The biggest challenge I’ve seen for a lot of people with Mastodon seems to be picking the right instance. It’s something you don’t usually have to think about when signing up for a social network, but picking the right instance is both incredibly important for optimizing your overall experience, and arguably a waste of time in the very beginning.
Category: Personal
Guy stuff.
Twitter Detox
Of course, like quitting smoking or other addictions — and let’s be honest, for some of us, Twitter had become an unhealthy addiction — it’s left a gaping hole in my life. Over the years, Twitter had evolved into my main source of current events, engagement with topics of interest, and connections with people I’ve known for years but am unlikely to see in person any time soon. The spoke became a hub, something the marketer in me knew was very wrong.
Should I stay or should I go?
Twitter is an irreplaceable platform for me, and I recently learned I’m among its small minority of “heavy users” who drive the platform’s revenue. I’ve invested 14+ years and more than 51,000 tweets in curating an optimal feed that keeps me informed, entertained, visible and connected to the topics I care about most, and more importantly, other people who share those interests. I’m not as active as I used to be, but I’m still way more active than the vast majority of users, even among those I follow.
Stroke Me, Stroke Me — Nine Months Later
tldr: I’m doing pretty good physically now, but the mental side effects of having an unexplained stroke in the middle of a pandemic really suck. Running helps. “Go with what is. Use what happens.”
Refuting the Book of George
Originally published by About.com in its Poetry section, back in 1999, retrieved via the Wayback Machine for my own archives, but also in an initial response to Boba Fett’s return, about which I’m feeling a little ambivalent.
That Time I Had a Literal Stroke
Turning off the faucet after brushing my teeth, I felt a tingling sensation in my right hand that quickly raced up my arm, which was quickly replaced by racing numbness. The first thing I thought of was that “narm” scene from Six Feet Under, a show I’ve never watched but had been memed into my consciousness years ago.
The Rise and Fall of Digital Book World | On Platforms
I used my own modest platform to build a following for DBW’s Twitter account and early content. Rather than blow a limited marketing budget on traditional channels and standard registration promotions, I built our email list by producing three free webinars ahead of the first conference, and promoting them via paid emails to used Publishers Weekly’s email list. I also launched a weekly “webcast” called DBW Roundtable where a panel of industry colleagues discussed the topic of the week, not only steadily building our audience and email list, but also serving as a test lab for potential conference programming and speakers. My content strategy wasn’t to make DBW another traditional media outlet, but a trusted platform for informed opinions and industry expertise that offered the kind of actionable insights we promised at the annual conference—on a year-round basis. In doing so, it would not only ensure the continued relevance of the annual conference, it would also become a steady source of new ideas, content, and voices while also developing additional revenue streams.