rachindc's posterous

Social Influence Online

When did social media become like high school – testing your popularity at every turn and promoting the opinions of the most popular?

Recently, there have been a flurry of articles and blog posts on Klout and Digg– even though both have been around for a while. Klout measures your online influence mostly by looking at your Twitter account – number of tweets and followers.  On the other hand, Digg measures content popularity by allowing readers to vote for content they like and want to share. But soon the democratic method of equal voting will change. According to Laura Roeder, Digg will soon experience some changes that include looking at your overall “social footprint” to determine your level of influence.  

 

Social influence is definitely not new, but it has never been measured to this degree. With the tracking abilities online I am curious to see how social influence will look in the future. For now I will stick with my PostRank on Google Reader for cues as to what is worth reading.

 

What If We Started Treating Humans the Way We Treat Dogs?

In my family, pets are our children, if not more highly regarded than children. For most in my family, our animals were found on the streets or in a shelter and adopted into a loving home. Most in the family say that we would not buy our own children, so why buy a dog? Well, one member of my family did, and his child is loved and adored by all regardless of the fact that she was bred and bought. She also gets along well with her rescued "relatives."

 

I started thinking about how humans are involved in overall future and evolution of dogs. We purposely spay and neuter dogs to prevent overpopulation, we breed purebreds for profit and millions a year are killed in shelters. I have no answer to this ongoing dilemma, but it did get me thinking about the idea, what if we treated each other the way we treat dogs and are we already headed in that direction?

 

Parents are turning to genetic engineers to create perfect babies and paying a lot to do so. Children born into neglected or unwanted homes get put up for adoption (not even going to touch the abortion issue here) and most end up going from one foster home to the next. Thankfully, no children are being “put down” but in some ways they are being discarded by society, left to fend for themselves and without a loving home.

 

Is society starting to control how our species is evolving? Paying a price for the “perfect, wanted” ones and disregarding the rest. It disgusts me even just thinking about it. Does anyone have a good answer?

Product Placement Overload?

I recently finished a book that made me cry. Jane Green's most recent book, Promises to Keep, was a heart wrenching tale of two sisters, best friends, love, and family. It dawned on me slowly as I was reading through this popular author's book that companies kept getting mentioned in descriptions. The snobby wife had to have her Starbucks coffee in the morning, the vegan chef threw on her Uggs to walk the dog, and even Imitrex showed up when the main character had a migraine, to name a few.

I hate to admit it, but mentioning these products helped build the characters as I was reading through the book. This book is such a popular beach read, that I noticed two other people reading it while I was at the pool last weekend. It makes sense that popular books would be the next logical step for advertisers. But the question still swirls in my mind, isn't this going a bit overboard?

Miscommunication via E-mail

I recently told a friend of mine about my blog. His first reaction was “so an example would be when you e-mail someone to diffuse a potential argument at work.” My response was one of surprise. I've encountered, more times than not, when e-mail can cause miscommunication rather than solve a communication issue. For example, a person's tone can easily be misread in an email. My friend went on to describe how he uses e-mail for clarification after a meeting or other encounter to dissolve a potential argument.

This got me thinking how different people view e-mail communication to solve and mitigate problems in the workplace. As people become more reliant on e-mail, I am still a believer that the best way to create relationships and diffuse tense situations is the good old-fashioned way--to talk in person. Whether it's to clarify a situation or schedule an appointment, talking is becoming less and less of a used source of communication. I am definitely going to try to go against the grain and try talking rather than emailing more often when possible.

The Gulf Coast

Obama's campaign is one for the social media and marketing history books. His grassroots experience in Chicago, only added to the momentum that gained him popularity through online and email methods. His efforts included a large mailing list for which I am still subscribed to. Below is an excerpt from his most recent letter, which describes his latest trip to the coast. I only hope that his promise will be fulfilled.

"These are hard times in Louisiana and across the Gulf Coast, an area that has already seen more than its fair share of troubles. The people of this region have met this terrible catastrophe with seemingly boundless strength and character in defense of their way of life. What we owe them is a commitment by our nation to match the resilience they have shown. That is our mission. And it is one we will fulfill.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama"

Philanthropic Entrepreneurial Women - Part 2

At the Bisnow event on May 14, Lauren Bush from FEEDs Project mentioned a startling statistic "One billion obese; one billion hungry." She went on to mention that the one billion obese are overweight in part due to processed cheap food. As a firm believer in Michael Pollan and Jamie Oliver's missions to rid the world of processed food, I can only hope that government regulations will follow these pursuits and that processed food will slowly be phased out from society.

UN Foundation CEO Kathy Calvin, made another comment that stuck in my mind. She said that we need to no longer focus on the project, but the problem when promoting a cause related issue. I hope that in promoting "whole" foods over processed; that the problem of obesity is at the core of these marketing efforts. I can only hope that in my lifetime I see a dramatic shift in how the world eats. For now, I will continue to buy mostly organic, non-processed foods, support local farmers markets, and encourage loved ones to learn more about this movement.