Jed Cohen

I started blogging one year ago last Monday.  I am sadly a few days late in marking the occasion, but since I actually thought it was today, I hope you’ll forgive me.

A few personal facts about the past year:

• I graduated from college and now work full time.  I suppose this makes me a “grown up,” but I’m still not to sure what this means.
• I completed two separate virtual internships in my spare time – one for CAREEREALISM and another for Squidoo.  As a result, I was interviewed for a WSJ article (my PR class came in handy!).
• I went to the 2009 New Yorker Summit and the first 140 Characters Conference in NYC and had a blast at both.

A few facts about this blog:

• I’ve published 51 posts and have 21 drafts (most of the drafts will probably never see the light of day, but they’re there).
• Google Analytics tells me the following:

• My three most popular posts (in order) are “Google’s Own Area Code?,” “The Role of Propaganda in Modern Democracy (aka My Colloquium),” and “Social Media Fatigue.”

And a few goals for the next year of blogging:

• Post more uniformly.  As you can see above, I averaged almost one post a week for the entire year.  I think that’s pretty good, but I know that there are some months where I posted a ton and some where I did not.  So I’m going to try to spread out my posting more.
• Write some posts from this list of seed ideas I posted a while back.  I’ve got some in draft form, but I’d like to finish a good number of them and get them posted.  Right as soon as I remember what they all mean.
• Incorporate more things I find across the web.  I have both a Posterous and a Tumblr, which are two super simple posting sites.  I’d like to start using one of them more.  I was pushing my Posterous posts to this blog (all three of them), but I didn’t quite like the implementation.  So I need to work on that too.
• I might also update the design and branding for this.  I’m pretty happy with the current design, but I may start looking for something new.  And I’m not sure I want to stick with “Jed Cohen’s blog” anymore.

So I guess I should get to work.  See you around as this thing heads into its second year!

I’ve got so many things that I want to write about that I start a ton of posts and don’t necessarily finish them.  I’ve got drafts in WordPress.  Virtual sticky notes on my computer and phone.  Voice memos that I recorded on my phone (some taken while driving, which probably wasn’t the best idea).

Yet I haven’t posted anything in a month.

Why?  Because work has been crazy.  Because I start something here but forget to finish it as this blog is low in my list of priorities (it really should be higher).  Because I’m a little too perfectionist when it comes to posting.  Because I spent more time proofreading and editing my posts than writing them (thank high school essays for that one).  Because I forget about this blog.  Because I’m paralyzed by the routine of my schedule and don’t adjust for the things I want to accomplish but don’t.

Sadly, almost posting doesn’t count.  It’s yet another one of those areas where showing up is what matters.  So I thought I’d start by listing all of the things I’ve been thinking about writing about lately.  It’s a way to jump start writing posts about some of these ideas.  It’s also a way to make sure that I actually follow through, as putting this out in public places imaginary social pressure on me to start writing.  So without further ado, here’s a few lot of seed ideas:

• Symbols allow us to inhabit a shared reality (see Walter Lippmann).
• Why time isn’t fixed despite the fixed nature of the second.
• There is so much information online we need to rely on the Internet to process and store it (think exocortex).
• How the branding of commodities isn’t that different from the branding of general retailers.
• Why I have way too many profiles on way too many social media networks/websites/platforms.
• How being on the inside often means we can’t communicate with the outside – even though we know everything about the inside and there’s nothing stopping us from talking. (Expanded a bit in Inside, Outside, Upside, Downside)
• Overriding Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a defining aspect of free choice.  Also why every single professor I had who mentioned it in class thought it was inaccurate (except for my Intro to Psych professor).
• Tweeting like a pro isn’t that different from playing video games like a pro. What does it mean to be a power user?
• What quantum mechanics teaches us about Russian Roulette and our understanding of success.
• How going from a user to a marketer on a platform allows for the possible growth of a kind of code of ethics of marketing in that space.
• Twitter = microblogging = tiny blogging. How does the Twitter ecosystem change our definition of blogging? Or should we redefine our definition of Twitter (note that Twitter did this a little bit today)?
• How ritual allows us to access personal and cultural memories, leading to a continuity of expectation and ability to surrender the decision-making process to precedent.
• Plan your dive, dive your plan.

