Publications
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
How to stop waiting by the inbox
I recently sent one of those e-mails that leaves you feeling like a shmuck. Not because of anything I wrote, but because I knew I would be obsessively checking my inbox every five minutes until I got a response. There are all kinds of reasons you might find yourself...
A balanced look at the mental impact of social media
"The Internet is distracting and isolating and diminishes our capacity for focused work." "The Internet is transformative and connecting and is making us steadily smarter." The conversation about the Internet's mental and social impact often feels like a debate...
Discovering family through a social media crisis
My latest blog post for Harvard Business Review tackles the challenge of surviving a social media emergency. It was inspired by what turned out to be a minor emergency: the earthquake that rattled most of central Canada yesterday. As it happened, I was in Ottawa at...
Patrolling the boundaries in social networking
Rob Jewitt, a lecturer in Media Studies at the University of Sunderland, writes about the university's recently introduced social networking site for students. Embedded in his description of the site's features are some interesting reflections on the kinds of...
What online music fans learn about online community
Anastasia Goodstein says this about how social networks have changed the relationship among music fans and between fans and artists: While the future of MySpace may be questionable, I have to credit the service with transforming the relationship between artists and...
A techsperiment that puts family tech use in a new light
Last week we conducted a techsperiment on eliminating gadgets from our family time: we swore off using iPhones, iPads and computers from the time we got home (5 or 6) until the time the kids were asleep (8 or 9). We did pretty well during the week, and discovered that...
4 ways online communication can build relationships
Dear Alex: The Internet can be good for relationships. No, it's not an affirmation. It's the argument I'd like to make to Alex Lickerman, who recently wrote a post about the Effect of Technology on Relationships for his blog on Psychology Today. While I applaud his...
Using ecosystems to model the abundance of the Internet
John Naughton had a remarkably thoughtful and useful piece in the Observer this weekend, Everything you need to know about the internet. He covers what he deems the nine essential truths you have to understand about life online, and while that may be overreaching, he...
Putting a price on friendship
I'll give you $2 for the guy you talked to at an office party last week. The friend you play hockey with every weekend, on the other hand, is worth $75. Your college roommate? She'll net you a cool $1,000. If the idea of assigning a price tag to each of your friends...
How to find support online during life’s big passages (for Oprah.com)
Friends are there to share your celebrations, support you through difficult transitions, and mourn your losses. Social media enable that sharing and support in new ways, across distances that would formerly exclude people who are far away but dear to your heart. Find out how to get the support you need online.
The Harvard Business Review
How to stop waiting by the inbox
I recently sent one of those e-mails that leaves you feeling like a shmuck. Not because of anything I wrote, but because I knew I would be obsessively checking my inbox every five minutes until I got a response. There are all kinds of reasons you might find yourself...
A balanced look at the mental impact of social media
"The Internet is distracting and isolating and diminishes our capacity for focused work." "The Internet is transformative and connecting and is making us steadily smarter." The conversation about the Internet's mental and social impact often feels like a debate...
Discovering family through a social media crisis
My latest blog post for Harvard Business Review tackles the challenge of surviving a social media emergency. It was inspired by what turned out to be a minor emergency: the earthquake that rattled most of central Canada yesterday. As it happened, I was in Ottawa at...
Patrolling the boundaries in social networking
Rob Jewitt, a lecturer in Media Studies at the University of Sunderland, writes about the university's recently introduced social networking site for students. Embedded in his description of the site's features are some interesting reflections on the kinds of...
What online music fans learn about online community
Anastasia Goodstein says this about how social networks have changed the relationship among music fans and between fans and artists: While the future of MySpace may be questionable, I have to credit the service with transforming the relationship between artists and...
A techsperiment that puts family tech use in a new light
Last week we conducted a techsperiment on eliminating gadgets from our family time: we swore off using iPhones, iPads and computers from the time we got home (5 or 6) until the time the kids were asleep (8 or 9). We did pretty well during the week, and discovered that...
4 ways online communication can build relationships
Dear Alex: The Internet can be good for relationships. No, it's not an affirmation. It's the argument I'd like to make to Alex Lickerman, who recently wrote a post about the Effect of Technology on Relationships for his blog on Psychology Today. While I applaud his...
Using ecosystems to model the abundance of the Internet
John Naughton had a remarkably thoughtful and useful piece in the Observer this weekend, Everything you need to know about the internet. He covers what he deems the nine essential truths you have to understand about life online, and while that may be overreaching, he...
Putting a price on friendship
I'll give you $2 for the guy you talked to at an office party last week. The friend you play hockey with every weekend, on the other hand, is worth $75. Your college roommate? She'll net you a cool $1,000. If the idea of assigning a price tag to each of your friends...
