Nothing Like Mama’s Hugs

/in /by

I read about a website in a San Jose Mercury News story today.  Started by an ex-tech-marketing pro, Mamabread gives online visitors an ear and support.  From a communication perspective I find this website interesting on two levels.  The first is at the emotional level — how many people feel they have nobody to listen to their problems?  The second is at the technology level — can people feel fulfilled by a response from a stranger on a website?

As indicated by 10,000 page views in its first month of existence, it appears the answer to the above questions may be ‘Plenty’ and ‘Yes’ for many people.  The founder, Michelle Lee, makes a point in the Merc article that people can’t really use social networking sites, like Facebook, to vent.  I,too, find the tendency to post only the ‘good stuff’ on networking sites.  Who really wants to hear about the bad stuff anyway.  Well, of course, Mama does.  I will have to give Mamabread a try and see if I feel better.

All for Direct Manipulation

/in /by

In this Forbes article, Dan Woods talks about his difficulties of moving from a touch-screen device to a point-and-click device and back again.  I am in complete agreement with Dan’s statement, “The confusion, however, has made one thing clear: multi-touch is clearly better than point-and-click. My brain wants direct manipulation. I want the virtual world I am looking at on my screen to act more like the physical world I live in most of the time.”

Direct manipulation — love it.  When you want to file a physical piece of paper, you directly manipulate it into a drawer.  On a point-and-click device, you may have the same drawer concept, but on a multi-touch device you have a much closer replication of reality.  Through time, our electronic devices have come closer and closer to mimicking the way we act in our physical worlds.  The multi-touch device is a big step forward.  Now I just have to be patient while the rest of my gadgets catch up to my iPhone.

More Control, More Privacy – I like it

/in /by

I have chosen to use Facebook for my personal sharing and Twitter, this blog, and LinkedIn for professional sharing.  Not everyone makes the choice to divide their social networking venues in such a manner, that is why I think Facebook’s new privacy options discuss in this Forbes article are good news.  I especially like the idea of controlling what content you post can be seen by what audience.  Who knows, it might mean I can change my ways and use Facebook for both personal and professional networking.