Recently by Joe Rinaldi

The party is over.  It's time to collect all the empty cups and put them in the recycling.  I'll go to the hardware store and buy some glass to replace that table top while you scrape the shaving cream off the bathroom mirror.

It's been an 18 month long facebook kegger and the sun is starting to splinter through the venetian blinds and that hallmark of any good party - regret - is seeping in.

'Sorry, I was new to facebook and competitive about how many friends my friends had, so I friended you kind of carelessly.  Now, 6 months later I'm reminded of why we didn't stay in touch and I'd like to move on now, thanks'.

Over the past few weeks a surge of defriending seems to be crashing through the world's most popular social utility.  So, what's changed?  Why are people defriending?  Is it a New Year's resolution?  Has something changed in facebook's functionality to drive people to defriend?  And what's the etiquette when cutting someone from the team?

After surveying a small sample of my own friendly defrienders, the most popular defriending motivators have been:

1. I was too broad in friending past acquaintances and I want a smaller list.
Translation:  This person was annoying when I interacted with them in real life and surprise, surprise, they're annoying on facebook.

2. I've adopted a more strategic approach to friending colleagues and coworkers.
Translation:  This person can't do anything for me.

3. I've had a few bad interactions.
Translation: I have drunk/weird friends and ex's who post off color jokes or crazy conspiracy theories in their statuses and on my wall and I don't know how to adequately control my privacy settings.  Also, they kind of illustrate to my other friends just how bananas I am.

Whatever the reason, facebook users are revisiting friends of facebook past and making some cuts. 

For the most part, a personal defriending policy can be helpful.  Defriending decisions can be tricky and having a firm criteria speeds up the decision process and provides a rock solid alibi if confronted by someone discovering they were recently defriended:

'I've been defriending anyone I haven't interacted with in a year'
'I've eliminated work contacts and limited facebook friends to out of work friends'
'I've defriended everyone with weird looking kids'

Whatever works for you.

Sometimes, communicating this in advance can be a very comforting, considerate way to break the news to soon-to-be-defriended.  Sometimes, it's all the notice they need to Google map the quickest distance between your house and the nearest 'plastic tarp & circular saw' provider (see Dexter).

Overall, the consensus is that each individual will react differently and you really can't control those reactions.  So, do unto others...  Just make sure you exhibit better judgment in your defriending than you originally displayed in your sloppy friending binge, you minx.

Is there a reason this is all happening right now?  Not that I've been able to determine.  The bloom seems to be off the rose and folks have taken a step back and reevaluated.  It seems there was a friending party when facebook was reaching critical mass and now like all great parties, we're left with a few fond memories, lots of random pictures and a few regrets.

I'm smart enough to trust the talented people I know and further, trust their taste and perspective.  Often a great new site or a talented designer is driven into my inbox or posted to my Wall by an equally talented designer friend of mine and I'm always grateful for the guidance of my web Sherpas.  

So when half a dozen people independently sent me links to the same mindblowing Papervision3D site, needless to say it captured my attention.  

As it turned out, as these things often do in a parochial town like Philadelphia, I knew by extension a few of the guys that contributed to the site and a year or so later I spoke with one of the site's visionary architects to discuss his work with Papervision3D and the bumps and bruises he experienced along the way. 

He's delivered a great presentation here where he illuminates the 5 things he wished he knew before he got started so that the talented developers and designers in the Aquent network can learn from his discoveries and breakthroughs to deliver their own amazing experiences.

Here it is.  5 Things on Papervision3D (to know BEFORE you start)...

https://cc.readytalk.com/play?id=gvh9cb

I read a lot of articles about the death of newspapers, often in newspapers.  While the newspaper business model has (d)evolved tremendously in the past decade, what business model has not?  

The problem with newspapers is not that people stopped wanting to read the newspaper.  The problem is the way papers are owned by massive consortiums and the blanket business decisions they make that govern papers' distribution, advertising, format, etc.   If newspapers were empowered to have more flexibility, were rewarded for innovation and were able to reinvent themselves as needed, you'd have a better paper that delivered more valuable content.

The biggest problem with newspapers is that they're still fighting the battle of 'speed of delivery' when they should be fighting on another front.  The Internet has won the battle over the timeliness of information delivery.  From reputable, established media outlets to word of mouth viral news distributed via status updates and tweets, newspapers can never again compete in the 'speed' arena.

