Hello friend, wherever you are.

Today I ask you to stop what you’re doing for just a moment, take a deep breath and grab a big ol’ handful of perspective.

Unless someone is reading this dispatch aloud to you, you’re seeing it on a computer monitor as it appears in situ on our humble, yet aesthetically pleasing web site. Through electronics and circuitry I cannot pretend to understand, it has traveled digitally to you via the internet from my less-than-nimble fingers on a keyboard in Columbia, Missouri (USA).

That’s really amazing if you stop and think about it. Perhaps one must be of a certain age to fully appreciate how truly wondrous is the technology in our modern world. Neither of my kids have lived in a house (let alone a world) without a desktop computer.

Recently, I was monitoring Twitter, a popular social networking site, as a relatively major news story began to unfold. Almost instantly, the people I’ve subscribed to began to Tweet (or communicate) about what was happening, as well as their thoughts and feelings about it. They also re-Tweeted what the people they were following were saying about it. In just a matter of minutes, this story had taken off and blazed across the country like a spark through dry weeds.

This is mind-blowing to me. In our time we take for granted that these conversations can take place among widely diverse people around the globe at any time of day. It’s another example of how we Earth-dwellers can continually be more connected by today’s technology (that is, if we choose to be).

Remarkably, just five years ago Twitter did not exist, yet today it boasts 18 million users in the U.S.  Five years ago, social networking site Facebook was yet to be widely available, but today it claims to have 400 million active users worldwide.

Today, savvy businesses are taking advantage of these social mediums to efficiently connect with more customers, forming stronger relationships than previously thought possible.

Think back to the 1920s. Radio was the new medium. It didn’t take long for marketers to exploit the technology of radio and transform it into commercial radio. The commercial transformation of television happened even more quickly, although still essentially broadcasting a one-way communication.

The business world has entered a new era with the emergence of commercial social media. Don’t get left behind. If you have a business, call Vangel. We can help you take advantage of social media….wherever you are.

Here at VANGEL we like to remind people how important it is to Speak Clearly. That sounds pretty simple, but sometimes simple can be hard. Take, for example, a recent statement attempting to deliver some “good news” about high unemployment:

“Today is a big day in America. Only 36,000 people lost their jobs today, which is really good.”
-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, March 5, 2010.

Ouch!

I have a pretty good idea what the good senator was trying to say. And it’s easy to poke fun at him for making a mash out of the better-than-expected unemployment report. But how would you express the loss of only 36,000 jobs?

Are you up to the challenge?  I’ll go first. Then let’s read how you might have turned this embarrassing gaff into a more memorable opportunity to Speak Clearly.

Here’s what I think Senator Reid might have said:

“Today I’m pleased to share some good news about the troublesome issue of unemployment.  While our nation continues to experience an unacceptable level of joblessness, the report released today shows that level has stabilized, and more people are finding jobs.”

Go ahead and give it a shot.  Remember to Speak Clearly. I’ll review all submissions, select a winner, and have a beer next Friday night celebrating your fine work.

Have you heard? Google’s recently released a new social networking tool called Buzz, claiming it’s a new way to share the things you find interesting. If you’re a Gmail user, you’ll find an invitation to Buzz when you log-in, or you can enable it through your Gmail settings tab.

Using your existing e-mail contacts to start a network, Google Buzz pulls status updates, links, videos, images and other information from contacts you’ve chosen to “follow” into the Gmail interface. This means you can see content from all of your and your friends’ favorite sites—Picasa, Flickr, Twitter and Google Reader—in one place.

Making updates to Buzz is very similar to updating Facebook or Twitter. You can choose to make content public or private, comments made to your Buzz updates appear in your Gmail inbox, and you can easily respond to others using @replies. If at any time Buzz becomes a bit too much for you, simply filter the updates out of your Gmail inbox or turn off Buzz altogether.

Using Google’s advanced algorithm, the Buzz system will suppress status updates judged to be boring based on content (or lack thereof), and recommend potential Buzz-worthy contacts if a couple of your friends have shown interest.

Google Buzz will be accessible via mobile in three ways:

1. Google Mobile’s website
2. Buzz.Google.com (iPhone and Android)
3. Google Mobile Maps, where upcoming apps will use GPS technology to find where you are, and bring up a list of nearby businesses to visit.

Facebook and Twitter are clear social networking leaders, and Buzz’s method of aggregating content seems to be Google’s attempt to keep up. If you choose to use Google Buzz, be sure to set clear privacy boundaries through the user management features. For example, the contacts you choose to follow are publicly available on your Google Profile page.

Buzz hasn’t been well received by Twitter users. According to Crimson Hexagon’s findings, 50% of the people surveyed dislike Buzz, and another 15% have privacy issues with it. In February, lawyers in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., filed a class action lawsuit against Google for violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The suit asked the court to prevent Google from releasing any sort of future product that might have a similarly invasive effect on users’ private information.

While I don’t think Buzz is an especially great innovation, it has potential. The way it is now simply doesn’t provide enough added social networking value to users, and there are clearly some privacy issues that still need to be worked out.  But if you’re into the latest and greatest, that’s a little buzz about Buzz.

Last week, while catching up on one of my all-time favorite web/design resources, www.smashingmagazine.com, I ran across a very interesting article that helped open my eyes to the way the “other half” thinks – in this case, clients. Click here to read it in a new window.

As with any role in life, it’s easy to get caught up in frustrations that center on communicating with others. I’m definitely guilty of this at times. Once in a while, I catch myself thinking, “Jeez, they just don’t get it!” I have to remind myself that somewhere, “they” are thinking the same thing about me.

The article takes a common relationship, web designer and client, and examines it from both perspectives. It’s a great reminder that neither party is totally right or totally wrong, and that the best relationships exist when both sides are sensitive to each other’s point of view.