What’s in a Name

There’s something about a name.

Tonight, I went down to the local Shawarma joint (Mr. Shawarma, for any Ottawa west-enders looking for the best meal in the ‘hood). I am quite a regular there, stopping in probably once or twice a week – it’s my default meal when hubby is working.

The same man is almost always behind the counter; I think he is the owner. His face lights up when I walk in the door, and it’s not just me – he absolutely beams at every customer that comes in. As he prepares your meal, he always asks how you are doing, makes conversation. Not only is the food great, but this man’s personality just makes you want to keep coming back.

One thing is kind of strange though. I have been going there upwards of 3 years now, and I have never known the man’s name. To me, he’s simply “the smiling guy at Mr. Shawarma”. It has never really even occurred to me what his name is or could be.

Tonight, I walked in, and there he was – beaming from behind the counter as always, as if I had just totally made his day by stepping in the door. “Good evening, my friend!!!”, he said. And then I saw it.

He was wearing a name tag. And suddenly things changed.

Until you know someone’s name, they are just a face. A guy behind a counter. A woman crossing the street. A man sitting next to you at a conference. But once you know their name, your relationship with them changes. Once you know someone’s name, you can introduce them to others, file them in your contacts list, and associate them with particular experiences. Once you know their name, you can really start to relate to them.

Until tonight, the guy at the Shawarma shop was another face. But now, I know that his name is Moustafa. He’s no longer “the smiling guy” to me. He’s “smiling Moustafa”. I feel like somehow I know him better, just because I know his name.

What I’ve realized, is that he still does not know my name. I fully intend to rectify that the next time I drop in.

The people that you see and interact with on a day to day basis – the postman, the newspaper carrier, the pizza delivery guy – do you know their names? We all interact with so many people online, know so much about who they are and what they do. But do you know the name of the woman who sells you lottery tickets at the corner store? Do you know your neighbours’ names? And if you don’t – why not?

I’ve realized that I am guilty of this too. So from here on in, I’m going to make a point of not only expanding my network and my community online, but looking around at the people right next to me, and finding out how I can engage them too.

Online Authenticity – You Be The Judge

There are still a lot of skeptics out there when it comes to trusting other people online. I speak with people all the time who are not involved in online communities. I ask them why they haven’t gotten involved. I get a lot of answers, but perhaps the most interesting response I get is that they don’t trust what they read in the social media space. In other words, they don’t believe that people are being genuine. 

This causes some concern to me, especially since I tend to find the opposite to be true. In my 2 + years of being involved in social media, I have only come across only a very few people who were truly misrepresenting themselves. 

I find it interesting that people have no problem meeting other people at a business meeting, a bar, a conference, or on the street and trusting those people right away. But take away the physical presence, and the story is entirely different. What is it about meeting people online that makes people trust less? It seemsthat if I can’t see you in 3-D, shake your hand, breathe the same air as you, then I can’t trust you. The truth is, I’ve met a lot more people face to face in my life that that I don’t trust than people I’ve met only on the Web. Some people who I’ve known only in person have been capable of great deception and misrepresentation – more than anyone I’ve come across online to this point. 

In fact, I actually think that meeting someone online actually gives me MORE reason to trust them. Why? Because online, people (the trustworthy ones) tend to exist in more than one place. That makes it much easier for me to verify their story.

Case in point: If I meet someone at a restaurant and they give me their business card,  I only have a very little information about them. Their name, their place of employment, their email address. Fact is, I don’t even REALLY know if the card they have given me is theirs (unless their photo is on it – rare). Sure, I can Google them when I get home, but what if their name is John Smith and they work for a giant corporation? Not so easy. 

However, if I meet someone on Twitter, I have multiple ways of verifying their story. I can see how many followers they have. I can ask some of those followers to back up the person’s story. I can check out the person’s blog, see who is linking to it. I can look at where they say they work. I can see pictures of them. Check their LinkedIN profile, their Facebook profile. I can get a pretty good picture in a very short amount of time from someone who has a reasonably broad online presence. I can feel as if I know something about them, have a sense of their honesty and then make a decision on whether or not they are authentic. 

