Whither Twitter: What’s Next for the Social Platform?

Twitter

Whither Twitter: What’s Next for the Social Platform? I wrote about Twitter several years ago because many people I knew “didn’t get it.” Endeavoring to explain what it was, how it worked, and what made it different from other social technologies like the better-known Facebook, I talked about Twitter’s history and its use at the…

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History of Erasing Unpopular Leaders: Damnatio Memoriae

HeadlessNero

HISTORY OF ERASING UNPOPULAR LEADERS: DAMNATIO MEMORIAE During the early Roman Empire two millennia ago, an emperor might be deified after he died if he was popular and good. (Think: the Divine Augustus.) Alternatively, if he was unpopular and wicked, he was “erased” from society’s memory. The Latin term Damnatio Memoriae means the condemnation of…

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History of the Fourth Estate: The Press

Fourth Estate

HISTORY OF THE FOURTH ESTATE: THE PRESS When you hear about The Fourth Estate, it usually means The Press. Where did the term Fourth Estate come from? What do we mean by The Press, and how has it changed in modern times? I conclude with a cautionary tale from early U.S. history.   Origin of…

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History of Presidential Inaugurations: Why on January 20?

Presidential Inaugurations

HISTORY OF PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATIONS: WHY ON JANUARY 20? In 1933 it seemed that a four-month transition between an outgoing “lame-duck” president who was voted out in November and a new administration starting in March was too long. Indeed, during the winter of 1932-1933, there was a horrific battle between the incumbent Herbert Hoover and president-elect…

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History of Global Social Media Holiday: April 16=Foursquare Day

4sqday

FOURSQUARE DAY In the history of holidays, we see new holidays each year. Some are beautiful, some are nerdy. I leave it as an exercise for the reader to decide which one this is. One of the recent events for the cognoscenti, for those “in the know,” for the hipper-than-thou, is Foursquare Day. For the…

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History of Twitter: The Social Tool at Eight Years

Twitter

HISTORY OF TWITTER “I don’t get it…” …is the phrase I frequently hear when I talk to people about Twitter. This micro-blogging service is one of the more unique and most difficult to explain of the social technologies — a “presence” tool that broadcasts “what are you doing” to friends and strangers alike, anyone who…

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History of Facebook: The Social Network at 10

HISTORY OF FACEBOOK February 4 is the 10th birthday of the social networking site Facebook. What started back at Harvard — and initially only open to college students or those with email addresses that ended in .edu until September 2006 — Facebook is now the largest social network with over 1 billion people using it…

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History of Social Media: From email to Facebook

social media

HISTORY OF SOCIAL MEDIA There is so much in the news on Social Media — there is even a movie about The Social Network that got Golden Globe and Academy award nominations — that it seems useful to share an “infographic” from the OnlineSchools on the history of social media as it progressed from email…

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History of Inauguration Day

HISTORY OF INAUGURATION DAY I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Executive Oath of Office The Constitution of the United States, Article II, Section 1, Clause 8…

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Las Vegas and EMC World

LAS VEGAS AND EMC WORLD I’m in Lost Wages, Nevada for the EMC World event being held at Mandalay Bay. The first night’s entertainment, the Goo Goo Dolls. 9300 attendees so far. While I’ll be writing daily about this huge show on this blog, for the first time, another technology will be used to update…

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To Twitter Two Twitters To Tweet

To Twitter Two Twitters To Tweet I love movies, and I love the Academy Awards show. I’ve watched it each year for decades, but I did something this last Sunday that I’ve never done before. I tracked comments on the show via Twitter. There were about a thousand “tweets” on subjects related to what people…

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