Home | Archives for Janet Gershen-Siegel | Page 36

Author: Janet Gershen-Siegel

I'm not much bigger than a breadbox.

Quinnipiac Final Paper – ICM501 – Creative Obfuscation

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on November 27, 2014

Quinnipiac Final Paper – ICM501 – Creative Obfuscation

What is creative obfuscation?

Internet identity, reputation, and deception in the online dating world. Truth and little white lies on the Internet.

Introduction

Several weeks ago, when participating in class, I used the term creative obfuscation. The idea behind it was (and still is) that people of course bend the truth or cover it up, or they lie by omission. Some of these lies are more egregious than others.

For my final paper, I decided to look at what it all means with reference to internet dating. And boy, was there a lot of fodder! Here are some excerpts.

Identity

For many people[1] these days, social media is wrapped with identity, as identity is, in turn, intimately wrapped up with social media. It is often a daily[2] presence in our lives. As Julia Knight and Alexis Weedon discovered, online life and self are increasingly just as important as offline life and self.[3]

“In 2008, Vincent Miller’s article in Convergence recognized in our ubiquitous and pervasive media the essential role of phatic communication [4] which forms our connection to the here and now.

Social media has become a native habitus for many and is a place to perform our various roles in our multimodal lives, as a professional, a parent, an acquaintance, and a colleague. The current generation has grown up with social media and like the 10-year-old Facebook, Twitter too has become part of some people’s everyday here and now.”[5]

References

[1] About 39% of the world is online, according to Internet World Statistics. This includes just fewer than 85% of North America and over 2/3 of Europe and Oceania.

[2] According to Pew Research, in 2013, 63% of Facebook users visit the site daily. Just under half (46%) of Twitter users visit that site on a daily basis.

[3] Knight, Julia and Weedon, Alexis, Convergence, ISSN 1354-8565, 08/2014, Volume 20, Issue 3, pp. 257 – 258, Identity and social media

[4] Phatic communications are generally language for the purposes of social interaction rather than the conveying of information or the making of inquiries, e. g. ‘small talk’.

[5] Knight and Weedon, Ibid., Page 257.

Reputation and Creative Obfuscation

Unlike offline reputation, online reputation can be categorized and quantified. For sites attempting to preserve and promote civility, but which cannot or will not adopt a real-names policy like Facebook’s, reputation scores can sometimes alert other users to an individual’s tendency to be either helpful or abusive.

AS Crane Said…

As AS Crane noted in Promoting Civility in Online Discussions: A Study of the Intelligent Conversation Forum[6],

“Moderation in combination with reputation scores have been used successfully on the large technology site Slashdot, according to Lampe and Resnick (2004). Slashdot moderation duties are shared among a group of users, who can assign positive or negative reputation points to posts and to other members. Users who have earned a sufficient reputation rating are allowed to participate in moderation if they wish. Meta-moderators observe the moderators for abuse and can remove bad moderators, or reward good moderators by assigning a higher point value to their votes.” In Slashdot’s case, it would seem that good behavior not only is rewarding in and of itself, but it also provides a reward in the form of being granted the ability to police others’ behavior.

[6] AS Crane, 2012, Promoting Civility in Online Discussions: A Study of the Intelligent Conversation Forum, rave.ohiolink.edu, Page 17

Deception

For those who bend the truth on Facebook and other social media websites, some of the consequences are unexpected ones.

For example, a ten-year-old child claims to be thirteen. So, in five years, they’ll be considered eighteen on a social networking site. This will alter her privacy settings automatically. And lets everyone see images, including pedophiles.[7]

[7] Olsen, Tyler, 22 April 2013, Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire: An Explanation of Deception, Professor Combs English 1010-21

Creative Obfuscation: Conclusion

It is fairly easy to bend the truth when composing an online dating profile. But an in-person meeting will expose the lie to all. As a result, the liar will lose social capital and likely never make it to a second date. More problematic is when a person’s sincerely made identity does not jibe with their appearance or their birth characteristics.

Differences between online verbiage and offline appearance might not have an intentionally malicious origin. So, it is entirely possible for online daters to, through ambiguity or poor word choice, appear deceptive and untrustworthy. When they may be anything but.

But regardless of the reason for an untruth, online daters care about their reputations. And their online and offline appearances. What others think matters to them. Much of that directly relates to the object behind the use of an online dating site. So, the object is to meet. That is, the mission is the date.

Setting up the date for failure or the loss of face is not in online daters’ best interests. So, most act to assure success or at least prevent and minimize failure and the loss of social capital.