The key to online authenticity is to have a certain level of saturation through many social networks. Here are some ways you can do that:

1. Don’t just exist on Facebook. Get your name out on other social networks, such as Twitter, LinkedIN, Plurk, identi.ca.
2. Consider starting a blog. Don’t have the time? Try Tumblr instead. 
3. Make comments on a variety of blogs. Be authentic when sharing your opinion in these spaces.
4. Be open to people getting in touch with you via email or on your cell phone.

No matter what, always be 100% authentic in your interactions. Don’t falsefy or exagerrate facts about yourself. Don’t want to share your marital or employment status online? Instead of fibbing about it, just don’t say anything. You absolutely have the right to share only that information you are comfortable sharing. 

In the end, it’s up to each of us to judge whether we find someone to be authentic or not, in person or online. If you are unsure of who to trust, the best thing you can do is get involved in the community and begin to listen to the conversations going on around you. You will figure out soon enough who you feel is trustworthy. And anyone who isn’t? That’s what the “Block” button is for.

What do you think? Is authenticity more of an issue online or in person?

The Art of Shameless Self Promotion

I’ve been reading a lot of blog posts and tweets lately about people being averse to “tooting their own horn”. And I’m not sure I really understand the aversion.

Ok, I know there are lots of spammers out there. I know there are certain types of people that seem to do nothing but shamelessly self-promote their wares. But I think that they are really in the minority.

The blogosphere, the Twitterverse, the Plurk Nation – they are all run by people. People who have something to say. People who want to have conversations, make connections, establish relationships. If we aren’t all out here “tooting”, then what are we doing?

When I update my blog, or my Twitter feed, or my Facebook page, am I not, in some way, promoting myself? Even if I am just saying what I’m up to right now, or I’m replying to someone, or commenting…that’s all promotion of myself, my ideas, my sense of humour…what have you.

I agree that there are good ways and bad ways to toot your horn. Here are a few things that I’ve learned about what I like to call “The Art of Shameless Self-Promotion”.

Admit it.
Louis Gray writes about disclosure and transparency on his blog. So does Chris Brogan. It’s pretty essential and important to consider. Sneaky tricks to promote your stuff are just that…sneaky. So, if you are going to shamelessly self promote, at least admit it! I’ve sent emails to colleagues and friends entitled “Shameless Self Promotion”. Even if they delete the email, at least maybe I’ve got their attention for a second and made them snicker. (Note that I said “friends and colleagues”. I don’t recommend sending these kinds of emails to people that you don’t have an existing, pretty solid relationship with. Make sure the people on your list have a sense of humour about this stuff.)

Be Subtle.
This may seem to be a contradiction to my last point, but it’s not, really. Self Promotion done well is a balance of putting it out there, but doing it in such a way that you are not putting people off. It’s kind of akin to giving someone a gentle tap on the shoulder to get their attention and grabbing them from behind in a giant bear hug. The gentle tapper says “I’m here, if you want see what I’m about”. The bear hugger says “Here I am! Here I am! No, right here! Pay attention to MEEEEE!” See the difference? So go ahead. Self promote, using all your channels, like Twitter, your blog, Facebook, FriendFeed, LinkedIN. Just make sure you aren’t too “in your face” about it.

Gauge Yourself.
Not sure if you are being too overbearing? Well for starters, if you are, people will let you know pretty quickly. Usually they will just start ignoring you, or blocking themselves from your line of fire. What it comes down to is common sense. Does it make sense to send out an unsolicited email to everyone on your contact list and all your Facebook friends and all your Twitter followers about your latest blog post? Of course not. Does it make sense to do a quick post to Twitter, and maybe a link on your Facebook profile? Sure. Why? Because the latter method is non-intrusive. It gives people a choice if they want to buy in to your self-promoting ways. And if they don’t? So be it. At least you’ve put the word out.

The #1 Way to Shamelessly (and subtly) Self Promote
I am surprised all the time by the new people that come across my blog. And you know the #1 way people find me? Through comments I make on other people’s blogs. Yup. Not through my Tweets, not through my Facebook, LinkedIN or anything else. I comment on people’s blogs. Probably 5 to 10 a day. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying go out and put inane comments on a bunch of blogs to get your name out there. What I AM saying is go out there and make a contribution to the community. Get involved in the conversation. Express yourself. If you do this with integrity, people will visit you because they are interested in what you have to offer. This is the give and take game of social media. And when you play it right, the rewards will be real and fulfilling.

So go ahead – toot your own horn!

Photo credit: Fiskfisk on Flickr.

