Take a minute or two and think about what is in your tablet, your laptop, your phone and in your sites. Now think about someone going through all that stuff of yours after you’ve posted your last sentence. What will someone think when they see it and you can’t reply?

I started thinking about this because of the death of a colleague. The man was a professor of philosophy and humanities who believed in what he taught as well as the people he taught. Not bad for a career choice.

Like most professors, the man had an office that he had occupied for a number of years. He kept his books, records, and minutiae of his professional life in that office. One day he turned off the lights and locked the door to that office on his way home. He never returned, passing away that night.

The evidence we leave

Now it’s one thing to walk out of an office and not return. People go through the stuff, throwing, donating, and keeping. But what about the online things?

True story (and the reason for this entry): When my sister passed away far too young from metastasized breast cancer she had things on her desktop that would happen automatically. She had posts scheduled for future dates, reminders for things, etc. You know the usual.

One morning I opened my email and there was a note from her – a month after she passed away. It was heart-warming and seriously spooky at the same time.

So imagine that if you posted a blog, wrote an article, answered something and then logged off and never logged back on? What would be found? What would be found in your posts? What if what you write today is the last thing you ever write? What conclusion will someone make – about you – from your final sentences?

Today’s takeaway: don’t leave a mess; don’t leave something that just brings sadness. Your words speak about who you were, who you strived to be. Help people smile when they remember you, because they will remember you. Write carefully and let your words be worth reading

Because understanding can be a difficult thing, world-class social media is no longer just good, or something that might help a career. World-class social media has become a requirement for those who seek to do something beyond themselves. That being said, just what is “world-class social media” and how does it help you negotiate your future?

We know how difficult it can be to make oneself understood by a close friend, and now we expect strangers to understand us? And understand to the extent that action can come from the writing? Well, yes. Think back to a recent time you sat down to write. Who were you writing for? In all probability you did not picture anyone at all – and if you did it was someone who the work was specific to (i.e. an embedded ad for clothes in a blog). But, if you were writing in Mandarin Chinese, did you picture an Italian working in the Vatican reading it? If you were writing in Tagalog did you picture a Dane living in Copenhagen reading it? For the past century, and particularly since the advent of the Internet and more than ever with social media, more and more of our writings must be accessible to an ever-larger audience.

Media, business, science, medicine, education and other critical human endeavors are facing these social media problems on a geometrically increasing scale. Our spheres of operations are no longer within a township area. How do communicators then tackle the problems that come with ever-changing social media? One thing when “going international” is wondering where the work will fail. Where will understanding not occur? Simply put, where are the minefields? We all know that writing can be “explosive” and yes, even be destructive. In the right place, in the right context, probably any book, blog, advertisement, film or song can be explosive. Why do you think that so many revolutions have closed universities and “re-trained” teachers, professors, writers and artists for other careers? We do not think of books (and increasingly blogs and websites) as mines, but there you go.

Who reads what you write?

The writer cannot control who opens a site to read it and how it will be read. The only thing the author can control is the text – the content – itself. Important enough, but understanding does not come with text. Understanding exists somewhere in that space between the reader and the content they are reading. How does one bridge that space? Part of that bridge may be trust and trust always comes from the author.

So what do you do? You sit down to create, and first you imagine it, re-imagine it, design it, write it and then you edit until every time you blink it feels as if sandpaper is being drawn across your pupils. And yes, it is an old, trite analogy but sometimes old, trite analogies are applicable in the extreme and good communication should be extreme. But that is just part of the work in writing for an international audience; one also has to access the shared. Humans share innumerable things, from the physical to the emotional to the psychological and beyond. Part of creating understanding is using those shared things.

And so you write, edit and rewrite again. The author must decide how much the reader must work at understanding. Is the blog good enough to make someone want to read it? Our creations must ultimately facilitate the reader in owning not only the words, but also the meaning behind those words.

But let’s face it, that all sounds just a bit, well, too easy and too difficult at the same time. Writers have to make it easy on their readers? Yes. If you write a letter and the person you’re sending it to can’t understand it, what was the point of writing it? It works the same way with anything we design, create, and write. If your customer can’t understand your menu, they won’t eat there; if your friends cannot decipher your letters how long will they remain close? If your business associates can’t understand your reports how long will you prosper?

Helping one another

So how do we get around the problem of understanding our content? Like anything else worthwhile, we work at it. But more than that, we have to have a reason to want to have someone understand. We have to have a reason to facilitate that understanding. Well, here are some great reasons: To achieve more at work, at home and at play; to be at peace; to express art in so many ways, to have more fun; to laugh louder; to cry more tenderly; to be stronger; to be more tender; to be more human.

