Clever Thoughts

Speaking of dieing…

// August 14th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Uncategorized

(photo White House by phototram)

Having recently had my aunt pass away I am keenly interested in how people people face death. My aunt showed an incredible amount of strength in spirit as she faced her own mortality. She had been fighting ovarian cancer for years before getting to the point where there were no other options, at which point she began to work on her memorial and spend her time expressing her feelings to her loved ones with the energy she had left.

I love her and miss her.

This morning I read an article in the Boston Globe(paper copy) that stated “Senators eliminate end-of-life provision“. For those of you who don’t know, the provision in question allows for patients to speak to their doctors about their medical options when dealing with death in the current health care reform bill that is currently being fought over debated.

This really depresses me.

Basically, opponents of this provision have turned this into a question of putting old people down like pets. They refer to it as the “death panel” provision. The fear here is that if the government gets involved in health care the choice of who gets care will also include a choice of who will be killed off for the betterment of the nation.

How is it that this issue is being dropped. Isn’t it important for patients to talk to their doctors about living wills and who will make choices in case the patient is no longer capable. Where are all the cancer walkers and the democrats? Why is it so easy to convince everyone that talking to your doctor about death means you are talking about euthanas?

It’s just heartbreaking that this is being dropped. I guess it’s insane that this was the focus of the debate when the whole health care system costs and quality at large is really what is at issue with this bill… no?

Twitter is to conversation as Direct message is to…

// August 12th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

Rules of conversation are relative. It all depends on what you learned from your family and friends and where you are from geographically. In some places you can end a conversation over the phone without saying good bye (I would find this very disruptive)

With the advent of Twitter it seems that we are all learning a new way to converse. With only 140 characters and a few explicit ways to manage and direct the conversation flow, I find that is more important than ever to understand how to interact with others.

With this in mind I would like to share one of my core beliefs about the the Twitter conversation.

If Twitter is a conversation in a huge cafeteria where everyone can select the people they want to listen to, then Direct Messaging(DM) is the equivalent of asking someone into the hallway for a moment.

Using this understanding of DM, it would be ok with me to have you DM me about something personal, like your email or phone number. it would be ok to DM me something that might embarass me or you in front of the rest of the group, like asking what a hash tag is or telling me my avatar is super sexy.

It is NOT OK to direct message me generic information. If you DM me to thank me for following I get suspicious. If you DM me about a pyramid scheme or how to get more followers, I stop following all together.

Today I received multiple DMs about a charity that is trying to get people to tweet their specific congressmen about their cause. They created an app that puts out a message with a hash tag about your local politicians. Clever… but it also has an opt out button that asks to DM all your followers.

By sending DM to all your followers you will be setting a bad rep for you and thing you are sending the DM about. Follow me, based on what I have said so far… I have been asked into the hallway multiple times today to ask to join a cult charity. This was ok the first time, but with every new DM I get from a friend about this, I start to get more tired and unfriendly about the cause.

So, am I crazy about what the meaning of DM is? Is this how you see DM? Let me know what you think.

(The img used above by creative commons use is Lunch by adactio )

Notes from Podcast Boston 4, Aug 2009

// August 9th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Uncategorized

I am exhausted physically and energized spiritually from three days of social media.

I presented a session on getting started on podcasting. It was a wonderful talk with people who are finding their voices and Adam Weiss. You can download the slides here.

My take aways from the weekend are as follows:

• There are always newbies trying to understand social media/internet
• Podcamp is a wonderful place to share and talk about “the conversation”
• Respectful debate is the next frontier

As always, I made podcamp what I wanted it to be, a few good conversations with thoughful people who want to understand what matters online. I had these talks with socail media pros, marketers, and newbies.

Please comment and let me know what you took away from podcamp.

Feeling petty

// August 5th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized

Look, I am happy that the two reporters are now back from North Korea. I hope that they and there families will heal from the events that have happened in their life soon.

That being said, this is now the second event this summer that focuses on people with connections to the current administration that has had a resolution for only a few people. The other example is the gates police encounter.

I guess I am feeling like I want a story that shows me that we are all gonig to be saved by Clinton and or Obama. I mean, will Obama invite me and my knitting friends for a cold breew at the white house? Will Clinton fly into Barre and help my friend who is losing his house because he did not have money to keep it after his wife died of a surgery that left her paralyized that was supposed to help her with her cancer.

Let me know that health care is going down in price… let me know that there will be free wifi for all, let me know that we will all have a three day weekend more often…

ok… like I said, just feeling petty. (I know Obama really does want better health care, but those pesky nasayers seem to be getting in the way {without any solutions of their own})