Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You’re only a stranger once.

September 19, 2007

The Single W Seal of Approval

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 6:26 am

Can we talk about . . .

a seal of approval.

No, I’m not advocating that anyone be a “people pleaser.” For goodness sake, I just wrote yesterday about the incredible influence of being a 65th Crayon.

A comment on the post about saying “thank you” to folks on social networks got me thinking. Here’s the part of the comment that Rob Scott left . . .

Sending thank you notes is a good idea. My grandma would definitely approve too - and there’s not much on the internet that she would approve of!!

It’s not about Rob’s grandma, or my grandma, or that fact that I’m old enough to be someone’s grandma — even though I’m surely not. It’s about how the world has changed since we’ve gone from an alphabet that had one W to addresses that have three — www. It’s also about how, though the world has changed, people have stayed mostly the same.

So I’m thinking about the question and I wonder if you’ll think with me.

Be it my dad (born in 1907) or your grandma, or any hero you know from the era of the Single W . . .

What on the Internet would get your hero’s Single W Seal of Approval?

I’ll go first. You can find my answer in the comment box.

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13 Comments to “The Single W Seal of Approval”

  1. September 19th, 2007 at 6:33 am
    ME Strauss said

    My Hero: My Dad [like that's news :) ]

    My dad would approve that the Internet is so entrepreneurial. He always said, “If you’re going to teach, own the school.”

    My dad would also approve that people deal direct. He always said, “Talk to every person on their ground about what they’re interested in. Meet with them on the things they care about.”

    And the folks who visit here would definitely get his seal of approval. No explanation needed or offered. :)

  2. September 19th, 2007 at 7:33 am
    Alex @ datapencil.com said

    My grandmother gives the seal of approval, especially for photos and things that connect her with the people she knows. My grandfather and her spend hours and hours scanning old photographs and adding to their genealogy collection of websites and storytelling projects. And every Sunday evening they meet with my Mother for a video chat session!

  3. September 19th, 2007 at 7:44 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Alex!
    Welcome!
    Your grandparents sound incredibly cool and savvy. They’ve found the some of the best uses of the Internet that younger folks still are missing. Ironically, deep down they’re probably archiving all of that for you. :)

  4. September 19th, 2007 at 8:39 am
    Karin H. said

    Hi Liz

    My mother gives her largest approval on the Internet by enjoying herself with it: e.g. even learning how to publish a comment on our family-blog (we’re all spread throughout Europe) where she’s able to watch and read what her children and three grand-children are up to.

    (And I don’t even mention the fact that the wall in her ‘computer-room’ is filled with certificates for all the software courses she enrolled herself in, including Powerpoint Presentations. She’s 73 BTW ;-))

    Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)

  5. September 19th, 2007 at 9:06 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Karin!
    A family blog, what a wonderful outgrowth of today’s Internet! It’s a wish that past families could only dream about. Imagine how in the 1800s they had to wait and wait for news.

    We really have some gifts now to enjoy. :)

  6. September 19th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
    Brooke said

    Both sets and my grandparents approve of the “family blog.” They love seeing pics of the kids and hearing new stories about all of them.

    They are also big fans of Ceiva (kinda internet - but techy non-the-less), and of Skype - a great way to see grand kids and talk!

  7. September 19th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
    Anna said

    Hi Liz,

    My dad would have been 77 this year and I know he (and I suspect my grandpa, his dad) would greatly approve of wikipedia. My dad was a serious life-long learner and *his* dad was always preaching about the importance of education, formal and informal.

  8. September 19th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
    Joanna Young said

    My grandmother is my all time heroine and out and out 65th crayon. She was a free thinker and independent spirit (and a half). I guess she was an early blogger (she published short stories and articles) and podcaster - before we’d ever heard of those terms.

    She wrote to the BBC way back (in the early 50s I think) complaining about the quality of their radio broadcasting in Gaelic (she was a native Gaelic speaker). They wrote back to say ‘well, can you do any better?’ So she accepted the challenge, went through to Glasgow and started broadcasting :-)

    She was a most mischevious person, loved challenging rules and authority, encouraged people to think for themselves. I think she would have loved the free-thinking possibilities of the Net.

    Joanna

  9. September 19th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Joanna!
    Your grandmother is indeed a 65th Crayon of the very first order, and I can see how you are her granddaughter through and through. :)

  10. September 19th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Brooke!
    Family blogs seem to be the W-approval winner of the Internet. I can totally understand the reasons that drive that. :)

    I just realized that my son’s own grandmother is crazy for online shopping these days. :)

    Sorry, I didn’t comment earlier. I read what you wrote and responded in my head, but not here in the comment box. I’m really clueless. :)

  11. September 19th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Anna!
    I read your comment earlier also. . . sorry.

    My dad would have really liked your dad and grandpa. Those were the values he found in television and would found the same ones in the Internet. I suppose he might have also been looking for “The Lawrence Welk Show.” :)

  12. September 23rd, 2007 at 10:32 pm
    Rob Scott said

    My other gramdma was involved in computers from the earliest possible moment (when they were the size of a house) and worked on the enigma codebreaking machines during the war, so I guess computing in one form or another is a family tradition.

    My mother is a journalist - she loves the freedom of expression that blogging allows.

    My father a lawyer, likes the wealth of information available on the internet, particularly legal debate.

    Overall, many of my family cannot appreciate how I make a living from running a bunch of sites which are completely free. My dad gets it though - “its just like giving out a free newspaper in a train station, except its a bigger station, visited by tens of millions of people, and your overheads are much lower.”

    That’s the sort of chat that makes me carry on each day!

  13. September 23rd, 2007 at 10:40 pm
    The World’s Greatest Blog » Blog Archive » What’s The Best Advice You’ve Ever Received? said

    [...] September 24th, 2007 by Rob Scott digg_url = ‘http://www.24hourtrading.co.uk/blog/2007/09/24/whats-the-best-advice-youve-ever-received/’; digg_title = ‘What’s The Best Advice You’ve Ever Received?’; digg_bodytext = ‘After a little bit of blogging about sending thank-you notes online, a comment I left was picked up, and run with, about whether your parents, or grandparents, would approve of the stuff you’re doing on the internet. See it here. But this little exchange got me thinking about advice we have received from our elders. So [...]‘; ( function() { var ds=typeof digg_skin==’string’?digg_skin:”; var h=80; var w=52; if(ds==’compact’) { h=18; w=120; } var u=typeof digg_url==’string’?digg_url:(typeof DIGG_URL==’string’?DIGG_URL:window.location.href); document.write(”"); } )() After a little bit of blogging about sending thank-you notes online, a comment I left was picked up, and run with, about whether your parents, or grandparents, would approve of the stuff you’re doing on the internet. See it here. [...]

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