Making Money on the Internet

Next time you hear an economist or denizen of Wall Street talk about how the "American economy" is doing these days, watch your wallet.

There are two American economies. One is on the mend. The other is still coming apart.

The one that's mending is America's Big Money economy. It's comprised of Wall Street traders, big investors, and top professionals and corporate executives.

The Big Money economy is doing well these days. That's partly thanks to Ben Bernanke, whose Fed is keeping interest rates near zero by printing money as fast as it dare. It's essentially free money to America's Big Money economy.

Free money can almost always be put to uses that create more of it. Big corporations are buying back their shares of stock, thereby boosting corporate earnings. They're merging and acquiring other companies.

And they're going abroad in search of customers.

Thanks to fast-growing China, India, and Brazil, giant American corporations are racking up sales. They're selling Asian and Latin American consumers everything from cars and cell phones to fancy Internet software and iPads. Forty percent of the S&P 500 biggest corporations are now doing more than 60 percent of their business abroad. And America's biggest investors are also going abroad to get a nice return on their money.



So don't worry about America's Big Money economy. According to a Wall Street Journal survey released Thursday, overall compensation in financial services will rise 5 percent this year, and employees in some businesses like asset management will get increases of 15 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is back to where it was before the Lehman bankruptcy filing triggered the financial collapse. And profits at America's largest corporations are heading upward.

But there's another American economy, and it's not on the mend. Call it the Average Worker economy.

Last Friday's jobs report showed 159,000 new private-sector jobs in October. That's better than previous months. But 125,000 net new jobs are needed just to keep up with the growth of the American labor force. So another way of expressing what happened to jobs in October is to say 24,000 were added over what we need just to stay even.

Yet the American economy has lost 15 million jobs since the start of the Great Recession. And if you add in the growth of the labor force -- including everyone too discouraged to look for a job -- we're down about 22 million.

Or to put it another way, we're still getting nowhere on jobs.

One out of eight breadwinners is still out of work. Most families in the Average Worker economy rely on two breadwinners. So if one out of eight isn't working, chances are high that family incomes are down compared to what they were three years ago.

And that means the bills aren't getting paid.

According to a recent Washington Post poll, more than half of all Americans -- 53 percent -- are worried about making their mortgage payments. This is many more than were worried two years ago, when the Great Recession hit bottom. Then, 37 percent expressed worry.

Delinquency rates on home loans are rising. Distressed sales are up as a percent of total sales.

Most people in the Average Worker economy own few shares of stock, if any. Their equity is in their homes. But with all the delinquencies and distressed sales, the housing market has a glut of homes for sale. As a result, home prices are still dropping. So the net worth of most Americans is still dropping.

And even though interest rates are falling, most people in the Average Worker economy can't refinance their homes. They can't get home equity loans. Banks don't want to lend to the Average Worker economy because people in it are considered bad credit risks. They still owe lots of money, their family incomes are down, and their net worth has fallen.

And according to the Reuters/University of Michigan survey of American consumers, expectations about personal finances are at an all time low.

Inhabitants of the Big Money economy are celebrating Republican wins last week. They figure financial regulations will be rolled back, environmental regulations will be canned, the Bush tax cut will be extended to the top 1 percent, and it will be harder for workers to form unions.

Inhabitants of the Average Worker economy aren't so sure. The economy has been so bad they're angry at politicians. They showed their anger at the ballot box. They took it out on incumbents.

But if nothing changes in the Average Worker economy, there will be hell to pay.

Robert Reich is the author of Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, now in bookstores. This post originally appeared at RobertReich.org.

Last night, for the second week in a row, The Simpsons took a shot at corporate cousin Fox News. However, if you’re clicking over to Hulu or Fox’s websites to check out this week’s helicopter gag, you’re going to be disappointed. WebNewser has noticed that the joke, from the episode’s opening credits, has been removed. Did someone at Fox (other than Bill O’Reilly) complain?

Well, maybe. However, as much as we love a good conspiracy, our money is on WebNewser’s second hypothesis, that the gag was added at the very last minute and after the websites had received their copy. We can easily imagine the producers of the show getting so excited about the media coverage of the first joke (and thoroughly enjoying O’Reilly’s take down of it) that they rushed to their computers to add the new joke to the next episode, which was finished long in advance of airing. Besides, as much as some might like to picture shadowy Fox executives wringing their hands over the joke, we just can’t imagine any exec exclaiming, “What? People are writing about our two-decade-old series all over the internet because of one joke?! Well dont let them do it again!”

