Is "word-of-mouth" the new form of communication?

So, to sort of keep a theme going (sometimes, perhaps, called "beating a dead horse"), I'm still thinking about some of what I read on our pal Jeff Jarvis' blog (see last week's post). Among other interesting things, he asks (or says) the following in his PowerPoint:

1. Is advertising replaced by quality and service?
2. Are the customers the ad agency?
3. The mass market is dead – long live the mass of niches.

Now, as I said, his focus is on marketing, on advertising. Still, I think that what's behind these three items really speaks to what's at the heart of this class. Think not merely about advertising, but also about language, about communication. What kind of claim do you think he's making about how technology (especially the Interwebs) is in the process of changing how we communicate.

"Can I get a copy of the slide-deck?"

That's a phrase I heard many, many, many times in the professional world. PowerPoint is easily one of the most popular programs in the business world. Take a look at some of these articles on About.com. (I know, I know - it's almost as authoritative as Wikipedia, but it's an interesting place to start.) What differences do you see between the article about PowerPoint for students and the one on PowerPoint for business?

For another perspective, take a look at this post on Buzz Machine (a marketing blog). It sounds like Jeff Jarvis' book, What Would Google Do?, apart from having a pretty awesome title, takes a pretty interesting look at some of Google's best pratices. In the business world, that's similar to saying, "Hey, those Coca-Cola guys seem to sell a lot of soda. What can we do that's like them?" Of course, Google doesn't just sell advertising; they help define how web advertising happens, how it works, and how websites ultimately get constructed. That's the power of language for you.

Anyway, on Jarvis' blog, the author is giving out free copies of a PowerPoint slide-deck (the buzz-phrase for a collection of slides) that encapsulates at least part of his book. Based on his own mention of the deck and the other media versions he jokes about creating, AND on the comments on his post, what sense do you get for the business world's attitude about PowerPoint?

Writing is hard. Why should we bother?

The fact of the matter is that writing - whether it's for freshman English, a chemistry report, or an application letter - takes significant time and effort. Oh sure, there are writing assignments that we think of as "easy" or at least easier than others (anyone know what hubris means?), but any significant amount of content creation can be a real resource drain. In addition to the time and effort writing takes, there's also the issue of commitment. If you're not committed to the process, to the content, perhaps to a belief in the merit of what you're writing, that's going to become apparent to the reader, and that ALWAYS leads to problems.

So, in this information age, where nearly every technology we design and use is aimed at speeding up our communicative process (OMG, i tlk fstr? LOL!), should our goal be simply to figure out the fastest writing process and go with it?

I came across an interesting blog post by a writer named Dave Fleet. In it, Fleet talks about blogs vs. Twitter, both of which we've talked about, at least a little. A fair summation of his stance on a business' understand of blogs reads like this:

Blogs are a lot of work. To really pull it off consistently one has to have a strategy, enough content to write consistently AND the desire to even do it. But before even starting with a blog, blogging itself needs to first be recognized as valuable by upper management (which I think is still not even close to being a reality), controllable by middle management (in terms of helping/guiding the company blogger) and executable by staff willing/able to do it. And this, I think is where everything stalls. . .before it ever even gets started. . .

In my opinion, the perceived TIME it takes to create a blog isn’t a factor…it’s the EFFORT.

So, is our goal to reach as many people (or perhaps as many of the right kinds of people) as possible? If so, Y? bothA dedicating d tym n ef4T 2 ritN thorough content.


In only kind-of related news, after you look up hubris (and you should), notice that there's an ISP in Kansas called Hubris Communications. What were those folks thinking?

What are you reading online?

So, just like the title asks, "What are you reading online?"

At the beginning of the semester (and on the syllabus), I asked each class member to get a blog reader. What populates your blog reader? If your answer is "nothing," get started finding blogs out there to read.

I try to read a lot of blogs, some regularly, some less so. A handful that I think might apply to what we're doing in class include (in no order):

• Ars Technica: a huge blog about technology and social/legal issues surrounding technology
• LifeHacker: a tech-focussed blog that tries to make our use of technology - especially software, hardware and office life - easier (usually lots of links to free downloads)
• Gizmodo: reviews (sort of) of cutting edge personal technology: everything from TVs to cell-phones to computers to insane custom devices that some engineer designed solo. It can be pretty rough around the edges; beware.
• Engadget: kind of a cross between Ars Technica and Gizmodo. Lots of gadgets. Lots of social/legal/business commentary on technology. 25% less attitude.

So, what are you reading? Leave a comment.

Thinking about chunking

How's that for a headline? In case you're interested, here are some links to some of the graphics and/or sites we looked at today in class.

Web Without Words shows some examples of chunking, not only of text but of images.

The example of a website structure map is here. However, it's just an ad for a program that provides a graphic user interface (GUI) for designing a website. All I did to find it was look in Google images for website structure.

The "backbone" image was designed by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, although I found it as an ad for some other company.

Some thoughts on "going paperless"

Here are a few links to some of the articles we talked about in class. Some of these are a little dated (or ARE they?), but does that change the point they're making?

For an article (by a Xerox designer) about going paperless, click here.

For BusinessWeek's discussion of the "Twitpitch," click here.

For a CIO's analysis of IT departments going paperless, check out this article on SearchCIO.

Welcome to the class!

Just a quick collection of links for some of the things we talked about today.

Our textbook can be accessed here, once you've got a login from the bookstore. Hopefully, they'll arrive soon!

Some of the blog feed readers I recommend include Google's reader, Bloglines, or FeedReader. A blog feed reader collects RSS feeds from any and all blogs to which you subscribe. For a more in-depth description, you can read the Wikipedia article explaining RSS, although we will be discussing the ways in which Wikipedia both is and is NOT a valid source for information.

Also, in case you'd like to get a copy a ArtWeaver (a graphics manipulation program with many similarities to Photoshop), you can download it for free here. Presently, it's legal, and let's hope it stays that way.