Linkedin has made it possible for you to have a visualization of your professional network. Just go to Linkedin Maps to quickly make your own.

To summarize my map, I am apparently in the center of a colorful media triangle between Los Angeles, New York City, and Toledo with some sprinkles of entrepreneurial/tech contacts in San Francisco, Finland, and Italy. Pretty cool, no?

Are you on my map? Let’s connect!

It’s 2012 and the year is off to a great start. I really can’t believe we’ve gone through January already. Time is flying, as they say. One cause of losing track of time might be the latest craze around the social media world: Pinterest. In case you haven’t heard, pinning is the new liking and it’s having quite an impact. Especially in the fashion, bridal and cooking industries. But a variety of businesses are finding unique ways to use this image-based social network to connect with their target audiences. I’ve been enjoying the experience so far and am following the Pinterest news quite closely. How about you? Are you pinning? What do you think of this new platform? As always, I look forward to reading your thoughts.

What if we could have a Google Street View of all the awesome, difficult-to-get-to places in the world? Well, the folks over at Wieden + Kennedy, in support of the new 2012 Honda Civic launch, created an “interactive 360 degree online experience” inspired by just that.

“Off the Grid” takes people beyond the ordinary and allows them to virtually explore places that they would otherwise probably never have the opportunity to see in real life. Except maybe that old sign yard in Vegas. I’m always impressed by the crew who films these sort of things. I’d have a hard time keeping my balance in some of those places, let alone having to carry or swim with all that equipment. Nevertheless, I would jump on the opportunity to create something like this. Who wouldn’t love to dangle 3D cameras from helicopters and bring exclusive, interactive footage to people all over the world? Amazing. da Vinci would be proud.

As 2011 comes to an end, some interesting statistics and numbers are being released about online video. Let’s have a quick look together, shall we?

According to a recent report from comScore, more than 200 billion online videos were viewed across the globe in October of 2011. Where did people watch all of those videos? Let’s see if you can guess…scroll down slowly for the answers.

Who watched the most videos during the month of October 2011?
Canadians with an average of 303.7 videos per person, then the U.S. with 286.3 videos per person, followed by the UK with 268.6 videos per person.

Interestingly enough, in another report by comScore, 15% of online videos viewed in November 2011 were advertisements.

comScore reports, “Americans viewed 7.2 billion video ads in November, with Hulu generating the highest number of video ad impressions at more than 1.3 billion, followed by Tremor Video in second with 1.1 billion.”

In a report from emarketer.com, mobile video consumption is on the rise and expected to keep growing.

“In 2011, US smartphone viewers represent 90% of the mobile video population, according to eMarketer estimates. By 2015, this percentage will rise to 98.5%.”

So what do all these percentages and predictions mean for you? Well, for starters we can see that the use of video as a means of marketing, advertising and promotion is a good investment. With a global viewing audience and a large window of opportunity to catch your target market in an engaging way, online video is something you and your team should give serious consideration to if you haven’t already. Keep in mind where people are watching (YouTube, Facebook, etc) and how they are watching (mobile, tablets, personal computers, etc).

Have some interesting stats to share? Did you invest in online video marketing or advertising this year? Are you planning to in 2012? Share your examples or ideas here.

Work, sleep, play, work, work, sleep, work, play, work, work, sleep, work. It has been an exciting and intense year so far working with itive.net and we’re almost ready to share what we’ve been up to for the last few months.

But if you head over to the site right now, you’ll get a “sneak peek” of our new design and you can watch the latest video we whipped up over here in the itive studios.

As always, I would love to get your feedback on the design and video, so feel free to drop me a comment below.

I posted this Facebook Privacy [INFOGRAPHIC] yesterday from allfacebook.com on my Facebook page and got some feedback from one of our Strategists at itive – international Facebook expert and accredited communications consultant, Annette Schwindt, that I’d like to share with you here. Annette’s comments are in italics next to each quoted item, which were taken directly from the [INFOGRAPHIC] mentioned above.

