Category: Web 2.0

How abuse of the English language paved the way for snake-oil salesmen masquerading as social media consultants

Defining social media and proclaiming where they are going next is an obsession of many of us who reside in our happy little fishbowl. Lord knows I’ve based more than one post on it here at 42 Points. But do you see what I did there, in the second part of that first link? I said where “they” are going. Not where “it’s” going.

Now, I’ve been known to nitpick grammar issues in the past and I’ll admit it can be a bit pedantic to do so. Sure, I’d like to punch everyone who “takes a decision” or “impacts something” in the spleen but, at the end of the day, are they hurting anyone? Well, maybe the guy impacting something is, I suppose it would depend on what he is impacting.

The case of the vanishing caribou: Is awareness-raising a good goal?

I saw a hashtag on Twitter this morning that caught my eye: #savethebou. Based on the tweets I saw, it seemed that the Canadian mint was planning to ditch the caribou that’s featured on the Canadian quarter. I checked a few of the links in the tweets and they all led to a Facebook campaign page. That page had no links back to anything the mint was doing, it was mostly people talking about the stupidity of ditching the caribou and a few people talking about the importance of protecting the actual caribou and its habitat (the boreal forest).

A follow up I’m happy to write

A few months ago I wrote about #BlameDrewsCancer – one guy’s amazingly-cool reaction to being diagnosed with cancer. Since then, thousands upon thousands of people have blamed Drew’s cancer for all kinds of stuff. Lance Armstrong’s LIVESTRONG campaign got on board. Oh, and as promised, Drew kicked his cancer’s ass.

On the outside looking in

UPDATED (12:45 pm ET) – It’s been resolved. “tiger” from Twitter Support blamed a “weird hiccup.”

Woke up this morning to find my Twitter account suspended. Ditto for my better half. suspended

It doesn’t seem widespread enough to be a system glitch (though I wouldn’t really know since I’m locked out) but it seems too weird to be a coincidence.

Published
Categorized as Web 2.0

Grumble grumble

A great tweet came through my All Friends feed today from Mat Paciga. On the off chance I borked the link or you’re just not the clickin’ sort, Mat observed that “there needs to be more social media critics out there.” Granted, it’s not earth shattering stuff. He’s certainly not the first to make such… Continue reading Grumble grumble

Sorry Milli Vanilli, I’ve got something else to blame it on now

The internet is full of juvenile crap. So is Twitter. One need only look at trending topics list to see that the hashtag phenomenon has given us a glimpse into the banal and utterly embarassing things that comprise the zeitgeist of our day. Which makes this all the more remarkable. Until today I hadn’t heard of… Continue reading Sorry Milli Vanilli, I’ve got something else to blame it on now

It’s like summer camp, but inside and with whiteboards

Firstly, for the hundreds dozens singles ok, nobody was really waiting for this post. But I feel the need to apologize nonetheless. See, ChangeCamp Ottawa was over two weeks ago and I’m only now getting around to finalizing this wrap-up post (thanks Ian Capstick!). Frankly, the day provided more food for thought than anyone could… Continue reading It’s like summer camp, but inside and with whiteboards