Publications
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
What you can learn from your tech defeats
When I was a small child my mother dropped me onto a hard, stone floor. Miraculously, I was uninjured. As soon as I stopped crying, it seemed, I was as good as new. It would take years before the long-term repercussions of this fall became apparent: the tumble had...
8 secrets to a smarter tech maintenance routine for your blog
This weekend I had one of my periodic orgies of blog maintenance. Now it happens that 14 hours of software upgrades, plugin installs, widget testing and css tweaking is my idea of fun, so giving my blog a weekend of tech love is also a way of giving myself a weekend...
Self-publishing: 5 issues for authors to consider, from Amazon’s Jon Fine and Prof. Tim Laquintano
At the Merging Media conference today, we heard from Jon Fine, Amazon's Director of Author & Publisher Relations. Jon's talk reminded me of the terrific presentation I heard at AOIR from Tim Laquintano, a writing professor at Lafayette College who spoke about the...
Video: Social media, politics & the future of think tanks
Last month I had the opportunity to be part of a terrific day-long discussion on the future of think tanks, hosted by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) as part of its 10th anniversary celebrations. I shared some of my thinking in a blog post...
What is Evernote, and how can it make you a social media power user?
Making effective use of social media isn't about which tools you use, which networks you join or how many followers you have. People who have made social media a valuable, joyful part of their professional and personal lives are people who have made a number of...
10 funny things to read or do online from a hotel room
Welcome to Social Media for Bored Travellers
4 easy steps to creating a Twitter list from your conference backchannel
You know you're at a conference with a great backchannel when you want to stay in touch with all the folks who've been tweeting away under the designated hashtags. That's how I felt about the Association of Internet Researchers (AOIR) conference last week: from the...
Leaning into online struggles
The fourth time I got a call from the principal's office, I knew I had to rethink our school year. One of our kids was having a tough time in class, and I had already made several visits to the teacher, the classroom and the principal's office. Not only was I worried...
Internet researchers tackle the future of reading & publishing at AOIR
True confession: I treat conference panels as competitive events. Whenever I'm participating in a multi-speaker panel my secret goal is to "win" the panel. This doesn't mean I try to take down my fellow panellists: it's not like wrestling or ice hockey, where you've...
The Harvard Business Review
What you can learn from your tech defeats
When I was a small child my mother dropped me onto a hard, stone floor. Miraculously, I was uninjured. As soon as I stopped crying, it seemed, I was as good as new. It would take years before the long-term repercussions of this fall became apparent: the tumble had...
8 secrets to a smarter tech maintenance routine for your blog
This weekend I had one of my periodic orgies of blog maintenance. Now it happens that 14 hours of software upgrades, plugin installs, widget testing and css tweaking is my idea of fun, so giving my blog a weekend of tech love is also a way of giving myself a weekend...
Self-publishing: 5 issues for authors to consider, from Amazon’s Jon Fine and Prof. Tim Laquintano
At the Merging Media conference today, we heard from Jon Fine, Amazon's Director of Author & Publisher Relations. Jon's talk reminded me of the terrific presentation I heard at AOIR from Tim Laquintano, a writing professor at Lafayette College who spoke about the...
Video: Social media, politics & the future of think tanks
Last month I had the opportunity to be part of a terrific day-long discussion on the future of think tanks, hosted by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) as part of its 10th anniversary celebrations. I shared some of my thinking in a blog post...
What is Evernote, and how can it make you a social media power user?
Making effective use of social media isn't about which tools you use, which networks you join or how many followers you have. People who have made social media a valuable, joyful part of their professional and personal lives are people who have made a number of...
10 funny things to read or do online from a hotel room
Welcome to Social Media for Bored Travellers
4 easy steps to creating a Twitter list from your conference backchannel
You know you're at a conference with a great backchannel when you want to stay in touch with all the folks who've been tweeting away under the designated hashtags. That's how I felt about the Association of Internet Researchers (AOIR) conference last week: from the...
Leaning into online struggles
The fourth time I got a call from the principal's office, I knew I had to rethink our school year. One of our kids was having a tough time in class, and I had already made several visits to the teacher, the classroom and the principal's office. Not only was I worried...
Internet researchers tackle the future of reading & publishing at AOIR
True confession: I treat conference panels as competitive events. Whenever I'm participating in a multi-speaker panel my secret goal is to "win" the panel. This doesn't mean I try to take down my fellow panellists: it's not like wrestling or ice hockey, where you've...
OneZero
5 ways to make task management software work for you
I have a love-hate relationship with task management software. On the one hand, I'm kind of obsessed with it: trying out new task and project management tools is one of my favorite pastimes, and it's hard for me to resist trying out each shiny new entry in the market....
