Got TechFatigue? You're Not Alone And You Can Fight It

Mark W. Schaefer has been blogging daily (and well) for months, maybe years (when did you start, Mark?). Last week he tweeted a query to his now 9,200-and-growing followers:

“Thinking about living the life less posted. Good? Bad? Inevitable?”

I don’t know what’s driving Mark’s thought to cut back, but I know I recognized and acted upon a similar urge to battle TechFatigue. It's coming at us from so many directions now.

• Take a look at Phone Scoop’s myriad cell phone options posted within the past three days! Only technology journalists and bloggers appear vaccinated against the catatonia-inducing choices, options, and changes that comprise mobile fatigue. Add the noise from carriers -- Sprint, AT&T, t-Mobile, and Verizon -- and the invasion just quadrupled. (Are we tired yet?)

• How about macro to nano computing devices-- the desktops, laptops, netbooks, i-pads, minis, and micro-mobiles? Does all this jiggery pokery make you want to hang on stubbornly to your old computer, gosh darnnit!

• Speaking of computers, had any confusion about software choices or system upgrades lately? How about all those viewing choices inherent in Direct TV, Dish, or Fios vs. Comcast (okay, sorry, no choice there, but still…). Have you figured out Justin TV or Hulu? (Say, what? Okay, I feel an anxiety attack coming on …).

• How about storage devices and computer back-up systems .. or viruses and phishing scams, crashing hard drives, computer theft, home security systems, cars that don’t have keys, self-checkout at Giant. Even some gasoline pumps scare the fumes outta me.

All of this -- and gigabillions of bytes more -- adds up TechFatigue and leads to 21st century complaints like exhaustion, stress, sleeplessness, irritability, and illness. Heck, we know technology lies at the root of car accidents (25% of accidents, according to this source) and that it's blamed for obesity. But technology is so ... beguiling. It's so addictive.

Last fall, neuro-biologist Susan Greenfield delivered a speech in which she said, “…We might be entering a world that is more sensory than what we would traditionally call cognitive. …I'm just thinking about young brains exposed to different experiences. And it could be that the multimedia -- the sounds and the colours and experience -- is so great that that becomes the premium - 'yuck!' and 'wow!' - 'yuck!' and 'wow!'

Dr. Peter Kahn, a developmental psychologist, worries that the substitution of screen for green robs us of the healing qualities of nature itself. "People might think that if technological 'nature' is partly good, that that's good enough, but it's not. Because, across generations, what will happen is that the good enough will become the good. If we don't change course, it will impoverish us as a species...We are a technological species, but we also need a deep connection with nature in our lives."

Back in the late nineties, articles like this about technology and workplace stress abounded, as did reports of technology attacks on the home front. Curiously, though, for this decade, Google turns up fewer alerts to the threat of technology. If these effects were true a decade ago, shouldn't our psyches today be in tatter? Oh... right.. we have exhaustion, stress, sleeplessness, irritability, and illness.

Sometimes it seems we simply gave up and gave in to the "inevitable" takeover. But maybe we haven't. I’m sensing the backlash lately and noticing that some thought leaders are cooling their own obsession. Examples?

Guy Kawasaki said on March 12 that, for him, blogging is now "an asynchronous, interruption-driven activity."

In a March 3 interview with David Armano, even the frenetic, energetic, kinetic (and, admittedly, loveable) Chris Brogan acknowledged that he's a bit tired. "I'm having a really tough time scaling," he said, citing the sources of TechFatigue. "I get several hundred (over 600) emails a day, plus maybe 50 daily contact form requests, plus about 200 DMs, plus several hundred @ messages, plus 50-100 comments a day. It's getting to be hairy."

Chris also thinks "social media will flash and then simmer. It's at the brightest part of the flash right now. I'm watching the curve drop." I agree. The temperature of SocialMedia Pox is down, as I noted in this blog last week.

Our willingness to back off the frenzy gives hope -- and direction -- to battling TechFatique. Popular strategies include dumping email wholesale; auto-filing and later scanning ezines and blogs once every 10 days; visiting Twitter purposefully but not obsessively; unfriending Facebook "friends" by the hundreds, until only family and real friends remain; using the cell phone more for talking and less for email; and – just maybe and inevitably – blogging when events compel commentary.

What do you think?

