Publications
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Facebook’s Timeline Will Impact Your Career
The advent of Facebook’s new Timeline feature gives you, your colleagues, and your customers a whole new set of reasons…
How to add yourself to your own Twitter list using HootSuite
Today I noticed an irony on the SIM Centre website: our Twitter sidebar widget, which does a lovely job of displaying tweets from all those who are connected to the SIM Centre, wasn't showing tweets from the SIM Centre itself. I realized that was because our sidebar...
6 solutions to the sadness of social media
Is social media making us sad? On the UK's Channel 4 News website, Benjamin Cohen is concerned that social media is changing the nature of friendship, and has adjusted his use of social media in response: I’ve stopped sharing as much, full stop....I’m not suggesting...
Why I like to check my email
Recently I've been trying to follow my friend Leda's advice on taming the compulsive need to pull my iPhone out any spare moment: the eight seconds in which the grocery clerk is running a price check, the twenty seconds it takes to walk to the bathroom, the...
The 10 best tips on how to write an online dating profile
It was inevitable that one of my single friends would get the hint. I go on and on about my fascination with online dating, and how tragic it is that I missed out by getting married before it was really a thing, and how much I would like to learn more about how it all...
Jobs of the future
It has been widely reported that for most of today's elementary schoolchildren, the jobs that lie in their future don't even exist yet. While that may be terrifying for those of us in the parenting or education game (how do you prep kids for a future you can't see?),...
6 questions about the impact of social media on think tanks
Can think tanks make a difference? That is the question framing a one-day conference at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), where I was part of a social media panel chaired by CBC's Peter Mansbridge. My fellow panelists were Chad Gaffield of...
Make Peace with Always-On Access
The park ranger who helped us pick out a campsite didn’t know he was giving assistance to the enemy. He…
Lessons for online dating from offline marriage
Readers of this blog know that I am fascinated with online dating, probably the way that women who got married in the 50s were fascinated by the birth control pill. Like the pill, online dating has enabled a revolution in romantic and sexual behaviour, one that those...
8 ways iPhones and iPads affect family discipline
There's nothing like the beginning of a school year to illuminate gaps in your family's, um....discipline. After a couple of rocky weeks inspired us to take a closer look at our family's rhythms and regimes, I found myself noting the central role that iPhones and...
The Harvard Business Review
Facebook’s Timeline Will Impact Your Career
The advent of Facebook’s new Timeline feature gives you, your colleagues, and your customers a whole new set of reasons…
How to add yourself to your own Twitter list using HootSuite
Today I noticed an irony on the SIM Centre website: our Twitter sidebar widget, which does a lovely job of displaying tweets from all those who are connected to the SIM Centre, wasn't showing tweets from the SIM Centre itself. I realized that was because our sidebar...
6 solutions to the sadness of social media
Is social media making us sad? On the UK's Channel 4 News website, Benjamin Cohen is concerned that social media is changing the nature of friendship, and has adjusted his use of social media in response: I’ve stopped sharing as much, full stop....I’m not suggesting...
Why I like to check my email
Recently I've been trying to follow my friend Leda's advice on taming the compulsive need to pull my iPhone out any spare moment: the eight seconds in which the grocery clerk is running a price check, the twenty seconds it takes to walk to the bathroom, the...
The 10 best tips on how to write an online dating profile
It was inevitable that one of my single friends would get the hint. I go on and on about my fascination with online dating, and how tragic it is that I missed out by getting married before it was really a thing, and how much I would like to learn more about how it all...
Jobs of the future
It has been widely reported that for most of today's elementary schoolchildren, the jobs that lie in their future don't even exist yet. While that may be terrifying for those of us in the parenting or education game (how do you prep kids for a future you can't see?),...
6 questions about the impact of social media on think tanks
Can think tanks make a difference? That is the question framing a one-day conference at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), where I was part of a social media panel chaired by CBC's Peter Mansbridge. My fellow panelists were Chad Gaffield of...
Make Peace with Always-On Access
The park ranger who helped us pick out a campsite didn’t know he was giving assistance to the enemy. He…
Lessons for online dating from offline marriage
Readers of this blog know that I am fascinated with online dating, probably the way that women who got married in the 50s were fascinated by the birth control pill. Like the pill, online dating has enabled a revolution in romantic and sexual behaviour, one that those...
8 ways iPhones and iPads affect family discipline
There's nothing like the beginning of a school year to illuminate gaps in your family's, um....discipline. After a couple of rocky weeks inspired us to take a closer look at our family's rhythms and regimes, I found myself noting the central role that iPhones and...
