When Horror Hits the Headlines: Tornadoes in Oklahoma

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I grew up in the Midwest, land of Lincoln, corn, and tornadoes. We had tornado drills in school as often as we had fire drills, and I certainly experienced more tornadoes in my lifetime — and in fact, never a fire.

I’ve noticed, this week, as reports file in and are updated and revised on the death toll, the estimated damage, that no matter how I receive news, an event of this nature overwhelms and

Image from the Daily Beast

Image from the Daily Beast

overshadows all other content. It’s hard to even see or hear news beyond the tornadoes — even important news — when the consumers of news demand more pictures of devastation, stores of the survivors and the lost.

I can appreciate the focus on this and other tragedies, but I can’t help but wonder, at what price? When we narrow our vision to reflect on tragedies in our backyards and spend, perhaps, too much time looking at images or listening to interviews from the “ground zero” witnesses, what are we missing?

There are no artificial filters to help with this — it comes down to choices we make as consumers of news, but I think we should be cautious, and wary, that in the wake of tragedies such as this, our underbelly is exposed, and we need to still be vigilant in all other arenas, even while the first responders are still on site.

WTF? Friday: LinkedIn Bans Prostitutes, Allows Goofy Endorsements

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It’s outrageous, right? That all this time, LinkedIn has had users whose professions include prostitution, and that endorsements like “rape,” “shoplifting,” and “manslaughter” have been WTF?allowed?

HOW DID WE NOT KNOW THIS? And really, who wants a prostitute with a well-developed professional net . . . oh, never mind.

LinkedIn is busy revising its user agreements while the rest of us grow weary of the request for endorsements. My friend, optometrist Mike Murphy, sent a message to his LinkedIn contacts this week:

I am sending a blanket email to all of my connections on Linked-In regarding endorsements.

Please be advised that I do not value empty endorsements. If you have never worked with me, been a patient of mine, or in some cases never MET me please do not endorse me.
Nor should you ask for or expect that I will endorse you for your skills if I have not experienced them first hand. I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but seriously if you do not know me how do you know that I even know which end of an ophthalmoscope to look through?

That said, I have received a few endorsements from people who I have a professional relationship with and those I welcome warmly and value highly.

Thank you for your consideration.

Mike Murphy

Endorsements have quickly lost their value. What still holds up, however, are the thoughtful recommendations that connections have written to formally recognize one another.

If you want to provide value to someone in your network, don’t endorse a skill, write them a recommendation.

Getting Freaky with the Facebook

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Due to that scene in The Social Network, my teenage daughter and I often call Facebook “The Facebook,” just to be ornery. Facebook is making me ornerier than usual these days. I think about disconnecting Spotify from Facebook, due to the reactions I sometimes get from others based on my musical choices.  (Yes, a person can like Bruno Mars AND Coolio in the same day.) Usually, however, those reactions delight and amuse me, so I haven’t made that leap.

Now, though, the Facebook has decided to help me figure out how I’m feeling or what I’m doing by offering prompts:

Facebook status updates

 

THANK GOODNESS BECAUSE IF IT WEREN’T FOR FACEBOOK I COULDN’T FIGURE IT OUT!

Sigh. Anyway, I was playing with the new updates and decided to post one, for fun (and if you haven’t yet figured this out, THIS IS A CAUTIONARY TALE.)

Loved

 

Heaven forbid!

Well, I didn’t find this scandalous, and still don’t, but BE WARNED, if you listen to a lovey-dovey song, and then post something like this on your Facebook profile, RUMORS WILL FLY.

Good thing no one is paying attention to me on Pinterest.

 

Replies are ON! At Last, a Facebook Update that Makes Sense

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New RepliesReplies are On

If you’re a Facebook Page administrator, log in today and opt in to the newest Facebook feature — replies. This is a great conversational tool that allows comments to thread properly, with indented replies indicating the responses to comments where they should appear, not just at the end of a long stream.

This is an update that’s overdue, and one we’re glad to see!

Questions from the Field: How to Manage Your LinkedIn Profile

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This just in:Marijean Jaggers

Dear Ms. Jaggers,

I read an article you wrote last year on LinkedIn summaries, with interest.

A question: what advice do you have for those who have perhaps the resume of a job-hopper, many interests, and though they may appear to be on a particular track, are still thinking about what they want to do when they grow up–in their mid-30s? Not that this describes me or anything :)

For example, how much should resemble marketing copy vs. an open acknowledgment of the divergent paths you’re thinking about?

Sincerely,

J. Hopper

My response:

Dear J.:

What a great question! There’s less concern about having a varied resume as there used to be – Gen X and younger workers don’t stay in one place longer than the job fits. I think open acknowledgement is the right choice – and demonstrates that you have a variety of interests and abilities.

 

I think the days of worrying about short-term engagements (as long as there’s a variety of career commitments and reasonable explanations and a lack of FIRINGS) are over. The new conventional wisdom says if you’re not fulfilled, satisfied, and rewarded at work, MOVE ON. It’s better for the employer and the employee. I have yet to meet a person who regretted a job change.

What do you think? What would you tell J. Hopper?

 

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