One of the main themes of this blog is the relationship between technology and the level of human connection in people.  Several months ago the Pew internet research company released a study that validated something I saw to be true about social networks; that despite what some people said, our "friends" on facebook are actually like real friends. 

Here are some of their findings from a study of 2,255 Americans:

• Facebook user are more trusting of others
• Facebook users have more close relationships
• Facebook users are more politically engaged
• Facebook users have more social support
• Facebook helps users retain high school ties and revives dormant relationships.
• Only 3% of friends are people users have never met in person
• Only 7% are people who have met only one time. 

Source: http://www.pewinternet.org/Press-Releases/2011/Social-networking-sites-and-our-lives.aspx

The summary of the study was that "Facebook users are more trusting, have more close friends, are more politically engaged, and get more support from their friends". Clearly this was a win for my premise, Facebook users are more connected to each other because of technology.

Then I Have a Day Like Today...

Today was Thanksgiving, five families came together under one roof. We sat and talked. In the room were several wireless devices: 3 ipads, one nook, 8 smartphones, two laptops. And the beast in the room was the big 52" inch flatscreen hdtv. 

The moment any of the afore mentioned devices were turned on some, or all of the 15 people's attention weren't with the group.  Watching football on Thanksgiving is a tradition (that I happen to like), but I've got to say that it doesn't do much for a group dynamic.

As for the iPads... my kids are 2, 5 and 7 and the moment either of the older one's get their hands on an ipad that's the last we hear from them.  That is, unless they are fighting over whose turn it is to play a game.  Angry birds, Smurf's, racing games, puzzle, games, unicorn games.. The kids love them, and they suck up their attention.  The kids aren't the only ones, the main culprit for the adults was Facebook, and I'm one of the guilty parties. We may have been closer to our facebook friends, but while were interacting with them we're not interacting with out family members sitting besides us on the couch. And this is the problem for me.

When Did the Isolation Begin?

The walkman first became popular when I was in high school. Back then it was the radio or a cassette tape, (not mp3's). After seeing a few of my friend's with walkman's my first impression (after the initial coolness) was, "how selfish".  This was surly not everyone's reaction, but I couldn't help feeling cheated and jealous of my friend sitting next to me, jamming to some unknown tune, while I was forced to look-on, un-engaged and un-entertained. Later I got my own walkman and that feeling was erased, but my initial reaction was valid. This new device was creating a separation between the walkman user and the the rest of the world.  Flash forward to the present, our held-held devices not only play music anymore, they do about 100 other things as well. the amount of time and the amount of isolation we experience from those around us has grown exponentially. 

Because of technology we can have, and maintain relationships with thousands of people online through platforms like facebook and twitter, but is it robbing time from our friends and families?   Through our mobile devices we can be engaged and entertained every waking moment of our lives, but how do we balance this with being engaged with those who share proximity and a "flesh-and-bones" relationship with us? This may be one of the great challenges of our generation.

Today I have data visualization on my mind. Last night I watched a great PBS special on fractals called Hunting the Hidden Dimension, in which they detail how Benoit Mandelbrot, discovered repetitive pattens in nature. Once he begain mapping the data he discovered what we now know as fractals. A fractal is a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole, a property called self-similarity. (source Wikipedia)

In 1965 the co-founder of Intel, Gordon E. Moore wrote a paper in which he noted the rate of steadily expanding computer circits. Moore's law describes a long-term trend in the history of computing hardware. The number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years. (source Wikipedia)

Since then this trend has stayed on track, and the steady drum of inovation and technological advancements has moved forward at the pace of Moore's beat.

At the same time the world is shrinking. Globalization, the proliferation of personal computers and internet connectivity have driven people closer together.

In 2008 Mark Zukerberg, founder of Facebook said the following" “I would expect that next year, people will share twice as much information as they share this year, and next year, they will be sharing twice as much as they did the year before,” he said. “That means that people are using Facebook, and the applications and the ecosystem, more and more.” At the time many people thought it was just wishful thinking on his part, but so far his prediction has been right on. Which means we are exchanging interactions at the rate of 1000 times more every 20 years. Text messages, Facebook updates, emails, etc. This perdictable growth of information sharing is now called Zuckerberg’s Law.

Yahoo is currently working on a project called the Small World Project, in which they are attempting to prove that the world is indeed connected by six degrees of seperation. Sociologists have tried to prove this claim for decades, but have failed to resolve it. You can participate in the Small World Project by clicking here.

As I think about the interconnectivity of it all I can help but wonder if once examined and mapped, will the Social Graph reveal the type of repititive fractal patterns that Mandelbrot discovered? I wouldn't be surprised one bit, after all it is all interconnected.

