The Grapes of Wrath
The bank is something more than men, I tell you. It’s the monster. Men made it, but they can’t control it.
And the great owners, who must lose their land in an upheaval, the great owners with access to history, with eyes to read history and to know the great fact: when property accumulates in too few hands it is taken away. And that companion fact: when a majority of the people are hungry and cold they will take by force what they need. And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed.
Idea: Gaming Online Reputations
Here’s something I pitched to my friend Keith Hanson (of TweetingTooHard fame) a while ago. Now’s a good time to post it, given that Seth Godin’s essentially doing the same thing for corporations (and charging insane prices for it, without the functionality I’m offering). All Seth’s doing is targeted SEO for an easy-to-generate dashboard.
- http://[firstnamelastname].isabit.ch is a type of wiki to write about anyone and everyone, anonymously or not. Could be as simple as a rant, or as complex as a life timeline (with real data or not), but pretty much anything anyone wants to say about anyone.
- Users generate a subdomain for the target. Say “ShlokVaidya” to generate http://shlokvaidya.isabit.ch
- Then turn your SEO ninjas loose. That URL should be the first result for any search of “Shlok Vaidya,” followed by my blog, my LinkedIn, mentions, etc.
- Build ‘skins’ for this data. Could take the form of a blog (fill it with negative perception generating content), or a LinkedIn (replace Harvard with Stanford ;)), or a character assassination blog. Get really smart with this and insert Photoshopped pictures etc etc.
Why is this useful?
- Online reputations are playing a larger role in gaining employment.
- Despite (lame) services that pretend otherwise, you can’t control the message. You can deny it (delete all your frat party pictures from college).
- So generate the noise. Know who you’re going up against for a job? Game it. Apply a skin, make him look inept, incompetent, or criminal. Your girlfriend’s ex still calling her? Destroy his family’s online perception.
In short, instead of targeted SEO for signal (Seth’s approach), targeted SEO for noise or as a premium service, a signal override.
Independent Media in Afghanistan
Brian’s trying to bootstrap independent media in Afghanistan. Help him out.
Also, some cool thinking on how to do it on the cheap.