Personal Identity

Personal identity matters in the online world, and it is a heady brew of inborn traits, learned and attained characteristics, and identification, desire, and preference.

For the person presenting their identity and showing this admixture to all and sundry, what it means to be them, what they think of as the ‘self’, is they cobble together from potentially thousands of measurable and nonquantifiable data points in order to present a full picture of their personality.

For the recipients of these messages, the potential dating partners and perhaps even more permanent mates, the choice is whether to read or listen to these many messages. And accept all or some of them. Even if they conflict with or downright contradict the evidence that the recipient can observe or otherwise gather independently.

You are who you were at birth, who you have become, and who you claim to be, and who you think you are. But that does not mean that anyone has to believe you, accept you, or love you.

1 Comment

Quinnipiac Assignment 11 – ICM501 – Mobile & Locative Media

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on November 6, 2014

Let’s look at Mobile & Locative Media

Locative Media? Just as online communities are giving us digital posses and homes away from home, locative and mobile media are providing us with a means of joining a group in person at any time.

There’s A Party Somewhere

With locative media, there is always something going on.

For persons traveling to an unfamiliar section of their city, locative media can give them a sense of where to go. Let’s say a person living in the Allston section of Boston takes the wrong Green Line trolley outbound from Park Street. Instead of the B, which would take them along Commonwealth Avenue to home, they get on the E, which goes down Huntington Avenue.

Instead of despairing at being lost, or turning around, or getting a bus or cab (or the correct trolley) back home, what if the unintentional explorer looks on FourSquare (or if this scenario took place before 2013, Google Latitude, the successor to Dodgeball)?

Locative Media Mixes the Familiar with the Unfamiliar

But with locational technology, the traveler finds friends, or recommendations, or even just a bit of tracking thrown out there by people they’re connected to. If the traveler can find his or her friends, the unfamiliar space might become parochialized.

As Humphreys, L. (2010). Mobile social networks and urban public space. New Media & Society, 12(5), 763-778. [Library Link | PDF] wrote,

“Parochial spaces are territories characterized by ‘a sense of commonality among acquaintances and neighbors who are involved in interpersonal networks that are located within communities’ (Lofland, 1998: 10). Neighborhoods are examples of parochial spaces.” (Page 768)

So, the act of parochialization lends familiarity and commonality to a public space. Humphreys further stated,

“Mobile social networks can help to turn public realms into parochial realms through parochialization. Parochialization can be defined as the process of creating, sharing and exchanging information, social and locational, to contribute to a sense of commonality among a group of people in public space. Sharing information through mobile social networks can help to contribute to a sense of familiarity among users in urban public spaces.” (Page 768, Ibid.)

Pre-Planning

Humphreys refers to a use of Dodgeball as a means of pre-planning parochialization, and wrote,

“People also used Dodgeball to parochialize the public space when traveling with a group of people. For example, several New York participants mentioned using Dodgeball at South by Southwest, an annual music/film/hi-tech festival in Austin, Texas. A large group of colleagues and friends were at the festival and used Dodgeball to ensure meeting up with familiar people in an unfamiliar city.” (Page 773, Ibid.)

However, even a semi-serendipitous finding of like-minded individuals could happen. For our hypothetic traveler, a stroll down Huntington Avenue reveals Northeastern University and the Museum of Fine Arts.

Nearby is the Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum.

But with FourSquare checkins, the traveler knows that her friends are at the Gardiner, and she can choose to join them, or contact them and suggest a change of venue to the MFA, or avoid them by entering the campus of Northeastern.

Is the RSVP dead?

So now, even planned meetings have changed.

As Rheingold, H. (2002). Shibuya epiphany. In Smart mobs: The next social revolution (pp. 1–28). New York: Basic Books. [Posted to “Course Materials” on Blackboard] wrote,

“‘Kids have become loose about time and place. If you have a phone, you can be late,’ added Kawamura. Kamide, the other graduate student, agreed that it is no longer taboo to show up late: ‘Today’s taboo,’ Kamide conjectured, is ‘to forget your keitai [cell phone] or let your battery die.” I later discovered that this ‘softening of time’ was noted for the same age group in Norway. ‘The opportunity to make decisions on the spot has made young people reluctant to divide their lives into time slots, as older generations are used to doing,’ agreed another Norwegian researcher.” (Page 5)

But all of this is small comfort to someone planning (and paying for) a major event like a wedding or a Bat Mitzvah. Kids may have become looser about time and place, but caterers have not.

Caveats

Also, constantly knowing where everyone is at all times can take away the fun of accidental meetings. It can make them nigh well impossible. Continually seeking preexisting friends when in unfamiliar places can keep people from extending their hands and introducing themselves to new people. With augmented reality, the locatability isn’t even necessarily voluntary anymore.

