27 December 2009

Posted at 14:56h in identify, offline, online, personal brand, twitter by

I'm sure you're all familiar with the story of the guy who tried to pay his phone bill with a picture of a spider. It quickly went viral and if you suss out the rest of David Thorne's page, you'll find much more hilarious content. He was also the same guy behind this McDonald's hoax letter. Personally I find his work pretty damn hilarious. The emails back and forth are no more harmful than the prank calls we hear every day on radio, although I'm not sure where the line is when it comes to pretending to be a brand. I'm certain the Brand Manager had a blast the day that letter went viral. I bring this up because of David's latest email exchange; hilarity ensues. The interesting thing about this however, is that Simon's Twitter account was quickly discovered. Needless to say, Simon received a fair amount of abuse, most of which was anonymous. Simon then took it upon himself to respond to blog posts, comments and even write a post of his own. And while it probably wasn't David's intention to have Simon's personal account identified, suddenly this "harmless" prank became somewhat more serious. Simon's online persona and his offline world very quickly collided, and much more became at stake. I think we're going to see this happen more often, definitely something to be cautious about. Also, how good is the title of this post?...

01 November 2009

Posted at 21:03h in adam ferrier, cool, personal brand, social currency by

I've been thinking about "cool" lately. Ignoring the fact it's probably not cool to use the word "cool", start by taking a look at Adam Ferrier's thoughts on the five indicators of someone's coolness.I suppose thinking about the cool people I know, my definition would be that the coolest person in the room has the personal brand worth the most social currency. Here their personal brand encompasses everything from their personality to what they're wearing to what they do for a living. Included in this is the ability to share said social currency through remarkable story telling.Just had this stuff on my mind a bit lately. What do you think? What makes someone cool?...

23 June 2009

Posted at 14:20h in anonymous, blogging, comments, personal brand, posting by

Sorry to beat a dead horse here guys, but let's have a quick chat about posting anonymously.I honestly don't mind if you do it. I'd prefer if you attached a link to somewhere I could contact you, and if not then even just a name, but I understand some of you just want to post anonymously for the sake of it. I'm sure you've realised by now I actually relish abusive comments. And that's okay, if posting anonymously let's lets you say something you wouldn't normally say otherwise then go nuts.But please, don't give me personal branding advice if you're going to do it anonymously. That is where I draw the line....

13 June 2008

Posted at 18:18h in blogging, cursing, fuck swearing, generation y, personal brand by

Firstly, my apologies. I didn't mean for that to be such a provocative title but it got your attention, eh? Where do you stand on swearing in blogs? I don't mean any random swearing but when it is used to show passion or expression. Does it further add to the fact I'm a Generation Y, 18 year old blogger? Or does it steal credibility, portray me as unprofessional and ward off potential employers or more importantly readers?...