't entirely unfamiliar.
Digital Advocacy
With its new My State of the Union contest, MySpace is asking its users to tell the country what they think, just in time for the President's State of the Union address (January 23). It would have been nice if they had managed to find someone who wasn't a white guy to serve as judge, but it's an interesting idea nevertheless. Of course, then the winning kid will realize that their ideas go nowhere and they'll just go back to blowing things up and filming it and putting it up on YouTube. (Cynical Alison rears her ugly head.)
Justin Oberman at Personal Democracy Forum writes about Amnesty International's new anti-Guantanomo Bay campaign which asks folks to text their support for the campaign via SMS, thanks to Jed Alpert's Rights-Group, which also supports John Edwards' OneCorps. My old colleague, Katrin Verclas, offers up her critique of the campaign, which I agree with 100 percent. Amnesty delays gratification and makes it unclear what impact supporters' actions are having. By the way, Katrin's organization, MobileActive, has a great wiki with excellent information on "cell phone for civic engagement".
Digital Influence
Marketing Pilgrim reports on a recent study that concludes that Inc. 500 companies are embracing social media at a quicker pace than Fortune 500 companies. Time to catch up, folks.
I'm not trying to make money off this blog, but Tony Hung's tips on "How to Market Your Blog in 2007" are still worth tagging.
Digital Influence in Asia
John Bell is going to Asia on February 1 for three weeks to meet with our team members in that part of the world and I've been tagging relevant news items and blog posts for him and for myself, as my personal interest in global digital influence grows.
Google has invested in Xunlei, a "Chinese multimedia site" with more than 120 million users, as part of its effort to compete with Baidu.com, its "main rival in the country" and the country's #1 search engine, specifically for the youth audience.
Meanwhile, Yahoo is focusing its energy on a high-income business audience, after struggling for the past seven years to find its niche.
Business Week reported on the Catch-22 of the growing popularity of consumer generated media in China. "You can get monster traffic with the right video, but you could get in big trouble for showing it." State-controlled media has led to a whole generation of young people with "pent up energy" that they're looking to use to create their own material.
Imagine getting dating tips from the users of MySpace. Okay, that's maybe not such a good idea. But there's a great tale from Japan in Wired about a geek who managed to woo a pretty girl with the support of the members of 2Channel, a community site. "Get enough sleep, cut your nose hair, have breath mints, charge your cell phone, brush your teeth, take enough money, take a shower, and — in case of emergency — wash your penis properly." (A rule all of us should live by.) Train Man could just be Japan's version of LonelyGirl15, but he's still captured the attention of a nation.
The BBC's Paul Mason writes about the social and economic impact that mobile technology is having in Kenya.
Sound of Music
There's finally some good news for the music industry! According to eMarketer.com, sales of music downloads continue to grow — "60% of U.S. consumers report that they are listening to more music since they have gone online . . . (expanding) their musical tastes, allowing them to discover new artists and explore new musical options." Bad news for Britney, but good news for the rest of us. The Long Tail in action! Word of mouth about music is on the rise, as is concert attendance.
Apple
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the iPhone (stop drooling), but Steve Jobs, Green My Apple! In an alternate universe, you did . . .
Why do people get so bent out of shape — like AdRants — about Green My Apple (enough to make me want to comment)? Greenpeace is not trying to make you feel guilty, so relax.
I considered investing in the iPhone, as the chains that Verizon binds me with become loose this March, but then I read this post from CenterNetworks about what the iPhone is actually going to cost me: $1,936. I'd rather go to Japan.
Politics
I don't think Barbara Boxer meant to suggest that there was anything wrong with Condoleeza Rice's choice to live her life as a single women with no children, but her comment on Thursday during Rice's testimony in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, rubbed me the wrong way too.
The new national political news site, The Politico, launches on January 23 — in time for the President's State of the Union address — but I'm with mcjoan at DailyKos that it's a whole lot of hype about not much of anything. In this case, the medium is NOT the message. It's about who is delivering the message: the people. Suddenly this feels a great deal like 2000 . . .
Eating
Despite the fact that I've barely eaten anything over the past five days and I have stopped watching television because the food commercials ad to my nausea, I tagged BakeSpace and FoodCandy, two foodie community sites that PSFK shared this week. While it appears to have a wealth of content, FoodCandy is tough to navigate and the Google Ads in the side bar make it look a little low rent, which I suppose it might just be. It has restaurant recommendations — while BakeSpace does not — but weeding through them is not an entirely obvious process. BakeSpace, according to the site, is "one big recipe swap." I think they might have a leg up over FoodCandy if they choose this path — focusing on food makers versus food eaters. They're not always the the same audience. Build a niche.
UrbanSpoon, meanwhile, is all about restaurants. And they know something about keeping it simple, as they say themselves in their tag line: "Just a simple restaurant site. Eat out. Take out. Drive through. It's all here." The best feature is the New York restaurant map, enabling users to search by neighborhood -- which is good for tourists (who might benefit from the ability to visualize the neighborhoods) as well as natives.
