MaxTB.com (Page 5)

In defence of Google+

If you don’t understand why Google is the 2nd most active social network [http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/09/04/google-second-most-actively-used-social-network-globally-says-globalwebindex-study] , you don’t understand what Google+ is. And it’s all your fault. Since day 1 in June 2011, Google was very clear about the motivation behind

Too much hard work is summed up in a sentence

Too much hard work is summed up in a sentence [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/6.09/woz_pr.html]: > After they loaded Woz’s 4K Basic into it – by hand, programming in hexadecimal – and added a keyboard and a monitor and wired two transformers onto the power

a great quote from Frank Chimero

a great quote from Frank Chimero [http://thegreatdiscontent.com/frank-chimero]: I often find these pieces overlong but they do contain gems like this: > Design is a vessel. There’s the whole Buddhist thing about the essence of a bowl being its emptiness—that’s why it’s useful. Its

Marissa Mayer is really clever

Marissa Mayer is really clever [http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/hail-to-the-chief-yahoos-marissa-mayer/]: Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer: Hail to the Chief: > “Close your eyes and listen to this list,” she says. I close my eyes and hear her recite: “E-mail, maps, weather, news, stock quotes, share photos, group communication, sports

Fortune 500 Mission Statements

Fortune 500 Mission Statements [http://www.missionstatements.com/fortune_500_mission_statements.html]: Interesting spread of perspectives. Just imagine the hours that went into developing each one.

Gnip and Datasift are the most intriguing parts of the Twitter ecosystem to me

Gnip and Datasift are the most intriguing parts of the Twitter ecosystem to me [http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattlynley/yahoo-foursquare-in-talks-over-data-partnership] : Yahoo, Foursquare In Talks Over Data Partnership: > Foursquare already does this through a partnership with Gnip, which sells packaged data from social services like Twitter, but it may go

Is online press coverage the best form of SEO?

Is online press coverage the best form of SEO? [http://blog.escherman.com/2013/08/22/is-online-press-coverage-the-best-form-of-seo/] : > Also, although I only spent 20 mins on the phone to Danny, I have also built a relationship with him over 20 years or so – if I was being purist, perhaps I

nostalgia

Nostalgic reflections of an aging PR Account Exec

I’ve just been clearing out my RSS reader — one that I’d bolstered in 2009 with a collaborative list of marketing blogs suggested in the first useful Google Doc [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Am6bhH2SxecqdEV1dTJ3ZDQwUmF6ckZKakZHV0Z5Smc&usp=sharing] I think I ever saw (bravo Mat Morrison.) Scything

It's good for journalists to see PR behind the scenes

It’s good for journalists to see PR behind the scenes [http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/16/oops-google-sends-journos-its-internal-youtube-coverage-audit-by-mistake/#eptR6dUDCrAkzEKg.02] : > A Google press rep accidentally included the wrong attachment in an email to multiple journalists today, revealing part of Google’s YouTube press coverage goals, plans, progress to date.

A good digest of how Facebook's newsfeed algorithm has changed over the years.

A good digest of how Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm has changed over the years. [http://marketingland.com/edgerank-is-dead-facebooks-news-feed-algorithm-now-has-close-to-100k-weight-factors-55908] : 100,000 factors seems… peculiar. > EdgeRank, Facebook’s original News Feed ranking system, is dead. Facebook hasn’t used the word internally for about two-and-a-half years. That’s when the company

Comms

Going Independent - MaxTB Comms

Last summer, I left my agency to become an independent comms consultant. I was looking for new experiences and new challenges that would push the scope and breadth of my knowledge as much as they drew upon it. When Tradeshift asked me to come on board, it felt like I

Evernote

Evernote Moleskine: a confused review

I like Evernote. But there’s only so far I think you can really love software. By contrast, my notebook is like a trusty familiar idea-steed. Yes, Idea-steed. From the ceremony of pinging away the elastic to leafing open a page, It even makes me love my favourite pen more

Ask yourself "Why Google isn't killing PR"

Ask yourself “Why Google isn’t killing PR” [http://www.dannywhatmough.com/2013/08/12/me-on-tom-foremski-on-pr/]: Danny has some good words to say on Tom Foremski’s controversial assertions [http://www.zdnet.com/google-is-forcing-a-reinvention-of-pr-7000019219/]re. Google’s latest search tweaks: > Do I think the press release will die? Yes.

endorsements

Linkedin endorsements - cynical, not stupid.