Twitter’s Imaginary Cliques

Recently I’ve heard rumblings around the Blogosphere and the Twitterverse that “cliques” are forming on Twitter. Cliques that are intentionally excluding people from conversations, cliques who are self-interested, existing only to promote their latest book or seminar, or just trying to be the most popular. I know the self-interested promoters exist. I unfollow them all the time.

But, I have a problem with people throwing around words like “cliques” when it comes to Twitter, and other social networks, and here’s why:

1) Communities are like that. I follow some 700 people. When I decide to spend some time hanging out on Twitter, I probably scan tweets from 50 to 100 people. Of those 50 to 100, I probably follow conversations of about 10. Of those 10, I probably get into conversations with about 3. Typically, I have about 20 or so people I converse with regularly on Twitter. Does that make me cliquey? No. It makes me part of a community. I couldn’t possibly have conversations with everyone I meet on the street in my neighbourhood every day. I simply don’t have the time. So I centre out those people who share common interests, a common sense of humour, etc. And I engage them. I’m not out to exclude anyone, I’m trying to be practical about my interactions. And so are most Twitterfolk.

2) Some of these people are friends. I have several people on Twitter that I consider friends. Many of those friends I have met in person, spent time with. Others I haven’t met yet, but for whatever reason we have connected online. It stands to reason that friends will talk with friends. They are not trying to be exclusive of others, they are just being friends.

3) Jealousy will get you nowhere. It seems that most of the “clique” accusations are aimed at the celeb bloggers. Someone sent a Tweet to Robert Scoble and he didn’t write back right away? Oh, he must be a snob. He must be in a clique. I’m serious, these are the things I’m reading sometimes. Here’s the unique thing about the social media celeb phenomenon. The famous people are part of our community. It’s like we all show up at the same nightclub, and they are in the room with us. But you know what? They are there to have a good time with THEIR friends, too. So if they don’t run over and talk to YOU, don’t take it personally. Make a nice comment if you want (as long as you are sincere). But don’t expect Mr. or Ms. Celeb Blogger to come rushing over to give you a big hug and be your best friend. Like you, they have other things to do. Move on and make your own communities. I find that just about everyone is as interesting as Mr. Popular.

I do believe that Twitter’s “cliques” are imaginary. In my social network interactions, I find overwhelmingly that people are open, sincere, helpful and just plain nice. And the ones that aren’t those things – they aren’t worth my time.

On Kitchen Parties and Social Networks

I’ve been fortunate to spend a good chunk of time in Newfoundland and Labrador. Even though I’m not from the Eastern part of Canada, I feel very in tune with the people there. Perhaps it’s in my blood, because my Dad is from New Brunswick. Perhaps I can relate to the culture because I grew up on an isolated island on the West coast. Perhaps it’s my family’s Scottish roots. Whatever the reason, I have a really special place in my heart for that part of the country.

One of my favourite things to do in Newfoundland is go to kitchen parties. The best parties always end up in the kitchen. The East coast kitchen party is a legendary event. It’s all about friends, music and stories. Kitchen parties can happen at any time of the day or night, and it’s a come as you are kind of affair. People drop in and out as they please, have a drink, say hi, meet new people, see old friends, and share a laugh or a story. Everyone is welcomed with open arms to participate, whether it’s telling a story or playing a tune. It just makes you feel good to be there.

Not unlike the social network.

In a social network, I can show up when I want and leave when I want. I can talk to my friends or make new friends and bring them into the conversation. I can do it any time of the day or night. I can tell stories. I can listen to stories. It definitely makes me laugh often and hard. I feel welcome in this space. I am encoruaged to share my stories as much as the next person. And I feel good being there.

When I think about what really motivates me to be involved in social networks, I guess it’s because I get a lot of the same things out of it that I get from going to parties. I’ve never been to an East coast party where I didn’t meet someone new, learn something new, hear wonderful stories and laugh my butt off in the process. And it seems like with my online life these days, I meet new people, learn new things and hear really great stories every single day. And I absolutely bust a gut much of the time too.

So, I believe the essence of both the kitchen party and the social network is to connect people.

Lately, I’ve been working on some ways to teach people who are new to the concept about social networks and social media. Technology has a tendency to be very impersonal. To the outside world, there is a lack of understanding about how much of a connection one can really make through a keyboard and mouse.

