Flagged For Follow Up

James Jarvis for Nike [Via Wooster Collective]

"Made with the Kind Support of Nike"

Onwards from AKQA on Vimeo.

Philips' 21:9 TV Promo

Someone posted this on Twitter last week [apologies, can't remember who] and then I saw it again on PSFK.  This is an eye-poppingly cool video promoting Philips' new 21:9 TV.  Highly recommend you watch it on the site, in HD and full screen.  Site here.

Will Susan Boyle Usher In A New Era Of Profile Pics?

There's a good read at the New York Times about the impact looks have on perceptions. 

Of course the story is pegged to Susan Boyle, who's got NOTHING on Joe Cocker and Janice Joplin in the Oh my god I can't believe that voice belongs to that person category.

This quote caught my eye ...

Indeed, attractiveness is one thing that can make stereotypes self-fulfilling and reinforcing. Attractive people are “credited with being socially skilled,” Professor Fiske said, and maybe they are, because “if you’re beautiful or handsome, people laugh at your jokes and interact with you in such a way that it’s easy to be socially skilled.”

I see this play out in social media all the time ... people manipulate their "about me" or bio pics to make themselves attractive, provocative and interesting - perhaps more so than they really are. 

I don't blame them [see quote above for a good reason why].  But I try not to join them.  If I meet someone in real life who only knows me from Twitter or Facebook, I want them to recognize me right away.  Would I recognize you?

I've been to quite a few events where I look at a name-tag ... face ... name-tag ... face ... name-tag ... face and it just doesn't match up.  It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  And to be clear, I am not just talking about women - I expect the same honesty from men and women.

While I don't doubt the validity of the New York Times quote above, at the end of the day sincerity, honesty and self-confidence are much more attractive than a pretty picture.

As I finished this post, my wife reminded me that my Facebook profile pic is a bit on the abstract side.  I'll go change that now ... must practice what I preach.

My Quick Take on The Oprah Effect

I left this comment on David Armano's excellent post regarding the "Oprah Effect" on Twitter:

What interests me - beyond how Oprah will impact Twitter's growth - is how the self-described early adopters have taken her presence as a full frontal assault on their sandbox.

It reminds you of high school a bit, no? The jocks and cheerleaders have discovered the 'underground' hangout favored by the punks. In protest the punks are going to take their fun elsewhere (with scowls on their faces as they go). Which is a huge shame as far as I'm concerned ... I always thought (and still do) the most fun parties were when different cliques came together.

Furthermore, nobody 'owns' Twitter. Just because my first Tweet was in 2007 doesn't make me more entitled to the service than someone who joined yesterday. That's plain ridiculous, and anyone who thinks otherwise needs to think about what it means to be a part of a community. Not a cult. A community.

Same goes for FaceBook. If hear one more person bemoan their parents joining FaceBook ... don't accept their request if it bothers you so much. I just don't get the drama. And actually, I appreciate that my mom joined FaceBook - it shows she's got a thirst for knowledge and new experiences despite the incredibly fulfilling life she's already lived.

As has been pointed out repeatedly, no one is forcing anyone to follow Oprah or Ashton or me for that matter (or my mother). In fact I've managed to pretty much ignore all this Oprah/Ashton stuff over the past week. How? By not following them. What Ashton and Oprah do is their business. And if people didn't care, they wouldn't be so popular - despite the protests from the punks.

Pretty simple from where I sit. But then again, I never felt a blind allegiance to any one clique, preferring instead to mingle with all sorts of people.

Friday Links [Literary Edition]

I've always enjoyed reading -  historically magazines and newspapers, with blogs added to the mix over the last few years [the advent of RSS facilitated my consumption greatly].

There's the occasional book, but I'm just not wired to read in 300 page increments at a regular pace.

Anyway, I spent the last five days in Tucson, AZ with my wife and son, the latter looked after by an incredibly generous aunt, uncle and grandma.

Daytime childcare allowed me to spend days at the pool catching up on magazines, blogs and even a book.  Here are a few highlights ...

The Night of the Gun by David Carr [per @MarcSchil's recommendation]

Carr, a reporter for The New York Times, pens a riveting memoir about his life as a drug addict, drunk; and his remarkable story of recovery [and ongoing struggles].  It is a book of extremes ... uplifting and depressing.  Generous and self-indulgent.  Funny and sad.  Beautiful and heinous.  I've admitted that I don't read a lot of books, so take this with a grain of salt - I strongly recommend this one.

Newsweek's Secrets of The 2008 Campaign
I'm only five months late to the game here, but this epic collection of behind-the-scenes accounts from various Newsweek reporters is incredible.  The 7-part report consists of "exclusive behind-the-scenes reporting from the McCain and Obama  camps assembled by a special team of reporters who were granted year-long access on the condition that none of  their findings appear until after Election Day."