And last, but most definitely not least:

• How I work best when extremely busy (as in every hour of the day accounted for and filled with some kind of activity).  How I need a new side project (five to ten hours a week).  What I’m looking for in said side project (social media, community outreach, marketing, etc).  Why I like working virtually (and generally for free).

I know that not all of these make sense right now.  They don’t necessarily make complete sense to me either.  Which is why you’ll probably never see full posts on all of these topics.  You may see mini-posts focused on one or two ideas from a bullet point.  Or what’s written above (kind of a micro-post) might be it.  We’ll see.

I wrote a post a little while ago about how I was going through a period of social media fatigue.  It kind of faded into the background a bit, but ever since then I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to engage with others online.

We do this in a variety of ways.  Some of us form deep personal relationships.  Others joke and play.  Still others network on a purely business level.  We all choose different ways to join the digital community.

I joined Facebook (five years ago!) to keep in touch with high school friends as we all spread out to varying colleges.  I joined Twitter (it’s already been over a year) first because a variety of friends were on it and then because of all the interesting people I could follow.  I joined LinkedIn because that’s what you do for business networking (not going to lie – still don’t know what I’m doing there).  I joined a host of other networks that I don’t even use (just in case I want to some day).

And then there’s this blog.

It’s a bit weird to consider writing a blog as a form of engagement, in that it is kind of a one way form of communication.  After all, I moderate the comments, I write the entries, I control how my posts are distributed to the public.  But the fact of the matter is that I release this blog out into the world for others to read.  And I read the blogs of others.  In a manner of speaking it’s a two way network, because what I don’t control is what you think of me (and what I think of you).

I originally created this blog in part because I wanted to express my opinions.  Because I wanted to control what people would see when they Google me.  And because it’s kind of what you expect from Gen Y-er who is interested in social media.

What does this mean exactly?

Looking back at my usage of this blog and other social media networks, I’ve decided that a change is in order.  Here’s three things I hope to do:

• Stop following people on Twitter just because I like the idea of following them.  More often than not I end up skipping over/missing their tweets anyway.  Why do I follow a ton of internet marketers and graphic designers when I am interested in the fields but not involved in them?
• Explore new networks.  Brazen Careerist recently relaunched their site to incorporate more social networking features.  I’m not sure if I’ll use it yet, but I should at least invest time in the network to see if I like it.  As new networks launch (and old ones evolve), I would like to alter the way I use them to match.
• Make a commitment to this blog.  Even if few people read it, this is still my own little corner of the Vox Populi.  My own place to express my thoughts and figure out what works for me in the digital space.

So?

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to try to experiment.  I’ll be starting by posting short commentaries about a few things at the same time.  Chances are some of these will be revisited when I write full entries, but most things will probably start as these “seed” posts.  You can think of it as something between the 140 characters of Twitter and the paragraphs of more traditional entries.

First up?  Probably a thought or two on the new Brazen Careerist, plus a look at the difference between reciprocal and one way relationships in social networking communities.  Check back soon.

• As mentioned before, I’ve transitioned over to a full installation of WordPress.org.
• I figured this warranted a significant update in looks.  You’re now looking at a slightly modified version of the Carrington Blog theme (or the Carrington Mobile theme if you happen to be viewing this on a mobile).
• I’ve updated the About Me page with a more detailed bio if you happen to be curious…..about me (were you expecting something else?).
• You can e-mail me now! me [at] jedcohen.com – just replace the [at] with an @ of course.  Feel free to do so if you’d like!  Or you can always leave a comment below.  After all, my trackbacks get lonely sometimes.

I believe that is all for now.  Carry on!

I’ve just moved over all my content from my old WordPress.com blog to this one, which is a full WordPress.org install.  Please pardon my appearance as I get the look of this new blog up and running – part of the reason I like WordPress.org so much more than WordPress.com is its customization options, but it can take a bit of time to get right (especially if you’re as particular as I am).  Thanks so much!

Switched over to a brighter header in honor of the beautiful springtime weather.  Although I really should just take the plunge and buy some hosting somewhere to set up a full WordPress installation.

Anywho…….

Welcome!  I’ve had a website for some time now, but I’ve recently decided to switch over to a blogging format instead.  I decided to make this change for a number of reasons, which I may at some point get into.  Then again, I may not, depending upon whether or not the mood strikes me.  Guess you’ll just have to keep reading and see!