Where they can compete is in the value of their content.  In the interactive space the difference between a well researched article and a half-baked blog is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish and television news is more and more willing to sell its soul in the hopes of telling you 'first'.  

What's so great about first?
I prefer accurate to first.

Let Twitter tell people Jeff Goldblum died (he didn't) the same day Michael Jackson died (he did).  Instead, as a newspaper, cover the Michael Jackson story with a depth and clarity that only a large format communication tool like a newspaper can. In a 140 character world, newspapers have become large format.

Use the flexibility and breadth of your format to:
•    Hire better writers to cover larger stories, in series, in more depth and pay them bonuses based on circulation numbers.  
•    In the Weekend section, include the first 10 pages of a new highly anticipated novel.  
•    While the comic strip is dying, graphic novels are exploding.  Check out 'Wednesday Comics' to see how you deal with the formatting issues.  
•    Rededicate yourselves to an emerging wave of phenomenal information graphics designers.  
•    Instead of allowing beat reporters to file a retread article about what happened at Eagles practice today, have an NFL coach write (ghost write even) an article breaking down film from the game the week before or analyze your upcoming opponent's weaknesses.

I'm never going to be more than a Sunday morning reader, but I could read more on Sundays.   And if I was really blown away by it, I'd mention it on Facebook, for free.

God do I hate resumes.

Distilling your entire career into one page? 
Maybe two pages if you have over 5 years experience? 
12++ pages if you're a C++ Developer?
Creating a first impression on paper?
Engaging an audience of one from a sea of other resumes?

You have a 30 second window to convince the reader to spend another 30 seconds reading more.  And don't get me started on cover letters.

The problem is there are no silver bullets, golden rules or magic tricks.  Anyone that tells you they exist is selling you something.  Your resume is ultimately only as good as the pair of eyes reading it.

The biggest favor you can do for yourself is abandon the old rules, start fresh and create a document you're proud of.  That way you're at least assured to please your most important critic, yourself.

Let's tackle this practically speaking.  You're more likely re-writing an existing resume than you are writing a resume for the first time, right?  Wrong.  

Every time you think it's worth your time to write a new resume, WRITE A NEW RESUME.  Don't slap a bandage on the old one.  If you add a new paragraph every time you complete a new position your resume is going to sound iterative.  Like a collection of snapshots.  Unrelated, unstrategic, where's that next resume again...?

If it's time to update your resume, it's time to re-evaluate your goals, reflect on how you've evolved and apply all of that to your resume.  BTW, if you haven't grown in your last role? 

That might explain why you're looking for a new job.*

From there, redefine the purpose of your resume.

Your resume is NOT about the work you've done.  
It's about the work you want someone to hire you TO DO.

Your resume is a marketing piece; your annual report, your homepage, an iPhone app all about you.

You need to aim this tool at the right audience and orient it to meet their needs.  You know what this means?  You're not just writing a resume.  You're writing multiple resumes.

Most job searches include a variety of roles.  If yours does not, see above.*

Do you want to create a blanket resume that encompasses all of your experience or do you want to create a line of sight right through your career that leads the reader to the conclusion, This person solves my problem!  If you carpet bomb with your resume you're going to get the sloppy results that follow.

One final thought.  Tie everything to revenue that you possibly can.  In this economy, more than ever, you want to help the employer see how you've enabled your previous employers to either generate or save money whenever possible.  These numbers are often available to you; most folks just don't think to collect the data.  

If you're a designer and you brought projects in ahead of a deadline with fewer revisions, how much money did that save your client?  
If you're a copywriter, how did enrollments increase after your brochure was shipped?  
If you're a project manager, how did your procedural adroitness impact the bottom line?

If you can insulate your already impressive experience and skills with some impressive numbers you make a critical double impression.  First, look at the money you saved/generated for your last employer, wow!  Second, this candidate was savvy enough to think to include this information, now that's impressive...

Lastly:

I assume you have references available upon request, if not.*

No one cares what you did in high school, no one cares about your hobbies and interests, no one wants to see a picture of you on your resume.

That's why they have Facebook.  

That's a whole other story.