Thursday, February 22, 2007

New Perspective on the SNW Generation

For those in the business who may be tracking on this blog, I highly recommend this article in New York Magazine by Emily Nussbaum. One of the people who've given up what most of us would consider way too much information had this to say:

"You’ve got to be careful what you say—but once you say it, you’ve got to stand by it. And the only way to repair it is to continue to talk, to explain myself, to see it through. If I shut down, I’m at the mercy of what other people say. "

Nussbaum has captured the perspective of the generation that posts. It is clear. It is something we must understand. Here's the link:

http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Kids%2C+the+Internet%2C+and+the+End+of+Privacy%3A+The+Greatest+Generation+Gap+Since+Rock+and+Roll+--+New+York+Magazine&expire=&urlID=21071886&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnymag.com%2Fnews%2Ffeatures%2F27341%2Findex.html%23&partnerID=73272

It's also a lead jump off the Arts and Letters Daily for today.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Someday, There Might be a Book

As a CoSIDA person, if you ever had any doubts that blogs have become a part of athletics and can drive media coverage, someday in the future when this all sorts out, I will have a story or two to tell.

For now, let me add another of my Cassandra warnings: Know your blogs. Check them often. Figure out where the trends are going.

And don't think for a single moment this is just a political/techno/entertainment world problem.

The Google-Plex Strikes

So, you've been clucking your tongue at those youngsters who don't have enough sense to cover their tracks on the internet. Posting all those inappropriate things on their SNW pages.

Until your employer decides to check out what you've been Googling.

Wha?

Consider this an adult (and student) alert -- Google's personalized search will keep track of all your past searches for you. And if you've been looking up naughty (or worse) things during company time, that may come back to haunt you as much as those beer-bong party photos by the fill-in-the-name-of-your-choice team party.

If you have a Gmail account, you may or may not have turned this function on. When you are logged into any Google account -- like the one used to make this blog, for example -- your googling can be more easily tracked. Notice, I said more easily.

If you go to the personal options of your Google account, you can turn this function off and delete any existing current search records. But any past functions will still live on in the Googleplex's stored back-ups.


Don't kid yourself -- they ARE watching.