Coding matters: More than shades of grey

A rainbow range of colours in a set of strips and bubbles.

Renier worked very late yesterday, creating extra course material for his delegates. I was surprised, because he has given this course about 50 times. But he reminded me that every course is different. People have different learning curves and ask different questions. (That’s why instructor-led training is so much more valuable than on-demand, one-size-fits-all videos.)

Digital computers are built on binary, in which everything is represented as either 0 or 1. On or off. Black or white. But the rest of life is not that simple.

A not-so-social use of social media

We recently found out that two unknown, unauthorised cell numbers had been added to an account. The monthly increase was small enough that I did not notice it. And the statements had stopped arriving via email, but that was true of the other accounts as well.

We learned this when Lewis wanted to upgrade his cell phone. We followed the tedious process to report the fraud, including affidavits. We were given a reference number and then … nothing. No way to follow up. No response to my emails. The call centre could not give feedback. The other numbers I could call had irrelevant, precorded messages and no operators.

Instead of the promised 14 days, we got a reply after almost 2 months. The supplier claimed that there was no fraud, and that it was a "migration issue". I was so angry! I had the proverbial smoke coming out of my ears.

With no other option, I took to social media. I posted a comment on the supplier’s FaceBook page, and sent a FaceBook message. I got a reply, a phone call and action. Within a week, the supplier changed its response. They confirmed fraud, and promised a refund. I was amazed that the social media team was so much better at this than the fraud team.

That made me wonder if there is still any "social" in social media?

All the colours of the rainbow

I am playing with Co-pilot, so I asked it for the main uses of social media. None of them had anything to do with friends. Co-pilot listed marketing uses, like building brand awareness, and audience engagement. I understand that. I post on FaceBook and LinkedIn, so that people know that Incus Data is alive and kicking. But that doesn’t explain why people post where they are and what they had for lunch.

So I did a little research. I expected to find ignominious reasons for such activity. We’ve all heard about the negative psychological impact of social media. I liked the idea of writing about how there is no "social" left in social media.

But I discovered that, like most things in life, there is no simple answer. Social media can be bad for you. If you believe other people have perfect lives, you will certainly be unhappy with yours. But social media can also be good for us. It can help meet some basic psychological needs. Like the feeling that we can do things well. And a sense of our authenticity and personal freedom. And the knowledge that we are not alone, that others will help us and we can help them.

It’s all in what you want, how you do it and how it makes you feel. It’s not either black or white. We are not a set of digital circuits. And there are not just 50 shades of grey. There are many more colours in the rainbow. And this applies to many things, from social media to diet and exercise.

I got a bit side-tracked by colour names and analog computers, but those might be topics for another day. If you enjoyed reading this, please share your comments.

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