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Hapless Request from Newbie Magazine Fires Up A Storm of Vitrol

Angelia W., magazine publisher, surely had no clue what she was asking when she invited a group of freelance writers on LinkedIn's "Writers' Showcase" group to send articles to her recently re-launched women's magazine. Angelia was looking for "experienced writers," but was "currently unable to provide compensation." Correct. She wanted us to work for free.

The group administrator cut off the outrage at 13 comments, but the group made several points worth repeating.

Freelance writer, Arlie MacGregor, said, "Apparently, the magazine industry is different from the rest of the business world in that they expect employees to work for free and line the owner's pockets. If this were any other business 'just re-launching,' such as a restaurant, legal firm, gas station, retail store, etc., asking for free labour would be unthinkable (and covered on the local news no doubt)."

Writer/journalist/editor/visual artist Andrew Brooks added his two cents: "Arlie, I've often wondered why the mag industry is plagued with this 'no-pay' approach when it wouldn't be tolerated anywhere else. I think the problem might be that most people think anyone can write. After all, we all have to write at some point, even if it's just a grocery list or directions to a house. 'So how hard can it be??'"

Arlie took exception, saying, "We make it easy for them to offer 'exposure' for our hard work .. To the publishers out there who are 'just starting, launching, organizing, structuring, etc.' -- People die of exposure .. If you can't pay professional writers, prepare to get your hands dirty and do the work yourself. If that sounds like too much work, it's because it is work."

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Social Media Was "the Kool-aid of 2009." In 2010, Marketers Will Tweak the Recipe.

The Washington, D.C.-area Ad-Marketing listserv managed by Mitch Arnowitz (@mitcharno) has been engaged in a lively exchange addressing whether or not the Netpreneur listserv should hop to another more "modern" venue, like LinkedIn.

The conversation led to various viewpoints of what "social media" is, how long SocMed has been around, and whether or not LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc. meet today's needs better than older social networks like the listserv, launched in 1986. Ultimately, long time Netpreneur Dirk Johnson dubbed social media hype "the Koolaid of 2009." Dirk is on to something and here's why.

The Urban Dictionary defines "drink the Kool-aid" as follows: "To completely buy into an idea or system, whether good or bad" and/or "to go along with what a crowd desires." The term connotes being lured by the apparent sweetness of an idea, without attention to its more serious undertone.

Colorful language perhaps, but the characterization of Social Media as "the Kool-Aid of 2009" rings true for five reasons.

1. Social Media was a buzz term; the bigger the buzz, the more dramatic the silence. 2009 was the year everybody heard the chatter. Along with "social media" as the buzz du jour, a certain level of accompanying hysteria predicted outcomes for those who declined to "adopt it" or, worse, "do it wrong." Blog after blogster, expert after expert warned folks engaged in marketing to jump on the SocMed bandwagon and ride. The buzz worked. Today, a Google search for the precise term "social media" returns over 33 million results, along with the predictable response, "So what?"

2. Charlatans invaded the realm. 2009 also spawned the explosion of the so-called "social media consultant" -- folks who claimed expertise in "social media" and promised to help the uninitiated establish an effective Internet presence, particularly on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and blogs. Back in September 2008, writing on ReadWriteWeb, Marshall Kirkpatrick posed the question, "Is social media nothing but snake oil?" In that blog, Kirkpatrick cited seven people as the real-deal in social media consulting (Note: All remain stand-outs in the social media landscape). Dawn Foster, who was cited as one of Kirkpatrick's seven, observed in February 2009 "social media consultants popping up like dandelions." Today a Google search turns up close to two million entries for the exact term "social media consultants."

3. The term "social media" increasingly defies definition. Research by Danah Boyd at the School of Information, University of California-Berkeley defines social network sites as "web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system." Boyd notes that the first recognizable social network site launched in 1997 with SixDegrees.com. Today, Boyd refers to "the existence of "hundreds of social network sites (SNS)." Clearly, there is no such "thing" as social media.

4. Having a "presence on social media" was meaningless. RJMetrics reported 75 million Twitter accounts at the end of 2009. About 15 million were "active tweeters" [whatever the heck that means]. In short, with social media, "there's no there there."

