Dear Advertisers

Having your ads blare out of my TV at two to three times the volume of the show I'm watching does not endear you to me. When you're annoying enough I write you on my list of Things-I-Will-Never-Buy. The list is getting very long.

Please stop it.

Sincerely,
Sue London

What is Your Modern Communication Style?

Broadcaster: You love blogging because it gives you a chance to really get your stuff out there for others to see. It might be opinion, expertise, or just things you find interesting. Now you love Twitter because you can bark out 140 character info bites whenever you feel like it. More than anything else you just have the need to express yourself. Sometimes you notice the reactions that are flowing back but other times you don't.

Connector: If you blog, your favorite part is that you and your peeps (meaning your closest friends and family) can keep up with and tease each other. You have probably fallen in love with Facebook because it has all the best parts that you liked about blogging without all those trolls and other world-wide-web creatures. You watch YouTube videos that people in your circle recommend and probably have a Flickr account because even if you don't post things yourself you like to be able to leave comments for those you love.

Explorer: You might have a blog but it would look a lot like a Broadcaster's. You spend your internet time finding new things and sharing them with like-minded people who will feed their explorations to you... so that you can go explore those things. Primarily you Digg, Stumble around, and find the internet del.icio.us. You have your fingers in everything but don't feel the need to bond via the web like your Connector friends do. You enjoy Mashable.com because investigating how people interact is sometimes more satisfying for you than interacting.

Gamer: You've probably never blogged, nor are you likely to tweet or facebook. You're here for one very serious purpose and that is maximum fun - whether it be measured in kills, points, quests, or some other scoring system. You use things like Vent,  message boards or your game consoles to keep in touch and your gamer group may bond over game-themed videos. You don't have to hide it, we know you watch The Guild. 

Info-Junkie: Why have a blog? There's no time to write anything when there are all these wonderful things to READ on the internet. You enjoy Fark, Slashdot, Scribd, and various blogs and news sites that you've discovered. You mastered RSS readers early and have a hard time understanding people who don't want to enjoy everything the web has to offer (meaning information, of course). For you, internet communication is incidental: sharing must occur because that is the most efficient way to parse information.

Networker: If you have a blog or Twitter account they are associated with your business. You are a member of LinkedIn, have a profile on Guru.com if you freelance, and may have explored Facebook because of all those articles that came out about how it was the best place to connect for job opportunities. You RSS articles from key trade journals and receive filtered news from major business sources like WSJ or FastCompany. For you the internet is not a toy, it is very serious business.

Shopper: For you the internet was the solution you had been looking for to accommodate your shopping needs and your communication is focused around that. Your particular interest might be designers, saving money, or general style, and when you use a social website you optimize it for your shopping needs. You probably connect to other shoppers through lists and reviews, like on Amazon.com. If you are a saver you might be disappointed that Froogle never took off (fyi, they are trying again with Google Product Search) and you check sites like the Yahoo! Shopping deals. If you are a style guru you probably enjoy things like Kaboodle, StyleHive, and Wists. You're not particularly likely to have a blog unless you've got a solid circle of like-minded shoppers that you need to connect with on a regular basis. Even so, you are more likely to use message boards and shopping sites to share information.


Do you have just one of these modern communication styles or are you some kind of hybrid?

*Updated 11/30/09 to correct the oversight of Gamer. They are a particular brand of communicator.

Lyrics for "The First Mate is a Monkey" from Disney's Swashbuckling Sea Songs!

http://cmdrsue.blogspot.com/2010/05/first-mate-is-monkey.htmlApparently I'm not the only person who loves this song from Swashbuckling Sea Songs because every few days someone comes by searching for the lyrics. Since no one else has posted them let me perform that public service. You can thank me in the comments.

5/20/10 Update: Posted the song from YouTube.

Quick link to get someone back here? tinyurl.com/firstmatemonkey

The First Mate Is A Monkey (mp3 on Amazon)

The first mate is a monkey
The leader of the crew
He was born to pirate the seas
He'd rather sail on the wild ocean blue
Than to swing in the coconut trees
Oh how that monkey climbs
Up in record time
So we call him Prime Mate

The ship's cook is a parrot
What a chatty bird
He's always fast with a quip
Each morning he'd ask him,
"Monkey what's the word?"
Oh they had the greatest friendship
He made banana stew
For the Cap n' crew
I think you'd like a taste, too

[Chorus]
The first mate is a monkey
Say "aye, aye sir!"
He was born in the jungle
With big ears and a long, long tail

The first mate is a monkey
Tell you why, sir
The monkey is a pirate
Who was made to live on the seas
And always sail

Well, we docked down in Rio on a windy day
The monkey was keeping an eye
Parrot said, "Monkey, there's nothing more to say
So it's time for this parrot to fly."
The monkey shed a tear for his old buccaneer
And said, "Let's sail out of here."

[Chorus]
The first mate is a monkey
Say "aye, aye sir!"
He was born in the jungle
With big ears and a long, long tail

The first mate is a monkey
Tell you why, sir
The monkey is a pirate
Who was made to live on the seas
And always sail

Cookie Monster: Vindicated

After three years of being forced to express a public preference for fruit and eggplant, the Cookie Monster was vindicated by the weight loss success of followers of The Cookie Diet.

Why Couldn't George Lucas Explain it Like This?

What a great way to round out a sci-fi and bureaucracy Monday, with an analysis of how the key agents of the rebellion were really R2-D2 and Chewbacca. In A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope: Reconsidering Star Wars IV in the light of I-III Keith does a great job of not only explaining how the movies flow, but making me almost like the whole thing. Because of these healing abilities I'm guessing that he is either a Jedi himself or a level 30 cleric.

Props to @jonrog1 from Kung Fu Monkey and Leverage fame for bringing this excellent essay to our attention.