Publications
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Group identity and the psychology of social media
What motivates people to contribute content to user-driven web sites? A blog post on the Psychology Behind Social Media does a nice job summing up the major factors? I was particularly interested that it noted the desire for group identity: One of the main reasons...
The 10 lies of working late
It's not late if you're not tired. It's not work if you're in bed. It's not late if your friends are still online. It's not work if it's blogging. It's not late if you like working at this hour. It's not work if the TV is on. It's not late if you can sleep in...
Protecting social spaces from cell phones and social media marketing
If you have ever glared at someone who is having a loud cell phone conversation on the bus, or felt slighted by a friend who answers a phone call during a dinner date, you have to read Christine Rosen's insanely awesome take-down of public cell phone use. Written in...
Good news for Internet users who need a boost
Happy News is a site that accentuates the positive: it promises to deliver only good news stories. You wouldn't want to make it your only source of information, but when the endless stories of crime and conflict get you down, here's a nice way to balance it out. It's...
Social networks say good-bye to difficult but crucial interactions
Todd Essig has a thoughtful post about how social networks have affected the process of saying good-bye in our culture. Now that the hospital where he works is closing, he anticipated more than the usual end-of-school-year good-byes. Instead, he's seen less: as one of...
Rough Type: Nicholas Carr’s Blog: Not addiction; dependency
Nicholas Carr has genius take on the conversation about "Internet addiction": By dismissing talk of "Internet addiction" as rhetorical overkill, which it is, we also avoid undertaking an honest examination of how deeply our media devices have been woven into our lives...
5 paths to self-discovery online
One of the key ways to make your online life more meaningful is to use it as an outlet for self-discovery and self-expression. Here are 5 ways you can use the Internet to get to know yourself a little better.
Choosing a widget control plugin for WordPress
For the past few months I have used the Widget Context plugin on my WordPress blog in order to control where widgets show up on my site. Everything you see in the two right-hand columns of my site is widget-based, as are the 3 columns that display teasers for featured...
The meaning of engagement
A great description of meaningful engagement from Chris Jones: True engagement requires more time and energy and active listening skills, but the resulting flow of information brings rich rewards. Insights begin to accumulate and multiply. Ideas get validated and...
Is social media just for married people?
Think Social is a blog from the Paley Center for Media that focuses on the public benefits of social media. It's an incredible blog and one that you must follow if you are looking for thoughtful reflection on both the social and political potential of social media....
The Harvard Business Review
Group identity and the psychology of social media
What motivates people to contribute content to user-driven web sites? A blog post on the Psychology Behind Social Media does a nice job summing up the major factors? I was particularly interested that it noted the desire for group identity: One of the main reasons...
The 10 lies of working late
It's not late if you're not tired. It's not work if you're in bed. It's not late if your friends are still online. It's not work if it's blogging. It's not late if you like working at this hour. It's not work if the TV is on. It's not late if you can sleep in...
Protecting social spaces from cell phones and social media marketing
If you have ever glared at someone who is having a loud cell phone conversation on the bus, or felt slighted by a friend who answers a phone call during a dinner date, you have to read Christine Rosen's insanely awesome take-down of public cell phone use. Written in...
Good news for Internet users who need a boost
Happy News is a site that accentuates the positive: it promises to deliver only good news stories. You wouldn't want to make it your only source of information, but when the endless stories of crime and conflict get you down, here's a nice way to balance it out. It's...
Social networks say good-bye to difficult but crucial interactions
Todd Essig has a thoughtful post about how social networks have affected the process of saying good-bye in our culture. Now that the hospital where he works is closing, he anticipated more than the usual end-of-school-year good-byes. Instead, he's seen less: as one of...
Rough Type: Nicholas Carr’s Blog: Not addiction; dependency
Nicholas Carr has genius take on the conversation about "Internet addiction": By dismissing talk of "Internet addiction" as rhetorical overkill, which it is, we also avoid undertaking an honest examination of how deeply our media devices have been woven into our lives...
5 paths to self-discovery online
One of the key ways to make your online life more meaningful is to use it as an outlet for self-discovery and self-expression. Here are 5 ways you can use the Internet to get to know yourself a little better.
