Web 2.0 Tag

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Consultant to Nonprofits, Dotcoms, and Dreamers; photo by Kat Yukawa on Unsplash… What do charity organizations and most Web 2.0 companies have in common? None make a profit. (Apparently, someone convinced dotcoms that .) But they all still have prices — just not in the traditional sense of numbers on a tag…Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Professional Weasel Watcher… A dark corporate conference room. A loud THUD breaks the silence and a voice cries out…Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Amateur Neologist; word and illustration by Claire Barry… As a writer, I love learning new words and phrases. I recently came across “vegetarian inclined,” which describes omnivores who are eating less meat for health reasons. (Count me among them — and wow, do I miss bacon.) Then, the other night, I had a dream where an attractive woman tells me she likes men with “gypsy necks”: perfectly smooth flawless necks that look like “wisps of smoke that have been cut off.”Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Fellow Aspiring Mogul; illustration by Barzak… “In this very real world, good doesn’t drive out evil. Evil doesn’t drive out good. But the energetic displaces the passive.” — Bill Bernbach, advertising legend I recently spoke about media careers to college students at the National Broadcasting Society AERho Convention. We gathered in the heart of the Disneyland Resort, amidst thousands of tourists wearing Mickey Mouse ears and celebrating America’s greatest media brand. It served as the perfect stage for discussing the futureRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Who’s Extremely Allergic To Snake Oil; featured photo by Mister Serum via Wikimedia Commons… “Snake oil” originally described the fake medicine that con men sold across 19th century America. The worthless ointments and lotions supposedly cured everything from basic pains to baldness, when the only thing they consistently cured was “heavy wallet syndrome.” Scientific American describes how these faux experts worked:  “…the ‘doctor’ was aided by a shill in the crowd who would, at the appropriate moment, call out thatRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Former Facebook Advertiser… , I talked about the aesthetic MySpacification of Facebook: how the popular social network’s design went from clean to pure cornea gumbo. Now let’s talk advertising on Facebook. I used to buy Facebook ads because I was enamored by the targeting capabilities. For example, when promoting a local theatrical production, I could easily target the zip code and even a surrounding area, the right age group, actors and directors and other theatre types, fans of the playwright, andRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + former AOL-user turned MySpace-user turned Facebook-user turned Next-Please!-user; gumbo photo by jeffreyw via Wikimedia Commons… There’s a great term in Jargon Watch, a small dictionary published by Wired back in the Pleistocene Era (circa 1997): Cornea Gumbo. It refers to “a visually noisy, overdesigned PhotoShopped mess,” as in, “Gawd, we’ve got to redesign that page, it’s become total cornea gumbo.” Cornea gumbo aptly described the hot visual messes that constituted many websites in the mid-90s. In a pique of nostalgic democratization,Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Social Media Instructor… The belief that Twitter is more than just another communication platform continues to spread, kind of like swine flu for media geeks. And like the flu, it’s plunging victims into feverish hallucinations: “Twitter saved the Iranian protestors!” they cry, neglecting the fact that it, uh, didn’t. “Twitter made the a sensation!” Yay, a fast-food truck makes money. “Twitter kept us updated about Balloon Boy in real time!” Oh, waiter, next media fad, please!Read More

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Twitter Critic (Twittic?)… Critical times like these spawn critical questions: How do we provide healthcare to 300 million people? Can conflicts over culture and religion ever be resolved? If wind blows into one of Sarah Palin’s ears will it come out the other? But the question I regularly get asked is, “How do I score more followers on Twitter?” (Hmm, maybe it’s time to change professions.) I have ideas, but to ensure that I provide the Twuth, I decide to consultRead More

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC + Social Media Analyst; photo by Guillaume Paumier, CC-BY, via Wikimedia Commons… L.A. contains miles of velvet ropes that pack more protective power than the Great Wall of China. They’re fronted by large scowling men armed with high-caliber clipboards. And they’re assaulted nightly by swarms of wannabes, who are repelled by blatant acts of discrimination based strictly on looks. Whenever I spot one of these social maladies in effect, my nerd self-preservation instinct kicks in, and I automatically steer clear. I’dRead More