DISQUS

Well said, I agree that people should understand and be able to articulate what they are supporting rather than jump on any bandwagon, regardless of whether they are expressing that opinion through social media or any other form of communication. To get more to the point it seems you were trying to address, you are right that social media is just a tool that makes it easier/faster for opinions to get circulated - it doesn't validate the opinion itself.

Herd mentality will always exist - social media may make it easier to detect online.

Having said that, may I add that from speaking directly to Iranians I know, they realize Mousavi is the lesser of two evils - if people don't acknowledge that, then I agree they are uninformed. But many would rather take the lesser evil than the greater evil. And they are expressing their desire to have their voice heard after many years of frustration/oppression. The green movement is not necessarily pro-Mousavi - it's an expression of support for people to have the right to have their voice heard, their vote counted. Objecting to that is naive in my opinion or perhaps reflective of the relatively benign political/social problems we have in Canada.

Sometimes there is no third option, as much as we'd like there to be one. Just because Iran can't have "our concept of democracy" with the two current options right now, doesn't mean Iranian citizens shouldn't have the right to choose their leader, even if that leader is someone with a heinous past.

Hmm, I have to disagree with you on this one as it relates to you personally if your name is a well recognized one. Otherwise why bother with even chrisbrogan.com? I don't use Facebook for networking/work, just keeping in touch with my family and close friends, and am not looking for people to find me easily. However, for my gallery, I am planning to use the same vanity URL as my gallery name to make it easier to find because I *want* people to find me easily.

Yes of course content is king. But people have to find the content in the first place.

@mathewi Tweeted this point - Great food for thought. I agree with many of your points, however I stop at the extent of collaboration. I don't find that having "the masses" contribute to articles or choose the photos will lead to better media - I still like the idea of some sort of curation by people who have some experience, training or skills in journalism. I know it's not popular to say, but I find the alternative may end up dumbing things down too much. I look at the comments of many of the people who write in to newspaper sites, and think, if those people were allowed to contribute to articles, I would never read them.

I use art (my world) as a parallel example - a lot of art that is popular commercially is not art that is particularly insightful, well executed or impactful.

I love the idea of distilling things down to 3 words, which each have a world of meaning behind them. My three for 2009 are: Explore, Blossom, Love. Will expand on those in my own blog post later this week, thanks for the inspiration.

Everyone - thank you so much for all the wonderful comments. I am thrilled to have a chance to write for this blog, as I have learned so much from Chris & appreciate what a generous man he is.

David - I would be happy to talk to you about approaching galleries - please email me at amrita@tinkugallery.com or ping me on Twitter @tinkugallery

Ellen - your PC is not acting up, seems IE7 browsers aren't viewing the image on the gallery site so I am needing to fix it - long laundry list of site updates I need to get to in January.

Chris,
I just started dipping my toes into the social media universe this year, with much help from you & your blog. You have been extremely generous with your time and for that I thank you.
I wish you a New Year of fewer flight delays, more Rock Star moments, and plenty of magic.
Merry Xmas to you and your family.
--Amrita

Ryan,

We have had very similar paths which probably explains why we also share similar ideals. I have been working on a similar "movement" at my gallery, to challenge the art establishment and create a space that uses art as a catalyst for dialogue, community involvement and social change. I was already planning a series of events/activities for 2009 to continue on this path but am happy to see you and others are on the same wavelength, and so would like to participate together where it makes sense, in whatever capacity I can best contribute.

I realize that is a little open ended at the moment but it sounds like we are still brainstorming about what the #arts&crafts movement could be, so want to leave room for this idea to sprout in whatever direction results after our first couple of get togethers.

P.S. Small but important typo in para 5 - while amusing, it may not be what you wanted to say (that's a totally different movement!) "I see the education of the pubic as important "

This is exactly what I am trying to do in my gallery. Even though social media is making this very topical, I take inspiration from Eastern cultures (i.e. Turkey, India, to name a couple) and small towns, where people know your name and doing business is rarely transactional. Whenever I buy something in India, I am offered a drink, we make conversation and the experience is personalized.

In the small town in Nfld where I have a home, the general store keeps a tab for me, based on my first name only - when I am not in town my handyman can buy things to keep the place fixed, and charges my account.