As Lamantia, J. (2009, August 17). Inside out: Interaction design for augmented reality.UX Matters. [Link] wrote,

“With tools like augmented ID on the way, what happens if your environmentally aware AR device, service, or application recognizes me and broadcasts my identity locally—or globally—when I want to remain incognito? At least until the advent of effective privacy management solutions—including hardware, software, standards, and legal frameworks—AR experiences that identify people by face, marker, or RFID tag could severely challenge our ability to do ordinary things like get lost in a crowd, sit quietly at the back of a room, or attend a surprise party for a friend.”

Even more chilling, what happens when victims are trying to escape abusers or stalkers? It seems, at times, akin to the microchipping of pets. We don’t want our dogs and cats to wander too far, because we fear they’ll get lost or will be injured or even stolen. But humans are (ostensibly) smarter than all that. So, shouldn’t we have the freedom to, if we want to, just go out without having a tracer put on us?

1 Comment

They Used to Call me Robot Girl

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on November 4, 2014

They used to call me Robot Girl?

It’s true. They used to call me Robot Girl.

But I haven’t blogged for a while. Yeah, I know.

I was uninspired and didn’t want to just subject all two of my readers to my ramblings. Plus, I was looking for an actual day job.

Robot Girl Gets A Day Job

Well, I found one. It’s a temping gig for a large financial services company which shall remain nameless. I am a Financial Analyst, preparing and running database reports. The job is rather similar to several other gigs I’ve held. And then I will be back in Social Media full time.

In the meantime, the Bot Boys are not forgotten, and I actually blog more for them that I had been. The need for Social Media exposure does not diminish just because I’ve got a new gig.

But I wanted to reach out, on this blog, for the first time in quite a while, to offer up some of the things I’ve learned along the way. So gather ’round, and hopefully I can help someone else to navigate the wild world of startups.

Some Wisdom from the Trenches

The best gift that anyone can offer startups is money. Advice and expertise are great, and they are helpful, but it all pales in the face of do-re-mi. And while startup competitions may not want (or, truly, be able) to part with too much of it, it is money that is most needed because, to truly succeed, someone has to quit their day job. You know, the thing I just got a few weeks ago? Yeah. Someone has to take a flying leap into outer space – but that person still needs to be able to afford ramen and a futon.
Speaking of ramen and futons, the startup game is, often, played by the young. This is not to say that those of us who were born during the Kennedy Administration have naught to offer. Rather, it is that we have mortgages. We may have children. We have lives that often require more than minimal Connector-style health insurance. We may have aging parents, credit card debt or any number of things that make living off ramen, on a futon, nigh impossible.

And More

However, this does not mean that the not-so-young do not have a place in the land of startups. But that place is often a different one. The enthusiastic feel of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney
Cropped screenshot of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney from the trailer for the film Love Finds Andy Hardy. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(now I’m really dating myself) yelling, “Hey, kids! Let’s put on a show! We can get the barn!” is replaced with “Let’s see if we can get this thing to work before defaulting on the mortgage/Junior needs braces/gall bladder surgery is required/etc.” Our needs are different, and we may be more patient with setbacks. This does not necessarily spell being less hungry but, perhaps, less able to truly go for broke. The not-so-young person’s role in a startup is often more advisory. We are the ones who can’t quit day jobs until the salaries are decent. And that day may never come.
Startup events are best when they have a focus. Mass Innovation Nights, I feel, is something of a Gold Standard. There is a coherent beginning, middle and end to each event. It’s not just a lot of business card trading. The participants and the audience get good conversational hooks. Making contacts is vital – I hooked up with the Bot Boys at an event like that – but it can’t just be “Hey, let’s get a bunch of startups together, eat pizza and trade business cards!” The startups that are succeeding are too busy for such activities. And those that aren’t ….

And Even More…

Cloud computing, apps and software companies are everywhere in the startup space. With the Bot Boys, we can stand out a bit as we are a hardware company. Having a product that people can see and feel is valuable amidst a sea of virtual stuff.
The downside to that is that hardware companies have spinup problems that cloud computing companies just don’t have – app companies do not have to worry about shipping and packaging. They do not have to perform quality control checks on shipments. They do not have to work on product safety.
No one wants to talk to the job seeker, but everyone wants to talk to the entrepreneur – and those are often the same person! Human nature is a bit odd in this area, but I have seen people who are barely past the “I’ve got this great idea I’ve sketched on the back of a napkin” stage where there is a flock of interested people swarming around, whereas a person honest about looking for work is often overlooked.

