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How to extend Canada’s “digital advantage” beyond the digital economy
May 29, 2010 | Community, How to build community online
How to turn the digital economy into a driver of business growth and community development.
My latest for Oprah.com: Is an iPad Right for Your Family?
May 19, 2010 | Zone, Family, Oprah.com, Published
"I got an iPad!" my daughter announces to a friend. "No honey, I got an iPad," I remind her. The argument over who the iPad belongs to is just one of the many wrinkles in our new life as The iPad Family. Self-serve movie watching, GodFinger addiction, bedtime stories...
The problem with social media “reputation management”
May 17, 2010 | Career
If you've been tracking the rise of social media services, you may have noticed how many are pitched as reputation management. "Reputation" is really just an efficient way of saying "what other people think about you". And if you look at just about any spiritual...
The return of “I don’t know”
Fifteen years ago, "I don't know" was a regular part of our vocabulary. And then it all changed. I remember the night, shortly after I got my first high-speed connection, when a group of my friends were over and got into a conversation about Clifford the Big Red Dog....
Missing out on Twitter
May 12, 2010 | Self, Top Twitter Posts
I made a number of confessions in my Northern Voice talk on Coping with Social Media, and in Gillian Shaw's related story for the Vancouver Sun. But the one that was met with the most surprise -- and in a couple of cases, horror -- was the revelation that I no longer...
Still social after all these years
May 9, 2010 | Community
Ron Burnett has an interesting blog post on whether Twitter (and other social media) are really social. Ron is the President of Emily Carr University, where I run the Social + Interactive Media Centre. The crux of his argument is that Twitter is not as conversational...
5 solutions for coping with social media
May 8, 2010 | Zone, Productivity, Top Information Overload Posts
Read Gillian Shaw's story about my social media methodology in the Vancouver Sun. Is social media something you have to cope with? Or is social media something that can help you cope? In my talk today at the Northern Voice blogging conference, I made my best case for...
6 Ways to Get Wired and Inspired
May 7, 2010 | Self, Top Self Posts
We tend to think of setting goals and seeking inspiration as highly personal. But achieving our goals is not always a solitary pursuit: The encouragement and resources of a larger community can help us do something we couldn’t do alone. Your computer can support both sides of this equation.
On Oprah.com: What to do on Twitter when you’re getting started
May 5, 2010 | Toolbox, Productivity, Oprah.com
This post for Oprah.com shows what to do on Twitter when you’re getting started. Learn the basics of using Twitter, like how to find great people to follow, or check out this Twitter glossary.
Do social networks make birthdays better?
May 5, 2010 | Relationships
Today is my 39th birthday. Among other things this means I've now spent 2/3 of my life online, since we got our first computer when I was 13. (Apparently it also means that a year from now I'll be forty, which all my forty something women friends tell me will be the...