And actually, it’s rather fun to work at understanding through social media. See, the more I know about you, the more I know about myself and the more I know about the world in general. And the more I know the better I am – in every way possible. Understanding each other really is a win-win situation. And social media makes it possible faster than we ever imagined.

A recent evening was nothing out of the ordinary. Dinner, a last bit of homework with the kids, showers, reading and then wind down. Like I said, nothing out of the ordinary. Then midnight rolls around and an idea for a newspaper column starts to germinate. As I pick up the tablet to see where that germ take me, I hear that first plaintive, “Daddy!”

Warning: graphic language ahead that may make you sick if you have a weak stomach. In other words, if you gag when hearing someone else gag, well, go watch the Cartoon Network for a few minutes

Okay, it wasn’t all that plaintive. Maybe plaintive mixed with panic as dinner made its way back up the throat. Aw gee, I’m not going like this at all.

Earlier in the evening everything seemed fairly normal. No one was sick; the kids were both doing fine. And it lasted that way until the first wail from my daughter. And after that first wail, things turned downright ugly. That is to say, the vomit started flowing. As I watched her poor little head bent over the bowl I couldn’t help wondering just where on earth it was all coming from.

But let’s back up just a bit – back to that first cry, followed by the unmistakable sound of liquids and solids being forcefully expelled from a stomach. It’s amazing how quickly that sound can get a parent up from their chair.

I looked around and there she stood, looking stricken, with rather vile fluids coming out of places they shouldn’t. And she was crying. I, being the calming father that I am, quietly said (okay, not so quietly) “Get in the bathroom!” And with that, the column idea, the blog idea, any idea, ran from my head like ants on crack.

She nodded and took off, hurling across the carpet, the entry way rugs, the hall carpet, the bath-room floor, the bathroom walls, and finally the toilet where some of it managed to actually get in the bowl. The rest? Around the bowl, the seat, the TP dispenser, the towels, the bathtub, well, I could go on but why.

What? I warned you didn’t I?

Of course, before we even got to the point of her calling me, she had thrown up all over her pillow, the sheets, the blankets, the bedspread, and assorted stuffed animals.
And now there she was, head bent, heaving away. But after awhile it quit and she began to feel better. I got her all cleaned up (not an easy task with her hair), changed the bed, and tucked her back in. All was quiet in the house once again.

Well yeah, sure it was quiet – everyone was sleeping but me. I was busy cleaning walls, floors, doors, and bathtubs. Add to that the starting of loads of laundry, mopping, scrapping, and trying to convince the dog that puke really wasn’t food. After a while I looked up and it was 2am and I was tired. Very tired.
Unfortunately, while I was tired, I was also wide awake. Remember that idea I mentioned earlier that was forming? Well it still was and I needed the opportunity to reset with something to drink and just sit in a chair and stare at the lights of the city, fingers on a keyboard.
And I actually managed to do that. For ten minutes. And then it started up again. I went in again, saw that she had thrown up all over the bed and her clothes again, and I started the cleaning process all over again and again and again.

Finally

Eventually all the fun had to come to an end and the vomiting stopped. She cuddled into her bed, in the almost darkened room, a bit of music in the background, and finally drifted off to sleep.

As for me, I was glad that it seemed finally over. I was so tired I could barely keep my head up and too awake to be able to sleep. I was in that in-between state of misery and unable to do anything about it except whimper. I just had one thought that kept running through my head, namely, where did all that stuff come from? I know how much she had eaten that day and it just didn’t seem to be as much as I cleaned off the walls, toilet, carpets, blankets, towels, my clothes, her clothes, and floor. Make that floors.

It takes a lot out of you when a lot comes out of you

I kept checking on her, running between keyboard and her room, making sure she was okay, still asleep, still dry. Definitely still dry. She just kept snoozing away. I was not quite so lucky and spent most of the rest of the night awake. The next morning, of course, she stayed home from school. I stayed home with her and we had a marathon cartoon day. Well, she did. I just tried to get caught up on column writing.

I opened up my eight email accounts and combined there were close to 700 messages waiting for me. Of course I slam-deleted anything remotely looking like it was trying to sell me something, save me money, increase my animal-magnetism, make me irresistible to: people, companies, foreign governments, or make me wealthy beyond my wildest dreams. Please, these people have no idea how wildly monetary my dreams can get.

