Making Sense:
Two strong pieces of reporting (not coming from journalists). A technologist who is also a very experienced blogger outlines a path forward for journalists to make use of technology; a business strategist who also writes about the state of journalism in the age of the Internet.
- How to Rebuild Journalism. Dave Winer: We have enough open formats and protocols to build a dozen news distribution systems with all kinds of algorithms. We have bright-eyed J-school students who are excited about the future of news. Even some graybeards such as myself are still totally excited about the future. Come on, let's use the tools we have.
- Why Uber Fights. Ben Thompson: In my experience the truth ends up being far more gray than the press – which really hates threats to journalists – has characterized this most recent episode. In fact, in some ways I’m actually far more concerned about Uber’s perceived lack of ethics than most, because if I’m right, then Uber is well on its way to having monopoly power over not just taxi services but a core piece of worldwide infrastructure, and nothing about this crisis gives me confidence in the company’s ability to manage that gracefully.
Making Do:
Execution is what matters. Start by defining the problem you are solving.
- Aereo, Fab, Kaput! Om Malik: 1.) It doesn’t matter how much money you have in the bank, or how wonderfully designed your service is — in the end execution is what matters. 2.) The non-technical risks are actually much higher in today’s highly networked society.
- How A Top Creative Director Learned To Embrace The Chaos Of Creativity And Make Great Work. Co.Create: “You’re always asking what solves the problem,” he says. “Go back to the start and ask, what’s the simplest way to tell someone what the problem is? That’s the problem. Write it as simply as possible, then put yourself in the audience and try to think of things what would entertain you. Make it personal. Something that you would find interesting.”
Making it:
From reading posts to reading minds is a short algorithm; start with sentiment.
- Facebook Lets High-Rolling Brands See What Users Really Think in This Elite Program. AdWeek: Grapevine seems appropriately named because it's where brands can hear anonymously from the masses. The program also is another indication that Facebook marketers go as far as their money will take them, and their spending dictates not just how many users they reach but their understanding of those users.
- This App Is Like A Mind-Reading Robot That Helps You Avoid Conflict. Fast Company: Exclusively for Fast Company’s Difficult Conversations week, Boston-based design firm Altitude has created Moodit, a concept app that uses emotion-detecting software to monitor your text messages, social media updates, and newsfeeds to gauge how you and your peers are feeling. It's geared toward avoiding conflict in that it makes you more aware of the emotions that make conversations difficult.
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Valeria is an experienced listener. She designs service and product experiences to help businesses rediscover the value of promises and its effect on relationships and culture. She is also frequent speaker at conferences and companies on a variety of topics. Book her to speak here.