DISQUS

I personally love "I'm...mostly polite."

Great little video, Chris! Thanks for the words, and it is something worth reminding folks.

Fantastic post.

Can't think of anything to add. Simply a fantastic post.

Great collection of tools, Louis! Thank you.

While my Twitter circle remains small, I also find that I don't read everything, and that that's okay. My friends know that I don't catch everything, and if they need to tell me something critical, Twitter's not the place.

Great stuff. I'd add:

26. Stay within your familiar sphere of hobbies and interests. Don't try anything new.

"You, yourself, shouldn’t try to be a combination web designer / CPA. It’s not that you can’t do this, but rather that the results are less than stellar."

While I appreciate that you're writing this for most people, as a naturally multifaceted person, this just doesn't apply to me or several people I know. Some of us naturally have several major skills.

For example, I'm currently pursuing a job where I'll be a trainer, web designer, and configuration management representative. All in the same job. That's what they want, and those are (some of) my skills.

Anyvay. Specific things that leaped out at me:

"Help others develop" seems like too vague of a goal. How will you know when you've succeeded?

For the assistant/intern, have you considered a virtual assistant, a la GetFriday.com? I have a virtual assistant through them, and am very pleased.

Why do we do anything? It's fun and it feeds our interests.

I share your initial and secondary reactions. I can count on one hand the number of banner ads I've ever clicked on.

Heck, I block Doubleclick.net in my hosts file, just to cut down on the number of animated ads I see for products I care nothing for.

I don't want to see the meta-conversation about an ad (most of the time).

As others have posted, it's a neat idea, but it seems to focus on teaching these third-graders how to use social media, not how to write or do math. Social media is a fantastic discussion medium--and would be great for, say, English readings and analysis--but I don't see the value-added when teachers already struggle to teach basic math and science.

Plus, I volunteer with third through sixth graders. None of them have cellphones, even non-smartpones. Their parents specifically will not allow them to have cellphones until at least middle school.

I worry about these kids' privacy, too, especially if they're using all these online services. They're going to fill out a lot of profiles. And, at least in the U.S., these sites should be following COPPA rules, which greatly increases the amount of time to register an account for a child (the parent must physically mail or fax a permission letter to the service; how many will do so?).

I also worry about a child predator realizing that all of Kaitlin's schedules, videos, writings, etc. are online.

All that said, it'd be great to see more social media acceptance among teachers. Set up a forum for discussing Silas Marner. Post videos of important lectures so kids can see them at home if they're sick or need to review.

Thanks for the link! I checked it out, and I must admit I don't see why you're excited. It looks like you have to install the Vuze player locally before you can view any of the (admittedly high-quality) video.

Great post, Robert! While I don't think it's as bad as all that, there's certainly an echo chamber. Good to see you commenting on it.

It's about *content*.

Ugh, that sucks. Best of luck on the appeal, Julio! Any way that the rest of us in Cloud World can help?

Any email over three paragraphs is suspicious to me now.

Great! Look forward to joining you.

Might be a bit difficult, as you'll be talking over His Steveness.

Nice way of putting it -- Each part of MS is too afraid of impacting other parts.

Excellent, excellent post. This is what I strive for.

Hmmm. Looking at my comment again, I realize it's unclear.

Bob made a solid point in his original letter to Scoble. His followup comments reveal an argumentative attitude towards a respected person. I've lost respect for him, which means I plan to avoid his work from now on. Might be good stuff, but I personally don't put up with that.

Bob Bly's just lost this reader, alas.

Neat post. However, I think it's only true if Facebook is the primary website on the internet. Remember, the internet interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. If important information starts not showing up in Google, folks will stop putting that information in Facebook.

Facebook data already doesn't show up on Google, and nobody complains because Facebook events and such aren't externally important--nobody cares if folks don't stumble across it during a Google search.

Also, isn't this just more speculation? Isn't it based on rumors that MS may buy Yahoo!/Facebook?

Nice analysis! I agree that there's a significant divide between early adopters and mainstream.

Interesting idea, to just leave the mainstream behind. There are certainly going to be technologies that early adopters use (and forget) that never make it into the mainstream. However, can a site be successful if it only appeals to early adopters? Are there really that many of us, and can money be made off us (we don't like to pay for things, after all)?

Great post, Robert! I've had similar experiences, and your advice is spot-on.

I'll just reiterate the importance of quantity over quality initially. You can be choosy once you have five different job offers.

Awesome. I love #18 in particular. Modern society feels structured particularly well to destroy focus. And that includes Flickr and Facebook.