Anyway, what was left (besides the usual family, friends, colleagues, etc, etc, etc) were a few wanting the secret to increasing their social media footprint. Seriously? You’re asking me that? That’s the easiest thing of all. Just do more of it. Want to be read? Write. Want to be seen? Publish. Want people to hear your song? Sing it, record it, upload it. In other words, when you crack open the door, shove something through it. Crack the door.

Do the terms “social media” and “enterprise” go together? Social media are online sites, places and areas where people talk. They post photos, say snarky things about people, and unveil their lives. The enterprise end of it is companies using those sites to connect with customers, future customers, possible customers, and to put out fires caused by unhappy customers (at least the best sites do – you’d be amazed how many enterprise sites seem to be run by lizards).

There are other sites that don’t fall in those areas of course. Non-profits seem to fall somewhere in the middle – they connect in service ways but often use it simply to ask for donations. Word gets out about those sites fairly quickly.

Today’s piece of advice for enterprise, non-profits, governments, and most anyone else looking to expand their social media presence. To gain the exposure you want (need), hire an expert. Don’t hire from within unless you’re sure they can do what they say they can, don’t hire relatives no matter how many followers they have (yes, I know there are exceptions). Hire – or cultivate – an expert. One who has expertise in exactly what you need done. Now this would seem to be a “duh” piece of advice. We all know this, right? Well, if that’s indeed the case, why do we see so many enterprise sites getting it wrong?

Ur prbly awar, nless u liv nder a brdge, that language s chngng. Alot. And social media is the driver. Mny peple arent hapy about it o course, but ther u go. Wat do u thnk about it? If ur over 35 u prbly hate it. If ur under 35 u prbly like it, & if ur under 20 ur wondering wat the big deal is.

But this s mor than a generational thng. Its an entir social revo/evolution that will chnge & shape the way we communicate. 4 ever. 2 quote Wikipedia on the topic:

“The objective of SMS language is to use the least number of characters needed to convey a comprehensible mes-sage, also as many telecommunication companies have an SMS character limit, another benefit of SMS language is to reduce the character count of a message, hence, punctuation, grammar, & capitalizations are largely ignored.

Vocabulary
Single letters can replace words
be becomes b
see or sea becomes c
okay becomes k or kk
are becomes r
you becomes u
why becomes y
oh becomes o
we becomes v
the becomes d or da
at becomes @

Single digits can replace words
ate becomes 8
for becomes 4
to, too or two becomes 2
won or one becomes 1

A single letter or digit can replace a syllable
ate becomes 8, so:
great becomes gr8
late becomes l8
mate becomes m8
wait becomes w8
hate becomes h8
date becomes d8
fate becomes f8
gate becomes g8
bait becomes b8
rate becomes r8
foreign becomes 4n
thank you becomes 10q
night becomes ni8 or 98
later becomes l8r or l8a
skate becomes sk8
skater becomes sk8r
tomorrow becomes 2mro or “2moro”
today becomes 2day or 2da
for or fore becomes 4, so:
from becomes 4m
before becomes (combining both of the above) b4
therefore becomes thr4
forget becomes 4get
once becomes 1ce
& becomes &, nd,”n”
have becomes hv

Combinations of the above can shorten a single or multiple words
Your & You’re become ur
wonderful becomes 1drfl
someone becomes sum1
no one becomes no1
any one become ne1
see you becomes c u
for you becomes 4u
easy becomes ez
enjoy becomes njoy”

So wats ur opinion abot it? I no, u prbly hate it. Buy y? Doesn’t it mak it easier? Easier 2 writ? Easier 2 spel? Easier 2 lern? Mny nglish techers want 2 thro thmselvs off brdges rite now, o course, but no wat? They’re wrng. Ths s gr8t 4 language. Jst imagin n a few yers tim, how mch fstr & ezier it wil b.

Yes, ul hav 2 lern a nu way o writin but u had 2 lern the 1 u use now didnt u? Wel, so whats the bg deal? & if it was taut n skul kds wuld hav it in 1 week. No bg deal.
Personaly i hop it hapens soon. Thnk how mch $ well sav on prntr ink & on pppr & n tim spnt on wrtng. We’ll hav tim 4 thngs lik sking, trvlng, snuzing, & mor. i cant wait. Hey, its a nu wrld bby & nly th strng & abrev8ted srviv. Viva la revo/evolution.