As with all good political reporting, it incited a great debate in my family.  I thought the report painted McCain as the sympathetic character; everyone else disagreed.

It just occurred to me that Night of the Gun + Secrets of the 2008 Campaign = Fear and Loathing:  On the Campaign Trail '72, by Hunter S Thompson ... one of my all-time favorites.

Magazines
I caught up on a lot of magazine reading.  Mostly GQ and Esquire.  Nothing mind-blowing to speak of, but I did find quite a few things I want to buy for the summer.  Among them ...

Mackintosh rain coat from JCrew ($800)

Gray Vans ($48)
 
An assortment of checked ties, like these in GQ

Levi's 501 White Jeans ($59.50)

Desert boots, kind of (but not exactly) like these from JCrew ($135)

Sam Champion v Jerry Taft [Celeb Tweet-Off Round 3]

One is a fair-haired, big-market meteorologist with a million watt smile, an impossibly convenient name and a strong following on Twitter.  The other is Sam Champion.  Sam - I kid because I love.

Seriously though, there are two very well-know weatherman making their mark on Twitter these days.  Jerry Taft has been delivering the weather [not an easy job in a town like mine] to Chicagoans for many decades on ABC-7.  He's a Chicago institution.  Sam Champion is the weather anchor of ABC's "Good Morning America," and before that on the local ABC affiliate.  Like Jerry, everyone knows Sam Champion.

Somewhat in the spirit of my previous posts comparing celebrity Twitterers [Shaq v Armstrong and Questo v Q-Tip] I wanted to briefly look at how each man uses Twitter.

I turned to New Yorker Alan Wolk, he of Toad Stool and on Twitter @awolk, for a brief write up on @SamChampion.  I handled duties for @JerryTaft.

@SamChampion [by Alan]
Sam Champion, the relatively ageless local weatherman here in NYC who is now featured on Good Morning America. Champion is in an odd position on Twitter because while he’s famous enough to be regarded as a “celebrity,” he’s not quite famous enough to be considered out of reach, the way say Shaq or Britney Spears are.

That means fans expect a response from him.

He’s got 8,000 followers as of this point and seems to do a good job of engaging them in both life events and weather events. Champion’s tweeting is well-thought out in that he looks for topics that both create conversation and make him accessible. So a recent live volley during “Dancing With The Stars”  lets him interact with fans in a way that makes him seem like one of the gang. And to his credit, he’s very good about interacting with fans—both about weather issues and general thoughts: most of Champions tweets are @ messages that are clearly part of a longer conversation.

I also give Champion points for integrating weather tweets into his stream in a way that doesn’t seem forced. Part of that is due to his fan base: they talk to him about the effects of the weather on their lives and he responds in kind.

For a media figure like Champion, Twitter is a way to connect with fans and create a persona that’s more fleshed out than what viewers see during the weather report. He’s doing a great job on that front, which is why I give his effort a thumbs up.

@JerryTaft [by me]
Let's get some stats out of the way:

• Nearly 2,500 follow Jerry, and he follows back nearly 2,400.  A very good ratio compared to other public figures.  He's just as interested in what others are saying, as they are in him.
• His % of @ replies and his # of re-Tweets demonstrates he gets that Twitter is a conversation medium, not a broadcast [well it's actually a pretty good broadcast medium too, in my opinion]
• He is active [very], updating on the go, from the studio [he's often uses TwitPic] and at home. Jerry is a power user.

Statistics aside what I think makes Jerry such an interesting Twitter personality is his accessibility, sense of humor and honesty.  Snicker if you want, but I'm telling you this guy is a Chicago institution - he has no incremental fame to gain at this point.

When I started writing this post I asked other Twitter users for thoughts on Jerry.  This reply struck me ...

The link above was to the pic below - I believe that's Jerry at a TweetUp.  At a stage in his career where he could phone it in with his fans, Jerry has successfully used Twitter to forge real connections. Politicians and consumer brands alike could learn a thing or two just by watching.

Finally, like Alan points out with Sam Champion, Jerry hasn't forgotten what made him a public figure in the first place.  Weaved in with all his personal updates, you can always count on Jerry to give an update on flooding, high winds and snow accumulation - or even just a reminder to bring an umbrella that day.

And finally, two more facts that have nothing to do with Twitter but make Jerry awesome:
    •    He's a Wisconsin Badger (as am I)
    •    He's ex USAF, where I believe he was a pilot and instructor

Sign of the Times?

Taken and sent from my iPhone