Back in the autumn of last year I did a partial redesign of this blog. Since then the blog has sprouted all kinds of buttons, and looks a bit of a mess. In the meantime WordPress has evolved to version 3.2 and offers a whole bunch of new features. So what, I wonder, are the criteria for the ultimate personal blog in the summer of 2011, and how am I going to change this blog to achieve those aims? Here are my first thoughts.
Feel free to comment on / improve upon the list below! Continue reading
Others will post more profound observations about Google+, but for me it has provoked one fundamental question: what are my rules for adding friends, followers, people into circles etc. on the different social networks I use? Oddly, thinking about this has actually led to a rationalisation of my Facebook use – more on that below.
Anyway here are – now – my rules for who I’ll add where.
How do you get parliamentarians and their staff to better use web tools in their everyday work? It’s a question at the heart of what I do for clients on an everyday basis…
So I’m rather content that Google’s Brussels office has asked me to help out with a workshop they are running for MEPs, assistants and staff in the European Parliament on 9th December, looking at how web tools can be better used in everyday parliamentary work. I’m there to give some of the more political perspectives on the Brussels web politics environment, and explain a little bit about some of the projects I’ve worked on.
As I’ve said to the Google folks I am not always a Google user (I favour Netvibes and WordPress over Reader and Sites respectively, but do use Google for search, mail, maps and my browser) but essentially on the matters for the event next week our interests are in the same direction – pushing the EP into the 21st Century. I’m also not going to be answering questions on this week’s EU probe into Google – Daily Mash has done that better than I could!
Questions for the event can be posed beforehand here via Google Moderator, and all MEPs’ offices should have the event info already. You’re also welcome to contact me if you have questions or want to come along.
Some friends at Google have pointed me towards Connected Kingdom, a website about the state of the UK’s internet firms that showcases a report by BCG that highlights the importance of the UK’s internet economy. There are also some fledgling discussions about how things could improve in future, but it’s the report itself that’s the most useful.
The UK is the largest per-capita eCommerce market in the world, and the second largest online advertising market. 19 million of the 26 million households in the UK have an internet connection. Good stuff.
The stats in the report are helpful for any of us active in business online – I’m not selling things online, but my web design and strategy for politicians and campaigns requires the the right mindset among my potential clients, and serious reports of this nature can only be helpful when making my case.
One of the major frustrations about the UK mainstream media’s coverage of EU affairs is that even if an article is eventually corrected on a newspaper’s website, or a correction appears in the printed press, the damage is already done – when it comes to the European Union it’s all too often write incorrectly first, and then maybe think later. So if you’re someone like me who wants the British population to understand the EU better, what should you do?
Inadvertently I’ve managed to stumble upon half an answer. On Tuesday this week I was hopping mad about an article on the Daily Mail’s website with a heading stating that the EU was responsible for a court case banning crucifixes in Italian schools. In my fit of anger I wrote that the journalist who penned the article – Nick Pisa – was a f**kwit and a thicko. As people have pointed out in the comments, and indeed as I too know, subeditors are responsible for the headlines, not the journalists themselves. But the article appeared in his name, in a newspaper that regularly twists facts about the EU to suit its ends, so I reckoned it was fair game.
By reacting in such a forceful manner I ended up doing to Nick Pisa what the Daily Mail always does about the European Union – I got the attack in first, and Google has handled the rest. Now, at the time of writing, my blog entry branding Pisa a f**kwit is ranked 3rd in Google when you search for his name. That’s not really especially pleasant if you’re Nick Pisa.
So the simple message is this: if you’re frustrated by the rubbish nature of UK newspaper reporting, on whatever issue, get yourself a blog, get yourself a Twitter account, design your blog to be Google friendly, and post quick responses using the correct keywords… and Google will handle the rest.
[UPDATE - 23h00 CET, 8.11.09]
Now it’s gone even further – I’m 2nd in Google when searching for ‘f**kwit’. Not sure I want my blog to have that accolade, but it’s quite amusing.