I’ve been studying physics. For me to understand any of the science and newer theories, such as “string theory”, I try to picture it in my head. Have you tried to imagine what a blown apart atom looks like or the so-called “11 dimensions” that string theory strives to prove? Why do I even care?

Have you noticed how one dimensional social networking is? Or how the sense of Time feels awkward when you crank up Twitter and see comments from “0 seconds” ago, “4 hours ago” or the huge gaps of nothingness that occurs in Space when Twitter goes down and all is silent? You just know that in another dimension somewhere, somebody is trying to type into Twirl, only to get the message saying the message quota is on overload. We can’t see the people banging their desks, but we know they’re there.

We also can’t see the performance engineers sweating over Twitter server load balancing issues. We do get to see a picture of a whale, for reasons I never understood, when Twitter is down. Our senses are out of earshot to all the users screaming that Twitter isn’t there for them to talk about their dinner, the cat sleeping on their head or the next blog post they just uploaded. That dimension exists. We know it does. We can feel it and even participate in the ruckus for a universal, communal “HOLY CRAP” moment.

Ethics

I just said a word I spent years telling my kids they weren’t permitted to say, but they do anyway. This small action is now open to the public and I am subjected to the court of online ethical behavior.

Was it ethical for me to say “crap” in my blog? Why is she talking about physics in an SEO and Usability blog? Will my business suffer because I went off-topic? How many people will race to their computers to write a post calling me names or questioning my sanity?

I’ve done it. I may see a blog post or comment and think, “Whoa! Who spiked their peach tea?” Is it ethical for me to pass judgment on them? Is it within my rights as a citizen of the Internet to complain about someone I take issue with, for whatever issue I believe they violated?

In the whole life scheme of things, is it more valuable for me to manipulate public opinion or ponder the beauty of flower petals?

At Cre8asiteforums, we’re talking about ethics and reputation management for business and people in a thread called Online Ethics - What Say You? There’s lots of ground to cover when it comes to ethics and I don’t for a minute think I’m educated on all of it, nor am I free from dents and lack of wisdom. I asked some questions and the answers and feedback go everywhere.

There are ethics issues like justice, freedom, values, consent and trust. For me personally, trust is huge. It’s why I don’t “friend” everyone who comes along my path in some online social sites. For some reason it’s assumed that I “should” be everyone’s friend because I’m someone else’s friend or run forums or own a business. I disagree. And if I’m manipulated to be a “friend”, I respond by forming my body into an ice cube. Earn my trust. Don’t pretend you know me.

Ethics includes animal rights, the environment, human rights, legal issues, business standards, marketing, religion and Internet ethics, the latter which is still in the discovery stage. The key thing about these ethics is they change and evolve. To early Native Americans, it was unethical to believe that the land belonged to people and could be sold or traded for. To them, there was enough land for everyone. And yet their integrity came into question because they didn’t believe in the same God as the white man, who apparently told HIS people that land was not free.

Who was right?

In theory, ethics represent “good”. It’s good to be kind. It’s bad to call people names. It’s good to investigate and document experiences. It’s bad to engage in revenge tactics and try to influence opinions without facts to back it up.

In the forums thread, I talked about our rule about not attacking people or businesses by name. It’s been the number one rule. While we know Community members practice this behavior on their sites, we don’t permit it on ours. Why? Because everyone is responsible for their own experience and interaction. Everyone’s situation is different. While it’s true many hosting companies are total rip-off’s, they don’t mess up every single account. Some customers get along fine with no problems to report. In the case, however, of RegisterFly, who created a riot with their customer service violations, the sheer majority and scope of the bad experiences supplied enough proof that something was terribly wrong there.

Personally, I have no impulse to cause anyone financial, emotional and physical harm. I try to not speak unkindly online of my industry peers. Some deserve to be slapped around. My choice is to ignore them or in some cases, support their good actions and not support their bad decisions.

Do you have a personal code of ethics? Is your business committed to integrity, quality and customer relations? How do you communicate this online? Can you control what others say about you or your company? No, you can’t. When I found my own business appear with a negative statement about me by someone who never used my services and has never met me, I was stunned. I wondered if I had legal recourse.

When did it become legal to purposely and systematically wreak reputation havoc on a company you never did business with?

Recently I learned of a linking practice based on purposeful deception. The idea is to leave logical, helpful, polite comments in blogs and earn the blog owner’s trust. Some bloggers will learn to trust the commenter and let them post comments at will, with no moderation. Suddenly and without warning, the commenter begins to spam by linking to “bad” sites and writing comments that are completely uncharacteristic and uncalled for. This behavior is becoming an actual business practice. When does this sloppy treatment stop?