Kinda Sad But True

Charisma counts. While one founder is going to be the inventor or the developer (the idea person), the other pretty much must be the socializer. Otherwise, even the best ideas are all too often buried. Someone must be willing and able to do public speaking, elevator pitching and sales. This need not be an experienced sales person, but that person has got to be a lot friendlier and a lot more fearless than most.
Most startups and most entrepreneur groupings will fail, morph, coalesce or break apart before succeeding. And perhaps that is as it should be, for being nimble is one of the characteristics of a successful startup. If the product sells when it’s colored blue, but not when it’s colored green, dip it in dye, fer chrissakes!
We all work for startups, or former startups. Even the large financial services firm was, once, a gleam in someone’s eye. Every invention started off as an idea. Even day jobs were, at one time, in places where the founders were living off that generation’s equivalent of ramen and sleeping in that era’s analogue to a futon. Yet somehow, against the odds, they made it.

And a lot of today’s startups can, too.

See you ’round the scene. Robot Girl may have left the building. But I have not.

3 Comments

Of Ice Buckets and Virality

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 26, 2014

An Observation, Of Ice Buckets and Virality

You have to be on another planet (or, offline) to not know about this. It has, most likely, been in the mainstream offline media by now. I don’t watch a lot of television, and I have not yet seen it in newspapers, but that does not mean it is not coming. It has virality in spades.

I am, of course, talking about the terrifically inventive charitable idea du jour – The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

Background

On July 31^st of 2014, Pete Frates, who has ALS, challenged some celebrities, including New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, to what would become known as the ice bucket challenge.

The challenge was already going on, per the article, but the concept did not begin to gain viral social media traction until July 31^st .

The premise is simple – either donate $100 to ALS research or douse yourself with ice water. You’ve got 24 hours and, once you’ve done either (or both), challenge at least three more people.

The idea spread virally. A lot of people were happy to see something other than Gaza and Ferguson in their news feeds.

ALS

ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is a serious medical condition for which there is no known cure. It is a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement.

ALS is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Complicating matters is the fact that there are only about 30,000 or so people in the United States who definitely have it.

Hence big drug manufacturers aren’t pursuing cures, as such cures and research are not profitable enough. It is essentially an orphaned disease.

But let’s get back to the challenge.

Purpose of the Challenge

I can come up with five purposes, and probably three (maybe four) of them were not the original ones.

Raise money for ALS research
Boost awareness of the disease
Lean on drug companies to pressure them to work on developing a cure
Lean on politicians to push them to pressure drug companies or perhaps pass laws subsidizing or otherwise encouraging research into orphan diseases
Hire a celebrity spokesperson (or more than one) to advocate for the victims of the disease

The challenge performs the first two tasks perfectly. Either you pony up the funds or you get soaked. And that all goes on camera and becomes an upload on social media. Most people reveal their choice on Facebook, which has over 1.4 billion users.

The last three purposes are the kinds of things that you can use this sort of attention for. I do hope the big folks in ALS research don’t squander this opportunity, and try for all three.

Why is it Viral?

The challenge hits about every mark when it comes to virality. Here are some reasons.

It has a strong visual and auditory appeal. The dousing, the screaming, or even smug people signing checks and getting wet anyway? Don’t underestimate how much humor there is in seeing someone getting their (allegedly deserving) comeuppance.
Humor is one component to virality, or at least it is one of the elements that is somewhat more likely to be present when any piece of media goes viral. By definition, the flipping of super-chilled water onto anyone’s head is going to be funny.

More Reasons

1. Another component that is often present in viral media is uplifting images, text, and actions. This is why Upworthy does as well as it does. When people write a check instead of dump water, they hit this mark instead. Either way, if they speak a bit about ALS, they also hit this mark.
2. Timing – initiating the challenge in January would not have worked as well. While people have been answering polar bear-style challenges for years, if you want to go viral, you want the majority to participate, or at least believe that they might want to participate. Selecting the month of August was brilliant, as this is either the warmest or second-warmest month in most years in the Northern Hemisphere. That is, the hemisphere where people are, in general, more likely to be wealthy and more likely to be online. In short, these were the people most likely to either participate in the challenge or at least watch videos of it and read articles (like this one!) about it.

