Brindle Media

Archive for the ‘research’ Category

Eighteen months ago, I inherited my wife’s old BlackBerry and started using it when I was at a convention. Previously, I’d been using an old Nokia as a cellphone just to check messages and to make or receive an occasional call. I didn’t want the outside world to be able to access me during every moment of every day. However, it dawned on me that it would be much easier checking and sending emails from the Blackberry while at the convention rather than lugging around my laptop and searching for WiFi hotspots.

Now, of course, I’m constantly checking email for business and texting with my family. My Blackberry isn’t particularly adept at connecting me with websites and I don’t have the ability to access apps. It seems like it’s time for me to graduate to a more advanced phone.

Many of my friends seem very happy with their Droid smartphones and it does seem like the Droid is replacing the BlackBerry as the phone most favored by traditional business people. The iPhone is favored by creative types and, let’s face it, Apple has been brilliant at positioning the iPhone as the standard by which all other smartphones are judge and at generating all the industry buzz.

But I don’t like to be cavalier when making these kinds of decisions. We became AT&T wireless customers years ago due to an arrangement made by a former employer. Although we live near an airport and the cellphone service near our house is terrible, we haven’t had many problems with AT&T. I’m not sure that switching to Verizon would make much sense or that Verizon’s much vaunted superior service will continue when all those AT&T customers transfer over and clog up the Verizon network.

It seems like there’s a lot to consider and that’s why I found this recent article by Shelly Palmer useful.
http://www.shellypalmer.com/2011/02/how-to-switch-from-att-to-the-verizon-iphone-4/”>

Remember what the social media world looked like three years ago? Probably not because you’re too busy trying to keep up with the new products, devices and services which seem to pop up on your radar screen every day.

XKCD and the marketing firm Flowtown have created “The Map of Online Communities” based on information from sources such as USA Today, Alexa,and Compete which gives some great perspective on how this have changed in the world of social media over the past 36 months.

First, the map of online communities for 2007:

Compare that information with the map for 2010:

Can you find MySpace on the 2010 map? Look southwest of Facebook.
Also, note the growth of Farmville.

How do you think the map will change by 2013?

Thanks to Fred Jacobs of Jacobs Media bring the XKCD/Flowtown maps to my attention.

During 2010, the oldest Baby Boomers turned 64 and, no doubt, wistfully hum the Paul McCartney tune while the youngest boomer will celebrate their 46th birthday. It’s got to be pretty discouraging to those younger boomers that HR departments now consider anyone older than 40 to be over the hill.

The original name for this blog was Buzz4Boomers and its intent was to provide information was to serve a translator of information about new technologies and social media for those Baby Boomers who tend to be intimidated by change. One thing I know about myself is that I am not an early adopter. But I am fascinated by new discovery and tend to be optimistic about the future. So, I frequently find that I fall halfway between those folks who are always using the hottest new technology or social media tools and those who are at the other end of the bell curve.

My challenge is that I tend to be a dilettante with a range of interests that’s a mile wide and a base of knowledge that’s an inch deep. So a review of my blogs over the past couple of years shows diverse topics such as the story of my customer experience using social media in negotiating with a large chain store, rants about musicFirst and the Performance Rights Act, and stories about augmented reality.

When I evaluated my professional broadcasting career after I left the industry in 2007, I realized that what I really enjoyed most about my job as a program director and on-air personality was helping people find ways to cope with the challenges in their lives. That could happen when I was able to provide important health or consumer protection information during a public affairs show or by simply playing a song that provided a listener with a brief distraction, sense of joy or peace of mind.

My ultimate goal for this blog is to make you aware of ideas/ events/ discoveries that are impacting our world and that a reader might not have encountered in hopes that it will provide some assistance in coping with change.

The social networks that Nicholas Christakis discusses in his TED presentation this past summer aren’t the high-tech internet-driven social media which that term now tends to infer but actual interactions between live human beings.

What can we learn from these insights?

Thanks to Daniel Anstandig at McVay Media for making me aware of Nicholas Christakis’ TED talk.

Have you ever been at a large event and become swept up with the crowd in the emotion of the moment? Have you found yourself choking up while watching someone cry on TV? Or have you suddenly found your mood lightening when someone enters the room in a happy mood?

Recent research has shown that the human brain contains something called “mirror neurons” . When we see or hear someone else experiencing an emotion , these “mirror neurons” cause us to experience that emotion, too.

I envy Robert Krulwich his ability to make science interesting.

Here’s my question. If your brain can’t tell the difference between whether YOUR body is doing something or instead you’re watching someone else do it, why would you put yourself through the stress of watching a horror movie?

Dr. Nick Morgan, author of Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma , believes that by understanding the concept of mirror neurons you can become more effective in communicating your ideas to others.

And here’s some animation which does a great job of explaining how “mirror neurons” were discovered.

I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts about this research.