One of my favorite discoveries with my forays into physics, science and spirituality is the theory that at the very basic of core of our Beingness, we’re all made of the exact same Thing. A teeny tiny microscopic part of us is part of the One Thing that made it all possible in the first place. We share this thing. We can’t see it, can’t measure it, can’t hold it in our hands and can’t manipulate it to be different than It is.

Not only that, the computer you’re using to read this has that same invisible Thing in it. “We are all Relatives”, Native Americans believe. They include the two-legged (us), four-legged, rocks, plants, sky, and The Ancestors, who are technically dead but possibly in another dimension, so we just can’t go to the movies with them.

So if you spread hate and think ill thoughts or force anyone to do something they don’t wish to do, you’re hating and forcing yourself as well.

The reputation you try to manage may someday be your own.

Parents will recognize the statement, “Please use your words”. It’s used when children scream, cry, punch, jump on furniture, bite, pull hair and clothes, throw their toys and essentially use some form of body movement to express how they feel.

Since people can’t throw pots at each other online, we try to use words to communicate our feelings and ideas. However, it’s not enough to write sentences and be grammatically correct. We still can be misunderstood even though we used our words.

Divided We Type

If you use computers, you’ll type words into it. Some of us are better at it than others. What’s interesting is that though the Internet united us globally, it also divided us in the same way we categorize ourselves off-line. Social networking allowed us to narrow things even more.

For example, a women-only web site is intended to attract “just women”. A few soared to the top of the pile, like iVillage , Oprah and BlogHer. Each of these large web sites is a community that tries to meet the needs of the female gender. Women are encouraged to join and meet others like them.

Some women may quickly realize their gender is like an endless rainbow. There are so many ages, interests, likes and dislikes. And, if the homepage doesn’t somehow communicate the special sweet spot you want that day, it won’t hold your attention.

The answer to this is more niche oriented social networking web sites. Women can now find working women, stay at home moms, boomer women, and every female in between in their own web space.

When this happened, the dialog may have changed as well. The divisions whittled down even more. For example, stay-at-home mothers sometimes feel threatened by working mothers. The two sides stopped talking to one another and each has their own place on the Web where they can continue to not talk to one another.

Why have we created cyberspace to be a carbon copy of our physical space? A good friend of mine has a saying, “It is what it is.” We laugh often at it, because it explains so much. But what if we could make ‘Net communication more bendy, fluid, mingly, or centered where we can be together in the same space, rather than continue to go into our separate rooms, slamming the door behind us.

How to Use Your Words Online

Here’s some ideas on how to write comments, forum posts, opinion blog posts, offer feedback in forms, write PM’s and emails and some types of articles. Feel free to add your suggestions in this blog’s comments area.

1. Balance the negative and positive energy in your piece. For every negative point or thought written, express a positive counter point for it.

2. Use “may” instead of “should”. Example: “You may want to consider…” instead of “You should consider”. We have no right to tell anyone what they should do. We can suggest.

3. When approached with a perspective or point of view that you disagree with, it’s best not to push back if you can’t do it without sounding like somebody stole your stuffed bunny toy. Accept it with grace and move on.

4. Agree to disagree. Example: “I accept your difference of opinion.”

5. ALL CAPS MEANS YOU’RE THROWING THE IRON SKILLET AT MY HEAD. I WILL NOT ONLY DUCK, BUT I WILL IGNORE YOU.

6. Allow different views, opinions and perspectives in the same space. Everyone is in a different place in their life experience. If we were all the same, it would be boring wouldn’t it?

7. Write clearly. There are many reasons for this that range from satisfying spelling and grammatical control freaks, to those who have trouble understanding your language, to people who equate proper sentence structure with intelligence.

8. Write from the perspective that you are NOT the only person on the planet with something important to say.

9. Avoid labeling people, countries, places, ages, whatever. This isn’t easy to do. We all have feelings, opinions and attitudes about everything and we have a right to express how we feel. I hold back how I really feel 90% of the time because I don’t want to shut out the possibility of learning something new. We can learn from those we don’t agree with or like. We can politely listen to those we don’t admire.

10. Must you pass judgment? On the ‘Net, especially when you can be anonymous, judging is the way of the land. It’s done with votes, diggs, sphinns, thumbs up and down, barks, yelps, subscriptions, feeds, testimonials…we have lots of ways to say “I hate this” or “I love this”.

We don’t have a way to say, “It is what it is.”

