Mashable Boycott Experiment

I’ve recently boycotted Mashable as a “source” for anything relevant in social technology or social news. It wasn’t until today that someone actually asked me why. I told my cousin this:

“Mashable is too crap for me now. They are focusing on the HOW TO and the 5 STEPS TO THIS AND THAT. It isn’t industry forward, just articles that get visitors that get clicks on their ads that get them money.”

But instead of just making the claim I’m going to do a little experiment. I am setting up an RSS on some similar and popular tech blogs. Like many of us who have taken a class in journalism know the common idea of a news worthy story fall into one of three categories: Health, Sex or Money. Now I know this isn’t necessarily true for all type of tech news or news in general but can account for most of it.

The Experiment.

For a month I’ll RSS tech, social tech and social media blogs similar to Mashable and compare the results. I’ll see what is being reported, the news value, timeliness, and the physical content.

Once I compile everything I think it will solidify my reasoning as to why I dislike Mashable and thus allow me to help everyone else boycott their crap until they really understand their position and what kind of value they can bring to everyone who reads them, not just their advertisers.

Here are some of the blogs I’m RSS-ing. I won’t officially start the project until Monday, May 23, since its the start of a week and stop on June 23.

If you know of other blogs let me know in the comments sections. If you are feeling extremely helpful, maybe even a link to their RSS so I can whip it up extra quick.

Blogs currently in the RSS

Mashable, of course.
Tech Crunch
Social Times
CNN- Tech
NY Times – Technology
GigaOm
Read Write Web

Added: AllFacebook, Digital Inspiration Tech Blog, PSFK,

Helvetica Love Affair

My love for Helvetica first stemmed from my lack and misunderstanding of design. It was the “hip” thing so, of course, like any 20something I wanted to be hip. After I began to immerse myself into the inner being of design I really began to understand some things, not only  about typography and my love for it but communication design.

We think, we speak, we write. Each of those acts are composed of language, each language is composed of words and word of letters. Each letter, in a different combination creates a variety of thoughts, moments, phrases, emotions and actions.

When we communicate with one another it is often jumbled and filled with extra, unnecessary  non-sense. We speak in fragments and often leave out the main idea we wish to portray, assuming the receiver will understand. We are saying, not communicating.

The difference here is being succinct. Being clear, concise, to the point and relevant. For me, that is the beauty of communication design. It’s the beauty of words and how we use them. You can write the same word in multiple type faces and portray a different meaning. You can use the same font in different weights to portray a different meaning.

The point isn’t necessarily Helvetica or any type face in general but rather, the power we hold when designing communication.

The Business Side of You.

Adding on to my last rant about internships I want to talk about the right way to get an internship. For that matter, maybe even a job. Don’t quote me  on the job part yet since I’m only graduating college. These, again are just thoughts. Take them as you will.

Understanding Business
As I mentioned in the last post about internships, most students are looking at it from a Me angle. What can internships do for me. That idea is often translated into the job hunt as well, where can I get a job? How much will they pay me? I need to be employed. While those things are all extremely important that doesn’t translate well for any future employer. Employers and companies don’t hire because it’s graduating season and they need more college graduates. They hire because they need more employees, they are growing or want great people to help bring in revenue. Lets face it, it comes to this: Companies make money. The easiest formula to help you achieve a position (internship or not) is to show this skill I’ve laid out in a formula: Yes, it’s scientifically proven and endorsed by my mother.

you + your skills at company = revenue now.

Companies don’t hire based on looks, your twitter following or your greek affiliation. SIDE NOTE: If a company hires you for any of the above you should probably shouldn’t work there.

Companies hire you or anyone else because they believe you or anyone else can help them make money. That is your role, to grow their business and become an attribute to their current structure.

When you take the view of gaining a job away from your self and show companies how they benefit by paying you, then you can understand business to some extent.

Understanding your role in a business and their culture is almost as important as your success. Once you realize how you can help grow a company the only thing you have to do then is implement.

Stop thinking about your future job as a personal needs and start thinking about it as your business solutions.

Get over yourself, and your paid internship.

I’ve read a few articles and talked to a hand full of people on the whole paid internship thing and I’ll say, as a prior unpaid intern, GET OVER IT. Aside from most kids my age being handed everything in the world there is more to my argument than that. Let me use this space to say, I’m aware that some aspects of unpaid internships are illegal. With that in mind, keep reading:

Who Gains from Your “Learning” Experience?
Scenario:
You are on your first run at trying to get an internship. You spam companies your resume, because you think that is the right way to do it, or you call family and see if they have any connections.

