practicehacker

I started using the Web the minute it graduated from monochromatic bulletin boards to HTML pages. Of course I was unemployed like 70% of my law school class, so I had time to experiment. Now I’ve got an office, family, demanding clients, and employees to oversee. You might say I’ve grown up a little. But has the Web grown up with me? Almost every website still wants to monopolize my time as if I had nothing better to do but chat, tweet, poke, or whatever. Sure, today’s distractions are Facebook and Twitter instead of Chatrooms and Message Boards, but it’s not that different is it? So when does “.com” turned “Web 2.0″ need to produce something relevant to my life instead of one more way to waste time? Or is the Internet in perpetual adolescence? As unlikely as it sounds, I was hopeful when I spotted this article on Techcrunch – a blog that I really respect (started by an attorney, BTW). But it turns out the piece is mostly about the oncoming wave of information in our future and how Web Apps might deliver the information in a slightly different form.  In short, there is no reason to believe that the Web, or anyone making things for the Web, will deliver anything relevant to real life. So I guess I’m still desperately seeking relevance to come pouring out my browser. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon either.

Posted via email from practice (redux)

From Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop – some good advice about how to get found online:

• Don’t Be Ordinary. Unique ideas will take you further than throwing money at marketing
• Create Good Content. Blogs, videos, podcasts, social networks, and tweets get noticed
• Optimize It. Optimize posts to be found on Google, Facebook, Twitter, Bing, Yahoo, etc.
• Promote It. Post your content as many ways as you can and email it to interested parties
• Measure Results. Act once, measure twice and keep measuring for continued success

10 Things Social Media Can't Do

Seems like every once in a while someone fields a pro social media piece; and right on its heels an anti message. Today’s installment in the culture wars comes courtesy of digiday with the ominous title, Ten Things Social Media Cannot Do and includes such blockbusters as

• (Social Media is not ) a substitute for marketing strategy
• (Social Media cannot) succeed without management buy-in
• (Social Media is not) a short-term project most of the time
  
• (Social Media will not) produce quick ROI most of the time
• (Social Media cannot) be done in-house by most companies
• (Social Media cannot) provide a quick fix to an image problem
  
• (Social Media cannot) be done without a realistic budget
• (Social Media cannot) guarantee sales or influence
• (Social Media is not) just a project for “kids” who “get it”
• (Social Media cannot and should not) replace PR altogether

So what’s wrong with this list? Nothing. I happen to think that it’s pretty realistic. But in these tough economic times, many a company (both start-up and established) is looking to social media as the proverbial Silver Bullet. Boy are they going to be disappointed.

Lawyers are calling it social networking burnout. Law.com reports that corporate America is losing its taste for social networking sites and shutting down access to Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. Recent back-to-back studies show a big chunk of corporate America banning Twitter and Facebook from the workplace. The news for the media world is even grimmer. According to an August survey by ScanSafe, 76% of companies block employee use of social networking sites — up 20% from February 2009. And social networking sites have become productivity enemy #1. Indianapolis-based Barnes & Thornburg is seeing companies block Facebook “all the time.” The firm has banned Facebook itself, and Twitter is next. I think what’s happening is social media is starting to simmer and the lawyers, PR teams, HR teams, and marketers are realizing that all these problems can occur, said one associate at Gunster Yoakley & Stewart of West Palm Beach, Florida.

I think what’s happening is social media is starting to simmer and the lawyers, PR teams, HR teams, and marketers are realizing that all these problems can occur, said one associate at Gunster Yoakley & Stewart of West Palm Beach, Florida who focuses on technology and the Internet.