Choosing a widget control plugin for WordPress
For the past few months I have used the Widget Context plugin on my WordPress blog in order to control where widgets show up on my site. Everything you see in the two right-hand columns of my site is widget-based, as are the 3 columns that display teasers for featured...
The meaning of engagement
A great description of meaningful engagement from Chris Jones: True engagement requires more time and energy and active listening skills, but the resulting flow of information brings rich rewards. Insights begin to accumulate and multiply. Ideas get validated and...
Is social media just for married people?
Think Social is a blog from the Paley Center for Media that focuses on the public benefits of social media. It's an incredible blog and one that you must follow if you are looking for thoughtful reflection on both the social and political potential of social media....
OneZero
5 essential ingredients for effective e-mail management
Put the 0 in 2011: 7 days to Inbox Zero
Review: ThinkGeek TK-421 Bluetooth Keyboard for iPhone
In my gift roundup for Harvard Business Review last week, I wrote that the secret to buying gadget gifts for early adopters is "to surprise us with something so new that it hasn't yet arrived at Best Buy". The item I suggested was a keyboard case for iPhone or iPad,...
A prescription for healthy social media use from the American Medical Association
The American Medical Association has come out with guidelines for how physicians should handle social media, as reported by the association's own news site. These guidelines shed light on the way that social media challenges existing models of medical care and the...
Santa goes to Best Buy
Early adopters are the hardest folks to shop for. As an early adopter married to yet another early adopter, we struggle to find good gifts, since we own every gadget we need, and many we don't. That's why you've got to surprise us with something so new that it hasn't...
Making sense of the Wikileaks backlash
The past week has seen a series of denial-of-service attacks on services like Paypal and Amazon, which have been characterized as a hacker retaliation for how these services have treated Wikileaks. Since I wrote my dissertation on hacktivism -- politically motivated...
The 5 questions to ask about online distraction
Whether you’re worried about the Internet’s impact on your attention span, or tired of hearing about how life online is driving us to distraction, these 5 questions will help you think more deeply about online distraction.
Social media insights from recent research
The more time college students spend online, the worst they do in their first semester....but they end up with better social lives. Facebook activism doesn't detract from offline activism: people who are politically active on Facebook are actually more politically...
JSTOR DAILY
5 essential ingredients for effective e-mail management
Put the 0 in 2011: 7 days to Inbox Zero
Review: ThinkGeek TK-421 Bluetooth Keyboard for iPhone
In my gift roundup for Harvard Business Review last week, I wrote that the secret to buying gadget gifts for early adopters is "to surprise us with something so new that it hasn't yet arrived at Best Buy". The item I suggested was a keyboard case for iPhone or iPad,...
A prescription for healthy social media use from the American Medical Association
The American Medical Association has come out with guidelines for how physicians should handle social media, as reported by the association's own news site. These guidelines shed light on the way that social media challenges existing models of medical care and the...
Santa goes to Best Buy
Early adopters are the hardest folks to shop for. As an early adopter married to yet another early adopter, we struggle to find good gifts, since we own every gadget we need, and many we don't. That's why you've got to surprise us with something so new that it hasn't...
Making sense of the Wikileaks backlash
The past week has seen a series of denial-of-service attacks on services like Paypal and Amazon, which have been characterized as a hacker retaliation for how these services have treated Wikileaks. Since I wrote my dissertation on hacktivism -- politically motivated...
The 5 questions to ask about online distraction
Whether you’re worried about the Internet’s impact on your attention span, or tired of hearing about how life online is driving us to distraction, these 5 questions will help you think more deeply about online distraction.
Social media insights from recent research
The more time college students spend online, the worst they do in their first semester....but they end up with better social lives. Facebook activism doesn't detract from offline activism: people who are politically active on Facebook are actually more politically...
THE VERGE
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...
Tweet if you like to procrastinate
I am always amazed at how much I get done on my focused writing days -- the days when I leave the office and camp in one of the cafés or restaurants where ambient noise helps me concentrate and write, write, write. But it's not my word count that amazes me: it's all...