Once you land an interview, by the grace of god, they ask you what you can bring to this company. Your response, “I’m passionate and want to learn!” News flash, that doesn’t matter. Your view is, I need to gain experience and hopefully they can help. But they think of it in a different light. Lets break that down…

An intern is there to help keep things together, sort of like glue, but not as strong or important. Think of an intern like a sticky note; there to help remind you of tasks but it won’t be there for ever. It may fall down but you sort of expect that. One day, they will no longer work or you won’t need it any more. Eveyone knows this and expects that sticky notes work in this fashion. They are temporary. Every company knows that interns and internships are temporary.

Aside from that, passion and learning doesn’t give a company a revenue. If you can show me how your passion to learn will generate X amount of dollars to a company, then I’ll hire you for half my salary to spray your passion of learning all over my room/office/whatever. Your passion and desire to learn does not directly benefit the company, client or business.In fact you should consider what benefit, skills and values you can bring to a company, directly and immediately. That will get you a job, not “passion to learn.”

Consider this aspect as well. You want money for your internship. Your time is valuable, right? I mean with all the things you do: class, greek affiliation (maybe), organizations, extra curricular activities, clubbing, partying, drinking, eating, breathing, wearing clothes. The list goes on. Regardless though, you need want money for your time at your internship to learn and spew your “passion” everywhere.

Were you paid to go to school from grades K-12? Were you paid to go to college? So why should a company, that you bring no direct, immediate value or revenue pay you to “learn”? They shouldn’t.

Lets bring up another scenario. You are interning at company XYZ and they give you a task. It’s client facing, which means clients will  see it and you go to town. You beast this assignment and then, boom, slap that accomplishment sandwich right on their desk. So now, you get an email that said you did everything completely wrong and have to redo this assignment (this is that learning experience you asked for). In an even worse scenario your boss is too careless to look it over and presents to client or supervisor (if that happens quit immediately you don’t want to work at a place that presents crap). So not only have you made a mistake it was also presented! For most salaried workers I could see this eventually leading a large amount of yelling or being fired. On the extent that they ask you to re-write/re-create, no one that gets paid salary can turn in crap. It should, ideally, be right the first time. That’s why you get paid to work there.

The point of internships are to learn. You are not entitled to learn from others who don’t get paid  to babysit you. You are there to stick your nose in and get your hands slightly dirty. Realistically, at minimum, an internship should expose you to things you only read about in case studies.

Internships aren’t for those slackers who finally decide their last semester of senior year they “need” experience. If you intend on going in to your field of study then be serious about it. Just as you would anything else in life, work for it. Get your elbows dirty. I did two internship both UNPAID while living in NYC and going to NYU on a full course-load. Yea, two unpaid internships in the most expensive city in the country. What became of that? For sake of this blog post, it lead to interview and internship offers from every Tampa agency I applied to, which meant I picked where I interned next. It also lead to working with Sarah Evans, who is an incredibly talented, smart and well-known PR/SM strategist and business owner.

Also, if your school is telling you that you need an internship to graduate go raise hell. What is the point of paying someone else money (class credit) for you to gain free experience (unpaid internship)? Hit them with the ROI bomb.  On that note, do internships, even if they don’t give you school credit. Every internship I had gave me NO CREDIT toward school or graduation.

The unpaid internships were my ticket. Get over your idea of being paid. Just because mommy cleaned your clothes, cooked you dinner and gave you money while you devoured all of her time, money and resources doesn’t mean a company should either.

Social Media Week: Parties Over Panels

Last week while attending various Social Media Week events I thought to myself, “I wish I could have gone to more panels!” The funny part, even though I didn’t get to all the panels, I did attend many more parties. Most would think that it’s the college kid in me but I consider this something a bit more strategic. Especially when it comes to the post-grad job hunt.

Panel vs. Party

Consider the normal atmosphere at panels. Most of the time there is short chatting before it starts and when there is an intermission, other than that, everyone is on their own laptops or cell phones; taking notes or tweeting something. While panels are a great source of cool, focused information, it isn’t the greatest place to meet new people and to learn tons of neat things.

When you’re at a party, the atmosphere is conducive to speaking. You meet new people, have a drink, pass out business cards, and meet up with old friends. While you aren’t in an environment that is meant for “knowledge” in the sense that a panel is you still learn about people rather than a topic or niche.

The balance of course comes with the person. Understanding your reason for being at a conference and it’s relevance to you, your life and job is more important than being on any guest list or in any panel. Figure out what’s is most applicable to you and kill it.

Quality vs Quantity

While I wanted to go to all the panels I knew time would allow it. Same can be said for the parties. I picked a handful of the most important panels to me, the things that interested me the most and went with those. I learned a lot of information because I was already driven into that medium, product or platform.

I use this method when I’m at evening gatherings too. I don’t run around spamming people with my business cards and asking everyone what they do while blurting out my 30-second pitch in hopes of a hand out. I find those individuals I’ve known prior to the conference catch up and see what’s new. Often, especially when going to a far away land like New York City, your friends have friends and know people. My network great 10+ because I was introduced to another person through a mutual friend.

