Dopp Juice Archive

Translation: “It’s Not Going to Be What You Want it To Be”

• generally
• prospectively
• in essence
• ideally
• basically
• potentially
• probably
• technically
• categorically
• in theory
• sort of

Translation: “It’s Not Going to Happen The Way You Want it to Happen”

• straightforward
• easy
• automatically
• at some point
• ultimately
• try

Translation: “Do it Yourself.”

• That’d be great.

Quick Recap: In my last post, I showed a livejournal error message that referenced the words “style” and “fashion.” For me, it posed the question, “Could this be a subliminal branding technique used to appeal to cutting-edge user groups?” Fortunately, Jenks pulled me off my overly-theoretical soapbox by responding with a healthy degree of skepticism:

“unless the fashion tips came with instructions that people who spend more time with vogue than with code could understand, it’s doubtful.”

I have a great deal of respect for this woman and her work as an expert on identity marketing. I also happen to not be an expert on identity marketing, which means I would now be stepping way out of line if I were to pursue this argument.

But that’s never stopped me before.

Here’s my point: I don’t think we’re talking about fashion tips here — I think what we’re seeing is boring technodribble presented in language that’s familiar to a hip crowd. It’s a subtle way of acknowledging that their users aren’t all geeks, and tipping their hats to the voguers.

Do I think Livejournal did this on purpose? No (although, if they did, someone please let me know). Do I think we should learn a lesson from the coincidence? Yes. What’s the lesson? There are plenty of ways that we can communicate to our users, “We are one of you; we speak your language.” Plenty.

Let’s break these down into three levels: the big ways, the basic ways, and the subtle ways. Read the rest of this entry »

Count the clothing references in this livejournal page load error:

Error running style: Style code didn't finish running in a timely fashion. Possible causes:

• Infinite loop in style or layer
  

Primary Question: How many do you see?

Silly Subquestion: Is this a subliminal branding technique to appeal to cutting-edge user groups?

Followup Question: Could it be?