1. “Every friend sees your activity” – not every friend sees your activity, but every person who can see your activity in the first place can theoretically see the notification about it in your profile and those who are subscribed to you (subscribers and friends) who belong to those people in line 1 get a notification about it in their ticker.

2. “Redefining history from timeline” – only if you hadn’t defined a special privacy for your posts before (many people didn’t bother because the wall could be defined separately and had priority over the posting privacy) – but can be redefined in one click.

3. “Frictionless Sharing” – only if you haven’t told your browser to delete cookies once you close it.

4. “Your friend list” – not if you define the privacy of your friend list.

5. “Monitoring Posts” – can be defined per posting or all in one.

6. “Watch out for the Open Graph” – only if you allow them to do so (and in fact this is what these new social apps are for – so if you don’t want it: don’t use them).

Got any questions? More tips to add? Leave them in the comments below. Thanks again to Annette for the clarification on these 6 points.

Bowling Green State University – my alma mater – has released this amazing video above to promote the new Stroh Center, BGSU’s new arena and convocation center. I just happened to catch the link from ESPN’s College Basketball Blog being passed around on Facebook this morning. I’m really impressed by the video quality and rapping talent. This could have easily been disastrous, but it’s charming, informative and funny. It’s nice to see that the donors were totally down for their roles in the video, too. What good sports! I’m so happy to see that the Falcons took a risk in how they would tell the world about the center. This definitely beats your standard press release. High five to Madhouse Creative who did an excellent job with production. I think I might actually try to catch a game there the next time I’m in the neighborhood. I’d like to see this $10 million facility in person. Unfalconbelievable! Go Falcons!

“A master at the art of living makes no distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues with excellence what he is about and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. He himself knows he is always doing both.” – Wilfred A. Peterson

The very first computer I remember using was the Amstrad PC – 1512 around 1990.
My uncle Jon won it in a contest at work, Highland Electronics in Toledo, Ohio (no longer in business) and brought it home for the family to use.

At that time, my older sister Gina and I were living together with my grandparents – along with Joe and Jon, my mom’s two youngest brothers – while my parents were building a new house in the suburbs. I always wanted to be the one who put the floppies in the slots, so I could push the little latches down. I guess it made me feel important. As a 6 year old there wasn’t much for me to do on that computer except to play California Games. I was a big fan of rollerskating. Gina, however, relentlessly criticized my skating strategy and made me feel like a loser, as only older siblings are capable of doing.

About one year later, we moved into our new neighborhood leaving the Amstrad behind. But soon after we moved we got some devastating news. At the age of 8, Gina was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and would need to immediately undergo surgery, chemo and radiation. Needless to say, the excitement of being in our new home quickly dissipated when we had to make room for a hospital bed and medical equipment instead of new, normal furniture.

Gina and our family got involved right away with the Children’s Miracle Network and the Make-a-Wish Foundation in Toledo. When it was time for Gina to make her request with Make-a-Wish, she asked for an Apple IIGS and a limo ride to Mancy’s Steakhouse. Classy little lady she was.

I still remember how excited she was about getting that Apple computer. She was literally jumping up and down, screaming. I think we have that on VHS somewhere. Of all the things she could have wished for, it was an Apple IIGS. Not to go to Disneyland, not to meet a celebrity. Over the next few years, she and I would spend so much time on that thing playing Where in the World is Carmen San Diego, Oregon Trail, and writing crazy stories and songs in the word processor – Apple Works or Apple Writes? Because of her treatments, Gina also had to be home-schooled during this time, so having the Apple IIGS made doing schoolwork much easier. No more using Dad’s trusty electric typewriter.

Anyway, around this time we also started getting into Nintendo games and spent quite a bit of time playing Mario Brothers. We eventually got a Super Nintendo, as well, and Gina was particularly obsessed with the game Yoshi. She liked when the baby Yoshis hatched out of the eggs.

