April 8th, 2011 by PhilBaumannRN in Opinion
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“The world will be better if you share more.” That’s what Mark Zuckerberg claims. And it’s part of a general philosophy of many fans of social media: that they help us to be more “social”, friendlier, cooperative, collaborative…in other words better.
But what – in truth – is the default mode of social media? On the surface, one would think “social”. That can’t be true though, for no technologies have social implanted in them – by definition, human-social belongs to humans.
So when I dip into my Twitter stream, for instance, I see huge volumes of people saying nice things, quoting positive aphorisms, replying to each other with accolades. If you didn’t know any better, you might conclude these are conversations between people who’ve know each other for decades. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Phil Baumann*
April 4th, 2011 by PhilBaumannRN in Opinion
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Kevin Kelly wants us to undertand what he calls the “technium” and outlines his life’s work in What Technology Wants. I’d like to riff on the way Kelly uses the word “want” with respect to Social Media, and ask: “What does social media want?”
Social Media wants…
- Your time
- Your attention
- Your friends
- Your brand
- Your business
- Your data
- Your privacy
- Your publicity
- Your location
- Your behaviors
- Your wants
- Your life
There’s nothing wrong with “want” in itself – maybe it’s OK that Social Media wants all these things – and more.
The more critical question, rather, is: What do you want?
As the power of technology increases the number of choices we can make, we will have to intensify our awareness of who we are and where we’re headed.
Whatever Social Media wants, what you want determines how much it gets.
@PhilBaumann
*This blog post was originally published at Phil Baumann*
March 30th, 2011 by Emergiblog in Health Policy, Opinion
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We hear so much about health care fraud and how much it costs us all in terms of higher Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance costs, and if we could just rein in this fraud we could make our health care system pay for itself.
My trusty Mac widget dictionary defines fraud as:
- a person or thing intended to deceive others, typically by unjustifiably claiming or being credited with accomplishments or qualities and
- wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.
Well, I’m wondering, what is actually considered fraud?
Let me give some examples, and help me understand whether or not this is fraudulent behavior. The examples are purely hypothetical and do not represent any known individuals, living or dead, or specific situations in any known emergency department, living or dead. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Emergiblog*
March 30th, 2011 by PhilBaumannRN in Opinion, True Stories
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Dear @Twitter,
I so totally know how this sounds to write to a service, but I must confess: your little wings have changed the trajectory of my life and – for the most part – I think it’s been for the best.
I’ve been around for over 40 years, have seen many things, met all sorts of people and have – mostly – enjoyed my life. But I think every several hundred years, a tiny and almost insignificant tool comes out of nowhere and changes the world – like the wheel and zero, both of which are truly “nothing” (both are each shaped the same way). And yet the each not only changed the course of civilizations but also created them. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Phil Baumann*
March 18th, 2011 by Emergiblog in Humor, Opinion, True Stories
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This is so wrong.
You can’t make this stuff up.
It seems an emergency department in Memphis, Tennessee is now taking online reservations for their services. Yes, you heard that right, you can now hop online and select the time you would like to be seen for your “emergency”. Just pay $15.00 and you can give your chief complaint, your medical history and your list of medications ahead of time, saving you time and trouble when you pop in with your pesky problem!
What if the problem is serious?
The computer won’t let you register and flashes a “Call 911″ sign at you.
But wait! There’s more!
If you are not seen within 15 minutes of your scheduled time, you money is cheerfully refunded!
I’m not kidding. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Emergiblog*
