Googlegangers And Other Animals

Just came across this list of newly-coined terms from agency Cramer-Krasselt via MarketingProfs.

1. Luxcession: v. - As the economy continues to hit consumers' wallets affecting their purchasing choices, many mass-class luxury items are also taking a hit.
2. Dotcomrade: n. - A friend or acquaintance that you met online but have never met in person.
3. Greenwashing: n. - The practice of bogus environmental marketing.
   
4. Info Snacking: v. - Wasting time at work by surfing the Web.
5. Blacking Out: v. - To turn off any device that people can reach you with (cell phone, two-way, computer, home phone, morse code, etc.) in order to avoid someone.
6. Compunicate: v. - To chat with someone when you are in the same room, each on separate computers, and you talk via Instant Messenger instead of speaking to them out loud, in person.
7. Defriend: v. - To remove somebody from your established list of contacts, considered the ultimate snub on social network.
8. Generica: n. - Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where you go such as strip malls and fast food places.
9. Mouse Potato: n. - The online generation's answer to the couch potato.
10. Googleganger: n. - Another individual with the same name as you whose records and/or stories are mixed in with your own when you Google yourself.

I only have one Ginny Hendricks googleganger - she's an American real estate agent. I also have a dotcomrade on Facebook called Virginia Hendricks who lives in Philadelphia and whom I've never met!

Words that should be banned from press releases!

Essential reading for new PR recruits, this buzzboard has been compiled by a bunch of New York journalists and cites examples of fatuous words and phrases they receive in abundance from people like us trying to pitch headlines, and to which they immediately respond with a click of the ‘delete’ button.

I notice that 'end users' is on there. There's probably not an STM publisher out there that has managed to eradicate its use of the term in brochures and other communication. In a world of personalization, it’s scary how it never occurs to publishers to replace 'end users' with 'researchers' or 'medical students'. Or even, 'people'!

Of course, the other problem with press releases is that they are often not written for journalists at all. Many communications managers issue a news release instead for:

1. informing customers (because the company doesn't have an effective, widely-read, or well-publicized newsletter);
2. positioning (because your competitor had a great idea and you have to respond saying how much better your product is); or
3. the boss (because internally you need to be seen to be very busy developing new features and functionality, and you might get more budget if the CEO likes the sound of it. Besides, you were told to write a press release about it so you'd better just get on with it).

And that is why most of the press releases in this industry contain jargony nonsense and robotic quotes, and rarely make it into publication.

Okay, rant over. For now!