Publications
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
The 3 essential questions every blogger should answer
Any blogger — newbie or pro — should be able to answer these three essential questions about his or her blog.
5 questions that will make the most of your social media vacation
Do you suspect that taking a brief or extended break from the Internet would make you happier, smarter or taller? Tackle these 5 questions to get the most from your social media vacation.
10 challenging perspectives on social media & the Vancouver riots
The past week has been a laboratory in the power and limitations of online dialogue. While I have been troubled by the number of simplistic, hostile or unconsidered posts and comments about crowdsourcing the identification of rioters, I have more often been astounded...
Riot vigilantes speak for themselves
In the past couple of days I've heard from people who were initially enthusiastic about the crowdsourcing of rioter identification, but now see the concern with this kind of vigilantism. I'd love to take credit, but I'm not the most convincing voice in this argument....
Crowdsourced repression: Could it happen here?
The debate that is unfolding online about crowdsourced surveillance -- what Christopher Parson referred to as Vancouver's Human Flesh Search Engine -- rests on two implicit assumptions. It's time to get clear about what they are, so that people can talk more...
On the dangers of crowdsourced surveillance
My blog post for Harvard Business today looks at the troubling online reaction to last night's riots in Vancouver. Reflecting on the widespread enthusiasm for using social media to track down criminals, I wrote: I don't think we want to live in a society that turns...
8 ways to beat the urgency trap in online communications
In a thoughtful post about The Pitfalls of social media, Aleksandr Voinov writes Social Media exerts pressure on us to do things immediately and respond to everything immediately. I'm not sure about you, but sometimes I like to think things through and discuss it with...
5 signs that you’ve mastered the art of online discretion
I sometimes think that the most useful preparation for my career in social media came not from my academic research into online politics, but rather, my practical experience with electoral politics. Working on the political staff of a senior elected official (the...
The pajama test: An open letter to my Facebook “friends”
A year ago today, this blog post was the turning point in my relationship with Facebook. In my life affair for Twitter I'd pretty much lost sight of how Facebook could possibly be relevant to me. Then I made the decision that Facebook would be my personal space -- the...
11 best practices for managing your social network memberships
Between the Wordpress.com hack, the Honda Canada hack and the Playstation hack, I feel like my favorite online identities have been seriously compromised. Nor am I the only one: the recent attack on PBS servers has also created potential identity risks for PBS...
The Harvard Business Review
The 3 essential questions every blogger should answer
Any blogger — newbie or pro — should be able to answer these three essential questions about his or her blog.
5 questions that will make the most of your social media vacation
Do you suspect that taking a brief or extended break from the Internet would make you happier, smarter or taller? Tackle these 5 questions to get the most from your social media vacation.
10 challenging perspectives on social media & the Vancouver riots
The past week has been a laboratory in the power and limitations of online dialogue. While I have been troubled by the number of simplistic, hostile or unconsidered posts and comments about crowdsourcing the identification of rioters, I have more often been astounded...
Riot vigilantes speak for themselves
In the past couple of days I've heard from people who were initially enthusiastic about the crowdsourcing of rioter identification, but now see the concern with this kind of vigilantism. I'd love to take credit, but I'm not the most convincing voice in this argument....
Crowdsourced repression: Could it happen here?
The debate that is unfolding online about crowdsourced surveillance -- what Christopher Parson referred to as Vancouver's Human Flesh Search Engine -- rests on two implicit assumptions. It's time to get clear about what they are, so that people can talk more...
On the dangers of crowdsourced surveillance
My blog post for Harvard Business today looks at the troubling online reaction to last night's riots in Vancouver. Reflecting on the widespread enthusiasm for using social media to track down criminals, I wrote: I don't think we want to live in a society that turns...
8 ways to beat the urgency trap in online communications
In a thoughtful post about The Pitfalls of social media, Aleksandr Voinov writes Social Media exerts pressure on us to do things immediately and respond to everything immediately. I'm not sure about you, but sometimes I like to think things through and discuss it with...
5 signs that you’ve mastered the art of online discretion
I sometimes think that the most useful preparation for my career in social media came not from my academic research into online politics, but rather, my practical experience with electoral politics. Working on the political staff of a senior elected official (the...
The pajama test: An open letter to my Facebook “friends”
A year ago today, this blog post was the turning point in my relationship with Facebook. In my life affair for Twitter I'd pretty much lost sight of how Facebook could possibly be relevant to me. Then I made the decision that Facebook would be my personal space -- the...
11 best practices for managing your social network memberships
Between the Wordpress.com hack, the Honda Canada hack and the Playstation hack, I feel like my favorite online identities have been seriously compromised. Nor am I the only one: the recent attack on PBS servers has also created potential identity risks for PBS...
