It’s not because I don’t want to, it’s because I’ve discovered that my brain, though very capable at multitasking most things in my life, is only good at so many things at once.

For the next 6 weeks or so, I’m going to be working on a part time contract that’s going to be taking up a few extra hours in my week. Combine this with my regular job of co-running a busy production company, and my other part time job as a college professor, and I’ve realized that something’s gotta give.

You may see me around here a bit less for the next few weeks. I haven’t forgotten about you! It’s just that all the spare parts of my brain are being eaten up by my extra projects, and the part of my brain that is the writing I do on this blog is getting crammed in the corner a bit.

At first I was a bit stressed about it. I mean, after all, I LOVE writing here. It opens up my mind to new concepts, helps me clarify things in my head, and of course, lets me have great conversations with you. Then I realized, if I’m not going to be giving it 100%, and writing stuff I truly care about…if I’m only going to be writing because I think I HAVE to…then it’s not going to be worthwhile for me or for you.

So, forgive me if I’m not around as much. I’ll still be hanging around on Twitter, and of course I’m always available via email or Skype, or IM. Just drop a line and say hi. Things will pick up here again shortly. I’ll probably blog my brains out in a couple of weeks at Podcamp Toronto. And I’m sure my muse will be by for its 3am visit at some point too.

Keep creating, sharing, and being brilliant, and I’ll see you soon!

(BTW – I wrote this post partly because the last time I didn’t blog for a week, my Mom called me in a panic because she thought something had happened to me. So, Mom – I’m okay! Just busy. Love you!)

xoxoxo
Suze

My husband had called me and suggested I listen to this particular episode closely, and I’m glad I did. Leo and Amber had Don Tapscott, author of “Grown up Digital”, on the show. It’s a book I have yet to read (but fully intend to, now).

It was a thought provoking show. The three of them talked about what I call the digital generation…kids who are now in their late teens and early twenties, who have grown up never knowing a world without computers. The entire point that Tapscott makes is that we need to be paying very serious attention to these young people. They are the ones who are going to take Internet into the future. Long after us thirty and forty-somethings are retired (and I’m on a beach in Turks and Caicos), these are the people that are going to be changing the face of marketing, media and corporations the world over.

I’ve talked about this fact a couple of times before now. In this post a few months ago, I mentioned that today’s students are going to be creating the Web of the future. Their ideas and opinions should be taken seriously. After spending the past three months teaching 80 or so people who are part of this younger generation, I believe that even more strongly now.

I also talked about it with Danny Brown about the contribution that younger generations are making to the online world. I firmly believe that the young people of today are going to do things with this social Web that many of us haven’t even dreamed of yet.

The social media bubble is alive and well, in my opinion. The networks I travel in are typically made up of 30 and 40 something professionals, many in the marketing/PR/traditional media worlds. We spend our days and nights building relationships, being helpful to others, teaching, talking, branding ourselves, and explaining the usefulness of a plethora of tools to bosses, clients, seniors, the dog – whoever will listen.

Don’t get me wrong. There are so many people in this space who are brilliant thinkers, and are working very hard in a positive way to help figure this new medium out. They are doing exceptional things, and I want nothing less than to see this space be moved forward by their thoughtful leadership. What I am saying is that while we are out there trying to pump social media to corporations and business owners and media people, we should not forget about the digital generation. We need to pay close attention to  what they are up to.

Leo Laporte made a wise observation on the Net@Night show when he said that his teenage kids these days are more resourceful and well read than he was at that age. I think a lot of us feel that way, and with good reason.

What our generation has had to learn over the past 15 or 20 years about computers and the Internet, anyone under the age of 25 has always been exposed to. Don Tapscott says “it’s like air to them”. In other words, they’ve never had to live without it.

We talk and talk about how to explain social media to our clients, our grandparents, our bosses. We try to find the easiest way to describe Twitter, or blogging, or Digg. We struggle to come up with real metrics and ROI and all the rest. I wonder what would happen if we got 100 digital genners into a room and asked them to explain it? What words would they use? This isn’t “new”, “life altering”, or a “technological revolution” to them. This is their life. They live it every day. They don’t know life without MySpace, IM, Facebook, and YouTube. Sharing information and communicating online is second nature to them. It always has been, and more importantly, it always will be.

The problem is, social media is not second nature to us. It flips traditional way we were taught to communicate on its head. And that’s why we struggle with it.

If you’re at all interested in this social revolution that’s taking place, maybe it’s time you sat down and had a good talk with the young people in your life. They just might open your eyes to a new way of thinking about all this stuff. And they just might be able to help you take it to the next level, too.

I’ve been noticing some disturbing trends on my travels around the Internetz lately. There seems to be a lot of scrambling going on. People seem rather preoccupied with trying to be the next, big, popular thing. Some are trying to elbow their way to the top of the blogosphere. Others are hacking together web applications faster than you can say “cloud computing”. Still others are using the number of Twitter followers they have as some kind of currency, declaring some sort of social media bankruptcy if they discover that a so-called A-lister has stopped following them. 

