MarkFarmer.net Blog

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Why Facebook Isn’t Going Anywhere

Collective rage against Facebook has become deafening over the last six months. It stands accused of killing everything from our attention span to journalism, to democracy itself. It’s been blamed for helping Russia subvert the...

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Top 10 Strategy Secrets

Creating a great strategy isn’t rocket science, but it has its secrets…. Strategy is never about technology, mission statements or org charts: it’s about people and culture. Peter Drucker said “Culture eats strategy for...

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Showering with Siri

Why do the best ideas always pop into our heads when we’re in the shower with a face full of soap? Why do the lightning bolts always strike when we’re unable to write them...

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The Secret to a Great Strategy

A great strategy does several things which aren’t obvious to a junior strategist: It takes account of an organization’s power structures, the ones that set direction, make the big decisions, and which need to...

A hipster with glasses and a bow tie.

Little Data: Bringing Sexy Back

Forget about big data for a moment: it can seem like a mountain peak viewed from afar, a daunting, mist-shrouded goliath in the distance. Like a mountaineer contemplating a climb, tech-heads like you and...

Photo of John D. Rockefeller

It’s Time to Regulate Facebook

Facebook has become an essential utility, and a dangerous one at that. Western democracies can’t afford to let it run unchecked any longer: it’s time to regulate it, like we do with any other...

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Why the TTC can’t wish the trolls away

A Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) union recently tried to shut down the @TTCHelps customer service Twitter account. The union is upset over “the barrage of hateful tweets directed at particular employees” on Twitter, including “photos...

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Social media behaves like a two-year-old

Social media vs. child-rearing I don’t have kids, but I’ve observed them intently over the course of my 40-odd years (watching six nieces and nephews grow up gives a bachelor about as much insight...

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Bots will disrupt recruiting in four to seven years

Social media, bots and why you’d better start coming up with content right now. Facebook announced a new strategic priority last week: bots. It’s doubling down on the technology, predicting that bots will start replacing apps...

The robot from the movie "Terminator 3"

Will you lose your marketing job to a machine?

Marketing Automation: the Death of Your Gig? Every day, machines are discovering exciting new ways to eliminate jobs through the wonders of automation. The latest robots are able to ship boxes, drive 18-wheelers and kill...