Do you think there’s room on the Internet for startups that aren’t the product of a programmer’s brain? I do. But some things need to change. Way back in 2008, Bernard Lunn of ReadWriteWeb wrote about his vision for the near future of the Web in a brilliant three-part series in which he said:
The Main Street Web is about people who don’t care about technology or media, they just use it. Above all it is about really simple business models that work in the physical world as well as online world. The Main Street Web will empower small business and level the playing field with big business.
He talked mostly about how usage would become more mainstream, but in my article, You Can’t Launch the Next Generation of Internet Startups Without Women, I suggest that startup founders with viable ideas are likely to start coming from the mainstream too, and that they might be better able to meet the needs and address the interests of an aging and increasingly diverse population of Internet users.
It’s time for the puppet masters to start looking at paper projects again, like they did in the old days. The way publishing houses look at manuscripts.
Filed under: web life, web trends , startuppity
February 16, 2010 • 7:31 pm
I’m not wild about list posts. Apparently I’m the only one, because I’ve never heard anybody else complain about them, and blogs great and small are overflowing with “ten ways to [whatever]” posts. They’re generally quite popular, too.
Frankly, I think they’re a symptom of laziness on the part of writers and readers alike. But I do have to admit that with all the info we have to process these days, they’re sometimes better than nothing. It’s true that, as Umberto Eco (who loves lists, BTW, and is no slouch) says, they “make infinity comprehensible.” I guess people can always dig deeper into a subject if they want something they can sink their teeth into. I wonder how many do.
Anyway, you gotta do what you gotta do, and I’ve been known to write a list post or two in my day. In fact, the last two I wrote for Web Worker Daily were just that: 5 Japanese words that start with S, and 3 words uttered by Mel Gibson that start with E (and might help you get a content strategy, which you should do).
Filed under: language, tech writing, web trends , blogging, content strategy, online identity, personal branding, tips, words
November 17, 2009 • 3:20 pm
Do you have a content strategy for your own social media presence? If you’re a professional, you probably should. Too many small business/startup blogs and Twitter feeds are too inwardly focused, all about features and updates or the founder’s views and activities.
I give some tips for getting a plan and making your content valuable in my Web Worker Daily article Taking Content Strategy Personally.
Don’t know what content strategy is? Find out in Paris next April at Content Strategy Forum 2010, “for anyone who develops, manages, or delivers content within their own organization or for their clients: user experience designers, information architects, business analysts, technical writers, web project managers, documentation managers, translators, web marketers, practicing content strategists, and those looking to break into the field.”
Filed under: social media, tech events, web life, web trends , content strategy, online identity
October 27, 2009 • 9:59 am
Why am I always so shocked when I meet people who, for example, don’t know what Twitter is? (And this happened the other day in Paris, not the Amazon rainforest…) Sometimes we Internet types need a reality check.
Here’s a post I wrote for Web Worker Daily just as a reminder that there are lots of people who live mostly in the brick & mortar universe. There are more of them, in fact, than there are of us:
Filed under: web life, web trends
August 29, 2009 • 12:51 pm
Everybody seems to have at least two cents to contribute to the apparently endless discussion of online identity (or personal branding, or e-reputation, or whatever you want to call it). I have plenty to say about it too; I even give talks on the topic. And since personal branding was the theme on Web Worker Daily last month, I contributed two articles that you might find interesting. Or not. But I do talk about Big Bird and pastries in an attempt to keep you from being too bored…
Filed under: social media, web life, web trends , online identity, personal branding
…I’ve spent a few years with my finger on the racing pulse of the Web and I’ll tell you what. There’s a whole lot of crap out there. There are so many utterly ridiculous concepts that have managed to find programmers and investors, so many brain-wasters helping to speed along the decline and fall of Western civilization… We could be doing so much better. It can get depressing sometimes. But the reality is just this, and it will never change:
Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: social media, web life, web trends , Francophilia, startuppity
It was sheer delight translating Claire Ulrich’s article Les Censeurs du Net, originally published in Le Monde 2.
In Internet history, 1994-2004 was the era of the pioneers. 2004-2007 was the era of the merchants. Now we’re entering the era of the bullies. Everywhere in the world, sites are going dark, arrests are increasing, more people are going to prison. The Web just celebrated its 20th birthday. Nobody used to take it seriously, but those days are gone. Read the rest…
Almost as much fun as translating her lyrical Plus belle, ma vie en ligne for Kiva (not available on line, but I will send you a PDF if you wish).
Filed under: language, translation, web trends
I was at the E-reputation barcamp held at La Cantine yesterday, where I attended a session on personal branding given by Fadhila Brahimi. In Fadhila’s session, I was primarily interested in the questions, hopes and fears of the other attendees, so that I could address them in future talks and posts about online identity and personal branding myself. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: tech events, web life, web trends , online identity, personal branding, tips
Filed under: apps, social media, tech events, web life, web trends , Francophilia, netiquette, online identity, personal branding, startuppity, tips
February 23, 2009 • 7:29 am
February 22, 2009 • 5:27 pm
Web 2.0 was all about social and free, kind of like the Haight in the 60s. We tossed our inhibitions to the wind and let it all hang out. Alas, groovy people, the pendulum is swinging, as it inevitably must do. A sure sign: I had to pay WordPress money to change the CSS of this blog. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: social media, web trends , startuppity, tips