Comparing the social network to something everyone can relate to, like a party, starts to foster some kind of understanding of what the real benefits are. It doesn’t matter if you are a blogger, a Twitterer, or an Instant Messenger…just like it doesn’t matter if you’re a late night kitchen partier or an afternoon barbequer. It’s about the incredible things that can happen when people connect with each other. And that’s something anyone can understand.

Forget the Message – What’s Your Medium?

“A light bulb creates an environment by its mere presence.” — Marshall McLuhan

I’ve been thinking a lot about WHY people choose certain mediums to communicate. In McLuhan’s day, the options were much more limited. Not by their ability to tell stories, but by their accesibility to the general public. At that time, we relied on “professionals” – journalists and authors were the only ones that had access to the medium, therefore they were the ones that told the stories.

Today, that’s no longer the case. There are abundant options now for people to tell their stories. Blogging, micro-blogging, and podcasting are prolific and available to anyone with an Internet connection and an inclination.

Yesterday, social media monitoring company Radian6 launched a new concept called a Twebinar. The concept was to present an online seminar that encouraged participation and interaction using Twitter. A lot of the discussion revolved around what the point was of integrating Twitter to the mix, instead of just using a regular chat window. But what I was compelled by was the use of video. I was fully expecting to see presenter Chris Brogan giving an hour long talk on his subject, and I would use Twitter as a sort of side conversation. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to see Chris playing the part of roving reporter, running around with a camera crew, talking to a wide variety of media experts about some really cool and interesting stuff. Then he’d pop in on live video in between segments and talk a bit. The Twitter conversations were the backdrop but the use of video stole the show.

The Twebinar was a great example of choosing the right medium to convey the message. When McLuhan talked about the lightbulb, he meant that the lightbulb itself doesn’t contain any content. It’s simply a vehicle that enables content (i.e. provides light that people use to create spaces in what would otherwise be darkness).

Choosing the right vehicle to enable your content is key. The Twebinar could have been approached differently. Chris could have just talked for an hour. He could have just compiled all of the information from his interviews into a blog post or eBook. But it would not have had the same impact. Instead, seeing a live breathing human engaging with other live breathing humans allows us as viewers to feel the energy and passion of the speakers. It connects us to them. And the result? People want to talk about it. They want to explore it. They want to share their own experiences. And that’s where Twitter comes in. See how it all works? It wouldn’t have made sense to tell this story any other way.

Everyone has a story to tell, and social media has burst the art of storytelling wide open. However, the medium you choose to tell that story is critical. The medium serves to set the tone, attract a certain kind of audience, and generate a certain kind of response.

So the next time you come up with your next great story, spend some time figuring out the result you want. Do you want to encourage feedback? Conversation? Do you want immediate results? Determine the best medium to use to tell your story to get your desired results. Only then can you ensure that your message gets across.

Hmmm… I wonder what Marshall McLuhan would have thought about all this social media business, anyway?

Person Chris Brogan

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Knowledge is Power, Understanding is Success

This week I’ve been reflecting on how far I’ve come in the past several years, as I’ve made the transition from worker-bee to creator. I used to be the typical high-tech worker. I knew how to do a lot of stuff, like build a web site, write a communiqué, build a document library, write a technical manual. But I didn’t really UNDERSTAND any of it. I didn’t really get how what I was doing in my little cubicle was affecting the rest of the company. I just worked away at my little job, and took home my paycheque.

Understanding Comes From Experience
Anyone can pick up a book, take a course, or be shown how to do something. But understanding  why you must take action “A” to achieve result “B” is key to success. I know how to tie my shoes. I know the techincal process I need to go through to put one lace over the next, loop it around and pull through. But it’s something entirely different to understand why I must tie my shoes. Until I do, I’ll be a sloppy, tripping mess.

So how do you make that transition from just knowing something to really understanding it? Experience. There’s no other way. I must take knowledge I’ve acquired and put it into practice. I must get up and do it every day, as long as I need to until I understand it. Only then can I see the true value in the knowledge I’ve acquired.

The Bottom Line is the Big Picture
I think a lot of people in the social media world are getting caught up in the little details. They are getting stuck in a rut of acquiring knowledge, and not taking the time to really understand what they are learning. Instead of working to acquire understanding, they keep busy rifling around looking for some social media expert to give them all the answers. They are relying on other people to give them top 10 lists, strategies and quick fix solutions instead of spending their time working on understanding. They are reading endlessly, but putting nothing into practice.