5. Being "on" social media was not at all to understand how to return value from social media. Among marketers, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn were arguably the big social media winners last year. Much has been written about how to participate well and some have reportedly succeeded brilliantly (Google returns 578,000 hits for "twitter success stories" and 37,500 for "facebook success stories"). On the other hand -- despite advice to the contrary -- too many have focused Twitter and Facebook efforts on the number of "followers" or "fans." Likewise, for the majority of LinkedIn users, this venue merely adds up to an "online resume"-- not that there's anything wrong with that (while the term "linkedin success stories" returns just 27,500 Google strikes, search traffic hits related to networking and jobs remains high for LinkedIn, according to Alexa.)

So, yeah. Social Media was the Kool-aid of 2009 and we drank lots of it. In 2010, Marketing Brillo guesses that we'll come to more deeply appreciate this cool beverage, understanding that a) the mix isn't instant, b) the drink leads to more effort than gratification c) as with all disciplines, there truly are few experts d) one swallow won't quench the thirst.

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Life Is a Snowball Fight

The 2009 Blizzard Snowball Fight in Times Squares, as captured in breath-taking photographs by Doug Kim -- and as critiqued by the masses -- demonstrates a lot about human beings. From the some 183 comments posted as of Christmas Day, emerged 15 archetypes. Marketing Brillo can’t prove it, but the guess is that these archetypes emerge in the midst of every human endeavor, in every culture, nation, and tribe.

Consider the following 15 archetypes, along with a snippet of their representative quotes. What say you?

1. The Enthusiast. "Fabulous pictures of a fabulous event! We are all kids at heart and the photographer has captured that nicely."

2. The Mystic. "This makes me believe even more that nothing is accidental, Doug – you were supposed to be there with your camera at that exact moment ..."

3. The Hater. “GOD” has nothing to do with this or anything else. Get a life. Just a bunch of people having a good time. Why do you Jesus lovers always have to ruin everything by bringing god and religion into it??????"

4. The Art Critic. "I was not greatly impressed with your photos. Very few faces or expressions. The majority of pictures are hooded faceless mannequins in frozen tossing mode. I would have liked to have seen more expression of individuals . You did a few but not enough in this display. The sepia effect (no real zones) made the snow look dirty and the scene muted). I understand the circumstances were difficult but..." yada yada yada yada...

5. The Visionary. "Great photos! The absence of traffic and snow covered street make the scene look it was from another century. The space looks so human-sized and reminds me of paintings, Breugel, the Dutch artist did of villagers playing in the snow in the 16th century. I hope it was as fun for everyone as it looks. Did people choose sides? Was it a free for all? Was there a feeling of community? How did it end?"

6. The Peacemaker. "Nice pics and what a fun event. Pay no attention to Jim. Since you did check out his work, you can clearly see his skill level stops at the disposal camera buy-in level. I like what you did there."

7. The Politician. "Bloomberg’s notion of closing down part of Times Square to traffic doesn’t look so dumb after all."

8. The Joiner. "Hey! great photos! There’s a Facebook group for it now: The Times Square Snowball Fight of 2009."

9. The Cynic. "at least the cops did not break this snow ball fun up with their guns drawn!"

10. The High Priest. "If only for a moment humanity sheads the cloak of idiocy that is adulthood and exposes the elemental heart of the playful and innocent child that exists at the core of us all. Behold, if only for a moment, heaven existed in Times Square."

11. The Tribalist. "OHHHHH! THIS IS MY HOMETOWN! THIS is what I loved about NY. Food parties during blackouts, people helping people during crises…bigass impromptu snowball fights with total strangers!!!"

12. The Cheerleader. "THE PICTURES ARE WONDEFULL. THEY SHOW US THAT THERE IS JOY IN THE SIMPLEST THINGS. WE AS HUMANS NEED MORE TIMES LIKE THAT."

13. The Pornographer. "that was not a fucking blizzard you pussies. thats like a light covering"

14. The Observer. "I couldn’t help but notice that the guy a the bottom of the pile in the last photo appears to be wearing hockey skates. Is there a rink in Times Square somewhere?"

15. The Insider. OMG– I’m so happy you posted these.. I was there and got to experience it. This is one moment I will never forget. We had so much fun. It was my first trip to NY too! Amazing!"

It takes all kinds ... and that's the bad news.

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Is this the moment for Charitable PR that gives back to US?

By many accounts, advertising is washed up, in the toilet, a lost enterprise, wasted -- and good riddance. If you want the statistics, you’ll find some in this slideshare presentation from FutureLab ... or, if you just want to attend the funeral of traditional advertising, watch this sentimental video.

