259) The Final Countdown 5:47 PM

There's such a feeling of finality inherent in the end of the year, and the closing of a decade. Add the word "millennium" into the mix, and you've got one momentous evening. I feel like such a night warrants an epic reflection post, but I'm not sure I have it in me tonight. Resolutions tomorrow, of course.

I've been seeing a lot of year personification in Facebook statuses today. Aka, "Later, 2010, it's been real," or, "2011 has some big shoes to fill." Also noticing a good number of people (more so than years past) deeming 2010 to be the best year yet. Our mid-twenties are so full of change and newness that it seems appropriate that every year feel like the best year yet.

Best yet or not, have a great and safe last night of 2010! See you on the flip side.

258) Tidbits 2 3:49 PM

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

- When you have a big presentation, you never have the correct dongle to attach your Mac to the projector. Never.

- Is it, "Happy New Year!" "Happy New Years!" or "Happy New Year's!"?

- For whatever reason, "Happy Birthday" is one of the most challenging and awkward songs to sing aloud.

Just a few thoughts that have been bouncing around. Quickie post because I'm driving down to LA in a bit. Excited to see old faces and SoCal sun (in theory. Weekend forecast: rain.) Finishing out the year in an ex-love city before flying back to the new home.


(Photo by Laura Elle Photography.)

257) United State of Pop 8:53 PM

DJ Earworm released his annual Top 25 Billboard Hits mashup. If these are the 25 most popular songs of the past year, it is a strong reflection of mainstream pop culture. Some observations of what this mashup says about us in 2010:

- Pop music reigns supreme.
- Life is a dance party. In the club, at a house party, on the street.
- Women are still objects of sex. Short butt-baring skirts, tight body suits or just plain nudity.
- Long, messy tresses or femme fatale razor bobs.
- Two words: dirty hipster.
- We frolic on the west coast, where the sun is always shining.
- Glitter.
- We are beginning to push the boundaries of weird as mainstream.

(Mini aside - My friend Jaemin and I spent the day in Santa Rosa visiting our friend Liam. We went on a fantastic hike at Armstrong Woods, then had some wine and cheese in the hot tub. I'm writing from Liam's couch, but we're leaving for a local brew pub in a bit.)

256) Books and Culture 1:54 PM

Earlier this month, Google Labs introduced the Books Ngram Viewer, which pulls together word frequency data from almost 5.2 million digitized books that were written between 1500 and 2008. Users can search for words and short phrases to see how often and when they appeared throughout history.


(Religion vs. science - click to enlarge. From informationisbeautiful.)

For a word nerd and data lover like me, this was Christmas come early. It's endless fun to compare terms (see my Beatles popularity graph), and to see what other people have come up with (check out the graphs by Informationisbeautiful - so much good stuff). Many are quick to point out that word frequency in books doesn't necessarily reflect culture (semantics, changes in word meaning/use, etc).


(Gay vs. homosexual - click to enlarge. From informationisbeautiful.)

Books are an interesting choice when it comes to measuring culture. Publishing a book is an ordeal - it takes investment from the author, editors, and publishers. The relative difficulty of publishing a book compared to say, a magazine or a blog results in a couple conclusions regarding culture. On the one hand, subjects that warrant book publishing have cemented their place in culture. Once books start being published about a certain topic, it means that said topic has gained enough cultural popularity/relevance to warrant the publication process.

On the other hand, because of the barrier to entry inherent in book publication (not just anyone can get a book published), books are much less flexible in reflecting niche culture. Monthly magazines, daily newspapers and blogs can report trends in a timely, low-commitment manner.

So, are books a good measure of culture? Thinking back to my post on Influencers a couple days ago, books seem to be a reflection of trends that have hit the mainstream, while zines et al. reflect more of a maverick's culture.

255) Weak Ties 6:32 PM

The strangest thing happened on Christmas eve. My family and I were at Yoshi's in San Francisco to hear a jazz singer perform a Christmas set. In the middle of "What a Wonderful World," I suddenly remembered someone I used to know in college that I'd forgotten about until that moment. From what I recall, he was a year older than me, and shared what must have been a Communication class. He was Asian, tall and lanky, and wore zip up hoodies a lot. I remember what I believe to be his name, which I quickly jotted down on my hand before the song ended.

But for the life of me I can't remember how we met or why we aren't still friends. There are the friends that you lose touch with, and then there are the weak acquaintance ties that just...disappear from your life. The weird part is when you don't even remember that they were a part of your life, until something random triggers their face in your brain (reminds me of Zoolander and the song trigger). It's like they say - not knowing is one thing, but not knowing that you don't know is even worse.

Facebook is rife with weak ties. Out of your hundreds of friends, there's a good chance that you haven't seen or talked to the majority of them in years. But you don't have to - that's the beauty of it. The weak ties are simply preserved by Facebook - people are bookmarked for potential future reference. (For the record, this forgotten acquaintance and I were never Facebook friends. And a search for his supposed name brings up nothing. The search continues.)

254) Influencers Film 8:26 PM

Apologies for the short, less analytical posts this past week. Being home for the holidays, I've been spending a lot of time offline. Today is no exception.

This short documentary, Influencers Film: How Trends & Creativity Become Contagious is a couple months old, but still worth watching. The psychology of the ever-sought after influencers is so fascinating to me. Those ingredients bestowed upon so few - the particular brain connections and the overwhelming confidence to be a trend leader. Watch and appreciate.

