Tap Dancing Spiders

Thanks to the team (I suspect boys) at 11points.com for this one. Towards the end they aren’t so shocking, but should be noted.

11 Little-Known Grammatical Errors That Will Shock and Horrify You

One of my favorite things about the internet is that it breaks down geographic barriers. About 80-100 people attended last week’s Social Media Club gathering in San Francisco. Another 780 watched via Ustream.

Side note: Melbourne has just launched a Social Media Club. Check it out here.

How much is too much?

Last week Google released Buzz, their social media solution, integrated into the gmail platform.

Google are essentially the leaders of integrated information, so I don’t blame them for wanting to keep our social media time on their servers too. But really, unless it has something new and amazing I can’t see the point in moving over. Everyone has seen the stats on us being exposed to at least 3,000 marketing messages per day, so who has time for more of the same?

Admittedly, I haven’t played on it yet, but from all the reports I can’t see a justification to fit this into my schedule.

What does everyone else think?

The business world has been changed by the internet. Consumers can jump online and in five minutes publish a video blog (vlog) detailing poor customer service. Give them another 30 seconds and the vlog has been sent to to 126 Twitter followers. A further 30 seconds and it’s with 130 facebook friends. If 10% of those people share the link, that’s potentially 6,656 people hearing of the bad experience in under 10 minutes.

Jeff Jarvis’s book What Would Google Do? (Amazon, Dymocks) looks at this reallocation of control from corporation to consumer and how you can use the same tools and tactics in your business.

While the book’s title suggest following Google’s lead (following the What Would Jesus Do? movement on the 90s) it’s really all about openness and transparency in business and our lives, and how to work with it.

The book details some excellent case studies, such as Dell Computers and Starbucks Coffee. It does fall down in the second part (of three) when the author attempts to “Google-ize” a range of industries, some of which shouldn’t have the level of transparency or user input Jarvis demands. It picks up again in the final part, allowing you to forgive his pontifications.

I totally recommend this for anyone needing to get a handle on the way business has changed or just to get some case studies of where transparency has worked.

Thanks to Davinia Khong for her help with this review. I had to leave my copy of the book in Melbourne, so she is my researcher.