Does any of this explain why a lot of consumers -- and even some industry observers, past and current, here -- or here -- or here -- believe that the trillions spent on advertising every year is wasted? Maybe. And maybe it's time for somebody to take a risk, gamble, and win big. For instance ...

Suppose the companies that have the millions and billions gave the dough away to something people care about. We might call this gesture Charity Begins at Home PR.

What would happen if -- instead of spending $4 million in advertising, a company donated $4 million in health care benefits to its employees? How much free TV and print space might that earn? Might it be more coverage than they could ever buy for the same price?

Suppose some of us quit advertising and quit out-sourcing -- and then set aside the $20 million saved to hire people in the community to do the jobs being shipped overseas? ... Or what if we took that $30 million and built an eco-friendly factory in the U.S.?

Just wondering how far that measure of commonsense and exemplary behavior might get us. Wish I had the money to test it.

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A Tech-Savvy CEO Explains Why All Large Companies Must Also Be Media Companies

Credits to Tom Martin, who posted the video interview with Tom Wilde on his blog.

In the interview, Wilde talks about why and how large companies need to deal with audience fragmentation and deconstruction of content. “It used to be [that people consumed] a complete magazine, a complete program, a complete newspaper.. the Web has made it possible for users to deconstruct that content and consume just the pieces they are interested in.”

Such content deconstruction puts pressure on media companies to assure that content is consumed in the right context, that brand is protected, and that they can monetize that content effectively. He emphasizes that all large companies are now media companies. "Even if you’re a B2B manufacturer, you need to be a media company because that’s how marketing is going to take place.”

Wilde emphasizes that, for media companies, the big challenge is:
• how to I make my content more discoverable?
• how do I include engagement once people are on my site?

RAMP works with such companies as Reuters and CNBC to process their video content through a workflow process that richly attributes the content with timestamp transcripts, automatic tagging, and other special features. For example, the content optimization platform allows insertion of hyperlinks in text to mark up the content in specialized ways.

Content as it now exists needs to be “normalized,” he says, noting that RAMP spun out of BBN Technologies, the Boston-based defense-technology firm sold in October to Raytheon. Wilde explains that BBN’s rich speech detects, natural language processing, and search technologies were developed for national security applications. “We took that technology and have been steadily building solutions for large media companies.”

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Video Snacking Will Starve the Mind. Long Live the Knowledge Center.

Lucy Kellaway's article -- "When Too Much Information Harms the Office" -- was published in the U.K.’s Financial Times in late November. Kellaway wrapped up a story that’s been obsessing Marketing Brillo for months, to wit: What are people actually doing about information overload? Answer: Stuffing the ears, closing the blinds, shutting down.

Kellaway offers anecdotal feedback that workers aren’t reading anything. “The first comes from a friend who works in communications for a large organisation. She has noticed that her staff are responding to the information overload not by digesting too much of it, but by stopping to digest anything at all. She tells me that, in her company, the written word has lost almost all its power. No one reads e-mails any more - with the exception of those from the boss. Messages from anyone else are either deleted unread or given a cursory glance and then ignored.”

Counter-offensive #2 also is pretty shocking. Kellaway reports that companies are dealing with too much information by closing down their libraries and knowledge centers. “In one big consultancy, all the people who used to sort information into usable chunks have just been fired, and consultants have been told that they will have to 'self-service their knowledge needs'."

The buzz that prompted Kellaway’s article came from Carol Bartz, president and CEO of Yahoo, who contributes to The Economists’s “the World in 2010.” Bartz notes that -- in the free flowing information waterfall -- managers are losing control of employees. “That’s why the greatest mandate for leadership in business is the ability to cut through the information clutter and make clear decisions without apology. More than at any time, employees need—in fact, desperately want—unequivocal direction.” As for Yahoo itself, Bartz talks about video “snacks,” calling video the “cornerstone” of Yahoo’s strategy.

That's confusing. Where does a a preferred diet of light weight video snacks square with a CEO's mandate to lead, manage information overload, and make unapologetic, unequivocal decisions?

Snack video may be able to effortlessly quell hunger pangs for "vital information," but factoids have little to do with thought and judgment, and not a whit to do with leadership. Marketing Brillo sincerely hopes that CEOs will remotivate employees to consume a full-course of considered, well-written, prudent content, no matter how long it takes to serve it. Long live the knowledge center.

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