As some of you might already know from reading previous posts, Gina’s battle with cancer did not end the way we had all hoped it would. On October 19th, 1994, she peacefully passed away in what I now refer to as my parents’ home. Though a sad chapter in my family’s story and of my childhood, Gina and I still managed to have some good times during her 3 year fight with cancer thanks to our creative imaginations, the Apple IIGS, Nintendo games and, of course, our close friends and family members – and Spice!

When I found out Steve Jobs passed away last Wednesday, it was already Thursday here in Finland. We just got done watching the Bob Dylan documentary Don’t Look Back on Andrea’s MacBook. I had just looked up who Joan Baez was and wrote “People talk of situations/Read books, repeat quotations/Draw conclusions on the wall” on Facebook from my MacBook. I checked my Twitter stream “one last time” before bed on my iPhone 4. The first tweet I saw was from @thatdrew with the hashtag #fuckcancer. How sad, I thought. “Drop in the Sea” by Kula Shaker was running through my head while I started reading through all the Tweets about Jobs’ death. I read Jobs actually dated Baez when he was in his 20s. I read all of his great quotations. I finally read his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford. I wondered why I never read – or watched – it before.

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart…

And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent.”

My sister’s death, though tragic, became my source of inspiration and motivation to make the most out of my life. I saw at a young age how quickly and unexpectedly a life can end. Steve’s words hit home with me. His ideas about death have always been in my heart, but I don’t think I’ve ever articulated them quite so perfectly. “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.” I’ve often asked myself, if I died tomorrow would I be happy with the way I spent my last day alive? It’s a good way to keep in touch with my spirit.

It is sad the world has lost someone like Steve Jobs – and it is especially sad for his wife, children and loved ones – but what he did for the world during his lifetime is absolutely incredible. He has affected all of our lives. Not only with his passion for technology, but also with his passion for living.

My wish is that one day soon, we can stop having cancer as the “thing” that has touched all of our lives in some way. Whoever finds that cure… well, I hope they’re on this planet now and working on it…

P.S. If Gina were still alive today, I know without a doubt that she would be a huge Apple fan, owning every piece of Apple tech from the last 2 decades. Technology was just starting to get cool for us kids back in the early ’90s and she was already pretty passionate about it as an 8 year old girl growing up in Toledo, Ohio.

As for me, well, after some poor decision making during my high school and college years – buying a couple of Compaqs, a Dell laptop (WTF was I thinking?) and a Blackberry (Srsly?) – I finally regained my senses and became a Mac again. Side note: As long as Apple continues to be as awesome as it is today, I will never buy a non-Apple piece of technology again, particularly in regards to computers and phones. There’s no reason to waste your time or money thinking anything else could even come close to what Apple has perfected in creating and I hope continues to create. Steve Jobs and his team completely changed the world we live in today.

P.S.S. My grandfather still has the Amstrad PC – 1512. Apparently it still works. The picture of it above is what it looks like today in his basement. It should be noted, however, that he and my grandmother use an iPad and a more up-to-date Dell desktop computer. They actively keep in touch with their grandchildren, friends and relatives via Facebook, blog comments, and emails. They are both 83 years old. I’m so proud of them!

I finished my month as a guest editor over at Here’s Some Awesome today. Take a look at my last post to find out how getting objectified can help you live forever.

My September highlight was Ben & Jerry’s announcement of Schweddy Balls ice cream, which I still haven’t tried yet by the way. Why is this the best thing that happened to me this month? Well, I was a pretty diehard SNL fan back in the day – arguably when SNL had its more talented cast members – and the Schweddy Balls skit was one of my all time favs. In what I’m sure was incredibly annoying for our teachers, my friends and I would reenact sketches from SNL, including Schweddy Balls, during class. The joke also became part of my comedy routine for family and friends. I’m sure my parents really appreciated their 14 year old daughter making schweddy ball jokes at our Christmas parties. Not my fault rum balls were part of the family tradition. So, Ben & Jerry’s new flavor is like a blast from the past and a whole new opportunity to make schweddy ball jokes, while actually eating real, schweddy ball ice cream.