I sign up for one web app after another, hoping to find what it is that’s going to be new and different and great about this one. I watch as the same “Top Ten Reasons Why Your Business Should Use Social Media” fly around on people’s blogs. I sit back and watch inane, petty conversations taking place about what so and so said or whose follow list is bloated. 

Now, of course, I’m not talking about ALL blogs, ALL applications and ALL online conversations. Of course, there are still many, many excellent, amazing, thought provoking things going on – otherwise I’d have checked out long ago.

Those who know me know I’m not one to b$%tch and complain about stuff without providing something positive. 

So, to those who insist on beating a dead horse, talking in the same circles, and thinking that simply building it means people will come, I offer some positive advice. 

Be a Problem Solver. Building something just because you can is no reason to build it. Building something that 100 other people have already done is no reason to build it (Unless you know can build it far better). I see plenty of web applications around that are designed to solve problems that nobody has. Want to build the next great web application? Look around you. Find something that bugs you. Find out if it’s bugging other people too. Then build something that fixes it. 

Be Original. There are times when it’s good to be a bandwagon jumper. For instance, if someone is promoting a worthwhile charity then by all means, get on that bandwagon – shout it from the rooftops, blog about it, Retweet to your heart’s content. No worthy cause ever suffers from too much promotion and attention. HOWEVER…is there really any need to re-hash the same content over and over again? It’s fine to talk about the impact social media is having in the business world. But I want to hear your own take on it. If I want to hear what Seth has to say about it, he’s got an abundance of books and blog posts to which I can refer. Guys like Seth Godin have made their success on giving original thought to things – my bet is, you can give it a go too.

Be Real. The blogs I like to read and the people I like to talk to are the ones who I know are the same off the Web as they are on the Web. They aren’t trying to put some sort of faux image of themselves out there. They aren’t trying to be an A-lister (even though they might very well be). What they are doing is contributing something of value to the community. They are being accessible, helpful and open with people. They are being human. You’re pretty interesting, I bet. Put that persona on the shelf and just be you instead. 

Stop Trying to Be Popular. As much as I’d like to say that it’s not a popularity contest, I fear that many people feel it is. Someone mentioned today she tries to keep her Twitter follow list small, because she wants to work on building relationships with people she feels have a contribution to make. I think she has a very valid point. It’s not about how many people subscribe to your blog. It’s not about how many followers you have. It’s about making connections, communication, collaboration. There’s no need to try to “fit in” with the cool folks here. Everyone is pretty cool. So stop trying so hard to get everyone’s attention all the time. Just get in and start having some conversations. It’s a much more fulfilling approach and you’ll be surprised how many new opportunites come your way. 

So that’s my rant…I feel better now. If you’re still here, thanks for sticking around till the end. Tell the ones that didn’t make it to here that it wasn’t so bad…

I am a writer.
It’s what I do. Just about everything I do involves writing on one level or another. I write proposals to land new business for our company. I write strategies for our clients. I write content for web sites, videos, and TV shows. I write press releases, communications plans and marketing materials when I’m called on to do so. I write because that’s how I make my living. And considering I almost flunked out of English in the 11th grade, I guess maybe I write because I was told for so long that I wasn’t any good at it. Not a day goes by where I’m not writing. If I wasn’t able to write, I don’t really know what else I would do.  My point is, this blog is a way that I can explore writing on my terms. No editors, except me. No clients to please. It’s what I want to write, when I want to write it. 

I am amazed that this even exists.
In 1996, my older brother showed me the Internet for the first time. He brought me into the computer room, sat me down, and showed me a page of black text on a grey background. I wasn’t overly impressed. Then he told me that what I was looking at was actually sitting on a computer somewhere in Germany. It’s the first time in my life that I can remember being truly in awe about technology. 12 years later, I am still in awe. I’ve been able to carve out a little space here, where I can yammer on and share what’s inside my head with anyone who will take the time to listen. I’ve met and become friends with people from around the world. I can talk with anyone, anywhere, at anytime with the click of a button. The Internet continues to amaze me, and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to be part of it. 

I like communities.
My first real industry job was as a producer at a local community access TV station. The content on the station was created mostly volunteers. My job was to facilitate the productions, and to coach and guide the volunteers in the technical and content aspects of their shows. The real stars of the show were the people from the community who created them. Social media shares so many similarities with community access TV. What we were creating back then was user generated content. The station was accessible to anyone who wanted to participate. There were the content creators, who developed and produced the shows, and there were the participants, who would leave their comments on the viewer response line or phone in during a live show. In the social media world, there are the content creators – the bloggers, video bloggers, Twitterers, YouTubers, Facebookers…and there are the participants – who comment and share their thoughts. Sure, the line is a bit more blurred in the social media world, but that’s a good thing. If you ask me, it’s an even stronger community because everyone here is creating and sharing and participating and learning. I blog because I have always been amazed at what communities are capable of. I embrace community, and this blog is one way I can do that. 

What about you?
Those are just some of the reasons I reach out every week through this blog. To the people who take the time to stop by here, I hope that what I write is of value to you. I think everyone has different motivations for blogging. What are yours?