INFLUENCERS FULL VERSION from R+I creative on Vimeo.

253) Cases of Hangry 7:19 PM

Yesterday, I had a wicked bout of hangry. For those of you who don't have first hand experience with a girlfriend or sister, hangry is hunger-induced anger. It's a dark, ugly mood brought on by low blood sugar levels. It's irrational nastiness for no reason other than your stomach has been empty for five minutes too long.

When hangry, it's important to surround yourself with people who understand that you're normally not a complete bitch, and who won't take it personally. Yesterday I was with my family, who loves me no matter what, so I funneled all my hangry at the waitress at the restaurant where we had a (too) late lunch (she wasn't helping either, service was terrible).

Inevitably, your significant other is the one who has to put up with the hangry. The good ones call you out on it and make you realize how ridiculous you're being. My ex used to make me carry an emergency Luna bar in my purse, and another in my car to preempt cases of hangry. Snickers gets it too (see above).

(Mini aside - Merry Christmas to all my lovely Plan readers! Best case scenario, you're surrounded by loved ones and stuffed with good food.)

252) The Perfect Wrap 12:34 PM

Most people don't know this about me - I'm an expert gift wrapper. I worked part time at a boutique paper store in high school and became learned in the ways of paper manipulation. For today's post, a few quick tips on the perfect wrap.

- I used to stress about cutting my edges perfectly straight, which is almost impossible to do. Now I cut willy nilly, and then fold the paper under to create a straight edge before securing with tape (length-wise). Just be sure to leave a little extra so you have enough to fold under.



- If the wrapping paper on the ends folds up a little past 1/2 to 3/4 of the way up the box, you're good to go. Nothing is more annoying than cutting your paper and then not having enough at the ends to cover your gift. With this method, you should have enough to fold over to create a straight edge at the ends (see above) before taping.



- It's all about creating sharp edges. Slide your fingers along your edges as you go, to ensure crisp corners. Trust me, it makes a difference.

- A wide ribbon can be used to cover unsightly length-wise seams. Just create a tight band around the gift and secure with tape on the underside. Don't worry if it's off-center - it's more stylish that way.

- The less tape you can see, the better.

Feeling quite Martha-esque. I'm off to San Francisco with my family. Lots of love to you and yours on Xmas eve.

251) Words of the Year 5:14 PM

Grant Barrett of the New York Times compiled a list of The Words of the Year. The lingo that peppered our (or some of our) speech as we navigated our way through 2010. The list is separated into categories, the most interesting (to me) being Communicating:

coffice: In South Korea, a coffee shop habitually used as an office by customers, who mooch its space, electricity, Wi-Fi and other resources. Presumably, they pay for the coffee.

halfalogue: Half of a conversation, like an overheard phone call. The term was coined in the research paper “Overheard Cell-Phone Conversations: When Less Speech is More Distracting” in the journal Psychological Science.

sofalize: A British marketing term created for people who prefer to stay home and communicate with others electronically.

mansplainer: A man compelled to explain or give an opinion about everything — especially to a woman. He speaks, often condescendingly, even if he doesn’t know what he’s talking about or even if it’s none of his business. Old term: a boor.

social graph: The structure of personal networks, who people know and how they know them, especially online. The term probably came from the internal lingo at Facebook, but it has spread widely among technology companies.

All (except for mansplainer) are great reflections of our increasing mobility and our online social world. I'm a huge fan of sofalize, because it is such an oxymoron - sitting solo on your couch but still socializing.

While interesting, I'm not sure of the criteria for making the Words of the Year list - prior to reading the article, I'd never heard nor used any of those five words. True, they are all new words (the criteria?) that originated from niche groups, but I don't think they've infiltrated the layperson's lexicon just yet. While not new, I'd argue that "like," "check-in," "sext," and "retweet," deserve spots on the top Communication words of 2010.

250) 'Tis the Feeling 5:32 PM

(Photo from Flickr.)

I wish I could bottle up that feeling you get when you have a surprise for someone. That giddy feeling, knowing that something you do will directly affect another person's happiness. It could be a perfect gift, a surprise party, or just fantastic news - the anticipation is the same. It's the internal tingling that makes you urge them to open it so you can see their reaction (the pay off).

Hopefully your holidays are full of this feeling.

(PS - Sailed past the 2/3rds mark (#243) without realizing it!)

249) Blind Leading The Blind 7:13 PM

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN...... from alexi wasser on Vimeo.

I've been a fan of Alexi Wasser, the proprietor or Imboycrazy.com, for a long while now. Sure, she can be a little spastic sometimes, but she gets modern dynamics between the sexes in a way that few do, or few dare to talk about. She doesn't sugar coat things, loading her writings, rants and videos with deliciously excessive profanity.

Most insightful is her Blind Leading the Blind series (potentially NSFW, if your boss is reading over your shoulder.) It's unsympathetic (some would say heartless, others would say straight-shooting), crass, and littered with crunchy leaves. She broaches subjects that are generally considered private, giving us an "omg, totally, me too," or a "um, that's just you," measuring stick.