OneZero
Delete your Klout profile and be more than a Klout score
7 steps to deleting your Klout score, following through on my Harvard Business Review blog post, “The Social Sanity Manifesto”.
Learn to listen online by lurking silently on one social network
Today's practice: Practice your listening skills by choosing one social network where you'll pay active attention, but not actually contribute. My friend Jason Mogus likes to say that we teach what we need to learn. I have long taken this as the single best...
Learning about online graffiti from bathroom graffiti
Today's practice: When you find an online comment or contribution that truly annoys you, put it on your desktop or bulletin board. It's your own personal classroom for learning about difference, and practicing tolerance. When companies, organizations or individuals...
Let your team choose project software for your online collaboration
If you’re a project software or online collaboration geek, you want your team to use your tools. Here’s how to make their tools work for you.
What is an ebook? 6 questions about the future of books
Tonight Emily Carr students presented 5 ebook prototypes developed over the course of this semester in an ebook design course. As the students presented their work, and members of the local business, tech and creative communities responded to them, it was clear that...
Is online activism effective? 5 ways to ask (and answer) the question
Can social media catalyze or support political change? To answer that question, you have to understand who is asking, and what they really want to know. And it's the fundamental question we addressed today in a panel on social media and political activism at Meshwest...
The 6 great tech religions, and how to resist them
It's Friday night again: time for good Jews to light their sabbath candles, or in our family's religious tradition, to feel vaguely guilty for not even thinking of it. We lead highly secular lives, not because we're techno-centric geeks, but in spite of it. For all...
3 options for sharing an iTunes account under iCloud with your husband, wife or sweetie
If you had asked me on Friday whether I was in a committed relationship, I'd have said yes. I've been married to the same man for over 11 years, and we've been together for 14. Together we have two children, a business, a house, and multiple bank accounts. Not to...
JSTOR DAILY
Delete your Klout profile and be more than a Klout score
7 steps to deleting your Klout score, following through on my Harvard Business Review blog post, “The Social Sanity Manifesto”.
Learn to listen online by lurking silently on one social network
Today's practice: Practice your listening skills by choosing one social network where you'll pay active attention, but not actually contribute. My friend Jason Mogus likes to say that we teach what we need to learn. I have long taken this as the single best...
Learning about online graffiti from bathroom graffiti
Today's practice: When you find an online comment or contribution that truly annoys you, put it on your desktop or bulletin board. It's your own personal classroom for learning about difference, and practicing tolerance. When companies, organizations or individuals...
Let your team choose project software for your online collaboration
If you’re a project software or online collaboration geek, you want your team to use your tools. Here’s how to make their tools work for you.
What is an ebook? 6 questions about the future of books
Tonight Emily Carr students presented 5 ebook prototypes developed over the course of this semester in an ebook design course. As the students presented their work, and members of the local business, tech and creative communities responded to them, it was clear that...
Is online activism effective? 5 ways to ask (and answer) the question
Can social media catalyze or support political change? To answer that question, you have to understand who is asking, and what they really want to know. And it's the fundamental question we addressed today in a panel on social media and political activism at Meshwest...
The 6 great tech religions, and how to resist them
It's Friday night again: time for good Jews to light their sabbath candles, or in our family's religious tradition, to feel vaguely guilty for not even thinking of it. We lead highly secular lives, not because we're techno-centric geeks, but in spite of it. For all...
3 options for sharing an iTunes account under iCloud with your husband, wife or sweetie
If you had asked me on Friday whether I was in a committed relationship, I'd have said yes. I've been married to the same man for over 11 years, and we've been together for 14. Together we have two children, a business, a house, and multiple bank accounts. Not to...
THE VERGE
How the Internet made me a better mother
Unlike some full-time working mothers, I’ve never fantasized about staying home with my kids. And yet here I am: close to a full-time working mother in terms of how I spend my hours, but nothing like a full-time working mother in terms of how I spend my days. The most surprising part: I’ve never been happier.
How kids create security risks — and business opportunities
In today’s Wall Street Journal, I outline the security risks posed by the hacker in your house: the child or teen who may be “borrowing” your credit card to make online purchases, downloading viruses or inadvertently open vulnerabilities in your network. That story...
A family Minecraft policy
Minecraft has become a global phenomenon because kids love playing it, and parents and educators praise the way it fuels creativity and learning. But we've held off on introducing it to our household because we're concerned about the compulsive behaviour and conflict...
8 easy ways to make me (and everyone else) love you more online
We all know the world runs on love. But every day, we squander that love by bugging the living crap out of other people, thanks to our careless interactions with technology. The good news is that there are some simple ways to avoid annoying people online (and off)....