I doubt a total nirvana acceptance of All the Crap We See Online would be totally satisfying to us. I admit to enjoying reading conversational chaos because it’s entertaining. It’s like people watching while sitting on a park bench pretending to read a book.

Can our words bring us together or do we continue to let them divide us?

Is it better to start a little safe place on the Web where we can control everything and visitors are invitation only, or do we learn to use our words in more creative, educational, positive, compassionate, non-judgmental and loving ways?

I caught this statement in a discussion elsewhere. It went something like, “I don’t think people over 40 get social media, whereas kids love it.” Having seen this sentiment mentioned before, I thought I’d express my feelings on the matter.

I’m 50 years old. I get the whole social media gig. It’s like Woodstock on the ‘Net, where people gather together for several minutes, days, weeks, months and years to hang out, talk, share, listen to music, run around naked and slide in the mud.

What social media doesn’t offer people of my generation is face to face communication. It doesn’t let us hold hands, sing or hug. Instead of raising our lighters as a token of respect and homage to those we admire, social media offers voting and “thumbs up” buttons. There’s no thrill there. There’s no rock and roll. Today’s version of social is “read this, read that”, vote on it, follow or unfollow, friend or unfriend, get answers or be completely and utterly ignored even though you know you’re there.

Social networking on the Internet brings together people who would otherwise never meet each other. Back in the day, we hitchhiked.

Families no longer live in the same towns, so having a MySpace account can help keep The Smiths up to date on what Uncle Bob is doing and when the next baby shower for Sally will be. It’s a sad thing, but with the cost of gas these days, some families only have the Internet as a way to stay in touch. Online photo albums have cheered grandparents the world over.

To think that older people don’t get involved socially online is a mistake. My own parents, in their 70’s, are deeply entrenched in discussion groups on all kinds of topics. They’re in touch with their siblings who are still alive via email and do projects together via the ‘Net, such as genealogy. My Dad sends me workshop and seminar videos and is no stranger to YouTube. Blogher is one community with women of all ages, young and old. One of my favorite Blogher bloggers is older than me. She’s hip and smart.

What I do feel is that social media is not going to make us happy in the long run. It fills a need right now. People are coming together and grouping off into areas of interest or gender, for example. What’s missing is a solid, real feeling of actually being with the people there. We used to call them “Be In’s”.

In most social situations, when you enter the environment, people know you’re there. They see you arrive into the space. They may approach and welcome you. With social media, the goals and missions are different. You can come, drop in, drop out and nobody cares if you were there. They may never know you showed up. Not only that, to participate, you have to give out personal information and obtain a password. You need to configure settings. Its a lot of work just to hang out with people you don’t even know and annoying as heck when you simply wish to stay in touch with a few you do know. If someone spots you, everybody wants to be your friend.

Pot used to do that too.

Today at my house, a friend showed up and after half an hour of chit chat, opened up about some issues he’s having with someone and needed advice. We had a nice talk. Most importantly, it was face to face and I could hug him when he left because I knew he’d like that and it’s what I do with my friends.

Later, another friend showed up and after 10 minutes of banter, wanted advice on her divorce because she saw how my ex-husband and I always put the kids first and get along so well. She wanted to do that too. When she left, she said she wanted to come back because it felt good to talk.

What struck me is both of these people can email me to talk. One has MySpace and Facebook and “Friends”, but doesn’t use them for “real” discussions. The other is a teacher and very computer oriented.

Social networking isn’t the same as one on one talking and sharing. There are no eyes to gaze into and no hand to touch. Conversations are strange, as if you’re sitting on the steps on the street listening to people talk as they stride by you. It’s a fleeting thing. Not sustained.

For me, true social engagement is something of substance. I haven’t felt that on the Internet. I have felt it at rock concerts and rallies, back in the days when we gathered in gigantic groups with signs, blankets, and worn out sandals.

I get social media. I’m happy it’s available. It’s just some social media web sites lack power. They’re missing passion or unity of conscious awareness, although some do try if they’re behind a certain cause. I don’t want to wait for someone to log on to Be With Me because when they are, most of the time I still can’t feel their presence. I just see their words. Sometimes they acknowledge me, sometimes not. I don’t like how that feels.

For me, a really satisfying connection is a lasting one. I want to feel wanted and needed. Social sites haven’t done that yet. I want to come away with something tangible. Something like a feeling or knowingness that I belong to something worthwhile, special, unique, and that I want to return to.

People are still talking about Woodstock.

At the Chicago Search Engine Strategies conference held earlier this month, two themes were repeated in various ways by different panels of speakers that I felt were strong messages to keep in mind.