248) Edited Social Reality 6:20 PM

These days we control our social reality. With a simple click of the x or an "unfollow," we can hide those whose updates are too inane, too frequent. We can de-tag and make it seem like that embarrassing picture was never taken, or that we were never someone's special someone. We can make emotional landmines disappear, make it look like our ex's never find someone else (selfishly, irrationally and hypocritically).

We actively choose what we do and do not see. Ignorance is bliss, and social media is no exception.


(We can make it look like we wear red lipstick and live in emo town. Taken back in NY. Here in CA, things are much merrier.)

247) The Ad Icons 2:37 PM

Advertising Age has been posting these "Book of Tens" lists as the first decade of the new millennium comes to an end. One such list is the 10 best advertising icons of the past ten years. These memorable mascots are:

- Travelocity's Roaming Gnome
- Geico's Cavemen
- Old Spice's The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
- Apple's Mac & PC
- Dos Equis' Most Interesting Man in the World
- Burger King's The King
- E-Trade's Talking Babies
- Capital One's Visigoths (um, Vikings?)
- Charmin's The Charmin Bears
- Mucinex's Mucus Monster

While the inclusion and exclusion of certain icons is debatable (Mucinex? Really?), one fact remains: they are all male. From the comments on the post, several people thought Progressive's Flo deserved a spot in the top ten, but other than that no other females were in the running.

I googled "top female advertising icons" to see if anyone had shown the ladies some love. Back in 2008, Jezebel listed the Top 10 Female Product Advertising Icons and the Actresses Who Could Replace Them (whew). Here's their verdict (actresses omitted):

- Land O Lakes' Indian Maiden
- Mrs. Butterworth
- SunMaid
- Aunt Jemima
- Utz Girl
- Little Miss Sunbeam
- Morton Salt Girl
- Coppertone Girl
- Tropic-Ana
- Chiquita Banana

You'll notice a couple things. First, almost all of these characters were created between 1900-1950 (I have no idea who Little Miss Sunbeam is). Second, all have long been silenced, with the exception of the SunMaid, who was re-animated in 2009, and Mrs. Butterworth who claims she is "still just as sweet" in 2007.



I don't really consider myself a feminist, but where the ladies at? The only other modern female ad icon I can think of is the hideously smug woman in the Glade commercials. Can you think of any others?

That's not to say that women are never in commercials. However in the past decade, for whatever reason, they seem to lack the pull required to become iconic. Are men simply better salesmen? (Have you ever seen a female car salesperson?) And if so, does that mean we inherently trust a man's opinion more when it comes to shelling out moolah? Basically, why is this the case?

(Mini aside - Holiday happenings in full effect in Palo Alto. The fam getting a tree and Kyli putting up with us.)

246) The Human Factor 9:15 PM

Yesterday, American Airlines served up a less than satisfactory flight home.

First, a male flight attendant told me that he, "doesn't do lifting" when I asked for help getting my carry-on into the overhead bin. Um, ok.

And second, all the flight attendant announcements were automated. Someone pressed a button, and a woman's pre-recorded and digitally mastered voice informed us that it was time to return our seats to their full upright position and make sure our tray tables were secure.

Maybe it was simply the familiarity of hearing an actual person over the intercom, but something about the automated messages didn't sit well with me. When we envision the future, we often think of that throaty, female computer voice. It symbolizes progress, technology, convenience - the completely digitalized world we'll live in (Jetsons, anyone?). But what we don't think about is the loss of the human aspect. The reassurance that there is an actual person on the other end.

Delta's recent and relevant campaign:

245) A Million Confidences 12:57 PM

I have about 30 minutes until I have to leave for JFK. I'm in one of those giddy, can't-wait-for-school-to-get-out moods at the thought of two glorious weeks at home. Can't wait to see everyone in the Bay Area. There's a small chance I'll be down in LA too.

A quote from an article I read earlier today has been on repeat in my head:

"The noise of a million confidences blaring all the time will drown out the meaning."
- Catherine A. Fitzpatrick

She is, of course, talking about the future of the Internet. This was back in 2000, so in theory, she was talking about now.

Something about the quote strikes me as so eloquent and profound. At the same time, I'd like to believe that all the online sharing and self-disclosure hasn't diluted the meaning. Just because there are thousands of other strategic planning blogs out there, doesn't mean mine is less meaningful. Does it?

It's go time. See you on the left coast.

244) The In-Car Hug 6:32 PM

(These people make it seem so natural. Photo from Corbis.)

Back in LA where a car was a requirement, I was firmly anti-in-car hug. It's one of the most awkward things out there. A good goodbye hug involves full frontal contact of at least the upper body. To achieve this while seated facing forward in a car, one must twist only his upper body at least 90 degrees while the lower body remains stubbornly to the fore. Not to mention that one person remains restrained by his seat belt. Awkward town.

In NY, the in-car hug gets taken to another level of questionable as it becomes the in-taxi hug. Let's review the facts.

1) Your goodbye is no longer private. There is a third party involved.
2) The appropriate time to say goodbye falls at exactly the same time as the driver wants to get paid. Hug or card swipe?
3) In LA, I could demand that we get out of the car to say goodbye. This becomes complicated in NY when a) see #2, b) the taxi drives away, or c) you don't want to send the wrong message by asking the opposite sex to join you on your door step.

So, what does one do?