OneZero
For the National Geographic Assignment Blog: The Great Online Migration
In any migration, there are those who go ahead to settle the wilds, and those who linger to ensure that nothing gets left behind. While each of us now makes a different choice about how much of our lives to live online, those differences should not be turned into an...
Web Fuelled Business masters the physical logistics of going virtual
The entrepreneurs who participated in the Web Fuelled Business program this week are pushing past the limits of physical location. They are bricks-and-mortar shops that are using the web to attract local customers who would never find them on the street; they are...
Should my blog be on my web site or a separate site?
Tailor your voice to each place you use social media
"I make leather armour." That's a sentence I never expected to hear in this lifetime. In fact, until about 4:30 yesterday afternoon, I didn't know what leather armour was. I din't know that leather armour existed. Leather armor, it turns out, is what you wear if you...
How to stop wasting time on technology challenges
Today's practice: The next time you dive into a time-consuming tech challenge, stop to ask: what would a normal person do? Saturday morning I woke up at 4 a.m. in preparation for my flight to London -- and accompanying time zone readjustment -- later that day. I...
Updating Canada’s Election Act so you can tweet the results
Today the Canadian government announced its intention to table legislation that will bring Canada's Elections Act into the 21st century. Tim Uppal, the junior minister for democratic reform, tweeted today to share the news. That's right: next election night, Canadians...
Protect your intention span from the distractions of social media
Tonight I coined the term "intention span" to refer to the amount of time that passes between intending to work on something and actually starting work. Intention span: The amount of time that passes between intending to work on something and actually starting to work...
Blockbuster reminds us to make way for the new
Ever since it was announced that Blockbuster would close its remaining stores, I've wondered what would happen at the corner of Broadway and Blenheim. A wifi-wielding coffee shop? A wildly out-of-place H&M? An all-you-can-eat, gluten- and sugar-free cake buffet?...
JSTOR DAILY
For the National Geographic Assignment Blog: The Great Online Migration
In any migration, there are those who go ahead to settle the wilds, and those who linger to ensure that nothing gets left behind. While each of us now makes a different choice about how much of our lives to live online, those differences should not be turned into an...
Web Fuelled Business masters the physical logistics of going virtual
The entrepreneurs who participated in the Web Fuelled Business program this week are pushing past the limits of physical location. They are bricks-and-mortar shops that are using the web to attract local customers who would never find them on the street; they are...
Should my blog be on my web site or a separate site?
Tailor your voice to each place you use social media
"I make leather armour." That's a sentence I never expected to hear in this lifetime. In fact, until about 4:30 yesterday afternoon, I didn't know what leather armour was. I din't know that leather armour existed. Leather armor, it turns out, is what you wear if you...
How to stop wasting time on technology challenges
Today's practice: The next time you dive into a time-consuming tech challenge, stop to ask: what would a normal person do? Saturday morning I woke up at 4 a.m. in preparation for my flight to London -- and accompanying time zone readjustment -- later that day. I...
Updating Canada’s Election Act so you can tweet the results
Today the Canadian government announced its intention to table legislation that will bring Canada's Elections Act into the 21st century. Tim Uppal, the junior minister for democratic reform, tweeted today to share the news. That's right: next election night, Canadians...
Protect your intention span from the distractions of social media
Tonight I coined the term "intention span" to refer to the amount of time that passes between intending to work on something and actually starting work. Intention span: The amount of time that passes between intending to work on something and actually starting to work...
Blockbuster reminds us to make way for the new
Ever since it was announced that Blockbuster would close its remaining stores, I've wondered what would happen at the corner of Broadway and Blenheim. A wifi-wielding coffee shop? A wildly out-of-place H&M? An all-you-can-eat, gluten- and sugar-free cake buffet?...
THE VERGE
5 Ways the Web Can Help You Celebrate Dad
Technology expert Alexandra Samuel shares five ways the web can help you celebrate dad this Father’s Day.
Living Low-Tech – Go Online and Get Crafty
Just because you live a high-tech life doesn’t mean you can’t go low-tech with great results. Alexandra Samuel shares a few places you can go online to get crafty.
Opinion: Should you care about Pinterest? | Macworld
Like Twitter is a new media newspaper, Pinterest is a new media glossy magazine. “Pinterest is the next step in the evolution of women’s magazines,” said Alexandra Samuel, Director of the Social and Interactive Media Centre at Emily Carr University. Women’s magazines...
Thank Your Mom: She Taught You How To Tech
In this post for The Atlantic, I argue that worrying about kids who choose to live online is as misplaced as worrying about seniors who choose to live offline.