Web Secret 405: the best web secrets 2012-2015

I have been blogging since 2008.

8 years.

Given the rapidity with which tech changes - that is a long time.

So I decided to review my 400 plus posts and decide which where the most important - one for each year.

2012: Web Secret 200: Thank U Internet - as I wrote in April, 2012, the World Wide Web makes it possible for us to connect to friends and family members, past and present. I paid homage to my father, my grand-father and a great great-aunt, two of whom I never new. Therein lies one of the greatest powers of the Internet. Our future descendants will have a record of generations of ancestors, in online posts, videos, images and more.

2013: In September of 2013, I wrote Web Secret 274: The Power of One, pointing out key factors that make it possible for a single individual to wield great power and influence. How is that possible? Well forget 6 degrees of separation - today there is less than 5 degrees separating separating any two people on planet earth.

2014: Web Secret 309: "Tech Proof" - in May 2014, I pointed out that despite the fact that the world is changing at warp speed, there are parts of it that are "tech proof," a term I coined to describe those objects, activities, feelings or experiences that exist regardless of electronic technology. And defining those things that are tech proof is very important as it represents the essence of the human experience. What will psychotherapy be like in the year 2100? Think about what is tech proof about it - that is what will remain 100 years from now.

2015: Web Secret 356: What is it like to be here? - written in April 2015, I discussed a mind bending post, "The AI Revolution: The Road to Superintelligence" by Tim Urban. Tim begins the post with a quote "We are on the edge of change comparable to the rise of human life on Earth. — Vernor Vinge." He puts up a graph, showing a stick figure (that's you and me) standing next to a near vertical line symbolizing accelerating human progress. And he asks, "What is it like to be standing here?" It's freakin terrifying is what it is.

And important to understand.

Web Secret 404: the best web secrets 2008-2011

I have been blogging since 2008.

8 years.

Given the rapidity with which tech changes - that is a long time.

So I decided to review my 400 plus posts and decide which where the most important - one for each year.

2008: Web Secret 24: Very Bad Websites - as I wrote in October 29, 2008 - Just as you can learn from visiting the very best websites, you can learn a lot from visiting the very worst. Conveniently for all interested parties, there is a web site that collects and ranks the absolute turkeys of web design, web navigation and web content. I am talking, of course, about the fabulously edifying and entertaining "Web Pages That Suck". "Web Pages That Suck" is still going strong and is just as funny and educational today has it was 8 years ago.

2009: I had just started to understand the power of online memes when I wrote Web Secret 79: Know Your Meme in December of 2009. I wrote "What's a meme? It's a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet, much like an esoteric inside joke. The content often consists of a joke, an altered or original image, a complete website, a video clip or animation, among many other possibilities." The concept is just as powerful in 2016 as it was then. Think ice bucket challenge.

2010: Web Secret 112: The World Is Flat - in July 2010, I wrote, "In 2005, Thomas L. Friedman published, "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century". The title of the book is a metaphor for viewing the world as a level playing field in terms of commerce, where all competitors have an equal opportunity. I encourage you to explore the many other ways the world has become flat on the Internet, with a multiplicity of resources available to everyone with very little effort." In 2016, the world has only gotten more flat - as the global evil and good invades our lives.

2011: in February 2011 I posted Web Secret 141: Dunbar's Number - writing, "In all of my presentations about social media, I emphasize that the quality of one's friends, followers, readers, etc. is far more important than the number. Well there is some hard core science behind my recommendation. In 1992, long before the advent of social media, British anthropologist Robin Dunbar hypothesized that there is a cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. By stable, he meant relationships in which an individual knows who each person is, and how each person relates to every other person...150 is referred to as Dunbar's Number." I am still talking about Dunbar's number because for most professionals, Dunbar's 150 strong ties will do just fine.

Stay tuned next week for 2012-2015.