It's near the end of January and I have just remembered that I haven't been near Posterous since my New Year Resolution (see previous).

And I'm not sure that I have missed it.

I've been spending more time on my own blog (links below), too much time on Facebook, but mainly for work rather than entertainment) and playing around with Google+. I'm not a fan, yet.

I've been spending a lot more time on LinkedIn and warming to it. It's not as gossopy or light as Facebook nor is it as quick and digestible as Twitter. And nothing like Google+

It's - to some extent - about audience differentiation. Yes a good proportion of people I am linked to on Facebook are also linked on Twitter. But it is not a 100% match - neither should it be. Some of the people I'm linked to on Google+ are also on Twitter and/or Facebook.

But rarely do I send out the same message on more than one platform - and I'm pretty sure never on all three. It annoys me a bit when I see someone send the same messages on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

And I do appreciate seeing people posting different sorts of messages on different profiles.

The blog? The blog I suppose is about being more serious. I used to post exactly the same stories here and on the blog. But I'm moving on from that. I know very few people read the blog - I'm not sure who they are. But I really don't know who reads Posterous.

But if you do and somehow you've missed my wit, insights and ---erm --- ahh -- oh yes --- decisive writing. He's what I've posted on the blog recently:

PSNI Arrest a man for Facebook Comments

I thought that story would have go a lot more interest.

I want a video to go viral

And finally - after seeing too many people post the same message too often on several different platforms a heartfelt

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I have copied this almost verbatim from the February edition of WIRED UK. You can get your copy for £3.99 from all good magazine vendors. Better still, have it delivered to your door on day of publication by taking out an annual subscription.

Hopefully that massive plug and credit will prevent any legal action ☺ Just joking

This is a really useful overview on supporting your staff to become more creative. There are four points here to remember; in my experience it can be a little more complicated, but I don’t disagree with any.

The tips are taken from work by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan of the University of Rochester, New York.

Here’s what WIRED says.

1 – Give them space. Deadlines are important, but hourly check-ups are not. According to creativity researcher Arne Dietrich, working memory and a buffer against distractions are essential. Creativity involves linking concepts, which means holding several things in your working memory – a balance that can be disrupted easily.

2 – Don’t micromanage. Allow free time for employees to work on anything they want; intrinsic motivation (working on something just because its interesting) leads to creativity. Companies such as Google build free time into the work week – and back in 1974 such a scheme at 3M heralded the emergence of the Post-It Note.

3 – Open your mind. Getting stuck in a hyper-focused, linear thinking pattern can stall finding a creative solution. Hoe can you keep your mind open? Jonathan Schooler, psychologist at the University of California, says letting your mind wander periodically can increase the chance of creative insight.

4 – Tolerate Creativity – Reward creative thinking, not with financial encentives, which alone have been shown to decrease creativity, but by promoting the conditions that permit it. Tolerate the occasional failure and allow rules to be broken when there is a social benefit. Finally, give workers space to say when they are unhappy.

It hardly seems like two years ago – but according to YouTube it is.

The BBC Radio 4 programme decided to make a video to go viral . As I write it has had 70101 views – it is a really shite video. I don’t know who made it (actually I don’t care enough to try to find out). I don’t know the number of people who listen to Today on Radio 4 every day – but close on 1,000,000 a day would be a fair guess.

Friends School Lisburn launched a video seven days ago. Within 24 hours it had 10,000+ views. Tonight it has 285,411 views on YouTube. This is one small school in Northern Ireland – that, my friend is viral.

How do you make a video go viral?
1 – Make sure the content is better than great – make sure it is fantastic.
2 – Make sure everyone involved is really, really, really proud of what they have done.
That is all.

If people have made something fantastic they will be proud of it and tell their friends. If it is fantastic their friends will tell their friends.

That’s how you make it ‘go viral’.

The idea is simple.

The creativity is the hard bit.

UPDATE: 16 Feb 2012

I’ve just come across this fantastic infographic which gives a fascinating  analysis of what makes content go viral:

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2011/12/11/infographic-what-makes-content-go-viral/