243) Privacy Mode 3:37 PM

It's no secret that technology is getting more predictive. Our mobile phones are like little GPS devices that we happily carry around with us at all times. More and more we are asked whether we want to check in to a certain location (or are automatically checked in), offered suggestions of eateries nearby that we might like. Online, the ads we see are tied to our search terms, email content, etc. I saw a video a couple weeks ago about Nokia Situations (see above), an application that senses where you are, and automatically changes your settings accordingly.

Why can't there then, be a parallel path of technologies that are developed to protect our privacy? Like, what if you could put your cell phone into "Privacy Mode" in which all incoming geo-location pings are blocked? Online we have some rudimentary privacy mode offerings, but it's always associated with unsavory behavior (privacy mode is often referred to as, "porn mode").

Google CEO Eric Schmidt once said in a CNBC interview with regards to online privacy, "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." But it's not about not wanting people to know what embarrassing, disgusting or illegal activity you're engaging in on the Internet. It's about having the choice to control your level of privacy during any Internet activity, harmless or otherwise.

I believe that online privacy is almost non-existent, and I have (at this point) little qualms about it - it's just the way things are evolving. But given that we've been innovating towards a free, open, privacy-less future, why can't we at the same time think of ways to opt out, however temporarily? Make it an arms race of sorts.

242) Are You Jing? 3:03 PM

(Photo from finechinagirl.)

Tonight, a true story that I've been wanting to share.

On Sundays, I've made a habit of eating a late solo lunch at SoHo Park Cafe, a cute eatery on the corner of Prince and Lafayette. I have a favorite table in the corner, wedged up against the exposed brick walls and a window, perfect for people watching. Usually I bring a book with me, but this past Sunday found me sans any sort of company.

Whenever I eat alone, I feel like a certain amount of social grace goes out the window. I'm more likely to tear into my charred chicken sandwich, lick the sauce off my fingers - really relish it.

I was particularly hungry on Sunday, as I was on the sickness mend. After about ten minutes of enjoying my enormously sloppy sandwich, a thirtysomething-year-old guy came up to my table and said, "Excuse me...are you Jing?"

"No, (hands full of sandwich) sorry I'm not..."

"Oh, sorry. I'm meeting someone and I thought you might be her." And walks back to his table across the restaurant.

Then a thought popped into my head - what if I was Jing? This poor guy was sitting over there, watching me devour my sandwich for ten minutes, wondering why his blind date had not only gone ahead and ordered food, but was already eating it. How awkward must he have felt? What rising terror over a potentially doomed date? I suppose he guessed I was Jing because 1) we were the only two people sitting solo, 2) I'm Asian, and 3) because the real Jing must have been running late.

Luckily, the real Jing showed up a few minutes later. They both ordered coffee and sat and talked while I creepily watched from my corner, still laughing, imagining what he would have said if I'd looked up and said, "Yes, I'm Jing."


(Photo from Flickr.)

241) To You I'll Be True 7:39 PM

(Image from James Kurtz.)

Here's an exercise for you guys. Sit down and make a list of brands to which you are loyal. Sure, you may deviate if another brand is provided for you, but when it comes to spending your money, which are the brands that you continually use year after year?

The easiest category to think of is packaged goods - anything you would find in a drug or grocery store. Product categories that generally have a level playing field - all things equal, including relative price. The requirement isn't that you buy them every single time. It's the brands that you keep coming back to, the old faithfuls, the go-tos. Not, "if I do indulge in this, I choose..." since everyone can name their favorite fillintheblank. List the brands that you buy and use regularly in your daily life (the exercise is getting more and more demanding, I know).

Here's my list*:
- St. Ives
- Pantene Pro V
- Aquafresh
- Degree
- Alcon Opti-Free
- Brita

*A few outliers that could also be included on my list - Apple, Google and Facebook, and Verizon. Apple because its an infrequent, big ticket item. Google and Facebook because I don't think they have any competition in their respective fields. Verizon because I'm still part of a family plan (though I'd stick with it if I wasn't).

Given the number of brands I come into contact with, all the advertising and emphasis on building brand loyalty, that's not a very long list. Sure, some people's will be longer. Some will have had the experience of buying multiple cars in their lifetime, and can name a car brand to which they've been true. Or some may be more particular about food brands they eat (these days I'm at the mercy of what work provides, and other thrifty factors). Some will have a go-to coffee chain that they visit every day.

My point is that I get the feeling that brand loyalty is far more elusive than we make it out to be. It's tossed around as this grandiose concept, an ultimate goal of marketing and advertising. But how many brands that touch our daily lives are we actually loyal to?

Make your list and email it to me at natalieyoungkim(at)gmail.com if you feel so inclined.

240) The Late Bloomer 1:31 PM

(Image from More Ways to Waste Time.)

I'd say that for the most part, I developed at a normal pace, physically, socially, and mentally. That is, I don't feel like a late bloomer in most regards. But for some reason, when it comes to make-up and beauty routines in general, I always feel like I'm late to the party. You may remember my discovery of the wonders of concealer. Just the other day, I finally experienced for myself the necessity of lip liner, and what exactly lipstick "feathering" means. And to this day, I still don't blow dry my hair in the morning (at what age does showing up to work with damp hair become unprofessional?).

