Being mega direct myself, passive aggression bugs me, so much so it is a mini obsession of mine. Unfortunately because I work in public relations, it is an all too familiar trait…

Alas, this post amused me. It looks like in the future 12 year old kids will be working brand marketers and PRs hard. Here’s a nugget but have a read of the whole post too:

As much as I dislike the general nastiness that can occur on a brand wall or in comment threads, I have to admit that it really gets to me more than just about anything when it’s done by younger kids. Although it’s aggravating to have to delete or defend against a minor (they even have an acronym…ATYO which stands for “annoying twelve year old”), as a father myself I’m more incensed by the fact that there doesn’t seem to be any parental monitoring. I see many of these kids say the same things, over and over on different community pages. I wish I could tell you that’s it’s just a few, but it’s not. It feels epidemic. It feels like there are mobs of children doing whatever they want, whenever they want, saying anything they want, online…and nobody is paying attention to them. They aren’t just saying annoying things, they viciously attack other people with racial and sexual slurs. F-bombs are prevalent. They say things like, “join my game and I’ll rape you” to mean “I’ll beat you in an online game”. I’m not holier-than-thou, but if I knew that one of my kids wrote that online, we would have a long talk, and probably not an entirely pleasant one.

The traditional TV model is dying

The broadcast model of networks like ABC and NBC is certainly under a lot of pressure, but cable networks are doing very well. Part of the problem is actually a press issue…the bigger, older broadcast networks get a disproportionate amount of coverage, so when they have issues, it can seem like all of TV is in trouble. For instance, buried at the end of this otherwise doom and gloom filled MarketWatch article is an interesting tidbit:

“Cable was again a positive note for NBC Universal in the fourth quarter, showing an 8% increase in operating profit, with solid growth at USA, Syfy, Bravo and Oxygen, Sherin said. First-quarter advertising rates at the cable networks are up more than 30%, Sherin explained, after increasing by the same amount during the fourth quarter.”

Last decade the big story was how technology enabled all of us to become publishers. However, the reality is quality content remains work. Many people don’t have the time or the motivation to consistently churn it out. Truth: those who did manage to attract large followings all worked their tails off to get there. People like Gary Vanyerchuck, Chris Brogan and Jeff Jarvis, just to name three, attained and scaled their influence thanks to a mix of talent and elbow grease. But that was the first chapter of media reforestation. Chapter two is about to begin and tablets and smart phones will take center stage, enabling us to all subconsciously publish and media to form like magic out of algorithms.

Content creation today still requires intent – thought then action. However soon we will be able to put our gadgets on autopilot and have them automatically contribute to the process even when they are safely tucked away in our pockets, pocketbooks and backpacks. When these millions of gadgets become powerful, always-on servers it will revolutionize media.

Clegg’s persona is roughly 50% daytime soap, 40% human, and 10% statesman. Cameron is 100% something. He isn’t even a man; more a texture-mapped character model. There’s a different kind of software at work here, some advanced alien technology projecting a passable simulation of affability; a straight-to-DVD retread of the Blair ascendancy re-enacted by androids. Like an ostensibly realistic human character in a state-of-the-art CGI cartoon, he’s almost convincing – assuming you can ignore the shrieking, cavernous lack of anything approaching a soul. Which you can’t.

I see the sheen, the electronic calm, those tiny, expressionless eyes . . . I glimpse the outlines of the cloaking device and I instinctively recoil, like a baby tasting mould. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t see a power-crazed despot either. I almost wish I did. Instead, I see an avatar. A simulated man with a simulated face. A humanoid. A replicant. An Auton. A construct. A Carlton PR man who’s arrived to run the country, and currently stands before us, blinking patiently, blank yet alert, quietly awaiting commencement of phase two. At which point, presumably, his real face may finally become visible.

At least Brown’s clumsy persona is human. There is something of the night about Cameron and the way presents. I just don’t buy it, I don’t trust him and I guess I am not alone.

All PR people could learn a thing or two about humility. Then again, Brown could learn a thing or two about presentation.