Some short time after the 2016 election, I had a conversation with a friend about the impact of social media on Trump’s win. I was wrestling with the role of what I thought was an inherently neutral marketplace of ideas in promoting Trump, the larger issues of Russian propaganda and interference in the election, and the general problem of abuse.
“We can’t put too much faith in technology,” my friend said. “Technology is more like magic than science.”
Read MoreIf you’re like me, the past month has caused a bit of an existential crisis — and made you fired up and ready to do something.
But if you’ve never been involved in the kinds of fights you’re interested in, it can seem overwhelming. I’ve had many conversations over the past few weeks with well-intentioned people who see big problems and a big, intimidating white space before them in terms of where to start.
Read MoreOne of the things I loved about being a history major in college was getting to step back and look at the big picture. The study of history shows you how things — people, communities, religions, leaders, ideas — interact and influence each other. It made me appreciate that everything is connected, but it also showed me that if you pay attention, patterns emerge. “History repeats itself” is a trope that has a certain truth to it.
Read MoreI have an ache, right now, in the top left corner of my right calf. It’s a specific pain, like if my calf muscles were a rowing crew, and one rower got a migraine in the middle of a race. Everything still works, but that one guy isn’t very happy about how his team needs him to keep going.
Read MoreTechnology is a wonderful thing — until it starts to get in the way.
2014 was a year of automation failures. Oreo had an auto-reply slip up. The New England Patriots had to apologize for accidentally tweeting a racial slur. Facebook stirred up memories that people would like to forget.
See: Good intentions gone bad.
Read MoreI didn’t want to be the one to write a post like this. But my brain was about to explode.
I got into the social media industry shortly after getting my MBA, because I saw the incredible disconnect between what we talked about in business school and what was happening in the real world. The old ways of thinking about business, not just marketing or PR, were changing.
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