Want to know how old someone is? Easy: look at their casual texts. Not the formal ones to bosses but the casual, everyday messages to friends. The more casual the message, the more informal it is with greater use of symbols and SMS-friendly language, the younger the writer is. This differentiation won’t last long but for now you have a demographic marker in your messages.

Source: Wikipedia through Creative Commons http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Oh, the wanderings the mind can do after midnight

What were you thinking about late last night? You know the time, it’s that gray area after we get in bed, turn out the lights and start to drift off but before we actually go to sleep. People view the night in so many different ways. For some, the night holds nothing but terror. For others, it is their favorite time. A vast amount of songs, poems, stories, plays, and films take place at night or are about night. Or indeed are written at night. The night inspires creativity, terror, passion, love and warmth. It’s also that time when so many of us, out of a job, are looking at the future with fear.

We still have vestiges of the awe surrounding night. For eons we viewed the night with fear, with superstition, with dread, with hope. There were no security lights, no alarms, and no police cars cruising the neighborhood. Yet hope also existed, because for all the fear that came with night there was still hope that you would wake up – and do so healthy and strong.
How do you view the night? Personally, I rather enjoy the night. Long after the sun has gone down, after the birds have quit singing, the phones stopped ringing, and most of the cars are parked in their garages, I’m still awake. Whether writing, working on-line, reading or, yes, even watching television, I’m still awake with the night.

One of the many good things about the time after midnight

My best thinking comes late at night. After the house is quiet and after the crickets have called it a night and are giving their legs a rest, I’m still awake.
What am I doing still awake? I’m thinking. After all, there are so many great things to think about. And yes, there are also other less great things to think about as well, things like when to get a haircut, what color the next car should be, and whether pepperoni or Canadian bacon is the best topping for a pizza. But beyond that, there are a few really wonderful things to ponder. For instance, the other night I got to thinking about the first thing that led to the first higher-level thought. Okay, maybe that’s not so wonderful, but I thought it was very profound at the time. And it was interesting, at least to me at 3:30 am.

Scientists who think about these kinds of things (and writers awake late at night) have often thought that fear was what led to speech and higher thought. For example, one might want, or in fact desperately need, to shout, “Run for your life, dinosaur stampede!” If you can’t put that kind of thought together you can’t say it.
Or perhaps the first thought was something along the lines of, “I’m hungry, and Fred (not his real name) over there has a dinosaur leg with a lot of meat on it. If I take it away I’ll get the meat. But then he’ll probably kill me. Maybe it’s better to just politely ask for some.” And from that we might have the first rational thought.
My own thoughts on the first thought

Personally, I think that one of the first thoughts, if not the very first, was nothing more than figuring out how to tie a knot. I can hear you thinking, “A knot? Are you crazy? Why a knot?” Well, I’m glad you thought that because I, for once at least, have an answer.
To start with, let’s explore some of the other various possibilities of that “first thought”:
1. Hunger: Starfish get hungry too. Are they thinking? Not as far as anyone knows.
2. Cold: as in “Hey, I’m cold.” Now this one is possible, because after this thought one might look for a warm place. But rats do this too. Now some people might argue that rats in fact do think – at least enough to work their way out of a maze. But hunger (see above) is enough of a motivator for that as well.
3. Heat: as in “Whew!” But all animals seek shade, no higher thought required.
4. Fear: as in “Help, a tiger is after me! A saber-toothed tiger!” Now this one, like the stampeding dinosaur we discussed earlier, is a definite possibility. Fear is one of the great motivators of all time. And I would probably vote for this one were it not for the fact that other animals get afraid and warn each other of impending problems as well. Like parakeets. Enough said.

So that leads us back to the mundane. And what could be more mundane than tying a knot? Just look at what early humans would have used knots for:
* Tying clothes together to make them warmer
* Making pouches to carry water and food
* Making bows and arrows to hunt and defend themselves
* Aiding in delivery of the young and fixing wounds
* Tying up bad guys so they can’t escape
* Tethering the family mastodon
* Having something to complain about after marriage was invented (hello – haven’t you heard of tying the knot?).

There you go, as silly and mundane as it sounds, perhaps nothing more serious, intellectual or intellect-developing than tying a knot was responsible for putting humans on the path to higher thought.

Usually at night I’m thinking about future posts, ways to use social media in business and how it is changing world events. But on that night, it was knot tying; just something to think about one quiet night instead of all the places my mind kept wandering: jobs, wars, housing foreclosures, bank interest rates and all the other ups and downs of a world in flux.