Get Yourself Free
A new app called “Freedom” locks you out of captioned cat pictures and pointless babble (yes, the entire Internet) for a specified period of time.
The newspaper industry is lobbying hard to make the effect permanent and have the software installed by default on all new personal computers.*
(via Zoomdoggle)
* Completely false.
No Love for Strategists?
I recently found myself explaining to a colleague why I keep a print of René Magritte’s The Treachery of Images hanging prominently above my desk. I certainly don’t have a profound intellectual appreciation for Belgian surrealism, nor can I speak more than fourteen words of French. This hangs alone to remind me of something.
In English, the subtitle reads, “This is not a pipe.” Many people who see this for the first time think Magritte was just being intentionally ironic — of course it’s a pipe! But it’s not; it’s an image of a pipe. Hardly as useful when you need a smoke.
I bought this print long before Bob Hoffman penned this vivid denunciation of strategists. I’m not sure what meeting Bob walked out of that pushed him over the brink, but I would have to describe his state of mind as “highly motivated.”
And he’s got a point. Talk is cheap. Strategy without execution is futile. (You may recall IBM’s Buzzword Bingo spot imploring us to “stop talking; start doing.”) People came out of the woodwork to commend his post in the comments.
But one comment caught my eye, and captured exactly what (to me, as a *cough* strategist) the discussion is all about:
as a former ad strategist, i actually love this. but i’ll also add that business needs DOERS who THINK. there’s a whole lot of doing going on, but not enough of what’s DONE is GREAT.
Plato called these individuals philosopher-kings – “thinkers as well as practitioners” in the words of Ken Roman – and suggested that only people such as these should we trust to lead us.
Thinking, or talking, without doing is meaningless — that’s all Bob’s trying to say. Talking about social media is not social media. The Treachery of Images reminds me of this on a daily basis.
Doing without thinking — well, ask Tropicana about that. There’s a role for strategists yet.
The Purpose of Writing
I used to hate writing assignments, but now I enjoy them. I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!
– Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes)
A couple of things I’ve read recently have shifted the way I now think about writing for this blog. Most recently, I came across an article from Cory Doctorow on how he approaches writing. Along with some great tips from a seasoned pro, he makes the inarguable point that “there’s always 20 minutes to be found in a day, no matter what else is going on.” So I’ll be making a concerted effort to write more frequently — there’s just no excuse.
The second bit comes from a chapter of Peter Drucker’s Management, on taking advantage of your own learning style. He writes:
Alfred Sloan — the man who built General Motors into the world’s largest, and for sixty years the world’s most successful, manufacturing company — conducted most of his management business in small and lively meetings. As soon as a meeting was over, Sloan went to his office and spent several hours composing a letter to one of the meetings participants, in which he brought out the key questions discussed in the meeting, the issues the meeting raised, the decisions it reached, and the problems it uncovered but did not solve. When complimented on these letters, he is reported to have said, “If I do not sit down immediately after the meeting and think through what it actually was all about, and then put it down in writing, I will have forgotten it within twenty-four hours. That’s why I write these letters.”
It’s certainly interesting to think about blogging as a tool for personal development — solidifying knowledge and distilling ideas. Sure beats the alternative — that we’re all just talking to ourselves.
…And He’s Back!
Some folks may have noticed that I’ve been MIA (or more appropriately, AFK) for quite a while now. I’ve left the blog unattended for a few weeks, but am psyched to get back to it — a lot has happened (and is happening) that I’ve been meaning to write about.
But first, an explanation of the hiatus: the holidays and a vacation had something to do with it, but more importantly I joined the interactive strategy team at Hill Holliday on December 29th and my first few days have been awesomely busy. Tempting as it is, I’ll avoid gushing about the people I’ll be working with and just say that I’m absolutely thrilled to be here (and not just because my commute is 10 minutes shorter each morning).
Now that all this boring personal business is out of the way, we can get back to blog-as-usual. Thanks for hanging in there through my absence!
Promote Your Way to Irrevocable Personal Humiliation
Going on now over at Twitter Search is a flurry of discussion regarding the self-proclaimed “Powerful Promoter,” Matt Bacak. Bacak recently published a press release touting his recent ascendance to the hallowed halls of the Atlanta, GA “Twitter Elite.”
OK, that’s pretty shameless. It gets more embarrassing still when people start to call you on it. But the fact of the matter is that Bacak does not even make the top 50 Twitterers in Atlanta — and that makes him a fraud.