Both are extremely valuable, I think it just depends on your outlook and purpose. For instance, if your job is sending you to SXSWi, you better go soak up as much from the panels as you can. No one is paying you to drinking booze with big shots all night. If you’re unemployed, you better be at all that both sides have to offer.

Emotions

There is beauty in vulnerability. Not because we can take advantage of it, but because we can see someone in their truest form. Kanye is a good example, for me at least. Even though he is a horrible singer, he manages to belt out tunes that you can tell come from the deepest parts of his soul.

There aren’t too many campaigns that really strike the human emotion cord but when they do, they ring deep. How do we, as marketers, communicators, advertisers, manage to strike that cord and really make something work. Not just for the sake of a dollar, but to really get a real message across. One that resonates within each individual. How can we, as an industry, create a message that is unifying across so many platforms that it manages to evoke one feeling from each individual?

I couldn’t tell you.

I’d like to think that truth and honesty steer us in the right direction. I believe that if we are behind our messages, genuine and believe it will benefit society that we may be able to reach others. Possibly if we understand human emotion, not just from a communications stance, but as people. Consider how you might feel the first time your son scores a touchdown in his little league football game. Or maybe how you felt when your daughter brought home her honor roll award. Maybe how you felt when landed your first job after graduating college. Or when you get that big break you’ve been looking for.

How do we make these emotions resonate in our messaging?

I think the T-Mobile’s Welcome Back video does a decent job and so does Katy Perry’s Firework video.

Gen Y: We Shop Therefore We Are

Edelman just released a study titled “8095ers” to show the correlation between this unique generation, brands and their purchasing habits.  Although Edelman’s and other pieces are interesting and have some “valuable” information tied to them I feel like there are some issues that aren’t discussed throughout any of the “millennial” research that is published, mainly the root of our being.

We are materialistic. Brand affinity and loyalty is a bullshit way of saying that we feel like we need to buy certain products to be labeled, stereotyped and type-casted into a mold we strive to be.

None of these studies went into the reasoning behind the correlation between what we buy and the prices we are “willing” to pay. These studies fail to show the connection between a pair of $300 headphones and “feeling good” or “trusting a brand.” Previously the idea of quality was a pair of handmade shoes or things that contain a personal story behind each item.

Societal Expectations

Products are becoming easier to obtain as price points go down. The idea of class through brands and products have come to an even ground where no one can judge based on products or material goods. Just as this has created less classism it also strengthens materialism.

Generation Yers are more worried about what products they have or what their friends believe is an acceptable cell phone. Instead of conforming to the “needs” and “ideals” of society we are conforming to the products of society. T

he reverberation of products and reviews isn’t because we are bettering our world, it’s because we judge others based on what we have more now than ever.

On Friday I sat in a room with about 15 high school juniors and seniors from the Tampa area. They were able to identify theme songs and sounds associated with particular brands faster than I can. It isn’t that they are “more knowledgeable,” they are bludgeoned with more advertisements than any other generation. Marketers and advertisers are subliminally reaching these students and they don’t realize.

The Millennial Shift

We are changing the ideals of our society through shitty tactics and morals. Those in communications would argue this is good because hard work and practice pays off. I on the other hand, believe that it’s horrible. We are conditioning our young and current generations to spend $300 on headphones and question giving $5 or less to a charity.

Instead of separating people by color or religion, I feel like we are creating a divide through brands. All the iPhones on this side while the Androids go over here. Yea, we have loyalty to brands, because they “define” us. Yea, they say, “you’re good enough because you can buy a $400 cell phone.”

If this is how we are defining Millennials then I’m moving to Antarctica.

Engagement: What It Is & Should Be

What is engagement? Aside from becoming cliché, I believe as a future communications professional I have an idea as to what the industry “norm” might be. I do know, however, that as a consumer first, the word “engagement” means something different. Maybe by stating what it isn’t will help dissolve the problem.

Engagement is not:

• A thank you on twitter
• A quick customer service rep conversation
• A follow on twitter
• Asking to like something
• Requesting to join a group
• Asking to take pictures and post them on a fan page
• Buying from a website
• A track-back from a link
• Posting articles in my news feed
• Suggesting pages
• Writing blog posts with no comment interaction
• Pushing your product
• Just saying thank you to a blog comment

Like I said in my last post, companies should look to integrate their clients and consumers in their strategies. Everything I’ve listed above is one-way marketing. Even though it is in a “social space” that doesn’t mean a company, brand or product is engaging.

A Consumer’s View

Engagement, as a consumer, should involve multiple parties: one being the company/brand/product, their environment and consumers. Engagement isn’t telling us where a sale is tomorrow, that is, however, helpful. Engagement is asking us what we think about our newly purchased products. And if we don’t’ like those products give us an explanation or outlet that meets the needs and then follow up again. These FREE social spaces were not meant to be a virtual customer service outlet in the middle of users. With that said, companies/brands/products should follow people for the sake of following. They should message because I had a concern. Engagement happens more than once.

