DISQUS

Ha -- I love it when you write posts I can actually HEAR you saying.

This is exactly how I feel, but you said it much better than I ever have. Thanks.:)

It's totally amazing for me to see where people find their values and standards. Even when I'm not dating them.:) Great job, Gradon. Love this series already, Whitney.

Arthur -- the preposterousness of you coming up with a chauvanist, misogynist RHYME for this issue is second only to the fact that you would have the audacity to be both "pro-life" and "pro assassination" in the same breath.

Regardless of how you feel about what abortion means, or why you think women get abortions, or the entire situation, THIS MURDER WAS EVIL. One act of violence never justifies another.

No one gained anything from Dr. Tiller's death -- there will be other doctors who step in to fill his role. And if all of them are targeted with your blessing?

You will answer for that kind of evil where you think you're headed someday.

It's so weird. SO weird. It goes against everything else they've used to promote their stuff, from the snobbery to the exclusivity. Hello, money grab.

I don't have a copyright on grammar. :)

Damn, kid.

I've seen these two doing good stuff on Twitter. Very cool to learn more. :)

JetBlue already has done this on the Twitter, which is why they are soooo beloved. :)

This is absolutely the same issue I come across when I'm writing copy for client sites. They don't have a clue who they want to speak to -- they just want everyone to feel compelled to read when they get there.

It won't happen.

The same thing happens when clients are choosing keywords to optimize for... they want maximum traffic, without thinking of how that traffic will convert.

If more companies and business owners learned that mass appeal is a myth, they'd find themselves the customers they've been looking for all along.

2% is a percentage worth paying attention to. Otherwise, most countries should probably shut the hell up, because they're less than 2% of the world's population.

The reason THIS 2% matters is because they're the people that promote Twitter on blogs, etc, and in the media, whereas other users just... use it. They need this vocal little minority to pipe up and evangelize for them.

When I came on Twitter in March 2007, I didn't know anyone on the service. Literally the ONLY way I came across people to follow was seeing other people converse with them. It's a fantastic way to connect with people if you want to access new ideas/information/voices/conversations.

This won't happen now, which makes Twitter kind of lame and insular. That's why people are up in arms.

Andrew Hyde will bring three things to your community that will benefit every student who attends:

1. A genuine love of entrepreneurship: He urges people to follow their business goals and dreams, and seeks to facilitate the process every step of the way.

2. A genuine love of the community: Andrew is ridiculously social, but more than that, he actively pursues the stories and and ideas of those around him.

3. A genuine love of learning -- Andrew craves travel, new experiences, new perspectives, and personal growth -- and encourages others to stretch their boundaries, as well.

He'll inspire you if you let him -- and by accepting him into your class, you'll give him that opportunity.

This I always knew. Which is why I always argued with you about the sarcastic stuff. You might be a sarcastic bitch, but I think at your very roots, when you strip away all the other stuff, you are a strong, funny, wise, encouraging, creative and inspiring force. I love the moments in which you own all those possibilities. If you ever need an unironic cheerleader, you have me.

More evidence that the Canadian telecom industry is entirely anti-customer.

I'd never find out anyone new or fun existed if I didn't see others' @ replies. It's clicking through that lets me know who is out there, and what they're up to. Also, that would mean I'd be ignoring anyone who I wasn't intimately connected with. That's no fun!

I don't mind if you @ the whole universe -- it's a small negative for such big positives.

@gradontripp and I (@megfowler) met in February on Twitter. We're very happy -- he's even met my family! I'm starting the process of immigration now and we're hoping for a wedding in May 2010.

I think I'd need to spend more time with your hair. :)

Right off the bat: perms actually can create thinning over time, because they weaken the shaft of the hair.

Are you getting them just because you always have, or to manage natural wave, or what? You might want to slow down on the perming, and start going with what nature gave ya.:)

I think too much length also thins things out. It makes us feel like we have a lot of hair, when we just have heaviness.

Think on these:

http://hairbrained.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/...

http://www.palzoo.net/file/pic/user/Drew-Barrym...

http://www.gulum.net/model/resimler/tea-leoni-1...

http://hairbrained.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/...

