Tag Archive for: Technology

Social Media Replacing E-Mail?

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Social media has its place, but does that place include replacing our most beloved forms of digital communication: e-mail?

1. Never underestimate the power of the hand-written note or letter. Test this in your work place.  Put up a memo in your office, and write something in your own handwriting in red that says, “the power of the hand-written note reaches more people than a typed letter with the most impressive grammar.”  I promise they will glance down at the bottom to read the handwriting before the read the first word of the memo. They’ll get the point.

2. Nearly all sites on the web that require registration require an email address. Some are starting to integrate social media into this process (such as Facebook Connect), but that is still a very small fraction, and they typically still allow for email information as well. Read more

Groundswell

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I am reading a new book called Groundswell (pronounced ground – swell). The book is how to win in a world that has been transformed by social technologies. Social technologies, as the term implies, does not imply what you would think; at least not what I thought it implied. Being the technical person that I am that loves the new gadget that has just come out, my first thought was how iPhones, computer operating systems like Apple’s new Leopard (which is awesome by the way), GPS turn by turn navigation, etc. But as I started reading the book, I began to realize that they put more emphasis on the social than the technology. Myspace.com, Facebook, Youtube, RSS, blogs and forums, and consumer rating sites like Digg.com are a few of the many ways that our society is changing the world – particularly the corporate world – that we live in. I can hear the parents saying, “Wait – I thought Myspace was for teenagers!” Haha! Read more

Investing Online

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I am at the doctor’s office getting my eyes checked & hopefully will be getting a new pair of glasses because I spend my time making a living in front of a computer which probably isn’t the best thing to maintain good vision. Maybe there is some truth to what our parents told us when we were little: ”don’t sit so close to the TV – it’s bad for your eyes!”

Anyway, these times are the rare occasions when I’ll pick up a magazine & read an article that I wouldn’t normally read online or in a forwarded e-mail. So, I picked up the most recent edition of Fortune magazine as I was intrigued by the cover that eluded to the magazine being chocked full of articles of still being able to make big money in a rapidly declining economy. Guess what over 50 percent of the articles were focused on? The internet! Microsoft is buying Yahoo, should have bought Facebook, needs to make better computers & stay away from the web, Apple is going to take over the world, phonebook advertising will soon be something we tell our grandchildren about, & my son won’t know what a CD player is. As a web designer, my digital world seems behind the times. When I once felt on the cutting edge with my gadgets, I feel as though the tools & gadgets I have now, even though the help me accomplish great things, will soon need upgrading. Actually, I am writing this blog entry using my already out of date & no longer cool Palm TREO 650 🙂 Read more