Reading about the web

I look at the last 3 years of my life and I see many improvements. One of them is the fact I am surrounded by people who love reading and pass on to me books that actually tackle topics I am genuinely interested in. (Yes, I finally can talk about new ways of communication, as opposed to last night’s ‘EastEnders’;)) So here is a quick note about two books I was given recently: ‘140 Characters‘ by Dom Sagolla and ‘Me and My Web Shadow‘ by Antony Mayfield.

Dom Sagolla’s book did not grab my attention too much, actually I think I was slightly skeptical about its content after reading the introduction – so please do read it, to decide yourselves whether you like it or not. I think there is a target audience for this book, I am just not the right person. I do not like statements referring to 140 characters as the best possible form of expression coming from a person who was involved in early days of the tool – but it maybe my my silly, traditional part getting slightly offended? I am not sure. I did finish the book, and I found the chapter on the beginnings of Twitter really interesting. As for the style – I am not sure if I was in the wrong mood, or I simply generally do not like the idea of direction in style on-line. I like the idea of various types of Twitter users and their styles. I like to know, if my friends got their first cup of coffee, just as much as I like their philosophy, Twitter fiction or real-time updates from events. That variety is exactly why I like Twitter so much. Mayfield’s book on on-line reputation management is a must-read and a must-have! It is one of those books that grabs your attention from the fist page and does not let you go…and on the last page you actually feel you want more! It’s wise. It’s full of practical, valuable advice. It is extremely important! It is basically a set of guidelines on how to manage your on-line presence in a smart way, with available tools, and why it is important to do so. The tips are adjusted to various types of social media. The author always relates his points to ethics, privacy and on-lien security – which I personally think are the aspects of our on-line ‘life’ we do not really talk about enough. The book is really well structured – it is the first source that convinced me to stop to think about blogging as the main hub of on-line presence (which is the case with me, of course, but does not have to apply to everyone). I actually think it made perfect sense to mention blogging at the end of the book. It is short – you need few hours to read it and re-think its content, providing you are familiar with its topics. It is worth reading few times, to ensure you get all the major points. It is also written in the positive spirit of technology/web improving our lives.

So just one thought of the author to take away:

To my mind, the web is a synchronicity engine, in that it greatly increases the incidence of (mostly) pleasant coincidences.

More wise words from Antony Mayfield on his blog here, very good free e-Book on social media available to download from here.