Be Accountable for Your Understanding
If there’s one thing I’ve grown to understand over the years, it’s that I am responsible for my own understanding. The experts are not there to solve all my problems. The role of the expert is to pass on knowledge to me. Then it’s up to me to take that knowledge and build an understanding for myself and how that knowledge applies to my situation and my goals. And that can only be done by coming up with my own solutions, applying them and gaining the experience I need to move forward.

There is a world of knowledge out there for the taking. There are dozens of great teachers in the social media space who are willing to send that knowledge out to you. But none of them are going to spoon feed you the answers – it’s impossible for them to do that and it’s too much to ask. You are the only one that can take the knowledge you’ve been given and turn it into your own understanding.

Understood?

Feedly Gets It

I discovered Feedly this morning and in just a couple of minutes it changed the way I interact online.

One of the things that drives me bananas about many social media apps these days is the lengthy process I need to go through just to get it to understand who I am and what I care about. Feedly eliminates this pain entirely. I simply went to the site, installed the Add-on to my Firefox 3 browser, and when the browser restarted, I saw a view of all of my blog feeds (grabbed from my Google Reader), neatly organized into tabs corresponding to the categories I set. It asked me to log in to Twitter and boom! My feeds were there, as were links to all of the people I follow on Twitter who also have a Feedly account.

The best thing about Feedly is that I immediately saw the value in the tool. Many tools claim to be the most useful thing in the universe, but after weeks of exploring I still don’t see their real usefulness. BrightKite and Sprigley are two examples that come to mind. Not that they are bad ideas – they are both actually pretty good ideas. But their their real value is not apparent up front.  Nobody has time to dig around for the usefulness of a tool. Show me value right away.

With Feedly, I immediately saw all of my information on the screen. I saw how I can read through my posts and annotate, favourite, save for later, or even say “no thanks” to a post I don’t want to read. My favourite feature is being able to Tweet someone’s blog post FROM THE ACTUAL POST. I click the “Tweet” link and a box appears with the title of the post and the link (already conveniently in TinyURL format). I click send and it’s posted to my Twitter feed instantly. WOW.

This is the social media app I’ve been waiting for. Give me everything I need in one place, make it fast, make it pretty and let ME control what I see and how I interact with it.

Congratulations, Feedly. You totally get it.

Uninvited to the Social Media Party

There’s an interesting debate going on this morning over at FriendFeed. It appears that Robert Scoble has blocked one of his followers (I’m not going to name names, if you want to find out who it is, I invite you to seek it out yourself. Go ahead. Google to your heart’s content. I’ll wait).

You back? OK. Well it appears that some feelings have been hurt as a result of this “cyber-shunning”. Scoble is being called elitist.

Oh, come on, people.

If the biggest part of your day is hoping that some “A-list blogger” (a term, incidentally, coined by the media and fans, not the bloggers themselves) is going to give you the time of day by @replying you on Twitter or responding to your FriendFeed comment, then I’m afraid you’ve got this social media thing all wrong.

The popular bloggers (Vaynerchuk, Scoble, Brogan, Belmont, Laporte, and so on) give of themselves daily to inform, entertain and enlighten their audience. You may like them, you may not, you may be indifferent, but the fact is, they are people too and as much as their fans love to get their continuous undying attention, there are only so many hours in a day. I have personally engaged some of these folks in conversation on more than one occasion and I find them to be extremely approachable, friendly, and helpful – as long as I am respectful don’t over stay my welcome, and make a valuable contribution to the conversation, then I, in turn get to stay at the party.

Social media is about sharing, I agree. But ultimately, everyone has control over who they share their information with. I block people on Twitter and FriendFeed all the time, for various reasons. Maybe our interests aren’t compatible. Maybe they are spammers. Maybe they are offensive to me. Or perhaps I just don’t like their approach. At the end of the day, its up to me who I choose to engage with. And if I don’t engage with you – don’t take it personally.

We all have the right to shape our own social media experience. Nobody, including those with many fans and followers, is under ANY obligation to be “friends” with everyone. So Robert Scoble doesn’t want to be your friend? So be it. You can still read his blog, and comment, and participate on that level.