The first item is understanding that search engines sincerely want your content. This is not an excuse to manipulate them. Rather, the message was simple. Clearly state on every page the topic or theme, and the search engines can take it from there. Even if your page has FLASH components, images, or JavaScript, there remain a number of options available for getting usable, descriptive content onto a web page.

The second message I came away with comes from the world of Podcasting; specifically, optimizing videos and radio shows for search engines. What the experienced panelists were hoping to get across is that there’s no reason to ignore the value of search with the new media formats. Rather, convert them to text.

For example, transcripts. Every show should be transcribed into text. Every video title should be descriptive. Instead of “December 12 Session #412″, make it “Interview with [insert name] on [insert theme] dated [insert date].” Add a descriptive meta description, on page text summary and appropriate title tag and you have a page search engines and people will understand, that links to your program.

This is a basic stuff.

What if you want to persuade, sell, inform, drive traffic and otherwise lure in someone with that page they’ve found in the search engine? Could you possibly be chasing them away and not realize it? Are basic on-page optimization techniques enough nowadays? Why are so many people still not finding what they want in everyday searches? What’s wrong?

New Book Due January 2007

Most of you are aware that traffic, click pattern and search measurement data tell a story about how your website is being found and perceived. Can you use this data to improve the customer experience? How can search assist with this?

Take this further. Now that your visitor, or for ecommerce especially, your prospective online customer, has arrived, what are they looking for? What do they want to find? How are they finding it, or not finding it? Rather than focusing on how a site is found, the search analysis processs described in this book focuses on what they do once they’re there.

There is a new book forthcoming that may help answer some of these questions. It’s called Search Analytics for your Site: Conversations with your Customers, by Louis Rosenfeld and Richard Wiggins.

The book discusses how people search and what their expectations are for search results. Anyone who optimizes web pages needs to understand this too. The authors talk about “starting points” behavior. People use one or two words more often, rather than complicated search phrases. They also naturally expect that a search engine can read their mind and know exactly what they want, despite those minimal keyword terms used.

In your on-page marketing efforts, are you confident that you know how someone wants to find your site or a landing page? Have you provided the means for productive site searches?
From the book description:

“Search queries are gold: they are real data that show us exactly what users are searching for in their own words. This book shows you how to use search analytics to carry on a conversation with your customers: listen to and understand their needs, and improve your content, navigation and search performance to meet those needs.”

This book may help you serve your site visitors better by helping you understand what their needs are and why they came (or left). The two-fold approach of working with the engines to create a better customer experience sounds like a new goal for 2007.

The website for Search Analytics for your Site: Conversations with your Customers includes a first draft, free sample chapter, book information and an RSS feed to help you remain updated on its progress.

Added: Power Point presentation about the book.

Note 12/20/06: This post has been edited to clarify the focus of the book, based on more friendly information from Louis Rosenfeld. To reiterate, “Rather than focusing on how a site is found, the search analysis processs described in this book focuses on what they do once they’re there.”

I’m really looking forward to reading this book!

Larry Constantine, of Constantine and Lockwood’s ForUse.com, has two new publications available for those interested in user centered design. In addition to the two links below, the site offers other popular essays, such as Beyond User-Centered Design and User Experience: Designing for User Performance

Users, Roles, and Personas

Abstract: User role models are compared in detail with the popular user modeling technique of personas. User roles offer a more compact, more focused means of capturing and exploring those aspects of users most relevant to interaction design. The advantages and limitations of the approaches are considered and a combined strategy is described.

The link goes to a page about it. The actual document is a chapter from the new Pruitt and Aldin book, The Persona Lifecycle, and is available in PDF format for immediate, free download.

Activity Modeling: Toward a Pragmatic Integration of Activity Theory with Usage-Centered Design

Abstract: Activity modeling is a systematic approach to organizing and representing the contextual aspects of tool use that is both well-grounded in an accepted theoretical framework and embedded within a proven design method. Activity theory provides the vocabulary and conceptual framework for understanding the human use of tools and other artifacts. Usage-centered design provides the methodological scaffolding for applying activity theory in practice. In this Technical Paper, activity theory and usage-centered design are outlined and the connections between the two are highlighted. Simple extensions to the models of usage-centered design are introduced that together succinctly model the salient and most essential features of the activities within which tool use is embedded. Although not intended as a tutorial, examples of Activity Maps, Activity Profiles, and Participation Maps are provided.

This technical paper is also available in PDF format. The link above will provide you more information, and you can choose to download it from there.