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From the category archives:

Social media

Social Media Means People and, Eventually, Maybe, Friends

by Tim Berry on November 20, 2009

in Social media

It was one of those sudden-realization moments for me.
I was talking to one of my favorite lawyers last night at a local startups event (smartups.org). He mentioned a person I’d sent to him a couple weeks ago. That person had asked me to recommend a small business lawyer, and I recommended him.
The realization was that [...]

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The Joy of User Revolts

by Tim Berry on November 4, 2009

in Social media, Web/Tech, Weblogs

It’s not that surprising, really; and we’ve seen it before with Facebook. When Twitter released a new feature, and it’s users didn’t like it, they had to change it back.
The Wired Magazine online story is Mob Rule! How Users Took Over Twitter. I found it interesting reading.
For the same kind of thing in Facebook, [...]

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5 Kinds of Trolls Hiding Under Business Bridges

by Tim Berry on October 28, 2009

in Business Ethics, Business Stories, Social media

You could call this post the taxonomy of trolls. I thought there were fairy-tale creatures, ugly and mean, living under a bridge, interfering with innocent travelers. It turns out, though, they’re real. Just like in the three billy goats gruff fairy tale, they are hiding along the way, jumping out to cause trouble.
I like [...]

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FTC vs. Social Media Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

by Tim Berry on October 7, 2009

in Current Affairs, Journalism, Social media, Weblogs

Here I was writing this post about new FTC rules for social media, feeling self-righteous about it, when it occurred to me that Shutterstock.com gives me a free stock photos account, which I use to illustrate this blog. And I’m an Amazon.com affiliate. I accept review copies of books, some of which I’ve reviewed here [...]

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A Drop of Credibility in an Ocean of Experts

by Tim Berry on October 6, 2009

in Business Mistakes, Reflections, Social media, True Stories

In an ideal world, saying no to one thing makes you more credible when you say yes to another. Telling a caller the truth about what your product doesn’t do makes them more likely to call back when they need what it does do. Turning down one kind of consulting job because you’re not expert [...]

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But Can We Trust the Trust Agents?

by Tim Berry on September 22, 2009

in Social media, Weblogs, Writing

I was just getting back to the office yesterday, a Monday morning after a week away – 4 days of business, and 3 relaxing and invigorating days in Yosemite, which is really away — when Dan Levine (@schoolmarketer on Twitter) suggested I read The social media country club on Mark Shaeffer’s businessgrow blog.

Yes, I’m a sucker for contrary points of [...]

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Help! One of Me, Dozens of Social Media Sites

by Tim Berry on September 17, 2009

in Social media

I posted here yesterday about the landrush problem of social media, which is my phrase for what happens when user feedback systems are subverted by vendors seeding reviews.
Another social media trend that worries me is the proliferation of sites. How do I deal with all the different sites I’d like to join?

Currently, for me it’s [...]

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The Landrush Problem in Social Media

by Tim Berry on September 16, 2009

in Social media

I’m engaged in an email discussion that’s getting heated now and seemed relatively simple when it started. At the heart of the problem is what I call the landrush problem in social media.
I refer to the Oklahoma landrush. You might know the history. There were several movies based on it. On April 22, 1889, thousands [...]

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Twitter As Big Brother and Sports Celebrity as Intoxication

by Tim Berry on September 9, 2009

in Current Affairs, Social media, Web/Tech, Weblogs

This post isn’t about the football star who punched an opponent; it’s about sportsmanship in general, sports business as oxymoron, twitter, YouTube, millions of dollars, and the impact of the ultimate big brother.
The ultimate big brother in this story is a lot like George Orwell’s 1984 Big Brother, but without the malice. He’s just [...]

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Does Twitter Matter? Can It Possibly Last?

by Tim Berry on August 5, 2009

in Social media, Twitter, Weblogs, Writing

Yes, I think it does matter. And no, although it won’t last, not like it is now, it is the beginning of something that will last, but will be changing a lot. I could say the same about personal computing, the Web, and blogging.
Twitter is all the rage because it hit fertile ground. People like [...]

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