Maura Welch on Social Media

Teens, Obama and Social Media

I have two teenagers and I work for teens all day at WeeWorld. It's great. Really. 

Why? Because they are interesting, emerging adults that are vocal and engaged - and not just about music, celebrities and fashion. They also are developing their stance on politics, the environment and volunteerism. 

One of the coolest things I worked on last year was helping the WeeWorld community become a place to further the presidential election debate.

All year long WeeWorlders were able to discuss and show their support for their favored candidates through virtual goods and presidential avatars.  More detail here.

The election was historical on so many fronts, not the least of which was how engaged youth and teens were in the process. And on WeeWorld I watched first hand how teen (voters and non-voters alike) found a new voice in the virtual arena.

WeeWorld recently entered this initiative into the Forrester Groundswell Awards. I welcome you to vote or comment on our submission here: http://groundswelldiscussion.com/groundswell/awards2009/detail.php?id=127.

 

Voting closes in early October. If you want to make your voice heard, do it now please!

I'll come clean up front. Like so many others, I worked on the Obama campaign as a volunteer. But the thing I loved most about watching the election unfold on WeeWorld was the way these young adults expressed their views and talked to each other - no matter which candidate they supported. They are the future after all. 

Where we're headed

I've been reading Fred Wilson's blog for a long time. He always provides intelligent, incisive observations and ideas.

He recently gave a talk at Google about why the internet is disruptive, what it's disrupting and where we are likely headed from here. Worth contemplating. Here is the slide show:

Disruption - Final Version

View more presentations from fredwilson.

Idol Twitter Volume Chart - updated

Did you know?

Why Twitter?

If the New York Times is writing about the utility of Twitter, then you know it's go to be useful for something, right?

Maybe I'll refer to this article when people ask me why on earth I think Twitter is worth it.

And then there are the vast majority who just look at you and say, Twitter? What's that?

So, what's so great about Twitter?

• Keep your ear to the ground  Who's talking about your product, company or service? Go to search.twitter.com and find out.
• Tweet is cheap If you can assemble a wide enough group of followers, then you've got a cheap and easy way to get the word out widely about what's happening at your site, product, company or service.
• First responders   I knew there was a quake in California before CNN. We all read the #mumbai eyewitness tweets and were amazed at the amount of collective intelligence we could get just moments from the attack.
• Short is good sometimes  Short little notes you might find interesting, or that are about things that tell you more about the person, the company, the product. Sometimes the tweets point interesting places. 
• Celebrity stalking   Some celebs Twitter. I don't follow that, but you could.

So ignore Twitter, or not.

But this will likely go the way of the blog...and spread.

The aging of Facebook

In January I noticed that it seemed like everyone I knew was starting their first Facebook page.

By that I mean people my age. Or older.

But here's when it really hit home.

My 70 year old mother in law is now on Facebook.

So no surprise that Nielsen Online is reporting that Facebook has added almost twice as many 50-64 year old global visitors (13.6 million) between December 2007-December 2008 as it has added under 18 year old global visitors (7.3 million).

It's all about the humans

David Armano is one of those rare people that can think deeply but clearly and articulate complicated things in visual, emotive and uncomplicated ways. Thanks, David, for always making a trip to your blog Logic + Emotion well worth it.

Here is his latest killer presso:

The Micro-Sociology of Networks

View more presentations from David Armano. (tags: behavior human)

"It's the people, not the technology"

Source: Fast Company via YPulse

Anastasia Goodstein says it right. I work with technology all day long. But all the technology in the world won't help you unless you have a flexible, smart and creative team that understand how to work and accomplish goals with other humans.

Fast Company uses IBM as an example of a company actively encouraging this behavior.

“IBM puts emphasis on employee contributions of ideas, collaboration, and motivating people to engage in…pro-social behavior.” The company seeks out instances where employees help others succeed. “Too often, we have measurement and reward systems that are focused on how many transactions did you process, how many orders did you ship, and how many deals did you close -- rather than who helped these other people succeed.” 

Mapping the future of paper

I just love maps. Really.

And as you know, I'm also quite obsessed with sustainability and the ongoing issue with bags.

So when Eric Denison sent me a link to this map and story from the New York Times, my antennae began twitching away.

The map shows world wide paper consumption based on country per capita GDP. Take a look at the US - the world's most egregious consumer. On the positive side, we are on the decline for paper use. China?  Paper usage is fast on the rise.

Eric writes, "Personally, I find visualizations like this fascinating and think they help put a variety of complicated issues in perspective."

Right on. With the mountains of data we're generating every day and our innately human visual acuity, mapping is more important than ever. How else will we unlock and communicate the critical information that dwells in the 1s and 0s?

The New York Time covers the fact that more and more American households are going paperless, "perhaps more for efficiency than for environmentalism." We all love the convenience of online bill-paying, tickets and gift buying. The truth is, for most things today, the digital copy is the record copy.

But paperlessness is most striking to me in my work. I write and create media for a living. But there is almost no paper involved. That's especially so, now that my column doesn't run in the dead tree version of the Globe.

How about you? Are you trending toward paperlessness?

 

Thanks for the map, Eric!