Founded 1983: Liberal Mindset; Conservative Morality

January 13, 2016August 8, 2017

Beware of Social Proofing for Verified Accounts on Facebook and Twitter

If you’re an author, or a publisher, or if you work in the entertainment field, getting your social media accounts Verified — or “socially proofed” for a condescending spin on a ridiculous social media marketing term — is important because Verification gives you status on the social networks and it provides you private avenues of access that regular accounts do not accord.

Continue reading → Beware of Social Proofing for Verified Accounts on Facebook and Twitter

October 28, 2013November 7, 2013

The Mighty Scheme of Memes: How to Get @DavidBoles Verified by Twitter?

We are in the process of transitioning our Twitter stream from the old Boles Blogs account to the newer and shinier @DavidBoles account. The reason we’re making the big switch is to provide more impulsive and reactive updates to our hive mind that won’t rely on a formal blog post for propagation.

By moving the Twitter stream to — @DavidBoles — there is a little more freedom to discuss the world without the feeling that we’re unfairly trading on those who only wanted blog post updates. Now the world is a free-for-all — and we’re finally, and gladly, joining the center of that social networking tsunami. Twitter, I surrender!

Over the weekend, a clarion call was sent out to all our social memes — 8,600 on LinkedIn and 4,700 on Facebook and beyond! — to try to help punch up the new @DavidBoles Twitter account.

[twitter-follow screen_name=’davidboles’ show_count=’yes’]

So far, things are going well and we’ve had lots of offers to help spread the word. We appreciate you following us, too!

Continue reading → The Mighty Scheme of Memes: How to Get @DavidBoles Verified by Twitter?

May 7, 2012

Pretending to be the Police Will Not Get You Out of Trouble

On the television and in movies, the police are not always shown to be the most competent people around. They pine for donuts and can easily be confused when they confront criminals, leading to said criminals getting away. After watching the Police Academy movie series, in which the police were depicted to be nearly entirely incompetent (and yet surprisingly successful when there was a need) I reached the conclusion that the police should not be taken seriously. Fortunately, I have had a good life of positive and less than positive experiences with the real police to know exactly how serious they are.

Continue reading → Pretending to be the Police Will Not Get You Out of Trouble

April 26, 2010

Invoking the Cross and the Gun

We rely on stereotypes a bit too much in the theatre to provide a crafted, but logistical, shorthand for wringing out the emotion from our audiences. How easy is it to invoke the Angel and the Badge to provoke push-button reactions? We must always be wary before invoking the Cross and the Gun.