As for October, well, I’m looking forward to Halloween because mine sucked schweddy balls last year. Ask me why if you really want to know.

Anyway, that’s it from Finland. What was the highlight of your September? Anything exciting coming up in October? Have you tried Schweddy Balls yet? Make me laugh. I dare you.

I had the pleasure of talking with Pelpina from WebBeat.TV about the new Facebook makeover. You can check out our chat in the video above. Thanks again for inviting me on the show and a special thanks to Ross LaRocco who introduced us on Twitter!

Here are a few more of my thoughts on Facebook’s new features…at least at this point in time. I may have to write a follow up once I get to play with all the changes. This is sort of a stream of consciousness post, so bear with me.

I do think Facebook is “doing it right”. They are obviously thinking about the future of the company and how to stay relevant as new competition comes out (G+) and people’s behaviors and attitudes change. There is a ridiculous amount of users on Facebook: 800,000,000 (July 2011) and counting worldwide. That’s about 16x’s the population of Finland. I think they understand the psychology of people and target our best and worst qualities at the same time: our need for belonging, to have influence, and to express ourselves…they are professionals at getting us to spend a lot of time on their site. Having 800 million people on the same website is extremely valuable, however, to people and companies who are trying to reach their target audience. This is why marketing and advertising on Facebook is a great investment for individuals and brands – both big and small. I don’t know about you, but I usually hear about things first on Facebook. It’s a very interesting site to study and pay close attention to as a communications geek.

The Timeline – I think this will be a pretty cool feature, but I’ll probably be going in and making things private or deleting them altogether. Someone referred to Facebook’s new format as a “scrapbook on steroids”. However, I think you can all agree with me that there are some moments you don’t put into scrapbooks and many scrapbooks end up in attics and basements for good reason. People will want to have some control over just how much of their past is put out there for others to explore. Most people probably didn’t imagine that something they wrote 4 years ago in anger or a drunken stupor would be so easily searchable today. For the younger generations and for those who have just gotten on Facebook, they will have more control about the Timeline because they’re just starting out and can be a little more thoughtful about what they’re sharing. But, for the rest of us who signed on back in 2004 or so, well, we may have to spend some time cleaning up Memory Lane.

As usual, there are pros and cons about any new feature and there are always going to be people who love it and hate it. I won’t be surprised to see people leave or unfriend a lot of people when these new features roll out – a lot of drama could unfold. Nostalgia is great, but can also be overwhelming. It’s cool to remember things from the past now and then, but there’s a reason we forget, as well. Also, people are probably going to freak out about how much of their lives are so public and searchable (though this is really nothing new, it’s just going to be more obvious).

Some people are going to be worried about how awesome their Timeline is in comparison to others. One thing is for sure, productivity levels are going to plummet when this rolls out and everyone is obsessively going through their own – and other people’s – Timelines. You have to go in and manually delete or hide past posts in the Timeline. That could take awhile.

On a side note, the new layout is helping me see much more clearly what I don’t have in common with people and I am getting closer to appropriately organizing everyone. I’m very interested to see where all of these things we’re concerned about today will be 5 – 10 years down the road. I’ve been on Facebook since 2008, so 3 years of content is not hard to manage, but obviously Facebook is planning on sticking around for awhile – unlike AOL chats from back in the ’90s – so some people will have their entire lives documented on Facebook.

The Ticker – happy to see these sort of updates (likes, comments, etc) move over to the sidelines, which helps keep the most recent/news updates more relevant.

