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Showing posts from November 10, 2008

What Are You Talking About?: Optimism as Social Proof

Okay, I'm foregoing my usual link madness to get a little wonky this morning. Sarah Rettger at the ABA's Omnibus blog had a great link yesterday (what are you doing working Sunday, Sarah??) ( Update: while Sarah noticed the link, it's Dan Cullen who deserves credit for posting on Sunday) that I think deserves some analysis and some action. The link is to a site called Copyblogger , which has columns and advice about how to be a better blogger or online marketer. This particular column, " How to Change the World Using Social Media ," seems especially timely after an exciting presidential election that used online media and social networking to make great things happen. It also has a lot to do with my optimism schtick around here, and I think it has the potential to be an inspiration to independent booksellers. The key term here is social proof , which Wikipedia defines as "a psychological phenomenon that occurs in ambiguous social situations when people a