However, you’d think that the TV channels would get the shows before the websites so you never know…



UPDATE Simpsons’ Executive Producer Al Jean revealed in an exclusive interview with the NY Times David Itzkoff that the motives behind the anti-Fox News gag were light in spirit:

Mr. Jean said the “Simpsons” producers — in particular, the creator of the series, Matt Groening — were pleased with how the first Fox News joke seemed to ruffle the feathers of Bill O’Reilly, the host of the Fox News program “The O’Reilly Factor.” (On his show last week, Mr. O’Reilly played the “Simpsons” satire of Fox News and, with a smile, said of the cartoon family: “Pinheads? I believe so.”)

The “Simpsons” producers could not let that remark stand, so they rushed their second Fox News joke into Sunday’s episode — so late in the production process that the gag could only be inserted into the version shown in North America, but not into versions shown in foreign markets or on the Internet.

“There’s a lot of masters that go out,” Mr. Jean said in a telephone interview, “so to save money we just put it in the one master that’s for the U.S. and Canada. More money that will then go to Fox News and undoubtedly to Bill O’Reilly.”

Mr. Jean emphasized that neither he nor his “Simpsons” colleagues have ever been told by their corporate Fox parents to stop making fun of Fox News.

Check out the opening from Fox below as well as the Hulu version below that:

Follow us on Twitter.

Sign up for Mediaite’s daily newsletter.

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Good <b>News</b>, for a Change (SWJ Blog)

Ann Marlowe, not known for optimistic reporting and commentary on our efforts in Afghanistan, takes a different tone in her Weekly Standard piece entitled Good News, for a Change. BLUF: "… Zabul seems to be on an upward path. ...

Obama Defends Decision To Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts « CBS Los <b>...</b>

President Barack Obama on Tuesday staunchly defended his decision to compromise with Republicans and temporarily extend about-to-expire tax cuts for all Americans.

Steve Lopez: Dodgers divorce ruling good <b>news</b> for fans who want <b>...</b>

Around my office, the reactions were nearly unanimous recently when it came time to decide whether to keep our shares in a Dodgers season-ticket plan. One guy had the good sense to opt out; the rest of us saps, who...

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Good <b>News</b>, for a Change (SWJ Blog)

Ann Marlowe, not known for optimistic reporting and commentary on our efforts in Afghanistan, takes a different tone in her Weekly Standard piece entitled Good News, for a Change. BLUF: "… Zabul seems to be on an upward path. ...

Obama Defends Decision To Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts « CBS Los <b>...</b>

President Barack Obama on Tuesday staunchly defended his decision to compromise with Republicans and temporarily extend about-to-expire tax cuts for all Americans.

Steve Lopez: Dodgers divorce ruling good <b>news</b> for fans who want <b>...</b>

Around my office, the reactions were nearly unanimous recently when it came time to decide whether to keep our shares in a Dodgers season-ticket plan. One guy had the good sense to opt out; the rest of us saps, who...

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Good <b>News</b>, for a Change (SWJ Blog)

Ann Marlowe, not known for optimistic reporting and commentary on our efforts in Afghanistan, takes a different tone in her Weekly Standard piece entitled Good News, for a Change. BLUF: "… Zabul seems to be on an upward path. ...

Obama Defends Decision To Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts « CBS Los <b>...</b>

President Barack Obama on Tuesday staunchly defended his decision to compromise with Republicans and temporarily extend about-to-expire tax cuts for all Americans.

Steve Lopez: Dodgers divorce ruling good <b>news</b> for fans who want <b>...</b>

Around my office, the reactions were nearly unanimous recently when it came time to decide whether to keep our shares in a Dodgers season-ticket plan. One guy had the good sense to opt out; the rest of us saps, who...

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Good <b>News</b>, for a Change (SWJ Blog)

Ann Marlowe, not known for optimistic reporting and commentary on our efforts in Afghanistan, takes a different tone in her Weekly Standard piece entitled Good News, for a Change. BLUF: "… Zabul seems to be on an upward path. ...

Obama Defends Decision To Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts « CBS Los <b>...</b>

President Barack Obama on Tuesday staunchly defended his decision to compromise with Republicans and temporarily extend about-to-expire tax cuts for all Americans.

Steve Lopez: Dodgers divorce ruling good <b>news</b> for fans who want <b>...</b>

Around my office, the reactions were nearly unanimous recently when it came time to decide whether to keep our shares in a Dodgers season-ticket plan. One guy had the good sense to opt out; the rest of us saps, who...

truebench craft company rip off

Good <b>News</b>, for a Change (SWJ Blog)

Ann Marlowe, not known for optimistic reporting and commentary on our efforts in Afghanistan, takes a different tone in her Weekly Standard piece entitled Good News, for a Change. BLUF: "… Zabul seems to be on an upward path. ...