Who Unfriended You – There’s a “trick” to see who has unfriended you in the new Timeline. Watch the video with Pelpina above to learn how. I’m really not that into creating drama, so I see no need to get upset over an unfriending on Facebook. Besides, if I’m only discovering it on the Timeline and didn’t realize they were missing from my life before hand, then they probably weren’t a real friend anyway. There are so many different ways to connect with people online, so it’s really important for everyone to remember that “unfriending” is not the end of the world and your social status. We need to keep a healthy, realistic perspective on all of our social networks, media and technology and remember that our real-life relationships are the most important ones anyway.

What do you think about the new features on Facebook? Share your thoughts here!

Using Vimeo is such a nice experience. I fall into a zen-like trance while browsing through their amazing collections of (usually) high quality videos, whereas on YouTube I often feel like I’m trapped in the chaotic mind of a 14 year old. Anyway, all I wanted to say is that they’ve added a music store, so finding the right track for your video projects is super easy. Watch below to see how it works. Awesome.

I have a lot of ideas running around in my head about video projects I would like to do during my lifetime. Most of them involve traveling to places I’ve never been, trying new things and collecting stories from the people I would meet along the way. Which is why the short video project “Move, Eat, Learn” got my attention last week and I wrote about it on Here’s Some Awesome.

Who wouldn’t love to visit 11 different countries and experience what these 3 guys did? So, my question for you today is if you could do one video project in your life – all expenses paid and equipment provided – what would you do and why? And if you want, add on who you’d like to bring along with you…

Looking forward to your comments!

Here’s a little personal secret. I’m a sucker for autumn-themed decor. Show me a few gorgeous gords amidst some dried leaves and bales of hay and you’ve won me over. Put them on an old vintage truck and I’m going to take action.

Which is exactly what happened this morning as I quickly scrolled-and-deleted through my mailbox, but stopped abruptly when Pottery Barn plucked my heart strings with a few photos I immediately wanted to live in for the next few months. I could almost smell the hot apple cider in the crisp fall air just looking at these pics.

To my pleasant surprise, I realized – by actually reading the content of their email for the first time ever – that they have videos on their own YouTube channel showing you how to decorate your home for fall or throw awesome Halloween parties, etc.

The mention of videos was near the bottom of today’s email underneath the aforementioned photos which bring you to their main site/catalog. It seems like they’ve invested quite a bit in production quality, so why not throw the actual videos (or at least mention them) up at the top of their marketing emails? The videos are truly well done and deserve a little more attention.

I’m always happy to see people/brands producing great video and Pottery Barn gets a gold star from me today. You can certainly bet that I’ll be paying closer attention to their upcoming emails from now on and I immediately subscribed to their YouTube channel, so I won’t miss any more of their lovely videos (they’ve already made 270).

Hope you’re enjoying the start of the autumn season. As for me, the only fall decor I have in my house at the moment is a nice red leaf I found yesterday and put on my refrigerator with a magnet. On a side note, hot apple cider sounds really good right now, doesn’t it? Yummm. Gonna have to make that happen soon.

Happy Autumn!

Awesome video about “Hacking Art & Culture with F.A.T. Lab” from the @pbsoffbook series. This video will pretty much tell you everything you need to know. Watch the whole thing!

You can check out my guest post over at Here’s Some Awesome today about StoryCorps’ 9/11 animated shorts series. Here’s an excerpt:

StoryCorps, an independent non-profit based in Brooklyn, New York, is creating “One story for every life lost on September 11th.” Their motto is that “every voice matters” and this specific project was created in order to honor the “lost voices” of 9/11. Using interviews conducted with family members and friends of the people who were killed in the attacks, StoryCorps has created a series of animated shorts that brings those individual stories to life.

If you don’t know anything about StoryCorps, you should definitely take a few minutes to browse through their site and check out the different projects they do. In under a decade, they have already collected and archived +30,000 conversations from more than 70,000 people. Their mission is “to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives.” What an awesome mission. Inform yourselves!

