Humor is the Glue of Online Communities?

That's what this article from the guardian claims. Interesting.

There's obviously something pretty powerful about humor and this might explain some of it.

Here's a quote:

"It's not surprising that so much of online content is comedy; the library of psychological and anthropological research describes humour as the glue that helps to define communities and keep them together. Psychologist Dr Rod Martin, who has published extensively on the role of humour in mental and physical health, describes it as a coping mechanism: we seek to clarify a unified reality through our interpersonal communications, but when that unified reality isn't forthcoming – because we inevitably look at the world through different frames of reference and have different interpretations of what's happening around us – we poke fun at our inconsistencies, which allows us to smooth them over because we are able to embrace the contradictions."

So maybe we should begin recruiting comedians for our diplomatic posts, sending our funniest to Middle East peace negotiations. Worth a shot? Why not.

Just came across this. It's exactly the sort of thing I was talking about in an earlier post. This type of presentation style is going to help spread a lot of ideas.

Watch it - its pretty cool. A short video presentation on a cloud-based way to help media sources and freelance journalists do business together.

The Genius of Rebecca Black

Why?

The demographic of middle-class 7- to-10-year-olds is under-exploited from a marketing standpoint. My tongue is only partially in my cheek on that one (as in it sucks but its true).

Obviously this market segment has been targeted in the past. Its just the cartoons that worked in the past do not cut it anymore. The writing is on the wall. Kids are increasingly connected to pop culture. Way more than I am. The only thing slowing them in their embrace of technology is their parents who still park them in front of the TV.

Kids seem to be doing everything at younger and younger ages. From dating to joining gangs*. Young kids always want to be like the older kids and now there are people providing their own pop stars, singing and rapping at a first grade level.

The video is here. What market do you think is being targeted?

*I have personal experience with the latter through working with inner-city youth. Not only are existing gangs recruiting at younger ages than they have in the past, but it is becoming common for youth who are still too young to form their own gangs. In my experience this has been at the ages of 11 and 12 or so. Obviously this really sucks....

Data Presentation

There is so much information available to us.

Through the roof amounts!

I think we're primed for some very cool breakthroughs in terms of what we can do with our mountains of data. Those of us who can show glimpses of creativity and smartness might as well get to work on this. Many people already are (eg, earth kings: Google).

But there is SO MUCH more to do. The age of the plain, black and white text, up/down-only documents are over. Video? More video.

And don't tell me to buy an iPad. I think that the coolest breakthroughs will be the ones that we can fit in by using or modifying existing technologies.

Finally, here's a little example of how we can present the lyrics to Rebecca Black's song Friday!

Who knew she said so few words, so many times?

The Groupon Effect

The 'Groupon effect' has already begun to change how people buy things. It will soon change how we vote - and everything else.

For those not familiar with "Groupon" it is a business that provides consumers with an enticing offer to buy coupons worth 50%-80% off at local businesses. Every day is a different offer and you only get 24 hours to buy or let the deal pass. If you need more info google it.

The important things here are:

- groups of people have power

- businesses and organizations increasingly want to identify groups so they can cater to them.

- this is really, really popular right now

I believe that many areas of life are heading in this direction. In politics there have long been lobby interests for industries (milk producers) or causes (drunk driving). Now, a group like MADD can form in an evening online through twitter, facebook, and whatever comes next. It won't have a president or constitution but it will have leadership and be real. We're entering a world more friendly to group-forming thanks to social media.

Yeah... people are going to want to group themselves for community. Then they'll find that they have influence, too.

This Is Remarkable

TED Talks often pretty great. This one had my jaw dropped right down to the floor.



Just over half of the talk is on how infants learn to speak, then at the 11:48 mark presenter Deb Roy applies his research to social connectivity. It is worth watching.

He presented 3-D maps of the social universe. Media sources on one plane and viewers/commenters on another, with a web of connections between the two planes and a web of connections between the viewers/commenters themselves. It was as if someone made the Internet into a model city.

MUCH to infer from this. But all I'm going to say for now is that this is very important. This is world-is-round stuff.

We All Suck at Tipping

Why the hell do you tip? Probably for bad reasons I'll bet.

A) You are rewarding your server for past performance - ie the meal you just ate.
B) You are trying to build a good reputation at a restaurant you frequent.
C) Its just part of going to a restaurant.

"A" is a good response. If the server made you go "Wow!" in some little or big way, or maybe just 'cause he or she is hot, leave a big tip. No prob.

"B" I really like, but then I've never been a "regular" anywhere. It makes sense to tip well at a restaurant you frequent. It's an investment in future service.

"C" is lame. Okay, most restaurants require servers to share a percentage of their tips with the cooks and this is based on their net sales, so a tip of $0 actually costs them money. Also, minimum wage (or thereabouts) alone would be unfair to the server in most cases. It's not the easiest job in the world.

BUT - for pete's sake a lot of servers make damn decent money for being on the ball on refilling your coffee cup. If you don't think there's surplus money at this position, ask how many servers resume's they have on file next time you're at a popular restaurant.

I think most of us tip - and tip pretty well - because we want to feel like "good tippers". If you're not coming back to this restaurant twenty times in the next year why bother giving that 20% tip? Just leave 10% and be done with it. If you need to scratch your generosity itch, consider who else may be more in need of your money.