We choose to expose ourselves to different aspects of life depending on what we believe is important. Apparently, make-up has never been that high up on my priority list of things I should know. But no one wants to feel like a late bloomer. There's such a negative connotation attached to the innocent-sounding phrase. The implication of stunted development, the last one in the know. Think of the boys whose voices remained high or the girls whose chests remained flat, while their classmates tenored and blossomed, respectively.

What if there was a way to take our adversity of being late bloomers and apply it to things that we should learn? The example I'm thinking of is financial education. Just like puberty, managing money is something that we all have to deal with in life, and yet children aren't learning the concepts, skills, etc. necessary to be financially knowledgeable. And it's not simply because financial education in schools is lacking - it's also because kids/teens/young adults just don't care (my teen self included).

Yes, there will come a certain age when it will be embarrassing to admit that you don't know what interest rates are. But is there a way to make that age younger? Can we manipulate the system so that teens feel the same shame of being a late bloomer in finance, as they do about having never been kissed?

239) Lost in Translation 4:01 PM

One thing about The Plan's whole one-year-commitment is the blog becomes somewhat of a chronological measuring stick. As in, I can mark events in life against how long I've been writing. That being said, it's been a very long time (more than 239 days) since I've been sick. I know because I've never written a Plan post while feeling like crap. Until today.

Pity party aside, I'm a total baby when I get sick. I'm one of those people who doesn't believe in feeling uncomfortable, so I pre-medicate at the first sign of pain. I had a couple social engagements tonight, and the little devil on my shoulder has been trying to convince me to Dayquil up and go. But it's looking and feeling more like a stay in and sleep night. Which brings me to this post, my one true obligation of the night.


(Image from WebMD.)

I've been thinking about alternative research methods lately. Out of the box ways to extract information, opinion, feelings and those buried-deep-down wants we all harbor. There are those who say that as soon as you put someone in a research setting, whatever comes out will be tainted. Someone once told me that focus groups, a long-embraced ad industry favorite, are completely ineffective. Their argument was that the process of translating what's in our head into words that we express to another person (a researcher, no less) in an artificial environment, will always lose something along the way.

Fair enough. "Completely ineffective" may be a bit harsh, but I can appreciate the argument. Given the myriad of outlets that people use to express themselves these days, there has to be better ways to gather this info. My favorite research method these days is mining online public forums such as Facebook, Craigslist, Flickr, Yelp, etc., which I've talked about at length in prior posts. The Internet makes so much of this info readily available - it's just a matter of interpreting it. While you won't find explicit answers to straight forward and pointed questions, you'll get voluntary (and thus, pure) opinions.

But what about other face to face methods of research? Experiential is always a good option (i.e. setting up a soccer tournament to mine info on teens for a soccer cleat company), though there is still the presence of the researcher to contend with. As soon as we know we are being studied, something tweaks within us, and our behavior isn't 100% natural. (I think the same is true for animals at zoos. Somehow, they know they're being watched/studied, and act differently than they would in the wild. No wonder we're continually being astonished by previously unseen animal behavior.)

238) Invasion Acceptance 8:41 AM

Oof, yesterday's post was not pretty. I try not to let myself get caught in late night social situations without having posted beforehand, but sometimes you just gotta roll with it and write on the go. To make up for the brevity, today's post is pretty meaty.

As a continuation of my post on privacy, here's a narrative I found on PSFK from 2006. This "Postcard from the Future" is not only incredibly insightful for its time, but it looks at privacy from an unconventional angle. (A little lengthy, but worth reading. Or just skip down to my commentary.)


(Photos from Nice Orders and Chictopia.)

Red Coat, Black Coat

It's about that time again and Steve grabs his black coat to go and meet his one and only real friend, Jill. As he wraps it round him, he looks at the corners of his room, he looks out of his window, then slips out of his front door without making a sound.

Wrapped in his black coat, to anyone who spots him, Steve looks paranoid - trying to hide. In fact, Steve doesn't just look paranoid. He is paranoid. Paranoid every time he swipes his card to get into work, every time he has to carry a mobile phone, every time he chats on the web, every time he removes the last can of soda from his fridge. He's being watched. He knows it. Unknown organizations are watching his movements, brands are watching his consumption, details of every action Steve takes is being crunched by speedy computers that predict. Computers that predict Steve's shopping habits, health habits, voting habits, sexual habits. Steve tries to shield himself from what he calls an invasion of privacy. He uses software to mask his identity, he gives false names, he uses alternative underground brands.

Jill leaves her house in her red coat and as she strolls down the street, everyone seems to know her even if they haven't met her before.

Unlike paranoid Steve, Jill is considered socially evolved. It's not only her red coat that presents an image to the world of how she wants to be seen - Jill understands and manipulates how the world sees her, how companies see her, how her friends see her. Using technology that was developed maybe twenty years ago, Jill knows nearly everything everybody else knows about her. And in the same way she uses her bright red coat to make a statement about herself, she manages the data about herself to present the image she wants.

Information is like fashion - to be used, shown off and even bartered with. Her friend Steve hates people even knowing his name - but what does a name really say about Jill? Or the school she went to, the color of her skin or her date of birth. Jill is Jill. Or the Jill she wants you and the companies who want to sell to her think she is.

Of course people know about Jill through her blog where she talks about all the things she wants to talk about. And as she's chatted to other bloggers, she's found other likeminded souls. And that's how she's found new friends she's never met before - even been contacted by a company that may have a job for someone just like her.