Check out my first guest post on Here’s Some Awesome about the Air Guitar World Championships held right here in Finland.

Meanwhile, ever feel like this? Enjoy your weekend.

Oh, September. How I have longed for you. In the last 31 days, I’ve managed to get married and relocate to yet another country, all while working on some very exciting projects with clients across several different time zones. This has been a beautiful chapter in my life and I am truly thankful for all of the lovely people and enriching experiences defining my days.

So, my sanity has been restored and I’m finally back to a “regular” schedule. I’m really excited to share my thoughts and adventures with you again in blog form. Facebook and Twitter are nice for quick updates, but I usually have more than 140 characters on my mind.

For starters, you can find my guest posts on Here’s Some Awesome every Friday at 10 am PST for the month of September.

Post #1: Air Guitar World Championships 2011

As always, if you have any questions, topic suggestions, or interesting pieces of media you would like me to include on my blog, please send ‘em my way!

Ladies and Gentlemen! I am happy to announce that I will be getting married this Saturday to the love of my life, Mr. Andrea Vascellari! Consequently, I’ll be offline for the next week and will recommence blogging after we’ve recovered from all the festivities! Thanks for all your kind wishes!!!

And this one goes out to my soon to be husband! I really did fall in love with him the first time I looked at him and this song was stuck in my head for days! Wishing all of you lots of love and happiness!

This video is absolutely stunning.

Thanks to Bad Astronomer, also known as Phil Plait, for sharing this link on Twitter today.

“Ocean Sky” is a time-lapse video sequence of images showcasing the gorgeous night sky over Australia’s Southern Ocean Coast. It was created by Alex Cherney after “1.5 years of work, 31 hours of taking images during six nights….” Bravo, Alex. Bravo.

I’d certainly like to see that night sky in person. But for now, this beautiful piece of art will suffice.

Do you have a favorite time-lapse video? Share it here in the comments!

Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga are two people who have figured out (together with their publicity/marketing teams) how to make the most of the web. I read this post on Mashable today, which talks about Google Chrome’s recent ads featuring the two megastars. What are you making of the web?

July 4th has always been one of the most “summery” things about summer for me and I usually like to plan on doing something really fun. As a kid, I was more easily entertained and all I cared about was going swimming and playing with sparklers. Catching fireflies was cool, too.

Like any Italian-American family, our big Independence Day BBQs included an assortment of Italian pastas and desserts in addition to the traditional hot dogs, hamburgers, steaks, and ribs. After we would eat ourselves into a coma, we managed to go out to see the fireworks, or catch a Mud Hens game if they were playing at home.

I’ve had a few more unique experiences in the last few years, so I thought I’d share a few highlights here:

• Sailed around the islands of Lake Erie (2007)
• Can’t remember BBQ at an entertainment lawyer’s house in the Valley (2008)
• Spent the weekend in La Jolla/San Diego sleeping in a tent on a back porch that faced the Pacific Ocean (2009)
• Watched New York City’s massive fireworks display on a rooftop in Soho (2010)
• Spent the weekend island hopping in Venice (2011)

Not a bad way to celebrate, eh? Of course, I have some very dear friends to thank for their generosity and for giving me the opportunities I’ve had to enjoy some pretty cool Independence Day weekends.

This year’s events had nothing to do with the 4th, but just happened to fall at the same time. Despite the absence of fireworks and hot dogs, it definitely still felt like a “real” 4th of July weekend. Boating through the Venetian canals with good friends and fresh seafood is quite alright in my book.

Oh, and before you go. Here’s a video we made last year at Rocketboom called “The First Fourth”. It’s one of my favorite videos we made for the Casual Friday series. Enjoy!

For those of you celebrating Independence Day, I hope you’re enjoying the long weekend and doing something fun! Share your highlights here!