Here’s a glimpse into the Twitter backlash:
Ouch. Better luck next time.
The Power of Real Names
One of the biggest contributions Facebook made to the social media was to enforce the use of your real name. On Facebook, Twitter, and anywhere else you might find me, I’m still Jamie Scheu. On MySpace you can still be known only as SK8erBoi23 or *~*GLiTTeRgUrL88*~*, and that’s ok — frankly, many people don’t want to use their real names on the MySpace anyway (for privacy reasons). But there’s something to be said for the authenticity and most of all accountability that comes from having to stand behind your words and actions with your real name. This simple distinction fundamentally alters the culture of any social platform.
Then again, you wouldn’t want Facebook to get too real…
Not Waiting for The Light To Change: A Tribute to Jaywalking
3:30 in the morning with not a soul in sight, we sat four deep at a traffic light / Talking about how dumb and brainwashed some of our brothers and sisters are / While we wait for a green light to tell us when to go.
- Talib Kweli & Mos Def, Black Star
The stars will never align and the traffic lights of life will never all be green at the same time. The universe doesn’t conspire against you, but it doesn’t go out of its way to line up all the pins either. Conditions are never perfect.
- Tim Ferriss, The Four Hour Work Week
Why is a traffic light such a common metaphor for taking initiative? It makes sense when you use its more antiquated name: traffic signal. It’s always tempting to look for a signal, a sign from some higher power, to know when to start a venture, to go to market, or to make a difficult personal decision.
Every morning I have to walk across a fairly complex intersection on my way to the T. I almost never catch the light during the “walk” cycle, and it’s a long wait for it to come around again, so I’m always just powering across whenever there’s a gap in the traffic. It always amazes me how many people are always just standing there, staring at the orange hand on the crossing signal, even when there are absolutely no cars coming in either direction. I just can’t fathom waiting for a light to tell me when to cross a deserted street.
It’s just as foolish to walk blindly into the street as it is to live and die by the crossing signal. There are plenty of other indicators to look at when deciding to cross a metaphorical street (the obvious one being, what are the odds I’m going to get flattened by a metaphorical bus?). I don’t believe that success, personal or professional, is achieved by waiting for some huge, public “green light.” By that time, the jaywalkers are already on the other side of the street.
Chris Brogan wrote this morning:
We power our own change these days. In so many areas of our lives. Here in the US, that’s important to think about today.
I couldn’t agree more. Here’s to making your own change, not just today, but every day of your life.
(Photo credit: misternils on Flickr)
And So the Blog Received a New Name. And There Was Much Rejoicing.
Today I went ahead and changed the name of this blog. I felt the title was much too limiting, given all the things I wanted to talk about. I found myself making excuses when I wanted to write about something outside the scope of social media.
So now it’s just Jamie Scheu (hey, that’s me!). Of course I will still mostly be discussing the interesting developments I see on a daily basis on the front lines of social media and social networking, but I will occasionally discuss other issues I think are significant (and do so guilt-free). That was really the point all along, so I guess I’ve come full circle.
I may lose some subscribers as a result, but I’m confident this change in blogging philosophy will lead to more inspired and prolific writing. I’ve put a lot of potential blog topics on ice because they didn’t drop squarely into the social media category.
So I hope you’ll find that this change is for the best, and a big thank you to everyone who has followed me so far.
What Does Great Customer Service Look Like?
There are plenty of sites these days dedicated to customer service horror stories, but I think it’s even more important to point out customer service victories. This one is personal.
It started with my first phone bill from AT&T. This was, of course, followed shortly thereafter by a tweet:
(Needless to say, I got some interesting responses. Also, I’m sure you noticed that is not my real hair – Happy Halloween!)
Because merely projecting my frustration aimlessly into the Twitterverse wasn’t going to get the $694 charge taken off my phone bill, I followed up with an email directly to the saleswoman who had sold me the phone and data plan. This is customer service success #1 — she had given me her direct info when I made the purchase, so I didn’t have to wade through general AT&T customer support. I’ve used her real name, because although she may never read this, she deserves the credit. My email read:
Hi Yashira,
I purchased an AT&T Tilt from you at the Cambridgeside store on September 6th (phone number 617-[removed]), and signed up for a new contract at that time as well. The phone has been great, but I was surprised when I received my bill this month to discover $695 in data charges. At the time I purchased the phone, you had told me it impossible to even sell me the phone without a data plan, at a starting rate of $70/month (which I wrote down as we spoke about it). I noticed on my bill that my monthly plan was only $50, so between these two discrepancies I have to assume that somehow the data services were not added to my account, resulting in the $695 charge for data usage in the past month.