At the bus station, Steven pays cash for his ticket in the machine. He doesn't see the idling bus change its number and chug forward to the stop to take him on his way.

Meanwhile at the subway, Jill dabs her thumb on the scanner and uses her frequent user reward to travel for free.

On the bus, Steve pulls the collars of his coat around his ears to try to stop the blare from the ads. Papered on the back of seats, the moving graphics try to sell him shampoo, cheap holidays and a magazine for retirees.

Jill's subway ride is silent. It's peaceful - with the ad panels temporarily turned down to let her enjoy the great tunes her music player has selected from a global jukebox. All this peace kindly brought to her by Target stores.

At the cafe, the coffee makers start her mocha just as she enters the store. Just in time - Jill's heavy with shopping bags as she just saw the greatest clothes to match her red coat in the window of her favorite fashion store down the way. And they fit perfectly.

By the time Steve makes it to the cafe, he's a mess - harassed by the world around him. The staff behind the counter guess the fake name he was going to give, but they wrongly guess the drink he was going to have. He'll have to wait until they make the drink again.

"Don't worry. Come over and meet my new friends," she says as she waves to a table of people.

"How do you get to meet new people like you?" Steve says.

"I haven't yet. I met them through the blog."

"But they look like they know you well..."

"It's the coat," Jill replies, pointing out their red coats too.

So, the story goes a bit overboard in hammering home the point that Steve is a paranoid loser and cool, confident Jill's life is all but perfect. But I can appreciate writer Guy Brighton's ability to present invasion of privacy in such a positive light - so contrary to the Big Brother scenarios we hear about in the media. It accepts our loss of privacy as an inevitable consequence of tech/digital progress, but puts the power to formulate the way companies and advertisers see us back in the consumer's hands. Which, as Brighton points out, is exactly what we already do in our choice of clothes - we dress the way we want other people to perceive us.

I'd wager that Jill's red coat experience is what companies like Google and Facebook imagine when they talk about building a better Internet experience for users. They want us to only see content and ads that are relevant to our interests. Whether or not this is "better", I can't help but be reminded of any time Facebook changes something - layout, formatting, organization, etc. There is always an uproar by users, an apprehension to deviate from the familiar. But inevitably, people acclimate and carry on with their social networking lives as usual. In that case, is there something to be said for Google or Facebook knowing best? And if these changes to privacy are incremental, will we even notice it when we are living the black coat, red coat reality? It's a fine line (and slippery slope) between accepting guidance and blind faith.

237) Social Observation 7:03 PM

Posting from my phone amidst an office holiday dinner. A quick observation on social gatherings.

There's a reason why people like to be fashionably late. No one wants to be one of the first people at the party. There's always a certain level of awkward amongst the first few. It's like we need reassurance that other people
will actually show up.

Ack this is difficult. Apologies for the partial post. Formatting is all off.

236) Thoughts on Privacy 8:12 PM

(Image from long time favorite, Toothpaste for Dinner.)

Tonight, some thoughts on privacy. Mark Zuckerberg says that privacy is dead. At the very least, we're forced to rethink the idea of privacy online.

I feel like there are two camps (over-generalizing, of course). One is up in arms about this year's privacy issues involving Facebook and Google. But I get the sense that the layperson - namely the millenial - is still apathetic to these privacy concerns. Given that Facebook and Google are so ingrained and ubiquitous in our online lives, most accept a certain level of data storage and mining in order for the sites to perform as they do. The question is, how bad would it have to get for the latter group to care?

Privacy is one of those issues that isn't a problem until you start thinking (obsessing?) about it. For me, I'm semi-wary about entering my credit card number online, but I never give a thought to what info Google or Facebook has access (Check out google.com/dashboard to see a summary of all data stored for your account. Kind of nuts when you see it all in one place). But of course, if asked whether I want info about me out there, I'd say I would rather that it wasn't.

I'd love to see a consumer study of how many people are actually concerned about privacy. It's a much hotter topic this year, and the media has given it a lot of attention. Still, I get the feeling that it's a smaller (yet vocal...and growing?) portion of Internet users.

235) Tumblr Apocalypse 6:25 PM

In what to some may have seemed like the longest day in awhile, Tumblr was down for about 24 hours yesterday. The popular microblogging platform sent the interwebs into a tizzy, as bloggers fretted over not being able to update or access their posts, and readers struggled to entertain themselves.

They flocked to Twitter to commiserate. Twitter mentions of "Tumblr" spiked.


(Image from Trendistics.)

News sites and clever tweeters deemed it the "Tumblr Apocalypse." Interestingly, one group was singled out as being particularly affected by the outage: the hipsters. Headlines such as, "Tumblr down! Hipster apocalypse nears second day," and, "Tumblr Down for Most of the Day, Hipster World Crushed by Despair," and, "Tumblr Down For Over An Hour, Hipsters Take To Twitter In A Panic," were retweeted ad nauseum.

msnbc's Technolog noted some of the blogs the hipsters had to cope without:

Following its 2007 launch, Tumblr quickly grew as the go-to point for single service blogs (often with NSFW titles) such as "Look at this F---ing Hipster," "STFU, Parents," "Animals with Casts," countless "F--- Yeah" Tumblogs, and a collection point for the latest celebrity photo memes including "Selleck Waterfall Sandwich," "Jumping Rob Pattinson," etc.