How to find support online during life’s big passages (for Oprah.com)
Friends are there to share your celebrations, support you through difficult transitions, and mourn your losses. Social media enable that sharing and support in new ways, across distances that would formerly exclude people who are far away but dear to your heart. Find out how to get the support you need online.
OneZero
How to cope with your life as a social media celebrity
I think that, in a way, we're all sort of acting like celebrities have to act, where you have personal persona and a public persona. You think about what you want to share with your fans. I know that's how a lot of people feel about using Twitter, where, by default,...
Calling all geeks: Are you ready for the GeekOff challenge?
Working as a person of the female persuasion in the world of tech, I mostly do pretty well being surrounded by a lot of guys a lot of the time. My Women's Studies degree may not have fully prepared me for my day-to-day life, but I've found that I enjoy the energy of...
What’s really hurting your relationships?
Today's paper has an article about how hard it is to preserve tight family relationships in a world where we have so many other relationships. It offered 10 signs your friendships might be hurting your family relationships: You can't get through a meal without having...
Call for Papers: Social Media in Higher Education
The Internet and Higher Education has issued a call for papers for a forthcoming special issue on Social Media in Higher Education (PDF). The issue will be edited by Stefan Hrastinksi and Vanessa Dennen. In the call, the editors note: In this special issue, we would...
9 essential tools for getting tasks out of your inbox
AFTER e-mail: 5 steps to moving task management out of your inbox
How the other half goes offline
Between the Christmas break and the season of New Year's resolutions, I was braced for a flurry of blog posts about the merits of unplugging -- a phenomenon I was already tired of by the end of last summer, as I wrote about for HBR. So imagine my delight when I read...
Today in HBR: 6 social media choices you have to make in 2011
What am I choosing to do on the Web? That's one of the key choices you'll need to make this year, as we set the course for how social media will integrate into our lives and reshape the world. In my blog post today for HBR, Social Media in 2011: Six Choices You Need...
JSTOR DAILY
How to cope with your life as a social media celebrity
I think that, in a way, we're all sort of acting like celebrities have to act, where you have personal persona and a public persona. You think about what you want to share with your fans. I know that's how a lot of people feel about using Twitter, where, by default,...
Calling all geeks: Are you ready for the GeekOff challenge?
Working as a person of the female persuasion in the world of tech, I mostly do pretty well being surrounded by a lot of guys a lot of the time. My Women's Studies degree may not have fully prepared me for my day-to-day life, but I've found that I enjoy the energy of...
What’s really hurting your relationships?
Today's paper has an article about how hard it is to preserve tight family relationships in a world where we have so many other relationships. It offered 10 signs your friendships might be hurting your family relationships: You can't get through a meal without having...
Call for Papers: Social Media in Higher Education
The Internet and Higher Education has issued a call for papers for a forthcoming special issue on Social Media in Higher Education (PDF). The issue will be edited by Stefan Hrastinksi and Vanessa Dennen. In the call, the editors note: In this special issue, we would...
9 essential tools for getting tasks out of your inbox
AFTER e-mail: 5 steps to moving task management out of your inbox
How the other half goes offline
Between the Christmas break and the season of New Year's resolutions, I was braced for a flurry of blog posts about the merits of unplugging -- a phenomenon I was already tired of by the end of last summer, as I wrote about for HBR. So imagine my delight when I read...
Today in HBR: 6 social media choices you have to make in 2011
What am I choosing to do on the Web? That's one of the key choices you'll need to make this year, as we set the course for how social media will integrate into our lives and reshape the world. In my blog post today for HBR, Social Media in 2011: Six Choices You Need...
THE VERGE
Social media opportunities for film and television
How can you conceive the social media project that will enrich your production company, broadcast network, film or TV show? That was the core question I spoke to today at Women in Film & Television Toronto, as part of their International Women in Digital Media...
Towards a geography of digital memory
I'm in Toronto for a lightning trip, speaking tomorrow at a luncheon hosted by Women in Film & Television. Tonight I'm staying at the Sutton Place Hotel, which puts me at the epicentre of memory for my first 25 years of life. From the east-facing window of my...
Who Are You Online? A 360-Degree View
Who are you when you go online? That’s a question that goes way beyond how you feel in your own…
3 ways you can use Pinterest
In my Friday post for Harvard Business Review, I provided companies with some ideas about how they could use Pinterest to connect with customers. Today, I want to suggest 3 ways to use Pinterest personally: Compile a list of purchases before deciding what to buy; or...