Year: 2008

Internet watchdog is another Ed Balls-up

The UK’s Children’s Minister was launching the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS)yesterday. In essence, it seems a good idea, but as ever the politicians have failed to think deeply enough. We already have the Internet Watch Foundation and the NSPCC, which does significant amounts of work for children

Beware the narcissists lurking in social networking sites

Narcissists are people who focus entirely on themselves; they also believe everyone else should focus their attention on them as well…! They are attention seekers who rarely develop any long-term relationships or any deep and meaningful relationships. The trouble is, they are frequently successful. Narcissists tend to be likeable, friendly

Social networkers want more from your business

Two new studies suggest that businesses need to be doing more on social networks. Indeed, most businesses appear to be ignoring social networks, believing them to be the preserve of students. However, a study by the brand strategy consultancy Cone has found that a whopping 93% of people want businesses

Online business owners advised to stop chasing traffic

Internet business owners should give up focusing on generating web site traffic. That’s the advice from Internet Psychologist Graham Jones. He claims that online businesses are focusing on the wrong thing by concentrating on web site traffic. “Business owners are increasingly concerned that their investment in e-commerce and Internet marketing

Liverpool Mercury interviewed me

The Liverpool Mercury just interviewed me about the psychology of Facebook – is there pressure to have more friends?

Future

Is your business prepared for the way your future workers will think?

Businesses are ill-prepared for what is going to happen to them in the next couple of years. Students currently at university and college are avid users of social networking sites. New research shows the dramatic increase in uptake of social networking by students. The study reveals that six out of

Blogging is dying – long live blogging

Blogs are fundamental to the Internet; without them Google would have little fresh content to index, other than brand new web sites. Existing web sites can help improve their indexing by Google (and other search engines) if they include a blog. The reason is simple. When we visit a search

Most online shoppers have problems with the sites they visit

Nine out of every ten people who shop online have problems with the web sites they buy from. That’s the stunning conclusion from research conducted by Tealeaf, the customer experience company. What’s worse, is that this is the fourth year in a row this study has been performed and it

What you can learn from the Palin email attack

So, Whitehouse-hopeful Sarah Palin has had her email account attacked by hackers. It’s no surprise that some people might want to do this; after all she represents an extreme viewpoint in the USA. What is surprising and troubling is that a public figure had two email accounts on a public

We’re all doomed….! Well, not on the Internet we’re not…!

We’re only half-way through the week and we have seen enough headlines of impending doom to last us all a life time. Here are just a few of the things that have been brought to our attention in the past couple of days: Lehman Brothers collapses AIG gets rescued by

Warning: The BBC is over-reacting on the web’s future

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the British inventor of the World Wide Web, spoke recently about his worries about certain parts of the Internet. He is concerned that the web has been used to spread disinformation; he is worried that we can trust some parts of the web when we shouldn’t. Today,

Internet marketers are missing a feminine trick

Take a look at most of the material online about Internet marketing and you will find it is aimed at people doing “Internet marketing”. There are thousands of “Internet marketing” gurus all writing books they sell to each other. But there is a common thread to all the stuff you

Where did that month go? Where did Google’s 10 years go?

I’m back…! Did you notice I had been away? Or were you so busy, or so wrapped up in your own holidays you didn’t care? Well, I’ve been on an extended Summer break; I’ve spent lots of time with my son Elliot (aged 8) and I’ve also been thinking about

In the Guardian

I was quoted in the Guardian this weekend. See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/aug/09/workandcareers

More people use online search than ever – but Google isn’t winning

More people than ever before are spending part of their day searching online. The latest research from the Pew Internet group has revealed that apart from email, it’s the most common thing we do online. Almost half of all people who go online each day engage in search. At first