A hipster-centric problem or not, the down time clearly evoked a massive response, and gave us a small glimpse at how we'd respond to an even more serious web malfunction (ex. what if Gmail went down? Or god forbid, Facebook?). We trust and expect the Internet platforms we rely on to function properly, so when they don't, there is an overwhelming sense of helplessness. In that regard, "apocalypse" is a most fitting word.

234) Social vs. Search 5:31 PM

Last night, Mark Zuckerberg appeared on 60 Minutes for the second time in his career (portions of the interview above - worth watching). Interviewer Leslie Stahl (I'm sorry, but it's a pet peeve of mine when people who clearly don't use a platform try to analyze and talk about it. Her intro: "If you have a Facebook account, you've probably reconnected with an old pal, shared photos with family and gotten advice from your friends on what to buy and what to read. It's pretty likely you logged on today." UGH.) delves into Zuckerberg's ambitions for the company, privacy issues, The Social Network and the man behind Facebook.

Whoever that may be, viewers were treated to a confident Zuckerberg who came off as likable, humble yet ambitious, and articulate (and is it just me, or has he been lifting weights?). All in all, a huge score for Facebook PR.

One thing that stood out to me was Leslie's remark about Facebook and Google battling for dominance when it comes to search. In a quick demo, she explains that while Google brings up information, Facebook brings up mentions of your search term in people's status updates. For now, these seem to be two different and necessary sides of the search coin. We want the straight up info, but we also want to hear the general public's and especially our friends' reviews.

At this point I don't think anyone really equates Facebook with search (yet). As Zuckerberg points out multiple times, Facebook is capitalizing on the macro shift towards social, predicting that products and brands will rebuild themselves to incorporate some social aspect. Because, if we can do something with friends, then why would we want to do it alone? (The snarky answer, of course, is searching for a socially unacceptable phrase - that we would want to do alone.)

I'm always fascinated by the chicken and egg nature of our growing socialness. Have we always had this inherent desire to share, and have just in the last however many years experienced a Renaissance of tools to do so? Or is it true that we are becoming more social than we used to be? And if so, why?

(Mini aside - This morning, I checked Weather.com as I always do and saw, "Flurries" in the forecast. Flurries as in snow. Long story short, I was completely overdressed today, making it blatantly obvious that I'm from the west coast. How so, Natalie? you might ask. Was it the sleeping bag-like down jacket you were wearing? Or maybe the Soviet Russia hat? Or perhaps the tights worn under your leggings gave you away. Meanwhile, New York women strutted around in their moderate length peacoats, tights and boots. I kept wanting to ask them whether their legs were freezing.

Someday it will get cold and miserable enough for my vanity to succumb to my need to be warm. Today wasn't that day.)

233) The Vlogger's Dilemma 6:17 PM

Brandfreak ended last week with a post on haul videos and their prevalence around the holiday season. For those unfamiliar, haul videos are videos in which someone talks about their latest "haul" - in Macbarbie07's case, her latest make-up shopping spree (home girl buys a LOT of make-up).

I'd argue that haul videos are nothing new, and certainly not a holiday-centric phenomenon. But I do agree that haul videos and the vloggers (video + blogger) who make them have tremendous sway in terms of pushing product. The authenticity and natural enthusiasm that is almost inherent in these straight-to-camera videos speaks volumes more than any ad campaign could. And it follows an accepted truth - that we are much more likely to trust our friends' reviews than a brand's claims.

These YouTube vloggers build up a bevy of loyal followers, essentially becoming that "friend" that everyone trusts. It doesn't matter that Macbarbie07's brand loyalty is spotty at best - she highlights different products and brands every month - her viewers will follow. And it's easy to see why. Bethany, the 15-year-old girl behind Macbarbie07 (she makes me feel like an incredibly late bloomer) is articulate, well-spoken, personable and passionate and knowledgeable about make-up in her videos.

Rest assured, brands have taken notice. Long-time make-up vlogger Michelle Phan posted this video back in February, sharing the news that Lancome had hired her as their official video make-up artist.



While Michelle assured her viewers that she would still feature other brands, and that she would never endorse a product she didn't believe in, the cynics can't help but wonder whether her pull as a vlogger has been tainted (see her very next video - one long Lancome plug, much?). So far, there hasn't been enough flak to warrant brands using a more hands-off approach. But one wonders how much weight an organic product mentioning in a haul video carries versus a for-pay review. Perhaps surrendering a little control will in the end translate into more sales.

232) Kim Jong Caricature 4:25 PM

There's been a Tumblr circulating called, "Kim Jong-Il Looking at Things." It's content is just that - pictures, like the one above, of the Dear Leader looking at various things.

This afternoon, my cousin made the astute observation that Kim Jong-Il has been turned into a caricature of himself. (Granted, he's begging for it with his fabulous hair, small stature, and Michael Jackson worship.) But the reality is that Mr. Kim is a dangerous little man. Prideful, the very definition of the Napoleon complex, he keeps his country in unnecessary poverty. He brainwashes his people into compliance by uniting them around a common enemy - South Korea and the west. He is continually toeing the line, instigating and provoking.