Shoulder length and a bit beyond, decent product, a diffuser, some serum and a touch of curling iron. Easy peasy.

Megs last blog post..pure delight.

I got all squooshy at being your last #followfriday. But I think you already knew lots about the importance of love. :)

Part of me really wants that to be someone who knows you trying for edgy humour, but you can probably see in your analytics where they came from, and sadly, it's probably sincere. If not, still kind of... off colour.

I didn't read this properly when you first wrote it, but it's brilliant and thoughtful. At points, in the process of getting to know you, I've been thrown off by your sense of humour or your stance on things, and I've told you so. We roll differently sometimes. But all things considered, you really are one of the most optimistic and sincere sons of bitches I know.

People who are both realists and optimists make me happy -- they see what's going down, and it bothers them... but they also believe something can be done about it, even if it's just a small thing that makes one life better. Thanks for being like this, Micah, and for being my friend.

I totally agree with you, but I don't stop there. I'd go so far as to say ANY form of automation on Twitter, be it auto-DM, auto-follow, auto-linking, auto-feeding -- really, truly, ANY of it -- makes me lose my interest in someone's stream very quickly. Even the whole "my latest Tweet is now my Facebook status" thing drives me nuts. Social media is not about "saving time" -- you put the time in genuinely that you can afford to put in, and then you have to let go. Ron Popeil would be proud of the "set it and forget it" methods of making social media conversation, but I'm not a fan.

I only really make an exception for bots that provide information I'm seeking.

If you're a human being or a company seeking to interact with human beings, BE human. Do what's possible within your humanness. I don't care if that means you tweet a little less -- I'll care about the tweets you do much more than I might if they were plentiful and auto-generated.

Otherwise, use the timesavers and apps to organize input, not output.

ENFJ

@megfowler with 3100 followers presently.

<abbr>Megs last blog post..the 10 easiest things to get into.</abbr>

After reading your post, reading the comments, reading a few of the related posts, and ruminating on my experience as both a blogger and someone who works within the social media AND marketing spaces, only one thought really came to mind: "Y'all don't have bigger things to be concerned about?"

The purpose of the campaign was pretty obvious to me. $500 doesn't go too far in most stores nowadays, save for maybe Wal-Mart. K-Mart and Wal-Mart are competitors, clearly (full disclosure: I haven't been into either store in years -- I prefer Target).

K-Mart wants to establish they can give you value for purchases big and small, whether you are clearing out your Christmas list, or stocking up on what your family needs to get through the winter. The number isn't the point -- it's what you can do with it. Scale the budget up or down, but K-Mart is trying to position themselves as a company that gets how much Americans need to get for their dollar. That's what it looks like to me, as a marketer.

You can quibble about amounts, writing style, the nature of the campaign until you're blue in the face, and people have been doing that with marketing and advertising for years. But the only responsibility you have is to be honest and open about what you were up to, and you fulfilled that.

Does it take away from the rest of your posts? No way. I'd assume if you did another post like that, you'd tell me it was sponsored, just like you did with this one. And if sponsored posts weren't my bag, I wouldn't read it -- I'd just move on to the next thing you were talking about.

You aren't responsible to throw yourself at the mercy of every piece of ideology your readers can come up with. If you felt fine about it, then sail on. That's what blogging is about -- personal discretion, and then others opt in or out as they choose.

Much thanks for your friendship, Micah. I think you are getting this whole love thing down. In a really jerky, douche-y way, mind you. :D

They are incredibly lucky to have you. You define what it means to dive into the conversation, and I could not be more happy to have connected with you on Twitter and to see you take this thing by the reins. So much good can come when people step up in a time of crisis, and I think your commonsense, transparent attitude is perfect for the brand, and for the future of the company. Thanks for this post.

I don't think you hate writing as much as you think you do. Anyone who blogs and microblogs and Facebooks to the extent you do couldn't do if they actually couldn't stand the sight of their own words, or the mechanism of getting them out there. I think what you ACTUALLY are is a natural writer -- in that you just do it, without pretense or premeditation. You just say stuff... and that's not anti-, that's pro.