Yet More Reasons

The second piece of timing is how it came when so many people had seen a lot about Gaza and Ferguson, as I stated previously. For many, the challenge was a welcome bit of good news in an otherwise dreary Dog Days of Summer media landscape.
There is an element of daring in it but, except for the elderly (Sir Ian McKellan notwithstanding) and the gravely ill, it’s not really dangerous. But do watch out for slippery floors. Yes, there are already blooper videos out there (many of them are NSFW; Google is your friend if you’re interested in such things).
Virality is baked right into it. One aspect of the challenge is to call out at least three other people and challenge them. Furthermore, they have 24 hours to respond either way. Hence you have added three more names. However, the names begin to repeat after a while. So the trebling of participants slows down, eventually shrinking a lot closer to a doubling of participants. The duplication of names also happens because most people run in somewhat small circles and share neighbors, friends, family members, etc. The 24 hour time limit plays very well into most people’s demands for more and more and different entertainment to consume, on daily, hourly, or even minute by minute basis.

Still More Reasons

Social media has shaped a lot of our behaviors, and the ice bucket challenge plays nicely into how ordinary people are finding out that they are now entertainers online. They have followers, and they are beginning to understand that they need to provide content for their followers. As a result, so many people obsess with taking selfies, or Instagramming everything they eat or wear. Because they know they need to provide content, but they’re stumped as to what to provide! The challenge provides a perfect prompt.
The involvement of celebrities added a cool factor. The involvement of all sorts politicians on the political spectrum allowed a way for political rivals to talk to each other. After all, who could be against trying to defeat a horrible disease?

The challenge has even spawned parodies and copycats. There’s the rice bucket challenge in India, the rubble bucket challenge in Gaza, and the Orlando Jones bullet bucket challenge. It’s a helluva clever campaign, and deserves all the props it’s been getting.

Upshot

Amusing and upbeat, the challenge has, as of the writing of this blog post, raised over $50 million for research. Please give generously and, in the meantime, enjoy Bill Gates getting drenched.

Takeaways from a Few Years Later

Frates passed away in 2019. But his legacy is not just one of increased awareness about the disease. It’s also a legacy of increased donations to attempt to cure it.

Pretty good for a guy who went to BC 😉

Online Advertising: Facebook Ads vs. Google AdWords vs. LinkedIn

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on July 31, 2014

Online Advertising: Facebook Ads vs. Google AdWords vs. LinkedIn

Social Media Today several years ago compared these three types of online advertising, namely: Facebook Ads vs. Google AdWords vs. LinkedIn. To find out who the top dog was, read on.

Google

Google’s ads got more expensive at the end, and their success often seemed to be hit or miss. Wide geographic ranges could give dramatic numbers but few results – narrowing things down geographically seemed to accompany a commensurate rise in click quality.

According to the article, Google advertising, “… works if you have a unique and popular product or service. The interface feels professional, with excellent reporting tools, great usability and many various options.”

Facebook

So, the Facebook advertising experience seemed to be the most satisfying to the writer of the article. With a demographic and geographic focus (and fast service by Facebook support), you can credit ads with near-pinpoint accuracy.

But when speaking of Facebook, which is much more of a leisure time site than LinkedIn or Google is, the article stated, “(t)he secret is not to become too serious in your ads and keep them simple.”

LinkedIn was seen as being great for ads intended to reach strictly professional audiences. However, the LinkedIn admin team took significantly longer to approve advertisements than their counterparts at Facebook and Google took. Also, the reporting also had some serious restrictions. And it only offers a CSV file for download.

Facebook Ads vs. Google, Etc.

I agree with the conclusions drawn in the article – Facebook was overall the best, Google would be helpful for targeted ads for specific, unique or well-known products. And LinkedIn lagged, big time.

To my mind, this also dovetails well with these sites’ overall purposes. Facebook is where people go for socializing. And so it seems to work with ads in the same way that we view television commercials. Google and LinkedIn have other purposes. And so we are less likely to expect such a marriage of content and online advertising.

2 Comments

Quinnipiac Assignment #2 – Disruption (NSFW)

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 28, 2014

Disruption (NSFW)

Consider disruption (NSFW): Good Lord, people, hide the fine china! Lock up your children! Clutch your pearls! It’s all gone NSFW!

Still, I shouldn’t kid.

This assignment is about using social media being as a tool for disruption. I chose to examine the Boston Marathon bombings, and of course, that’s nothing to be flippant about. Further, I selected a completely NSFW (Not Safe For Work) moment during the ordeal.

David Ortiz for the Disruptive Win!

I chose to center my video around Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz taking the microphone during the first game after the bombs went off, and him bellowing into the mic, “This is our f—in’ city!”

There are some people who complained, after the fact, about the obscenity. But the vast, vast majority of viewers took it all in stride.

How Did Social Media Handle All This?

What did Social Media do? How did it disrupt coverage? Well, let’s just put it this way. If the bombing had occurred fifteen years ago, or even five, coverage (and our memories of it) would have been far, far different.

