History of Presidential Inaugurations: Why on January 20?

trump vance inauguration logo

Reading Time: 6 minutesHISTORY 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, a horrific battle between the incumbent Herbert Hoover and President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt complicated FDR’s…

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

Twitter

Reading Time: 3 minutesWhither 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

Reading Time: 8 minutesHISTORY 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

Reading Time: 6 minutesHISTORY 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 Global Social Media Holiday: April 16=Foursquare Day

4sqday

Reading Time: 3 minutesFOURSQUARE 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

Reading Time: 2 minutesHISTORY 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

facebook

Reading Time: 2 minutesHISTORY 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

Reading Time: < 1 minuteHISTORY 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 Facebook

Facebook

Reading Time: 2 minutesToday is Facebook’s 5th birthday. Where did it come from, and what is it now?

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History of Inauguration Day

Inauguration Day

Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORY 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

Reading Time: < 1 minuteLAS 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

Twitter,Academy Awards,Tweets

Reading Time: 2 minutesTo 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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