All posts in Random Observations

Witnessing the Marriage Equality discussion…

by admin on December 2, 2011 in Politics, Random Observations with No comments

Witnessing the Marriage Equality discussion, and a few others in the last few years since social media took off… makes me reflect on my Undergrad Politics classes.

We learned that 95% of the Australian public are apathetic to political discussion, not engaged, don't even know how government works. We learned that engaging the electorate-at-large in a meaningful debate was like pushing shit uphill.

It makes me wonder how much of an impact Social Media has had on this. I have seen several examples of people who would have been considered apathetic in those days, talking positively about political change. Getting involved. Getting active.

Maybe all people ever wanted or needed was to feel like what they say is being heard? What an incredibly heartening thing… to witness fundamental change as a result of technology. #wp

The Klouts and the Doodles – in bed?

by admin on October 30, 2011 in Random Observations, Social Media, the googletubes, The Internet with No comments

I am a little suspicious about changes to Klout's assessment of influence. Maybe I just think like a strategist/politician, and it may even be a little cynical/conspiracy theorist… but…

Let's say you are a Social Network. Not naming names, let's call it Doodle.

Let's say, there is a cool (albeit not terribly transparent or predictable) measure of social media influence that everyone in the industry monitors. Yes, any clever person uses a number of metrics, and there are plenty of tools that measure varying degrees of social media 'success'… but yours seems to be the one that people watch more than others.

Let's say your Doodle is a new player, with the weight of a global corporation behind it. With very clever strategists, excellent UI, and a loyal following/early adopter uptake, but is struggling to carve it's niche in a highly competitive market for hearts, minds, and advertising eyes.

It would be in your Doodle's interests to make sure that everyone who considers said influence tool, feels that, despite their reservations about your Doodle, are not fully on board.

What do you do?

You lobby.

You take them out to lunch. You woo. You, as the strategist, want to make uptake of your Doodle unavoidable in order to maintain said influence on that network.

Let's also say that you have a business social network. Let's say that there are people on there who have direct access to a lot of C-Levels within Corporations. It would be in your interest to have influence weighted based on the "level" of contacts as well as the number.

Now, I am not going to go so far as to accuse anyone of uneven weighting or collusions… but I have observed a marked disparity, across networks, and across locations in how Klout measure "influence".

It could be as simple as opening it up and being transparent, and trying to emulate real world networks rather than just volume, replies, and shares.

But, it's not a giant leap to think that there may be lots of "wooing" going on behind the scenes either, in the social media platform wars, to use Klout as a means of deciding where to post your content for maximum effect… possibly at the exclusion of other massive, popular networks.

Anyone in our game who would ask for advice on how to get greater penetration in the social media game… would advise them to take Klout out to lunch. Or possibly even do deals that, effectively weight the "influence" algorithms in favour of your network.

Thoughts? #wp

We are the 99% and we are douchebags too.

by admin on October 22, 2011 in People are Stupid, Politics, Random Observations with No comments

I have a genuine dilemma about the 99% movement…

On one hand, I agree with the sentiment, in principle. On the other, I consider it to be ignoring one big point: That people are selfish, irrespective of the economic base it comes from.

Greed & individualism, at the expense of human compassion, are our enemy. Not the rich. Case in point: Every person that has ever fucked me over & destroyed MY life has been in the middle… even when presented with the option not to.

In fact, most of the people I have met who are in (or approaching) the 1%, are actually fucking great people, and do a lot for others.

Therefore, I choose to live my life according to this song:

You Really Want to Know?

by admin on September 15, 2011 in People are Stupid, Random Observations, Social Media, Uncategorized with No comments

I just want to say a few things about the ridiculous RUOK Campaign.

Despite the best of intentions, unless you are prepared for the following answer:

“No, actually, I am not OK. My life has fed me a shit sandwich since the day I was born and it continues to get worse. The only reason I stick around is because I am too determined to not let my piece of shit life defeat me.”

or

“No, I think about ending my life every single day”.

or

“No, I need your help.”

Seriously? Don’t ask.

If you are not prepared to pay $100 an hour for a Psychologist, or are not prepared to pay their bills and feed their cat when they are hospitalised…

If you are not prepared to have someone break down in front of you.

If you don’t really know someone very well.

Then back the fuck off.

It’s a nice thought, really, but are you equipped to deal with the answer?

Have you experienced our mental health system lately?

The help isn’t there. Not really. Funding is cut to mental health services. No one gets support when recovering. Not really. We still have to work, pay bills, prioritise our days, parent… we all have to cope.

I agree that suffering in silence is a big, big problem. But sometimes, not talking about it helps you to just get through one more day, without losing your shit entirely.

If you have ever sat in a Psychologist’s office, you will know the power of the question “How are you?”. It’s a big responsibility to ask that question. It is not something that should be done without serious consideration. And training.

I know they mean well. But… this is serious stuff. Reducing Psychology into water cooler conversation is the height of irresponsibility and recklessness.

Stop putting numbers on it.

by admin on September 3, 2011 in People are Stupid, Random Observations, Social Media, Tech, the googletubes, The Internet with No comments

Last week, I was witness to a semantic discussion about the next wave of social media technologies and community. I have started seeing “Social Media 2.0″, “Web 3.0″, etc cropping up and I want to say something.

Stop it.

Please.

Because Social Media is NOT about computers. It is not a piece of software that someone can just buy a new version of and join. And it perpetuates a ridiculous misunderstanding that it is at all related to computers, platforms and tools.

It is not.

Social Media is a concept. It is a multidisciplinary revolution of technology, community, philosophy, psychology, anthropology, politics… and the list goes on.

It is a movement. It is hard to define. It transcends versions, and platforms, and technologies.

It is a concept in its own right, and by putting those ridiculous numbers after it, we are lumping it into IT. It needs to stop.

Please stop it. My clients are getting confused. Thank you.