It would have been far less immediate. We would not have seen the carnage in anywhere near as much graphic detail. Jeff Bauman would have maintained some privacy with reference to his grave injuries. And David Ortiz, if he had dropped the f-bomb live on TV at all, would have been fined, big time, as would have the Red Sox organization.

Instead, we know. We have seen. We have heard. And it’s a lot harder to forget. The news is no longer being sanitized successfully in America.

Welcome to the media treating us like grownups.

Disruption Eight Years Later…

Looking back at this post in last 2022, my first observation is that it’s almost quaint. No one seemed to really care about Ortiz dropping an f-bomb on television. But why?

It’s quite simply because he just said what we were all thinking. And many of us had probably said it in the comfort and privacy of our own homes.

But David had the microphone, and the platform.

Oh, and PS — my own video ^ is restricted on YouTube these days! Wacky. So, social media does not treat us like adults these days!

7 Comments

Onward to Quinnipiac!

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on January 21, 2014

Woo-Hoo! Onward to Quinnipiac

For quite a while now, as I have searched for work, I have been dismayed at not only issues with networking, but also with the need to make myself stand out from the pack. Hence, onward to Quinnipiac.

I believe that education will do this. However, most social media educational opportunities are with what seem to be more like fly by night operations.

When I learned that Quinnipiac University had a graduate and certificate program in social media, I decided to give it a whirl.

Currently, I am taking one class, ICM 522.

ICM 522 In a Nutshell

ICM 522, Social Media Techniques and Practices, 3 graduate credits
Spring 2014, Summer 2014 – 12 weeks

The proliferation of social media in society has created a new communications environment built on platforms that encourage contribution and collaboration through user-created media and interaction. This course explores the underlying theoretical concepts, development and management of social media platforms as well as the creation of effective strategies to facilitate a viable social media presence.

Covered will be:

Content creation and interactions from semester-long blog postings
Establishment and maintenance of credible social media presence on multiple platforms
Demonstration and understanding of platform usage and capabilities
Written analysis and review of notable social media practitioners or brands
Overall growth, and effectiveness of student’s semester-long social media presence

What it’s All About

ICM 522 proved to be an excellent introduction to the subject matter. It was also a really great way for me to get into the mindset of taking a class. And studying. And trying to get a good grade!

One thing I was not prepared for was how much I was going to truly love the class.

Onward to Quinnipiac: Takeaways

So I guess it’s back to school for me.

Spoiler alert: I didn’t just pass. I graduated—in 2016—with a 4.0 GPA.

Oh and PS

Since most of the Quinnipiac posts are old and not getting any readers, I am unpublishing many of them. I get the feeling no one will be looking around for them.

5 Comments

Just Trying to Make Some Sense of it All

Adventures in Career Changing, Welcome Mat, Color Theory Videos, Cheat Sheets, future of the lonely writer, Second 5K, Contact, Tech Boston, More Than This, First 5K, Sunday, Monday morning dash, Appointments, Andala, Job interview, site map, reinvention, karmic wheel, sail on, which universe, videos, Sense, universal explorations, job at Neuron Robotics, Social Media Club, enough spoons, Happy Birthday Mass Innovation, Pegasystems, future, Future of the Lonely Writer, Job Seeking, AI hype train, Writing Freedom, Chance Encounter in Time, Show for the Galaxy, Sense,

Just Trying to Make Some Sense of it All

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on April 21, 2013

Be aware, there are adult words in here, for very adult events. Turn back if four-letter words bother you more than terrorism. That makes no sense to me. But maybe it does to you.

Stay Strong and Keep Every Sense About You

For all who have been living under rocks, things here in Boston have been astounding over the course of the past week. If it were a film script, it would never be made. Because no one would believe it.

On Monday, April 15th, 2013, the unthinkable happened, when two bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Three people died, and nearly 180 were wounded, many gravely.

Adventures in Career Changing | Janet Gershen-Siegel | Trying to Make Sense — Close call in Brighton – the blue star is more or less where I live

Then, going from Thursday, April 18th at night, into about 24 hours later, Friday, April 19th, at about 8:40 PM, there was a lockdown and a manhunt here. To give you an idea of how close it all was, check out this map – I can scarcely fathom it.

And I have friends, former colleagues, who were even closer, people who heard shots and explosions.

This is reality.

But I want to put in what, to me, is a bit of perspective, I hope.

A Sense of Destruction and Despair

There are plenty of horrible images and I will, mainly, not focus on them.

But this image should tell the tale of Friday. We, like most people, did as requested and stayed in our home.

