NEWS # ANALYSIS # EXPRESSION

10 Steps to Defeat the Corptocracy

The only way to overcome the power of money is regain our courage and solidarity …. Here’s how to do that.

AlterNet / By Bruce E. Levine

1. Create the Cultural and Psychological “Building Blocks” for Democratic Movements

2. Confront and Transform ALL Institutions that Have Destroyed Individual Self-Respect and Collective Self-Confidence

3. Side Each Day in Every Way With Anti-Authoritarians

4. Regain Morale by Thinking More Critically About Our Critical Thinking

5. Restore Courage in Young People

6. Focus on Democracy Battlefields Where the Corporate Elite Don’t Have Such a Large Financial Advantage

7. Heal from “Corporatocracy Abuse” and “Battered People’s Syndrome” to Gain Strength

8. Unite Populists by Rejecting Corporate Media’s Political Divisions

9. Unite “Comfortable Anti-Authoritarians” and “Afflicted Anti-Authoritarians

10. Do Not Let Debate Divide Anti-Authoritarians

A: The leveling of the playing field

Q: Sum up, in one phrase, the crux of the phenomenon in the evolution of communications commonly referred to as social media.

I think, at the very center of the evolution, the engine that drives the change and sets the direction of the change is the inherent desire of people to have a level playing field, (insofar as social media relates to commercial aspiration).

Picture of the day – Perched Mourning Dove

A photographer’s vision that leaves one breathless

Is this the dawning of the Age of Aquarius?

Our evolving human consciousness has indeed given rise to a greater understanding, an infinitely large increase in the scope, depth and breadth spiritual progression.  Does it coincide with the Age of Aquarius?  It might.

Social media, in one sense, is about organizing.  Driven by the magical energy of desire to participate and engage, we have all been granted a portal into the grandest conversation of all, the one that encompasses most of the developed world.   Perhaps this reality has been slow to dawn upon me and most of the rest of us, but this sure has been a sobering realization:  The entire connected part of the  planet is now privy to a significantly greater set of common data upon which to base their decisions.  This is a powerful idea.

The raising of the lowest common denominator

What we are witnessing is the raising of the lowest common denominator in human understanding.  History has never been able to inform people, contemporaneously, of the nature of the forces driving events.  Now we are being informed in real time of events occurring next door or around the planet.  This is resulting in dispelling old myths about history like the Pentagon Papers, and confirming long known unpunished crimes by despots and dictators.  This recognition, at a basel sense, of the commonality and intrinsic similarity among people of the world is at the core of the worldwide push towards an alternative vision of the future, than that which has been presented to us until now.

Please subscribe to my RSS feed at the top right of the home page and you will be noticed when I continue this blog post and describe how this is connected to the age of Aquarius.  It’s sure to be interesting.  Thanks for reading.

Social media management – Before you leap, consider the risks

The waters are turbulent.  The pace of change in the electronic media environment is sometimes overwhelming.  This is especially true if, as an older individual, you are doing all you can to just remember how to save a phone number in memory.  And now everyone you meet is trying to sell you on social media and why it is so important.  Social media is important, and it is going to be important to eventually understand what this trend represents, in its entirety.  But there are serious risks inherent in social media, and before you jump in take a few minutes to consider these risks:

1. Inactivity
2. Turnover
3. Inconsistent message

Over the course of a 20+ year career in risk management, I came away with several very key lessons.  One of those lessons was that a poorly executed effort at risk management can easily do more harm than good.  The same can be said for social media; a poorly conceived and executed strategy can do more harm than good.

We have previously discussed the risks of inactivity here.  The second item above, turnover (in the sense of employee leaving the company and new ones being hired), can also be quite tricky.  Many organizations underestimate the importance of social media, but in order to cross it off a checklist they appoint someone, usually a recent college graduate or someone with a similarly strong knowledge f electronic media and social media specifically.  The problem this raises is two fold:  1) A person low down in the organizational hierarchy is unlikely to be privy to knowledge regarding the company strategic direction, and 2) the individual is not likely to remain in the position for too long.

…to be continued…

A thinker from the 1880′s, whose influence on social media is inescapable

Do you recognize him?  Don’t be disappointed if you don’t.  Most people wouldn’t.  You probably know him better by his diagram.

So what makes John Venn an incredibly influential individual for social media in 2011?

Update 2:20 PM March 3, 2011

Social media networking activity is designed to identify, define and serve the interests of a subset of people who can be found in the intersecting circles of the Venn diagram.  Social media is a sifting process.  Each circle represents a sifting through on people that do not meet a certain characteristic, and discovering whether they also belong in another predesignated circle.  The underlying assumption being that when that intersecting subset shares the two characteristics, those within that subset are likely to act in a certain way.