‘Friend’ is Passé… ‘Officer’ Is The New Friend

Friending” in social networks is passé. My esteemed colleague Pete Blackshaw wrote recently in ClickZ:

Lately I’ve been getting so many darn friend and connection invites that my head is spinning. From LinkedIn to Facebook to the all-too-common (and bogus) MySpace invite from the girl “who just broke up with [her] boyfriend and is just looking for fun,” it’s all getting a bit crazy.

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The “User” Is Dead, But What About The Consumer?

Below is my MediaPost column this week, on death of the word “user.” Jim Johnson asks in the comments on the MediaPost blog: “Heck, in 10 years will the term ‘friend’ jump the shark??” My guess is that the term friend already has jumped the shark.… Read the rest

Perception Is Reality, Or Is It?

I’m human, and therefore guilty of getting caught up in all the science and logic of marketing measurement, analytics and testing (and working in the market-information industry certainly supports that). But every so often I stumble across something that reminds me that all we perceive, believe and interpret in the world is far more complicated than our inferior brains realize.… Read the rest