I took maybe 20 minutes at about lunchtime and sat on my front porch. I saw a guy walking his dog and another getting a smoke. Plus maybe three cars went by.

And that was it.

I firmly believe that staying out of law enforcement’s collective way was vital in not just keeping bystanders from being harmed but also in the swift conclusion to the manhunt. Also, I will not publicize the alleged (yes, alleged; I believe in the right to a fair trial) perp’s name.

A Sense of Hope and Glory

There are a lot of images and words and I cannot possibly cover them all so I will cherry pick a few.

Neil Diamond and Sweet Caroline

So Neil Diamond hopped on a plane yesterday morning at 4:30 AM.

He just showed up, 40 minutes before the Red Sox game was to start, and asked if he could sing “Sweet Caroline“.

Sure thing, Neil.

David Ortiz (who never made more sense than at this very moment)

David Ortiz got on a microphone and dropped the f-bomb on live TV. The FCC shrugged and said the equivalent of, hey, no sweat.

Ortiz, I am sure, did not plan what he would say. He just spoke from his heart.

And I am sure most of us agree with him and aren’t about to hold the f-bomb against him. I know I don’t.

People care. And they have also expressed their caring in some amazing and offbeat, quirky ways. These are the ways that make the most sense to them.

Always & Forever

The Always & Forever Tattoo Salon in Watertown has a sidewalk memorial going. Add to it, if you like.

Fundraising

There are multiple fundraisers going on. The big one is OneFundBoston. This charity was started by Mayor Menino and Governor Patrick and is of course legitimate.

The local running club, the Brighton Bangers, also held a fundraiser.

Sense, Memory, and Healing

I refuse to provide the names of the alleged perps. But I will gladly share the names of the lost and the injured.

Krystle Campbell

This young woman was 29. She was a restaurant manager at Jasper White’s Summer Shack and mainly worked in Hingham and Cambridge, putting in 70- and 80-hour weeks.

I celebrated my 50th birthday at the Cambridge location last September, and may very well have seen her.

Sean Collier

This MIT police officer lost his life in the Thursday night shootout. Boston Police stood at attention with respect as his hearse passed, remembering this young man who gave his all.

Lingzi Lu

This young woman was a graduate statistics student at Boston University, my alma mater.

The wildly generous trustees of Boston University have already raised over half a million dollars for a scholarship in her name.

Martin Richard

This eight-year-old child was wiser than most of us, eh? His father, mother and sister were also hurt. So please remember them, also.

Jeff Bauman

This young man‘s image was all over the news, as Carlos Arredondo helped get him to safety and care. Some images were cropped. Others showed the full extent of the awful damage to his legs. This site is a legitimate fundraising site to help pay for his care.

Also, if you want to send him a card, send it to:

In care of Jen Joyce
for Jeff Bauman
117 Tynsboro Rd.
Westford, MA 01886

Celeste and Sydney Corcoran

Sydney and Celeste Corcoran at Boston Medical Center

These women are mother and daughter, and they were both also hurt (Celeste has more extensive injuries). Also, there is a legitimate fund to help with their care.

Dic Donohue

This police officer and Navy veteran was also wounded in the Thursday night gunfight. And so here is a legitimate fundraising site for him.

Patrick and Jessica Downes

These newlyweds also each lost a leg. This is a legitimate fundraising site to help pay for their care.

Marc Fucarile

So he is neighbor to a friend who lives in Stoneham. And this young roofer has already lost one leg, and there is shrapnel in his heart. There is a legitimate fund to help him, too.

In Every Sense, It’s Personal

I have loved Boston ever since I attended BU (I am from the Class of ’83) and am also a runner (but only 5K races – marathons are too long for me). Many of these directly affected people are second and third degree of separation from me.

I cannot begin to describe just how personal it all feels, and I know that my feelings are rather small within the scope of this immense tragedy.

So I leave you with this image –

The Strip and sense — The Strip made a ton of sense!

and with this song.

Peace. Please.

27 Comments

WPI Venture Forum

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on October 29, 2010

Why is the WPI Venture Forum so Important?

Why did the WPI Venture Forum matter so much?

Without getting into too many specifics, let’s just say I know where I’m going to be on Tuesday, November 9th.

WPI Venture Forum.

Wish us luck.

Twelve Years Later, the WPI Venture Forum

It’s great to see that this venue and this concept are still around, over a decade later! However, it is under a new name.

Now, you should just call it The Venture Forum.

Much like it was back in the day, this is a way for promising local startups to connect with people who want to help them get business financing. And… just maybe get capital from others. It does not seem to be a place to connect with venture capital firms.