Any chance you have to create a video that includes faint images of James Franco‘s face floating around – take it and milk it for all it’s worth. This is a video by Kalup Linzy that is getting some buzz around it today. It’s not “good” in a traditional sense, or in my personal opinion, but people are sharing it. What do you think? Are you intimated or inspired by videos like these?

Not afraid to stand out from the crowd, French Connection is a great example of a fashion brand that is using it’s YouTube channel to show off its collections in a super fun and personal way.

What do you think? Have other examples? Share them in the comments! Thanks to Fabio di Vita for sharing the link to French Connection’s YouTube channel which inspired this post.

Online video is a powerful medium. It can reach and impact a large amount of people in a way that no other type of communication can.

Video as a form of mass communication has evolved over the years from being something only a few select people could get their hands on…think Hollywood and news corporations…to something that ordinary people can use to, fortunately or unfortunately, share their love of cats on YouTube.

Let’s take a look at a recent U.S. Online Video Ranking report from comScore. In May of 2011, Google Sites alone, which of course includes YouTube, had 147.2 million unique viewers who watched over 5 hours of video in a month’s time. In total:

176 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in May for an average of 15.9 hours per viewer. The total U.S. Internet audience engaged in more than 5.6 billion viewing sessions during the course of the month. – comScore

And those are only numbers for the U.S. Whether you are a musician, a reporter, or an entrepreneur, online video has the potential to help you share your art, your stories, or your business with hundreds, if not thousands (and in some cases millions) of people across the globe. And thanks to today’s social web, it can quickly be shared with little effort by all the people who think it’s awesome, which makes your “job” of spreading the word even easier.

There’s no doubt that more and more people are starting to understand the power and value of online video. And no matter why you’re making it or why you’re watching it, one thing remains the same: Online video is limitless.

“But, we don’t really have anything to put on video.”

Yes, you do.

“But, we just don’t have the budget for video.”

Yes, you do.

“But…”

Stop. Not having an online video or series of videos is like not having a website. The web is personal. Video is the most personal thing you can include in your web presence. Get on it!

If there are people, there are stories. If there are products, there are explanations. Do you have an iPhone? You can make decent online videos for the rest of your life with a one time fee of $5.00 using the iMovie app. In fact, you can shoot it, edit it, and publish it to YouTube from your iPhone. There are no good excuses. With a little bit of thought, you can make a video for anything. Just browse through YouTube and you’ll see this is true – not saying every one out there is a masterpiece, but they are there. And there are so many creative ways to do it.

Here’s a YouTube content producer whose videos nearly always break 1 million views. Of course, every video you make doesn’t have to be this complicated, but its nice to see what can be done. Browse through MGM’s channel for some mind blowing work and hopefully some inspiration:

If you haven’t created a video or series of videos for yourself or brand yet, now is the time to give it some serious thought and put yourself out there. People are searching and they are definitely watching. But if you’re not there, you cannot be found.

How do you – or will you – use online video? Include links to some examples in your comments!

It’s late. I have insomnia. I’m mindlessly browsing the internet, mainly reading through random people’s Facebook updates and Tweets. The Beatle’s “Eleanor Rigby” (All the Lonely People) comes to mind. So here I am writing. Because it’s sad. This online world is changing the way people are living – in both positive & negative ways in the ‘real’ world. But tonight, I feel the negatives. And I’d like to share them with you and see if we can’t get a discussion going.

The human need for interaction and validation is remarkable and, fortunately or unfortunately, a fundamental part of our lives – if I may even go as far as to say, of our survival. Facebook and Twitter are two platforms that highlight this fact perfectly. Now, I’m not questioning the value of social media for marketing or for selling your brand or business. Or for spreading the word for important causes. Those are separate categories from the ones of which I have swirling around in my mind right now at 4:00 a.m. In this moment, I’m focused on what I’ve observed about human behavior on social networks. Just “normal” day to day updates from people around the world related to self, romance, success, family, friends, etc.

