It seems like there have been a lot of Error 37‘s lately- with Facebook stock, wondering how countries can go bankrupt, or a $2 billion loss. Then there’s the questionable city ban on soft drinks.
But no fail is complete without a #win: The delight from searching for “Lionel Richie” and seeing the Knowledge Graph results. And who can forget Bing’s new social features as well? (Word on the street is that its search engine market share is slowly creepin’ on Google’s. The exact percentage is unknown, however, as I’m sure it varies from media source to survey statistic. Does it matter? Or is it garbage data?)
This brings me to my next point- we all like data. Next to dogs, it’s man’s best friend- there to back up arguments or to make us feel better about ourselves (Klout scores, anyone?). But how will we know which are the right numbers, or how much of Klouchebags we really are?
(Speaking of which, I guess this is how I measured up. No offense taken, though!)
Sort of like the challenges digital advertising is facing. Since it’s harder to re-brand, selling’s been tougher due to swatting hordes of competitors. It’s become more about fan count, page views, web rankings, and a show as briefly entertaining as the Superbowl- and well, being really, really ridiculously good looking. Not in a Samantha Brick way, but having worked in social media and SEO, I admit I still feel like I”ve barely scratched the surface- like this sometimes:
So, I changed clothes and hopped on the 7. Since it was Internet Week in NYC, I dropped by the Instagram exhibit at the W hotel in Times Square:
I realize the irony of how unsuccessfully I tried to escape the inevitable grasp of technology, yet again. Don’t get me wrong, though. As much as I battle internal urges to soak up the latest happenings of all that’s going on(I hope I’m not the only one getting peeved if I miss out on a news article or meme that’s more than 2 days old), I still struggle with the fact that I can’t read everything. (But thanks, Twitter, for trying anyway.) And somehow through the ‘net, I’ve also managed to reconnect with at least 5 good friends (and not even through Facebook!).
It’s hard to believe that after a year since I graduated college, I’m where I want to be (maybe not exactly, but pretty close)- and the funniest part is, most of this was unplanned. I’ve been fortunate to meet roommates and landlord who have been like family to me, and regretful in passing up opportunities that I thought weren’t “serious” or “career-related” (to NBCUniversal and United Airlines, eternally indebted!) . I used to stress about finding a “real” job.
But really, what does that mean? The more I’m un-learning everything I’ve learned, I’m discovering what I don’t want- to what really gets me to stay in one place.
Even if it entails dying in a gasoline fight accident with a bunch of male models. At least we had our orange mocha frappuccinos.