Stop worrying about your kids’ online future
I'm one of more than a thousand Internet experts who contributed thoughts about our emergent digital world to the 2012 Elon University-Pew Internet & American Life study on the future of the Internet. My comments were picked up in the Globe and Mail and MindShift,...
3 reasons to check out the latest research on social media and food
In the past, ethnicity and family traditions dictated the foods we prepared; we bought our groceries at a neighborhood store; we learned our recipes from “mom” or a cookbook; and we ate our meals together around a table. In contrast, today social media introduces us...
Save your laptop from reclining airplane seats
I live in fear of my laptop getting crunched on an airplane. How many times have I been working away when the person in front of me suddenly reclines, threatening to trap the top edge of my laptop and break my screen? I thought my 11" MacBook Air would save me, but...
S.E.O. is payback for teenage freaks
Today I was catching up with my colleague Haig Armen when he asked me if I knew Steve Andersen. "You mean, Steve Andersen from Salesforce?" I asked. ["You mean, Steve Anderson of Open Media?" my husband asked later.] "No, Steve Anderson of Get Mental Notes," Haig...
Infographics against infographics
I am super in love with the Pinterest collection of social media infographics compiled by Irene Koehler. But the ever-growing excitement about social media infographics isn't all good news: along with the gems there are some absolute crimes against infographicality....
Be the e-mailer you wish to see in the world
How many people do you receive e-mail from that you read and reply to every single time? I'm guessing it's just a handful: Your best friend -- the one who sends you short periodic updates with a single recent photo, not the one who sends you weekly 2-pagers. The...
5 commandments for your digital fast this Lent
I'm not really a Lent kinda gal. (It may have something to do with me being Jewish.) But for the past few years, I've felt increasingly Lent-aware, because of the sheer number of people who now seem to give up Facebook for Lent (but then tweet about it), email for...
JSTOR DAILY
5 ways to make task management software work for you
I have a love-hate relationship with task management software. On the one hand, I'm kind of obsessed with it: trying out new task and project management tools is one of my favorite pastimes, and it's hard for me to resist trying out each shiny new entry in the market....
Stop worrying about your kids’ online future
I'm one of more than a thousand Internet experts who contributed thoughts about our emergent digital world to the 2012 Elon University-Pew Internet & American Life study on the future of the Internet. My comments were picked up in the Globe and Mail and MindShift,...
3 reasons to check out the latest research on social media and food
In the past, ethnicity and family traditions dictated the foods we prepared; we bought our groceries at a neighborhood store; we learned our recipes from “mom” or a cookbook; and we ate our meals together around a table. In contrast, today social media introduces us...
Save your laptop from reclining airplane seats
I live in fear of my laptop getting crunched on an airplane. How many times have I been working away when the person in front of me suddenly reclines, threatening to trap the top edge of my laptop and break my screen? I thought my 11" MacBook Air would save me, but...
S.E.O. is payback for teenage freaks
Today I was catching up with my colleague Haig Armen when he asked me if I knew Steve Andersen. "You mean, Steve Andersen from Salesforce?" I asked. ["You mean, Steve Anderson of Open Media?" my husband asked later.] "No, Steve Anderson of Get Mental Notes," Haig...
Infographics against infographics
I am super in love with the Pinterest collection of social media infographics compiled by Irene Koehler. But the ever-growing excitement about social media infographics isn't all good news: along with the gems there are some absolute crimes against infographicality....
Be the e-mailer you wish to see in the world
How many people do you receive e-mail from that you read and reply to every single time? I'm guessing it's just a handful: Your best friend -- the one who sends you short periodic updates with a single recent photo, not the one who sends you weekly 2-pagers. The...
5 commandments for your digital fast this Lent
I'm not really a Lent kinda gal. (It may have something to do with me being Jewish.) But for the past few years, I've felt increasingly Lent-aware, because of the sheer number of people who now seem to give up Facebook for Lent (but then tweet about it), email for...
THE VERGE
What kind of digital parent are you?
My recent piece for The Atlantic, Parents: Reject Technology Shame, tackles the question of how to raise kids in a digital world. Data from more than 10,000 North American parents shows that they are deeply divided on this question, and that there are three distinct...
Why you should hand your kid that iPhone
I see you looking at me from the other side of the coffee shop?—?yes, you: the hemp-swaddled mom with the slightly sticky child who is playing with that organic wooden toy. You probably hope that toy will teach her hand-eye coordination or bring him into harmony with...
How the Sharing Economy Can Improve Your Next Business Trip
How on-demand apps can help business travellers squeeze every last minute of value out of their time on the road.
Threat-based parenting: Dos and Don’ts
As featured on Medium, a handy guide to getting those pesky kids under control with the power of threats. Thanks to the rise of screens, there’s never been a better time for threat-based parenting.