In the era of Facebook and Twitter, living life has turned into archiving life in real-time. It appears to me that people are living with a concerned mindset of how they and their lives will be perceived by their various social networks. Consequently, what should be naturally occurring moments or thoughts become manipulated, exaggerated portraits or prose of people trying to impress each other. And we all end up drowning in the bullshit.

Or, consider the super mundane outbursts that can be even more depressing than the over-the-top-aren’t-I-amazing status updates. People just reaching out for some kind of sign that someone out there is “listening” and “likes” the fact that they’re “so tired, must…get…coffee…” or “can’t wait to see my BF this weekend, it sure has been lonely here.”

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of good in social media and sharing. It can be fun and worthwhile. It can even be interesting and mind-opening. And I participate in it just like everyone else. But I would like to point out these things that have been bothering me for quite some time now and…surprise, surprise…to see if anyone else feels the same. You see. I don’t really want to be alone in my opinions or feelings either. It’s the damn V-word. Validation. I must admit, however, that I am a bigger fan of the C-word. Conversation. Though, I suppose one could argue that validation results through conversation. Oh, well. You get what I mean.

Fundamentally, we all want to be accepted in some way by at least one person in our life. I could go deep into psychological theories here, but I’ll save that for the real experts. In some way, shape or form, we all would like to be told we’re beautiful. To be told we’re smart. To be told we have a great idea. To be told we’re fun. To be told “I agree with and understand you”. And the list goes on and on and on. This is nothing new in human nature. It’s just that now, a large population of people have access to communication channels that can broadcast this out to everyone and anyone across the globe. This is why social media is so successful and addicting. We’re social networks. Um, wow. I mean, we’re social creatures. Born to communicate and to connect.

So, what’s the point of my rant? My point is that it becomes problematic when you change the way you live in order to manipulate and market your chosen online persona. It’s problematic when you greet your online “friends” first before the person who is physically next to you. It’s problematic when you would prefer to write out your thoughts rather than deal with an actual face-to-face conversation. Or as it seems to be nowadays, even talking on the phone is becoming too “intimate”. God forbid you would have to give an immediate response without fact checking or editing your answer until it’s “just right”. It’s problematic if you start to feel like your life is shit because of what you see and read about other people online in your “network”. It’s problematic if you lose sight of reality and start giving more value to your online self and not to your real self. It’s problematic if you’re more interested in what complete strangers have to say about you than people who actual love and care about you for who you are.

Why should you be aware of this? Because in the end we’re all going to die. Yup. There it is. Morbid Leah. But I don’t mean it in a morbid way. I mean it as a wake-up call, as a reminder, as a flash of inspiration that…when you’re dead and gone your super sweet online profiles and followings won’t mean much. But, what you did in real life, what you contributed to your community, how you treated people, how you loved your family and friends…that is what will matter. And those people will memorialize you. And consequently validate you and your life because of something real. Because you were real.

So, this weekend if you’re up for it: resist the temptation to document your every move. Upload your photos the day after that kick-ass night at the club. Spend more time living in the moment and really connecting with people. Notice how often you think “in updates”. Resist. Notice how nice it is to take the pressure off yourself and to whole-heartedly enjoy the world around you as it is. Look someone in the eyes when you’re talking with them instead of at your phone. In fact, keep your phone in your pocket.

Let go of the fear of forgetting and of being forgotten and maybe you’ll actually remember and be remembered.

As always, I invite you to share your thoughts. Thanks for reading.

QR Codes. Maybe you’ve noticed these black and white square codes popping up around you recently and wondered what they are and how you’re supposed to use them. Well, my team and I over at itive.net recently created a video about QR Codes that will give you a basic understanding of what they are, how to use them, and even how to create your own QR Codes. Check out the video below!

Help spread the word about QR Codes by sharing this video with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, or go ahead and embed it on your own blog! If you have any questions about QR Codes, or are interested in working with my team and me for your online communication needs, feel free to get in touch via email at leah@itive.net! Enjoy!