MySpace: I’m a TEENAGE MOM, so I MUST be an irresponsible slut

Wow, that is a sensational headline. I apologize if it offends, but I think the kids want it to offend. At least a little enough to make you and I question stereotypes.

The subject line is a post from myspace with a request to post what stereotype is applied to you unjustly. It was emailed around between the kids as a meme I suppose. The logic first then the list:

this is to help people understand that stereotypes are dumb! and normally are
not correct… get to know people dont judge them!

Here is the list as forwarded to me by a cool 15 year old. Frankly I love seeing kids use the medium for intelligent debate. Candor is good. If someone knows who started this dialog, and deserves credit for challenging the rest of us, let me know and I’ll be sure to credit them. Or, given how quick people are to judge, it might be best to not claim it.

OK, enough political correctness, here is the post as built by a group of kids.

pick the stereotype that
fits you the most.
post this with that as the name…

I’m SKINNY, so I
MUST be anorexic

I’m EMO, so I MUST cut my wrists.

I’m BLACK, so I
MUST carry a gun.

I’m HISPANIC, so I MUST be dirty.

I’m ASIAN, so
I MUST be smart.

update: I moved the rest to an extended post.

(more…)

Are Super Bloggers Just Efficient One Wo/Man Newspapers?

This is an interesting point of view. Scoble is a newspaper. Bubba is
the current editor and people don’t like changes on the editorial board.

Scoble has a guest blogger named Bubba. Bubba posts with a comment on how someone said:

Scoble is a like a mini-newspaper. That’s why many folks read his
blog. Links to interesting stuff going in tech mixed with some MSFT
propaganda

The comment section continues with varying notes from "identify yourself" presumably with "posted by Bubba" or something at the end. And on the flip side one comment questions if asking for links to post is a fair tactic?

For a newspaper sources are natural. Scoble and Steve are so influential partially BECAUSE people send them stuff. Boingboing has an interesting stuff form. Sure they were super-humans-who-don’t-sleep already, but once the role had been established now they are media and media has sources beyond "what I saw today was". Sources.

My two cents – I like Bubba’s honesty saying "hey, tell me something interesting for the good of the audience." Great job as guest editor bubba!

Lateral Adjacency – Virtues of a Second Screen

Before you hire more peope, check the tools that enable your current team. From "The Virtues of a Second Screen"

Survey after survey shows that whether you measure your productivity in
facts researched, alien spaceships vaporized, or articles written,
adding an extra monitor will give your output a considerable boost — 20
percent to 30 percent, according to a survey by Jon Peddie Research.

This is not new. Lateral adjacency has been advocated by Tufte for a long time. And he is right. Rich random art aside, he is right about adjacency. It just works

Empowerment Versus Control, Empowerment is Connection Based

Joe Jaffe on empowerment

Community is the only real economy of scale in today’s brave new world. It is the next iteration of the legendary watercooler effect.

The promise of community is the empowerment that comes from being informed, connected, and unified. Empowerment is similar to – but not the same as – control. The most important difference is that control is exhibited individually, whereas empowerment is ignited or accelerated through the connection between like-minded thinkers.

Joe Jaffe, Life After the 30-Second Spot, pg 39

There was also recently an interesting interview of Jaffe on The Advertising Show (a client of ours).

The Energy Capital of the World with Rolling Blackouts

I live in the energy capital of the world, and we had rolling black outs yesterday. Rolling blackouts! In Houston! During the Enron trial. But I am sure the courthouse had power. Our business did not around 4 yesterday (Monday). Does anyone else see the irony here? Millie is us. Sarbox is here. And the bad guys are free.