What I get from this post is that it is not about social media -- instead, social media is a tool that allows Carolyn to engage with you online as she would offline, no?

I think the #hohoto success is as much about the people that were involved, as it was about the tools they used to organize it. A different, less influential group of people would not have been as successful, in my opinion.

Tamera Kramer wrote a good blog post articulating this further: http://bit.ly/JLr5

I believe we are becoming increasingly influential as individuals due to the interconnectedness of communication and ease of movement across geographies. However there is a huge segment of the worldwide population still completely left out of this conversation. It is becoming more of a case of urban vs. rural and connected vs. unconnected

I don't think putting the video up makes it an infomercial for your company but I do think there is something nice about keeping some conversations just for people in the room/face to face connections vs. the whole wide world to see. This also encourages people to get out and come to these events vs. waiting to see the video/slides

Smart move. I did something similar but on a Russian research vessel to Antarctica but 10 yrs ago when we weren't all so plugged in. Good luck with the writing and hope you don't suffer from too much internet withdrawal, they say it is worse than scurvy.

Thanks for reaching out to me as an example of using social media for small business. I have been surprised at how big my audience/network has grown as a result. Like all other tools though, they need to be used with some thought, as they are not going to magically create new business on their own!

Congrats Matthew - I am a long time reader of your articles. Looking forward to hearing what your new position is all about.

I love these, and went back and looked at the original photos you posted. What a great idea.

Wow, your booth looks amazing. Looking forward to hearing how the show went. Happy selling!

Congrats Chris. It takes a lot of courage and nerves of steel but the journey will be unforgettable, I guarantee!

I'm in, as a non-tech blogger...not sure if this will apply to the audience I am trying to build but I am willing to give it a try!

First, full disclosure: my blog is featured in Alltop.

Two things make Alltop great in my opinion: Simplicity and Variety. As a reader I find Alltop exactly what it is says it is -- a digital magazine rack. I can easily find blogs on a variety of subjects without using an aggregator (RSS is still not as mainstream as people think -- the average person I know has no clue about RSS but still like surfing the web and reading blogs).

Secondly it carries blogs which people would not normally find in a standard Google search because they are lesser known so that is great from both the reader and content creator point of you.

Simple is often MUCH harder to do than complex but it doesn't mean it is inferior. Look at the Flip Video or the iPod...

Great post. Times like these force all of us evaluate what are "must-haves" and "nice-to-haves" in both the personal and professional areas. I have worked for other startups who have done more with less than those that are flush with cash. It is not going to be easy but there will be companies that survive these lean times because of the resourcefulness and focus of their leaders and management teams.

I would like to see: Sanjay Singhal of graboid.com and simplyaudiobooks.com , Guy Kawasaki and Hugh McLeod

Very timely post - you wrote what many of us are thinking. It is hard not to worry about how this downturn will affect us all, and I agree that looking at the big picture and making small changes in our own lives in the short term is a place to start. I read Seth's post too and am trying to think about the continued focus aspect. That is the area I find hardest, without some sort of external validation that I am on the right path. That is one thing that is challenging when a solo artist or entrepreneur and thankfully this is where the internet is a gift in allowing us to connect to each other and likeminded folks.

I am sure I speak for many others that I am very much inspired by your life. Making art for a lifetime with sustainability and quality of life as your beacons is the Holy Grail in my book. I am following in your footsteps... :)

You made it clear in your Tweet that "news" was reporting the Jobs story and that it was unverified. I didn't think there was anything wrong with saying that -- all it did was make me Google for more information rather than just assuming it was the truth. Saleem Khan made a good point in his Tweet to you that much journalism is based on information that is not personally experienced by the journalist -- I presume you make a judgement call as a journo whether or not to report something based on the credibility of your sources. Citizen journalism has not failed any more than human beings have failed in terms of people talking about things that may or may not be true. There is always going to be a bit of both. Anyone who blindly believes a journalist (citizen or otherwise) is bound to be misinformed.

I also didn't mind the Seinfeld ads, and certainly they got lots of people talking which is a good thing. This ad is a little more mainstream, not out-of-the-box thinking but perhaps that is what people will connect to.