You don’t have to be invited to the A-list parties to have a good time in this space. In fact, you may have a better time forming your own communities, having your own conversations. Becoming your own “A-list” blogger. You may even get some fans. At the end of the day – respect others, and you will gain their respect. Be an active participant, but contribute value. The community will thank you for it.

Photo credit: Lightfoot from MorgueFile.

Is Social Media a Square Peg in a Round Hole?

Last night I attended the Third Tuesday Ottawa meetup for the first time. It was a great event, with excellent speakers. I highly recommend it for anyone in the Ottawa area interested in social media and networking with like-minded people. The discussion was entitled “Shiny Object Syndrome” and the intent was to explore social media tools – what’s working, what’s not, what’s the next big thing, etc.

However (as is often the case at these types of forums), the discussion ended up being not so much about the tools, but about the impact they are or are not having on corporate and government communications. It seems these days, the question du jour is – how do I get my Boss/Director/High Ranking Bureaucrat to understand social media and advocate its use in my organization?

That makes me think…is it possible we are trying to force social media into a space where it doesn’t belong? Are we trying to push a solution onto a problem without really understanding what it could solve?

By sheer coincidence (or fate, as I tend to believe in cases like this), one of my former Senior Managers was in attendance at last night’s Third Tuesday. It was extraordinary to see him at an event like this, because after the high tech bust he got out of the business altogether. But there he was.

Back in the day when we both worked for “Giant Corporation”, my boss used to gather our team in his office for what resembled a daily sermon. One of the things he often talked about was whether or not the solutions we were providing to “Giant Corporation’s” business problems were the right solutions or if we were “trying to fit a square peg in a round hole”. His point being, even though we worked for a technology company, throwing technology at a problem was not always the best solution.

These days, it seems to me that some (certainly not all!) communicators think that throwing the latest new fangled social media tool into an organization is going to help solve problems these organizations have with marketing, communications and PR. “If we tell our customers and employees to get on Twitter and Facebook and YouTube and FriendFeed and so on…they will understand us better.”

The truth is, the next FriendFaceTwitterTube is not going to make organizations communicate better. All the Twittering in the world is not going to make employees adapt to a new business process, and setting up a Facebook group is not going to soften the impact of massive layoffs. Spending money and resources to produce a fancy marketing to post on YouTube in the hopes it will go viral is not going to close more sales. In these cases, the solution doesn’t suit the problem.

Now you may argue, “But yes! Social media is the answer! I use Twitter to communicate all the time! My Facebook and LinkedIn networks are powerful! My blog gives me a voice inside of my faceless organization! Think of all we can accomplish by getting everyone connected on these tools! It’s about personal communications!”

The problem with social media is it’s intensely personal. And most corporations and governments are not set up for personal communications. They are structured in a top down fashion with sets of checks and balances that ensure that information is funneled and filtered and controlled through the right channels. And with good reason.

When I worked for “Giant Corporation”, we were strictly prohibited to speak to anyone from the media about what was happening in the company, good or bad. If blogging had been prevalent back then I’m sure we’d have been prohibited from doing that too. They told us they could take legal action if we were caught talking to media or publishing any sort of information about the company. Why? Because it’s a public company and when shareholders are involved, information MUST be controlled, or the shareholders can get antsy and that is not good for the stock price. Bottom line.

Transfer the same philosophy over to government, and it’s a similar situation. Someone says the wrong thing to a reporter (or posts on their blog, or Twitter, or Facebook page) and boom! Scandal.

I’m not saying that the way corporations and governments communicate is perfect by any stretch. But, social media tools, by their very nature of being for the people, by the people, are a square peg in this environment. Frankly, these tools do not necessarily fit in the round hole of corporate and government communications. In order for it to work, the traditional model and culture of corporate communications must be burst wide open and I can’t see that happening any time soon.

Don’t get me wrong. I am a HUGE proponent of social media and all of the amazing possibilities it holds. I think it is a tremendous marketing, communications and PR tool for small and medium sized enterprises as well as non-profit organizations. Every day I move forward in some way in my own business as a result of social media and the marvelous network I have been able to develop in the past few years.

What I am against is forcing a solution into an organization just because it is cool and hip and trendy, without giving serious thought to the ramifications of implementing it.

(Thanks to the lovely and talented @G_reg for contributing his insights and helping my poor worn out brain to edit this post tonight. I couldn’t have done it without him!)