If you've been paying attention over the past few years you've noticed that the world of marketing has undergone a huge shift. New technology, including mobile and social networks have created new opportunities to reach your target market in new and exciting ways. It's not just the technology that has changed though, consumers have changed too. Customers are smarter than ever and they have more of a voice then ever.

If you are in the Triad area and if you have questions about marketing, Marketing Made Clear is a great event for you. Find out how you should leverage new media to promote your business, and get exposed to some great ideas as four local marketers (including myself) discuss the different types of marketing that is working, and not working today.

Here are the details:

Marketing Made Clear

Defining the Levels of Marketing Providers

Thursday, June 23, 2011 from 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM

NewBridge Bank

1501 Highwoods Blvd., Suite 400 
Greensboro, NC 27410

Networking 8:00am | Program begins 8:30am

Panelists:

Denny Kelly, President & CEO, Bouvier Kelly, Inc.

Jeff SanGeorge, Owner, Connect Marketing and Design

Malinda Pengelly, President, BEM Interactive

John Chafatelli, Director of Marketing, PIP Printing and Marketing Services

Click the link to register today: http://bit.ly/GSO-MKTG-Panel

Sponsored by : The Greensboro Chamber of Commerce and

Sandler Sales and Training | PIP Burlington | The Decal Source

The video above was created on YouTube using their new Google Search Stories application. It allows you to put in several search queries and then it plays them in order, along with the piece of music of your choice. What I chose to do with this tool, (and many other people as well) was to use the sequence of searches to tell a story. I could have put in several specific searches that all resulted in my website, blog, etc.. but telling a simple story is so much more powerful.

Basic Storytelling, It Ain't Rocket Science

Basic Elements of Storytelling

When I told stories to my daughter, most of the stories I told had a structure like this: 1.Introduction to the princess, (or sometimes unicorn), 2.princess gets in trouble with the antagonist, (usually a witch, or a dragon), 3.prince comes and dispatches the antagonist, 4.prince saves the princess, 5.they all lived happily after after. (Read further for the "grown-up" version.)

This the presentation portion of a talk I gave on at the Greensboro Toastmasters Club on Tuesday, December 7. This also represents my first attempt to develop a presentation with Prezi.com. I'm excited to learn more about Prezi and leveraging it's dynamic potential to make presentations more engaging.

The following slide s are from a presentation I did at the Triad SmugMug group on October 27th,  in Greensboro, NC. The group is made up of independent photographers who use SmugMug.com to organize and send proofs for their digital photos. The groups organizer Evie Curley, from Evie Curley Photography invited me to talk to the group about Marketing 101. When I started thinking about how photographers market them selves I realized that it's not very differently than most other small businesses. I put the following presentation together with all small businesses in mind with a particular emphasis on free tools and the D.I.Y. (do it yourself) mindset.

Presentation that Brian Hitney and I created for our presentation at ConvergeSouth, technology conference in Greensboro, NC. The Mobile app market is constantly changing and evolving. It is also growing at the same pace. There are lots of different routes to development and tons of opportunity for developers and marketers.

iPad, iPhone and Windows Mobile 7 Apps

I'm really excited to be a presenter at the upcoming ConvergeSouth Tech conference in Greensboro, NC. ConvergeSouth's call to arms is Creativity Online For Everyone.  When you talk about bringing technology and creativity together you have my attention.

The conference will take place on October 1st and 2nd, 2010, on the campus of North Carolina A&T State University and will feature three tracks: Personal Branding, Internet Strategy for Small Business, and Developing Outside the Box. My session will be in the development track. I will be co-presenting with Brian Hitney from Microsoft about mobile application development and marketing.
We live in a time where the functionality of mobile devices has made them incredibly useful and interactive. And now these smart phones are being adopted by the masses. All of this is creating tremendous opportunity for marketers and developers to create smart phone apps that harness the innovative functions of these devices. We will take a look at the development and marketing paths of three different mobile platforms, including:  Google Android, Windows Mobile and Apple iPhone, (and iPad).

Specifically, my part of the presentation will focus on application development for the iPhone and the iPad.  My company Connect Marketing & Design is currently finishing an original iPad application for a new restaurant opening in downtown Greensboro, called Bin 33. The app is an interactive wine list, and we took a unique approach in developing it by going outside of Apple's Standard Development Kit (SDK).  I'll write more about that app in another post.

So if you are in the Southeastern U.S. and interested in technology, online marketing, social media or web development you must to join us for this exciting conference!
Learn more about ConvergeSouth at their website ConvergeSouth.com