Caricatures bring levity and make the unpleasant digestible. Think of all the Bush W./monkey memes and big-eared cartoon renderings. They create a character that in the end often doesn't even seem real. That being said, at what point do caricatures become dangerous in their downplaying of the gravity of things?

Don't get me wrong - I love a good random blog or Internet meme. I myself have made suggestions on The Plan that would further Kim Jong-Il's caricature-ness. But at the risk of sounding morbid, I can't help but wonder if such a blog would still be funny after something devastating happens in Korea. Another way to put it - replace Kim Jong-il with Hitler. Ha...ha?

To lighten the mood, here's a picture of a dog tag necklace I bought at the 3rd Ward Handmade Holiday Craft Fair. It's hard to read from the photo, but it says "Don't Ask" and "Don't Tell." I figure it's a good statement piece.

231) Predictive Lists 6:27 PM

I've been perusing agency blogs lately, and came upon JWT Intelligence's 10 Trends for 2011 this afternoon. It's certainly the season for such predictive lists - every industry puts out their own version towards the end of the year (ex. 2011 National Restaurant Trends, Fashion Trends 2011.)

My favorites on this list are #5: De-teching, #6: Retail as a Third Space, and #8: Worlds Colliding. The three are interrelated, different sides of the same, er, impossibly three-sided thing. First, the idea that our ever-increasing consumption of and engagement with technology will make us seek offline "down" time. It's almost as if we inherently feel guilty when we spend too much time plugged in, even if we are working, learning, or socializing digitally. Even in the days before the Internet, spending the whole day zoning out in front of the TV was looked down upon. Imaging the ways in which brands could act as enablers of face to face, analog interactions is intriguing, as there is such an avalanche of brands going digital. It almost seems counter-intuitive.

Retail as a third space. I read an article recently about whether or not brick and mortar retail spaces are dying due to the rise of e-commerce. Their argument was that no, the consumer still sees value in stores, but that the in-store and online shopping experiences must be made seamless. I much prefer the way JWT puts it - that the in-store experience should only partly be about shopping. I think there is huge opportunity for stores to also become educational learning hubs and social venues, much like their online counterparts are.

Lastly, worlds colliding. Faithful readers will now that I am a firm believer that the separation of online and offine worlds is silly and dated. We are constantly overlaying our online life onto our real life (using Google Maps on the street, broadcasting what we're doing and where we are).

And just for fun, here is JWT's 10 Trends for 2010. Accurate? Yes, no, maybe so?

230) Past Education 7:14 PM

I had a conversation with someone today about what I think I need to work on as a planner. Aside from generally gaining experience and putting my curiosity and thinking into actual practice, I've come to realize that I need to have a better grasp on the past. And when I say past, I mean our sociological history - the different attitudes and large cultural movements that got us to where we are today.

I've never been one for history. In high school, I opted to take US History, and not AP US History despite my other AP curriculum. To me, it wasn't worth investing time learning details from so long ago. And while I still think rote memorization of historical facts is a waste of brain space, I see now that there is huge value in understanding people and society over the years. The way we've viewed the world in reaction to historical events, and how one generation pushes off of the previous one, etc.

Understanding the past contextualizes the present, and perhaps even the future. Since so many things in life are cyclical, it also makes it easier to spot re-emerging trends and ways of thinking. To be able to say definitely, this decade was defined by this, and in that decade people believed this will be handy.

A couple random, unrelated things to wrap up.

1) This commercial for Logitech warms my heart. Kevin Bacon is just so cute playing Kevin Bacon's #1 fan. It teeters on the edge of being too blatant, but his character's mannerisms keep it authentic.



2) Happy holidays from the Kim siblings.


3) I'm 25! Thanks to everyone who emailed, Facebook shout out-ed, and texted warm birthday wishes. I had a great day, full of good eats and sweets.

229) Be Here Now 7:02 PM

The continued proliferation of social media has been getting some flak lately. The argument is that we are so into updating Twitter and Facebook, checking in on Foursquare, and texting people that we miss out on real life itself. Exhibit A is Window Phone 7 launch campaign, which positions itself as a phone that will save us from our phones. Its mosaic layout design and processing speed allows you to quickly check out what's happening in social media so you can get back to life. The spot ends with the line, "Be here now."

The problem is that today "here" could very well mean being active on social media. This backlash reflects the thinking that our real life social life and our online social life are two separate entities. But (and I know I've said this in past posts) our offline and online social lives are one in the same. An element of our social lives exists online. It's not a matter of being online or offline - it's about interactions with others. Where those interactions occur is irrelevant.

Let me couch this by saying that there are different weights and values to face to face interactions versus tweets and texts. Real life interactions are no less important, and certain social mores still apply (example - the guy at the end of the Windows Phone commercial. Yes, it it extremely inappropriate to be on your cell, ignoring your date. But it's equally rude to be talking to someone at another table, ignoring your date). And even as we acknowledge the intertwined nature of our on and offline social lives, no one likes the idea of being constantly plugged in, a zombie constantly staring at your mobile.

Relevant over-dramatization.


(Mini aside - Have been working crazy hard this week, and all of a sudden I'm an hour and a half away from turning 25. For no good reason, 24 is my lucky number, so it's with a little extra reluctance that I move on to the next. Twenty-four brought a lot of good things, a lot of traveling, and a lot of changes. All I can say is BRING IT 25.)