• ONLINE SPIN
    Static Privacy Legislation Dangerous In Dynamic Digital Age
    I agree that an employer should never ask you for your Facebook password as a condition of employment. Actually, they should never ask you for your Facebook password, period -- just as they should never tap your phone or install a closed-circuit camera in your bathroom. Some things are just common sense.
  • ONLINE SPIN
    How To Solve The Viewable Ads Debacle
    If an ad shows up on a Web page, and it's below the fold where no one can see it, did it make an impression? The buzz this month is viewable ads, and the issue of whether or not your ads are being seen on the Web. It's a big issue because, as we all know, click-through is a horrid metric and actual click-through rates are abysmal, to say the least. The only metrics that we've had left to champion have been exposure and engagement, and you can't engage with something you never actually see.
  • ONLINE SPIN
    Building Your Own Brand Offline
    A few weeks ago, fellow OnlineSpin columnist Matt Straz described his resolve to build his personal brand by becoming more active in online networking. I chuckled, because it coincided with my return to this column, following a deliberate year-long hiatus. I underwent a self-prescribed period of less online networking so I could invest myself in other areas.
  • ONLINE SPIN
    Hello And Goodbye To Mad Men
    "Mad Men" returned last night after a 17-month hiatus, and it is good to have the show back. Because I'm a fan of advertising and its history, it's almost impossible for me not to think about the show each time I'm in Manhattan, especially when I visit agencies like Y&R at 285 Madison Avenue. It was here that the real Don Draper, Draper Daniels, toiled as a copywriter a half century ago. When I drink at former industry haunts like Keen's Steakhouse, I quietly raise my glass to the industry giants that came before me. The very last vestiges of …
  • ONLINE SPIN
    Do We Need More Women In Technology?
    The politically correct answer, obviously, is, "Yes." The statistically correct answer is, "Yes," as well. In 2009, according to The National Center for Women & Information Technology, while women held 58% of professional jobs overall in the U.S., we only held 25% of professional computing positions. Similarly, while 57% of 2009 undergraduate degree recipients were women, only 18% of recipients of computer and information sciences degrees were female -- down from 37% in 1985.
  • ONLINE SPIN
    What's Next In News? Robust Software, Social Networks And Personal Production
    The future of news is likely to be all about personal production, not just big media publishing and packaging. At least that's the sense I got after participating in "The Next Big Thing in Digital News Innovation" at the Paley Center.
  • ONLINE SPIN
    Secrets Of A Digital Evangelist
    The role of the digital evangelist inside a large brand can be a thankless job, as you spend every waking hour developing innovative strategies, evaluating an endless stream of intelligent, venture-backed companies and holding one-on-one meetings to educate and expand the horizons of your colleagues. But don't lose hope! The day of reckoning is upon us (or at least it's very, very close).
  • ONLINE SPIN
    Facebook's Integrated-Marketing Vision
    Facebook's recent "fMC" marketing conference was a well-orchestrated event. Even more, it was an aggressive mandate for integrated marketing. I'll explain, but first let's digest key updates from the event:
  • ONLINE SPIN
    Software Patents Are A Frustrating Mess
    The recent news that Yahoo was suing Facebook for patent infringement unleashed a torrent of blog posts and tweets. While it may eventually pay dividends, assuming the role of a patent bully has the potential to turn the entire industry against the company. Another company, AOL, is dealing with a group of activist investors that also wants to see the company unleash its arsenal of software patents on the media and technology industry. Over the next few years we could see the portals wage a litigious war of mass destruction. The result could stifle innovation and exacerbate a situation that …
  • ONLINE SPIN
    Saying Bye-Bye To Britannica
    In 1999, Ken LaVan and I wrote a book called "The Real People's Guide to the Internet." In it, we marveled at the Internet's size and power. "Currently, there are approximately 132 million people who use the Internet," we wrote, "and, by the year 2000, it is estimated that 400 million people will access the Web." According to Internet World Stats, that prediction was a bit high -- there were almost 361 million online at the end of 2000. By the end of 2011, however, that number had grown to more than 2.2 billion. Though we didn't discuss it, at …
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