People are more inclined to promote, purchase and recommend a brand that they trust or believe in. A good rule of thumb for online marketers: You talk to strangers and engage/interact with people.

How do you engage with people? Your friends? Your audience? Your community?

Sociology of Social Media

Today, I have 809 followers. But does that really mean something? For all I know most could be spam bots and keyword hounds, but who’s counting, aside from Twitter. This post isn’t about me; it’s about our natural habits to follow those with glory and “spotlight.” Once again, we show our weakness as a society to care more about those in the limelight than those really making things happen. So, with that said, who really does matter?

“Thought Leaders”

Who is a thought leader? What makes them one? Do they have to be a CEO, Principal, President or some high standing figure, right? Or to be a thought leader you must be someone of high stature, make tons of money, be a Harvard grad, know someone, or a combination of those mentioned and other things not attributed in this post? Are they a thought leader because they get book deals and have hundreds upon thousands of followers? It is all a big pile of nonsense.

“Thought Leaders” should be more like Brian Solis. In my honest opinion I believe he is a thought leader in the communications industry.

• Regularly postsing about “new media,” “social media,” PR, communications on his blog.
• All compelling pieces; studies and things of that nature.
• He is the author of multiple books.
• Does incredible work speaking with people.

He works. He writes. He is pushing the industry forward. Kudos, Brian.

Leaders

105+ million users power Twitter. Facebook, 500 Million. Who really pushes those platforms? The users of course, but a certain group I call Leaders. A few names come to mind immediately: David Spinks, Lauren Fernandez, Sydney Owen, Ted Rubin, Andrew Norcross, Jenny Blake, Nate Erickson, Samantha Ogborn, Denis Crowley. Why? I’ll tell you:

• Built a strong community of friends and “followers” from the ground up.
• They have always interacted through the mediums with EVERYONE.
• Write thought-provoking pieces.
• Push the envelope in a multitude of areas.
• They aren’t just social media whores!

The Rest of Us

We are the though leaders, too. We’ve innovated through these social mediums to use them outside of their intended purposes:

• Twitter chats.
• Social reforms through Facebook.
• Growing our network.
• Connecting others.

Things become “trending topics” because we make them. On the same token, we make these “though leaders” who we decide. We should re-evaluate who the thought leaders really are and thank those in our community for presenting valuable information instead of automated links upon links and affiliated content.

More on why I think those listed are awesome here.

Toy Story 3, technology, and the crap hole we are heading in.

We have cell phones that are computers. Facebook is the ultimate platform for internet consumption, and Google searches finds results for queries you haven’t even thought of yet. We no longer are living creatively. We are living adaptively. Which isn’t bad but it means the end is near.

This post stems from the movie Toy Story 3. I hope you’ve seen it if not jump ahead to the Toy section because I give the idea of the movie here. Andy is grown up. He is forced to ditch his toys because the social norm says he is too old to play and needs to do grown up things. He adapts rather than creating a new idea, taking toys to college. For me the movie is more than that. It shows where and when we are torn from our creativity. The day we are given electronics and depend on them is the same day we drown our personal imagination and creativity.

Technology = Adaptology

Yup, I just made a new word. Adaptology. Quote me. We learn how to adapt in life, we make changes for the better or worse and do what we can. Technology is guilty of harboring the adaptivity as a lifestyle. We know think through adaptation versus thin air. We, as humans, think to make something better rather than making something brand new, which isn’t bad, just tiresome. I’ll elaborate through toys.

Toys- Here is where my Toy Story idea circles back.

How many of us had G.I. Joes or Barbies? They were plain and basic, we could change their clothes or accessories and that’s it. How much fun did we have with these toys? We created the scenarios that they narrowly escaped from. We made the most ridiculous things out of table and chairs. We made forts with sheets and pillow cushions. Both, for the record, are neither sturdy nor stable. But we made do. Point blank. We made the best with what we had, yes we adapted, but our creativity and imagination took us further. G.I. Joe adapted to having Barbie as his wife and the fact that she was taller. But we created the wedding on the North Pole of Mars. Yes, the North Pole of Mars. The benefits of these toys were not that they were intuitive and told us when crap needed to happen. It was because they were plain, we decided what happened and used that to our biggest advantage.

We cannot create with creativity, hence the root word in there. I am going to make a bold statement and say that this mashup of tech and social will slow down soon. The general publics attention span is only so big and adapting only lasts so long. Let’s stop making feature and start playing with boring toys.

If you think otherwise, tell me. I’d love to hear your side/opinion.

By the way, I LOVEEEED the Toy Story 3 movie. I cried like a baby.