World's Best Dad Coaster
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Just four this week, but they’re all good…

Dad Bloggers Deserve Respect?

I’m assuming this post is a bit tongue-in-cheek. Do “Daddy” bloggers really not get respect? Does it offend you that there are a lot of “mommy blogging” groups? Are you calling for gender-neutral terms like “parent bloggers?” Do we need a “BlogHim” coference?

Bah.

What about us bloggers who are dads who don’t necessarily blog about being dads? Don’t we have rights too? Represent!

High School May Block Facebook. Should They?

This story about Newton North High School opening the question of blocking Facebook intrigued me on a few levels:

  • Newton North is my local high school, the one my son is on schedule to attend in two and a half years
  • My friend and industry colleague Shel Holtz took up the issue on his Stop Blocking site, usually dedicated to stopping workplaces from blocking social networks
  • I fear that cyberbullying incidents have created a misplaced fear of sites like Facebook, blaming them for behavior that would take place regardless of the tool used to carry it out. Should we ban playgrounds too?
  • A poll on the Newton North library site runs 81% in favor of access to Facebook. Granted, the poll respondents could be mostly students, but if students are there, shouldn’t there be an educational imperative to teach kids to use these responsibly and productively, and for the schools and communities to be actively involved there as well?
  • No one us advocating letting kids play Farmville in class. This is about recognizing a social phenomenon, and harnessing it for the benefit f the educational community.

NewComm Forum http://www.pr-squared.com/index.php/2010/04/you-should-go-to-newcomm-forum

Facebook measured by fan numbers (or likers)?

A new study from CoreMetrics shows that the largest response to the question “What is your most important metric for Facebook?” was total number of fans. Articles like this one in MediaBistro make a big deal of this result- but in reality the number is a mere 32%. To me, it just doesn’t seem alarming- I bet this number would have been higher six months ago. Does CoreMetrics have those number for comparison? There’s no story here without that answer.

Tewksbury. Massachusetts- the True Home of Social Media

See the sign? It’s got to be true. My hometown of Tewksbury, MA has produced not only the Queen of MarketingProfs, Ann Handley, but also social media raconteur Ron Ploof— author of the excellent new book Read This First.

4 thoughts on “Social Media Top 5: Whining Dad Bloggers, Schools Blocking Facebook & the Birthplace of Social Media”
  1. If Tewksbury was where the birth of Social Nedia happened, I’d be interested in details. As far as I’ve Bern able to tell it was born in 1995 in Adams, MA.

  2. I agree that a year ago the MediaBistro numbers would have been different and number of fans would have been a higher number, but I think people are finally starting to realize the value of social media and bringing traffic back to the web site. I’d rather have lots of clicks vs. back to our web site vs. lots of thumbs ups or “likes”.

  3. Michael– Nope, born in Tewksbury over a few years in the mid to late 60s. (kind of like the ARPAnet)

    Sue Anne true, but in the end it depends on your goals. Likes- akin to awareness- may be the goal for some campaigns or programs

  4. The little section of northeastern Massachusetts located between the Merrimack and Shawsheen rivers became known as the crucible that precipitated Social Media greatness:-)

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