I began 2015 with a few weeks off the grid in Vietnam and Cambodia. The trip was all about learning and exploration — touring, reading, reflecting — and a break from the hyperconnected day-to-day. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but pay attention to the rapid encroachment of technology, and compare digital behaviors to those back in …
Friday 5 — 12.5.2014
We’re all producing more video, but who’s watching? Unlike written content, where a strong open may draw a reader in, there is a divide between those who press play on a video, and those who don’t. This post suggests that video consumption may not be evenly distributed across your audience — and you may have a very specific segment that forms …
Summer reading picks
With Memorial Day and Harvard’s commencement in the rear view mirror and temperatures in Boston threatening to stay over 50º F, it’s time to start thinking about summer reading. Not a lot slows down at work, but I invariably put together an overly-ambitious summer reading list. This year, I’ll try get through at least five …
Friday 5 — 5.30.2014
Mary Meeker released her annual, comprehensive internet trends report. Lots of stats reinforce the enormous potential in mobile, like room for growth in global smartphone adoption, and opportunity in mobile advertising. She notes that the education industry is at an “inflection point,” with increasingly global user bases (particularly for duolingo above) and the rise of …
The promise and reality of collaborative culture
The promise of computer-led collaboration long pre-dates the late 1990s commercial internet. Earlier that decade, the potential for enterprise efficiency and growth through content sharing among expanded internal networks led to the creation of knowledge management initiatives. The principles behind the initiatives were laudable — improve access to expertise across silos, facilitate innovation, and reduce …
Alone together, or shared space?
Pew Internet reports that 25% of married or partnered adults who text have texted their partner when they were both home together. Is this a good or a bad development? The answer may well depend on the circumstance. Social behaviors vary dramatically by age cohort. danah boyd’s new book focuses on social media behaviors of …
On death and online culture
As Facebook knows, a digital world raises new problems. To be sure, Facebook made a mistake not considering enough the mortality of those who would use their product. But to be fair, when have inventors or designers ever had to before? Think of other classic American brands—Ford or Coca-Cola, for example—whose products are not so …
Digital in the enterprise
Thanks to Vala Afshar and Michael Krigsman for inviting me to participate in a CXO Talk: Conversations About Innovation in the Enterprise. Vala wrote up our conversation about digital transformation and teams, content strategy, and the (erstwhile?) role of a CDO over on the Huffington Post.
Digital in the DNA matters
More and more, it’s becoming apparent that digital publishing is its own thing, not an additional platform for established news companies. They can buy their way into it, but their historical advantages are often offset by legacy costs and bureaucracy. In digital media, technology is not a wingman, it is The Man.
Digital world and humanity
It is not enough to be passersby on the digital highways, simply “connected”; connections need to grow into true encounters. We cannot live apart, closed in on ourselves. … Media strategies do not ensure beauty, goodness and truth in communication. The world of media also has to be concerned with humanity, it too is called …