But I admit that I could certainly be wrong about that.

Startups and Money

I have written about this before, but it sure as hell bears repeating.

The best gift that anyone can offer startups is money. Advice and expertise are great, and they are helpful, but it all pales in the face of do re mi. And while startup competitions may not want (or, truly, be able) to part with too much of it, it is money that is most needed because, to truly succeed, someone has to quit their day job. You know, the thing I just got a few weeks ago? Yeah. Someone has to take a flying leap into outer space – but that person still needs to be able to afford ramen and a futon.
Speaking of ramen and futons, the startup game is, often, played by the young. This is not to say that those of us who were born during the Kennedy Administration have naught to offer. Rather, it is that we have mortgages. We may have children. We have lives that often require more than minimal Connector-style health insurance. We may have aging parents, credit card debt or any number of things that make living off ramen, on a futon, nigh impossible.

Startups and Those of Us Who Are No Longer in Our Twenties

Or thirties, forties, or fifties.

Ouch.

The world of startups most definitely has two settings. Either you are a go-for-broke, you don’t know what you’re doing but you’re getting there fast company (Neuron!). Or, you have a decided plan and a purpose, and you are getting into it with some measure of gravity and patience.

Guess which kind of business is more likely to succeed?

And guess which kind of business is more likely to be founded by engineers?

Can you see the disconnect there?

Engineering + Business FTW

What do startups need? Money. And what do business majors and new graduates need? A place to tout.

So, why not introduce the folks at engineering schools like WPI, Wentworth, or MIT to the business folks at Harvard, BU, and Tufts?

And then maybe everybody could go home happy.

Author: Janet Gershen-Siegel

They Used to Call me Robot Girl

They used to call me Robot Girl?

Robot Girl Gets A Day Job

Some Wisdom from the Trenches

And More

And Even More…

Kinda Sad But True

Like this:

Of Ice Buckets and Virality

An Observation, Of Ice Buckets and Virality

Background

ALS

Purpose of the Challenge

Why is it Viral?

More Reasons

Yet More Reasons

Still More Reasons

Upshot

Takeaways from a Few Years Later

Like this:

WPI Venture Forum

Why is the WPI Venture Forum so Important?

Twelve Years Later, the WPI Venture Forum

Startups and Money

Startups and Those of Us Who Are No Longer in Our Twenties

Engineering + Business FTW

Like this:

Author: Janet Gershen-Siegel

Quinnipiac Final Paper – ICM501 – Creative Obfuscation

Introduction

Identity

References

Reputation and Creative Obfuscation

AS Crane Said…

Deception

Creative Obfuscation: Conclusion

Personal Identity

Like this:

Let’s look at Mobile & Locative Media

There’s A Party Somewhere

Locative Media Mixes the Familiar with the Unfamiliar

Pre-Planning

Is the RSVP dead?

Caveats

Like this:

They used to call me Robot Girl?

Robot Girl Gets A Day Job

Some Wisdom from the Trenches

And More

And Even More…

Kinda Sad But True

Like this:

An Observation, Of Ice Buckets and Virality

Background

ALS

Purpose of the Challenge

Why is it Viral?

More Reasons

Yet More Reasons

Still More Reasons

Upshot

Takeaways from a Few Years Later

Like this:

Online Advertising: Facebook Ads vs. Google AdWords vs. LinkedIn

Google

Facebook

LinkedIn

Facebook Ads vs. Google, Etc.

Like this:

Disruption (NSFW)

David Ortiz for the Disruptive Win!

How Did Social Media Handle All This?

Disruption Eight Years Later…

Like this:

Woo-Hoo! Onward to Quinnipiac

ICM 522 In a Nutshell

What it’s All About

Onward to Quinnipiac: Takeaways

Oh and PS

Like this:

Stay Strong and Keep Every Sense About You

A Sense of Destruction and Despair

A Sense of Hope and Glory

Neil Diamond and Sweet Caroline

David Ortiz (who never made more sense than at this very moment)

Always & Forever

Fundraising

Sense, Memory, and Healing

Krystle Campbell

Sean Collier

Lingzi Lu

Martin Richard

Jeff Bauman

Celeste and Sydney Corcoran

Dic Donohue

Patrick and Jessica Downes

Marc Fucarile

In Every Sense, It’s Personal

Like this:

Why is the WPI Venture Forum so Important?

Twelve Years Later, the WPI Venture Forum

Startups and Money

Startups and Those of Us Who Are No Longer in Our Twenties

Engineering + Business FTW

Like this:

Welcome to Maker Faire and Mass Inno!

Still, Maker Faire and Mass Inno Make Good Sense