gaping void | Curiously Persistent

Why do business cards still exist?

Posted on June 9, 2009 by Simon Kendrick

I don’t have business cards. I don’t want business cards. And I don’t need them.

Business cards are a remnant of a bygone age. Where people stayed with the same company, with the same job title, for many years. Where business was analogue rather than digital. Where the Rolodex were a staple of the office stationary order.

That era has passed. Job titles are forever changing and increasingly meaningless. Taking self-aggrandizement/irreverence (delete according to personal opinion) to a new level, some companies even allow employees to make up their title. In some cases they act as a useful barometer of seniority. But how long has it been since a manager actually had serious business authority? How many levels of hierarchy call themselves Director? (NB: The old ITV hierarchy was particularly confusing; I reported into a Head who reported into a Head who reported into a Director).

If someone wants to contact me, there is:

Contact details on my email signature
My company website
A general Google search (I’m not the best example as I’m not the first entry)
A specific Google search (e.g. incorporating blog or twitter)
Asking for my phone number and entering it into a mobile phone (assuming you don’t have one of these)

The exchange of business cards may be a ritual in some cultures, but it is increasingly wasteful. If I am given a business card, it goes into a drawer never to be seen again (no offence). I have piles of unused business cards from previous employment and job titles.

Business cards may provide fodder for optimistic websites or aspiring artists, but what other reasons are there for needing them? I’m stumped.

Image credit: Gaping Void

Filed under: business | Tagged: analogue vs digital, business cards, gaping void, japanese culture | 15 Comments »

Links – 22nd December 2008

Posted on December 22, 2008 by Simon Kendrick

This post is part 1 of 2, and they will effectively be my only link updates for December. A shame considering I kept the updates fairly consistent beforehand, but December isn’t the easiest month to keep on top of things – particularly with ATP and illness.

Anyway…

Social media

I’ve been using Twitter a lot more recently – I think the main reason is the use of Tweetdeck, which has useful filter features within a great interface. This has allowed me to distinguish signal from noise to a greater degree – something that concerns me with social media. Two posts on the subject resonated with me – Inquisitr’s “Is Social Media Becoming A Social Mess” and The Tumbling Cod’s “I’m Pretty Sure Tumblr Makes You Stupid“

Most people reading will be familiar with the furore over Chris Brogan’s sponsored post. For those unaware, Jeremiah Owyang has a comprehensive overview of the situation. I think Chris Brogan defended his position well (for the record, I have no problem with it so long as it is disclosed. If it happens more frequently than I’d like, like others I would unsubscribe) while Dirk Singer wrote the best opinion piece on the matter that I read.

Jeremiah Owyang has an overview of the different ways in which companies can respond to the personal brands of their employees in the social media sphere.

E-Consultancy looks at social media’s metric problems. A while back, I wondered how best to measure the online sphere in general. I don’t envisage a universal answer being forthcoming anytime soon.

JP Rangaswami has a thought-provoking post on the nature of asymmetric networks and conversations within the social media sphere, while James Governor also gives his thoughts on the asymmetric follow

Tamar Weinberg has published the ultimate social media etiquette handbook

Paul Carr has a typically humorous post on his experiences at LeWeb, and the fallout from the less than perfect proceedings

Hugh Macleod has put together his manifesto on why social objects are the future of marketing. A brilliant read.

Graeme Wood has put together a great presentation (with notes) on the future of media

Mashable argue that relevancy, timing and persuading users to seek out advertising are the keys to Facebook succeeding in overcoming its advertising problem

A superlist of what not to do in social media

Bubble Comment is a new tool that lets you overlay video comments onto websites. I’m not sure whether this constitutes fair use, so it may not be around for all that long in its current form, but worth a look.

The Internet

Ged Carroll has published 29 not very technical things that every PR should know – some solid advice and some great tips in there

The Guardian have published their top 100 websites for the year ahead – a couple of notable omissions but by and large a good list

Merlin Mann responds to the productivity/advice blog genre that has eaten itself. His contention is that it is wrong for people to look for quick tips and lifehacks – the best way to improve is to follow a cohesive and comprehensive plan. We should concentrate on doing, rather than living vicariously.

Cory Doctorow puts forward a persuasive argument for not extending the copyright privileges of recording artists

An interesting article in Wired on how a potentially lethal flaw in the Internet architecture was discovered

Research and data

The latest Trend Blend map is available. Download it along with previous editions here

I’m a sucker for both data and innovative presentation, so Flowing Data’s 5 best data visualisations of the year was a no-brainer for me

Research Talk have an excellent article asking just how healthy brand health measurement is?

I loved this accumulation of elements affected by the financial crisis – whether beer, marriage or personal maintenance

The year in media errors and corrections – there are some zingers in there

Dataopedia is a brilliant, free resource pulling together all the publicly available stats for different websites.

A pretty huge list. So, for those that don’t have a lot of spare time over the Xmas period I would particularly recommend Jeremiah on the Izea brouhaha, JP on asymmetric networks, Hugh on why social objects are the future of marketing, Guardian’s top 100 websites and the latest trend blend map