Brave New Conversational World

Facebook, Ning, Tweet, Wordpress
4Square, MyLife, Tumblr, brain mess!

It's a brave new world and I don't think I understand even a half of it. Sure, I blog. I've been doing it for a few years now and I have seen it as a way to write my thoughts, kind of a public journal. I've made some lovely discoveries along the way, finding some wonderful folks with whom I now "virtually visit" on a fairly regular basis. But I'm no blog phenomenon nor have I really tried to be.

But I think it's time to learn the tricks. I'm making serious plans to make use of my pretty hefty resume in the communications and media relations field. So I did some outreach the past few days. Let me tell you - it was an eye-opener.

I spent an hour or so with the very nice Ric Dragon of Dragonsearch Marketing. The economy may be on life support but Dragonsearch is growing, and growing fast. He offers website optimization - which basically means he'll help you spread the word about your business or website. He's good and there's a reason - he told me that if you really want to try to keep up with a field that's changing moment by moment, you've got to become a fanatic.

"Lots of late nights," he warned me. "Lots of reading. Lots of writing."

I'll share with you one concept of the many he threw in my direction: Twitter isn't about promoting yourself or what you do. Its biggest use for business is to create connections - start conversations - develop a wider network of acquaintances.

I hate Twitter - to me, it's an endless barrage of banal announcements.

Coffee's cold. Ew!

Stuck on the LIE!

I hate Mondays!

But Ric left me thinking of Twitter as a massive cocktail party - there are dozens of conversations going on, lots of introductions, short bursts of information. And out of those connections can come real, useful business relationships.

I'm not going to doubt him. I met him on Facebook.

So let the learning begin!

Any of you been struggling with this one? Any tips to share to get up to speed?

Rain, Paint Fumes and Revolution in the Air

I'm feeling kind of low. The weather doesn't help...hot, muggy and way too wet to be comfortable. I just read Judith O'Reilly's latest entry on wifeinthenorth.com
and felt worse. She's apparently getting shit online from people jealous of her success. What the hell is wrong with humanity? If one of us makes good, the rest of us have to pick her apart so we can feel better about ourselves. Low low low. Little brains.

Then there's my personal fallout from the first presidential debate. Nice of John McCain to show up. I watched it all. I watched the little 'mood meter' running as each candidate spoke. The independents (green) made nice new colors when their reactions blended with the red or the blue lines. And I realized that our debate system is dirt stupid, and nothing that was said that night is likely to change anyone's mind.

Obama, if you like him, held his own. He was in control, he knew his stuff, he didn't attack but he didn't sit back and leave attacks unanswered. McCain, if you like him, played the "I've been around longer than you" card nicely, frequently pointing out that Senator Obama, as he consistently called him, "didn't understand."

There was one moment that made my night. Remember when McCain tossed out a comment that Obama didn't understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy? I watch people closely. And if you watched Obama, his eyes flashed. This, apparently, is where Obama draws the line: don't question his intelligence. He didn't lose control, but he caught fire and I was glad to see it. We need someone at the helm who can get angry but keep his head. Obama is often far too even tempered. I don't want him to get nasty, but I want him to be passionate.

That said, I have come to mistrust both of them. These candidates were chosen by the machine that decides who we can vote for. We shoot down independents, or we ignore them until they go away. We'll be voting for the lesser of two evils again this year.

And how about those vice-presidential candidates? I dread their upcoming debate: it has the makings of an historic train wreck. I may have to scream until my throat explodes if Joe Biden manages to somehow give the advantage to a woman I have truly come to dislike. Sarah Palin has no more business in Washington than I do. But she's got the cute, feisty thing down solid. I've met her kind too many times and I don't trust them...they like power and they get it by winning people over. If Palin gets into power, it will legitimize views that I firmly believe will send this country back to the Dark Ages.

Then there's our bailout of Wall Street. There are stories no one is telling. I know a woman who was part of a march on Wall Street last week protesting the bailout. Above her, she said, brokers leaned out of windows, threw dollar bills at the marchers and yelled "Get a job!"

A lovely attitude for people who are begging for nearly a trillion dollars in free money to save their jobs. They are "us" and the people who will give them money are "them." It begins to feel like we're going to go without so that Wall Streeters can save their lofts, their vacation homes and their luxury cars. I am most definitely one of 'them.' I'm trying to figure out how to pay my bills, keep my home, pay for heat this winter. Perhaps I can keep warm by the light of the thank you letters I'm sure to receive from investment advisers and stock brokers.

So I'm painting my living room. If we lose the house, at least it'll look good. And we can enjoy it as long as we have it. The physical activity gives me an outlet for my growing anger. Did Thomas Jefferson really say he thought it would be healthy if we have a revolution every two decades? We are long, long overdue.