Don't Fear The Rooster

Friend and cohort Tammy Green recently posted an image entitled “Evil Clown.” I’d completely forgotten about this chicken – or rooster, rather – I stumbled upon while checking out the Millennium Park social / political statement art installations on loan from various Chinese artists. My companion for the outing remarked that the rooster’s expression was rather sinister. I tend to agree.

Just how one captures the glowing yellow eye and the single-minded intent of this red-crested barnyard fowl must be an art unto itself, especially considering the drawings appear to have been done in chalk.

So who wins the Evil Smackdown?  Clown or Chicken!

A letter from the editors of the online version of BBC News details the seemingly simple problem of handling outbound site links.  I say “seemingly” because their apparent intent is to discover how (and whether) people use links within or related to their articles.   I contend the issue is really one of credibility, connectivity and knowledge sharing.

According to the letter, “director general Mark Thompson set as one of its goals a major increase in outbound links from the BBC website.”  Makes sense from a limited profit perspective perhaps, but the days of measuring efficacy through page views and popularity by outbound links may be nearing an end in some respects. Even some of the feedback comments hint at fundamental disconnect between the way the organization views itself (current and in touch) and the way readers view the organization (trusted archive).  Many of the 70+ responses cite usable design and  perceptions of  trust and content validity as areas of concern. If the BBC can go beyond the narrow goal of linking policy, they might come to the conclusion that what they’re really grappling with is how to tap social media and other reverberating communications to extend their reach beyond the Point A -> Point B vision.

I’ll be the first to admit that media outlets like the BBC and New York Times have come a long way from the days of pasting 3-column pages on a domain and calling it a website.   Aside from figuring out how to monetize and protect their content, traditional media is still bounded by its own world of carefully constructed walls.  It’s no longer a question of whether and how source linking should be managed or even if inbound links can easily be posted to Twitter.  That sort of thinking does not constitute real participation in the immediacy and intimacy of social media.  Do these organizations want to really be in touch?  Then it’s time to explore how to become a credible, trusted source capable of facilitating conversations and expanding their reach into areas they may not control but can no longer ignore if they hope to stay relevant – and profitable.

Adapt.  That way lies staying power.

The beauty of change

“Someday, a change is gonna come.  Oh, yes it will.”   Legendary singer Sam Cooke penned this song in 1963 in response to the social changes wrought by the growing civil rights movement.  My motives are nowhere near as high-minded or purposeful as his.  I just figured it was long past time for me to drastically change my professional face to the world.

I’ve owned kmboykin.com for many years and have managed its content on a purely page-by-page basis.  Manually creating and updating HTML and style sheets gets to be old.  It’s also something that I often let languish once I got the job.   That’s because its original purpose was more like that of an electronic calling card and not an information pop-up store or a rest stop on your way to some other social media engagement.

The new structure completes the separation of content from display and function by taking advantage of easily customizable themes and widgets.  No more of the mish-mash roadmap of changing technologies.  No more directly creating and tweaking style sheets or making sure my code validates.   This is not to say that a more than passing knowledge of what’s behind the pretty “anyone-can-blog” face isn’t advantageous.  It pays to know when and how to back up your files.  Or how the Internet, servers and protocols work.  Or, even at a basic level, why your pictures aren’t showing up when you know they were there just yesterday.  Um…did you accidentally change your site structure or links?  Sometimes, it’s the little things.

Enjoy poking around the place.   If you like something you see or feel the need to comment, don’t be shy about giving me a shout out.  I’m open to intelligent, mutually beneficial exchanges any time.