Since its introduction, it’s fair to say that Linkedin’s “endorsements” feature, which makes it simple to add a ‘point’ to your connections’ skill in various areas, has divided opinion. Actually, that’s probably not fair — anecdotally most people I know seem to think it’s a complete absurd

Interesting piece on the relationship between authors and alcohol.

Interesting piece on the relationship between authors and alcohol. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/jul/28/what-drives-writers-to-drink-echo-spring-extract?CMP=twt_gu] : “But if the drinking is habitual, the brain begins to compensate for these calming effects by producing an increase in excitatory neurotransmitters. What this means in practice is

A really well written profile of VP Joe Biden from GQ

A really well written profile of VP Joe Biden from GQ [http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201308/joe-biden-presidential-campaign-2016-2013?mbid=social_twitter_gqmagazine&currentPage=all] : (God the corporate world has diffused the impact of “VP”.) Joe Biden: The Most Misunderstood Man in Washington > The job of vice president

Featured

The modern 'manuscript' of status updates

The humble status update has grown up a lot in recent years, by me on Medium [https://medium.com/p/dfc799a7310e]: > It’s more and more common to have not just a stream of social updates now but a full landscape. What we have today, is almost like a

community

The troll rules have changed. Or have they?

There’s a lot of talk about trolling at the moment but just because someone shouts about wanting to kill you, it doesn’t mean their actual goal is a murder. It’s attention — and trying to quiet everyone in the world who’s after attention is going to take

Email

A different path to Inbox Zero

New Gmail got me thinking [https://medium.com/product-design/c356a2b806e2]: > Alongside archive/ action, now there’s a third, lower maintenance option: scan the subject lines. They say decreasing decision fatigue helps you concentrate on the things that matter — and I think the new Gmail represents a step in that

How a total n00b mined $700 in bitcoins

How a total n00b mined $700 in bitcoins [http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/06/how-a-total-n00b-mined-700-in-bitcoins/] : This article makes Bitcoin mining sound like fun. > Numbers. Lots of numbers everywhere. I stared at it for long seconds, watching the updates crawl upward from the bottom of the screen. Am I actually

In 20 Years, We’re All Going To Realize This Apple Ad Is Nuts

In 20 Years, We’re All Going To Realize This Apple Ad Is Nuts [http://www.fastcodesign.com/1673020/in-20-years-we-re-all-going-to-realize-this-apple-ad-is-nuts] : This is so true by Mark Wilson re. Apple’s latest direction. > As we’re told that products are what matter, we see a series of shots in which

Thoughts on 'Lockdown' by Marco Arment

Thoughts on ‘Lockdown’ by Marco Arment [http://www.marco.org/2013/07/03/lockdown]: > RSS represents the antithesis of this new world: it’s completely open, decentralized, and owned by nobody, just like the web itself. It allows anyone, large or small, to build something new and disrupt anyone

The Prism

The Prism [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/06/24/130624fa_fact_lepore?currentPage=all&src=longreads] : A really interesting dissection of Prism, privacy and secrecy through history. > Something creepy happened when mystery became secular, secrecy became a technology, and privacy became a right. The inviolability of the

Rory Sutherland knows how to save marketing

Rory Sutherland knows how to save marketing [http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/06/feature-rory-sutherland/rory-sutherland-knows-how-to-save-marketing] : Solid read but the following resonated with me especially. As a born and bred PR boy, I disdain advertising as throwing money at a problem — but is is the most interesting description

Tips for Mastering E-mail Overload

Tips for Mastering E-mail Overload [http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/4438.html]: Everyone can get better at email, always worth reading.