Finn McKenty, in addition to having a great name, has a smart way of looking at brands. Is your brand punk enough?
Glam is apparently the #2 "women's property". I have never heard of it. Should I be worried about my status as a digital influence expert or my status as a woman?
my Google Reader trends — Jason over at My Life Online was the first to tell me about Google Reader Trends. I love it too, but I only (?) have 113 subscriptions and I have only (?) read 1,885 items in the past 30 days. And, because of my beloved del.icio.us, I don't share or star items on Google Reader. My favorite bit of news is that -- out of those in my Top 40 (the most prolific posters) -- I read 100 percent off what Heather at Dooce, Chris at Notes from the Trenches and Kristen at My Back Pages have to say. Keep it coming, ladies. (JB, if you posted more frequently . . .)
GLB crowd online more than everyone else — Harris Interactive has new research that says that the GLB (minus the T?) crowd spends more time online each week than straight folks. And, more specifically, gays, lesbians and bisexuals spend more time using social networking sites (Friendster, MySpace), and even CraigsList and YouTube. And, while 12 percent of straight people are blog readers (according to Harris), 24 percent of GLB's are and -- 2 to 1 -- have a more positive reaction to blog ads.
another parenting site — Mom Junction put out a press release last week announcing that they had raised $1.5 million in funding. According to the press release, the site launched November 1 and has seen a steady increase in membership. But there are no numbers to qualify what that means.
aggregating music reviews —Critical Metrics goes against the trend by aggregating music reviews from "the pros," versus word of mouth from consumers.
a cloaked launch — Ben McConnell at Church of the Customer Blog thinks that the folks at Disney -- with their high profile launch of their new social networking site for kids -- have it all wrong. "A new social network practically requires a cloak of invisibility to build the support of influential early adopters," says Ben.
redirecting potential edwards supporters — As far as I'm concerned, tactics such as this are likely to backfire. It's deceitful, disruptive and a sign of weakness and not strength.
where the women bloggers are — Elisa Camahort tells the story of the creation of BlogHer and why women bloggers are a force to be reckoned with in her ChangeThis manifesto. (Thanks to Andre for sending it my way.)
how to screw up a relationship with a consumer — Disney is getting ready to launch a social network for kids, but, says Gavin O'Malley, are they going to stifle the kids creative expression by incorporating parental controls? It's a cautionary tale for companies trying to create community sites for their consumers.
mommies, mommies everywhere — I love the Frappr map that DotMoms has added to their site.
While Kawasaki, Huba and McConnell don't make the connection (in the interview), Chisholm points out the relevance of the description of the motivation and identification of "citizen marketers" (customer evangelists) to politics.
I moderated a panel today -- with Michael Silberman from EchoDitto and Hal Malchow from MSHC Partners -- on lessons learned from nonprofits and politics (with a little more politics than nonprofits) at the Word of Mouth Marketing Association conference.
My perspective is that political campaigns have relied on word of mouth for a long time now for three distinct reasons:
it's cost effective,
personal contact is the most effective way to compel people to take action, and
campaign volunteers are an enthusiastic group of folks that campaigns can leverage to get the word out on their behalf.
There are also three reasons why word of mouth has become that much more integral to political campaigns:
there is a decrease in trust in traditional media as a source of political information (both sides of the ideological spectrum view the mainstream media as being biased, while claiming to be objective),
the growth of social media has provided the technology to facilitate word of mouth more easily, and
social media has also created a level of expectation among consumers/constituents that they should have an active and engaged role with their brands -- whether it's a new soft drink or a candidate for President of the United States.
Some other links, worthy of being tagged . . .
Fussy turned down Babble's offer to join them as a writer. It's yet another parenting site, this one focusing on "the new urban parent", aka hipsters with strollers who live in Park Slope.
Chris Anderson acknowledges that things are changing for media properties like Wired and ponders what they could do to respond and to become "radically transparent": open up the doors to let the reader in on the process, democratize content to give equal weight to what the reader says (grumblers in the newsroom, I sincerely feel for you). It's exciting stuff, and Anderson believes that the upsides outweigh the downsides, but I come from the school of thought that says that some people actually know more than I do about certain things and I value their opinion and expertise. It's not quite the same as going to a doctor because that doctor went to medical school and you didn't, nor did the guy who fixes your car (and so you wouldn't ask him to check out an ache you have in your shoulder). But there are people who I like to read and I like to read them because they have invested time and energy into learning their topic and because they have a way with words.
Julia Louis Dreyfus in The Adventures of New Old Christine, Bob Newhart, mom bloggers (Heather Armstrong, Eden Kennedy and Chris Jordan), Judd Apatow's television series (Freaks and Geeks and Declared)
the scene in Fearless Freaks where Wayne Coyne has the kids reenact the Long John Silver robbery, Rushmore, someecards.com, As Time Goes By
Natalie Portman raps
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