Month: May 2012

Once upon a time, I was teaching a class in information technology (and Internet) for law students. Each week, they’d get an assignment, which they had to send in through our e-learning system. It so happened that one day, one of my students did not submit his essay; so I asked him why. “Because the system was down,” was the excuse. This was funny, as at the time, I was also responsible for this particular system. Not only had there not been any downtime; with a few clicks I could also see this student didn’t even try to log on that week. I remember the guy becoming quite red in the face: he had never expected to be called on his bluff. Continue reading “Stop blaming “the system””

There has been a persistent myth in the back of our minds for the past two decades — the myth of increasing interactivity, and now “social” interaction. Early adopters fuel the idea that since people are social animals, they will want to constantly share everything they’re doing and thinking — often, while simultaneously doing something else. But what if most of us are, in fact, passive and somewhat introverted? What if the 99% remain silent? Continue reading “Getting 99% more traffic”