Since you sold me the phone, and specifically recommended I contact you directly if I had any problems, I would appreciate it if you could call me at your earliest convenience and suggest the best way to remedy this situation. I already called the mobile number on your card (it went to voicemail) after I had trouble getting through on the store line just now.
Thanks, hope to hear from you very soon.
Jamie
Within 24 hours, Yashira called me back. She also had the courtesy to follow up by email, since I still hadn’t set up my voicemail yet (doh! having two cell phones can be a challenge). Here was her thoughtful response:
Hello Jamie.
I apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused. I tried calling your cell phone number but your voicemail box has not been set up yet. I can help you set that up if you need assistance. I have done some research on your account and it seems that there was a system error at the point of activation. I have requested a credit to your account through the customer care department and it should take no longer than ten business days. I am truly sorry that your bill came up to be so high but I will do anything in my power to rectify that. You can give me a call at your convenience if you have any further questions. I will inform you when the credit is applied to your account.
Thank you,
Yashira
Does customer service get any better than that? A huge, frustrating disappointment turned into a fantastic experience.
Now more than ever, a company’s relationship with a consumer does not end with a completed sales transaction. Consumers have Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, Consumerist.com, and countless other forums to express their satisfaction or displeasure with a brand. There are studies coming out constantly that argue the potency of one or another of these mediums over the others. But for me at least, a personal recommendation still goes the farthest when it comes down to where to make a purchase, or who to call for a service — especially if I can get a recommendation of someone by name.
And since I have a blog, which a few people do in fact read (hey thanks!), I can make one such recommendation myself. If you’re in the Greater Boston Area and ever have AT&T Wireless questions, you now know of a real person who verifiably goes above and beyond the call for her customers.
Hope you all have a fun, safe Halloween weekend!
The Need for “Social Proof” May Be Genetic, Not Just Psychological
Last week Dan Zarrella, the leading independent “social and viral marketing scientist” (as far as I know), published an extremely insightful piece on the importance of “social proof” in evaluating everyday decisions. Dan sums up this concept quite well:
Social proof is the idea that people rely on the reaction of others to make decisions, and we assume that others (individuals and especially groups) know more about the choice than we do.
The role of social proof is indisputable in almost every form of human interaction and decision-making. While at first it might seem like this is rooted in some common human psychological shortcoming, like insecurity about being left out, the cause could be more fundamental still.
Neuroscientist Gregory Berns discusses the significance of this herd mentality in his new book, Iconoclast. He argues that this as a sort of evolutionary internalization of the Law of Large Numbers, which basically dictates that the more data points you have, the more accurately you can estimate the mean (average) of an unknown variable. The implications of this are that if a consumer is trying to estimate an unknown value (such as a the quality of a new product), seeing many other consumers purchasing the product helps to estimate this unknown and ultimately decide the product might be worth purchasing. Berns writes,
Viewed from the perspective of evolution, the law of large numbers will give any animal that uses it a distinct advantage. Consider a creature whose life depends on finding food and water. One strategy would be to forage for food in the hopes of stumbling upon something good to eat. If successful, this could pay off handsomely because the animal could horde it and gain an advantage over its competitors. This would be a risky strategy with a relatively low likelihood of success but a high payoff if it worked. The law of large numbers, however, says that such an individual strategy would most likely fail. Another animal, that was perhaps a little more strategic in its thinking, would observe what other animals did before deciding its own course of action. Because a group is statistically superior to an individual, an animal that discovered this strategy would always do better than the loner. In addition to vastly increasing the likelihood of success, the second strategy is much lower in risk and does not cost the animal much energy to observe what other animals do. The power of the group is so much greater than the individual, evolution favored animals that used it, and “groupthink” became the dominant strategy for all animals that could observe each other’s behavior.
If this is true, and social proof is rooted essentially in our DNA, how can we afford to ignore its significance?
Most social media tools inherently provide mechanisms for indicating endorsement by other users. It’s easy to see how many followers an individual has on Twitter, or how many monthly active users a Facebook application has. How are you implementing indicators of social proof and utilizing social media to validate your personal or corporate brand?
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