Obama Defends Decision To Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts « CBS Los <b>...</b>

President Barack Obama on Tuesday staunchly defended his decision to compromise with Republicans and temporarily extend about-to-expire tax cuts for all Americans.

Steve Lopez: Dodgers divorce ruling good <b>news</b> for fans who want <b>...</b>

Around my office, the reactions were nearly unanimous recently when it came time to decide whether to keep our shares in a Dodgers season-ticket plan. One guy had the good sense to opt out; the rest of us saps, who...

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Next time you hear an economist or denizen of Wall Street talk about how the "American economy" is doing these days, watch your wallet.

There are two American economies. One is on the mend. The other is still coming apart.

The one that's mending is America's Big Money economy. It's comprised of Wall Street traders, big investors, and top professionals and corporate executives.

The Big Money economy is doing well these days. That's partly thanks to Ben Bernanke, whose Fed is keeping interest rates near zero by printing money as fast as it dare. It's essentially free money to America's Big Money economy.

Free money can almost always be put to uses that create more of it. Big corporations are buying back their shares of stock, thereby boosting corporate earnings. They're merging and acquiring other companies.

And they're going abroad in search of customers.

Thanks to fast-growing China, India, and Brazil, giant American corporations are racking up sales. They're selling Asian and Latin American consumers everything from cars and cell phones to fancy Internet software and iPads. Forty percent of the S&P 500 biggest corporations are now doing more than 60 percent of their business abroad. And America's biggest investors are also going abroad to get a nice return on their money.



So don't worry about America's Big Money economy. According to a Wall Street Journal survey released Thursday, overall compensation in financial services will rise 5 percent this year, and employees in some businesses like asset management will get increases of 15 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is back to where it was before the Lehman bankruptcy filing triggered the financial collapse. And profits at America's largest corporations are heading upward.

But there's another American economy, and it's not on the mend. Call it the Average Worker economy.

Last Friday's jobs report showed 159,000 new private-sector jobs in October. That's better than previous months. But 125,000 net new jobs are needed just to keep up with the growth of the American labor force. So another way of expressing what happened to jobs in October is to say 24,000 were added over what we need just to stay even.

Yet the American economy has lost 15 million jobs since the start of the Great Recession. And if you add in the growth of the labor force -- including everyone too discouraged to look for a job -- we're down about 22 million.

Or to put it another way, we're still getting nowhere on jobs.

One out of eight breadwinners is still out of work. Most families in the Average Worker economy rely on two breadwinners. So if one out of eight isn't working, chances are high that family incomes are down compared to what they were three years ago.

And that means the bills aren't getting paid.

According to a recent Washington Post poll, more than half of all Americans -- 53 percent -- are worried about making their mortgage payments. This is many more than were worried two years ago, when the Great Recession hit bottom. Then, 37 percent expressed worry.

Delinquency rates on home loans are rising. Distressed sales are up as a percent of total sales.

Most people in the Average Worker economy own few shares of stock, if any. Their equity is in their homes. But with all the delinquencies and distressed sales, the housing market has a glut of homes for sale. As a result, home prices are still dropping. So the net worth of most Americans is still dropping.

And even though interest rates are falling, most people in the Average Worker economy can't refinance their homes. They can't get home equity loans. Banks don't want to lend to the Average Worker economy because people in it are considered bad credit risks. They still owe lots of money, their family incomes are down, and their net worth has fallen.

And according to the Reuters/University of Michigan survey of American consumers, expectations about personal finances are at an all time low.

Inhabitants of the Big Money economy are celebrating Republican wins last week. They figure financial regulations will be rolled back, environmental regulations will be canned, the Bush tax cut will be extended to the top 1 percent, and it will be harder for workers to form unions.

Inhabitants of the Average Worker economy aren't so sure. The economy has been so bad they're angry at politicians. They showed their anger at the ballot box. They took it out on incumbents.

But if nothing changes in the Average Worker economy, there will be hell to pay.

Robert Reich is the author of Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, now in bookstores. This post originally appeared at RobertReich.org.

Last night, for the second week in a row, The Simpsons took a shot at corporate cousin Fox News. However, if you’re clicking over to Hulu or Fox’s websites to check out this week’s helicopter gag, you’re going to be disappointed. WebNewser has noticed that the joke, from the episode’s opening credits, has been removed. Did someone at Fox (other than Bill O’Reilly) complain?

Well, maybe. However, as much as we love a good conspiracy, our money is on WebNewser’s second hypothesis, that the gag was added at the very last minute and after the websites had received their copy. We can easily imagine the producers of the show getting so excited about the media coverage of the first joke (and thoroughly enjoying O’Reilly’s take down of it) that they rushed to their computers to add the new joke to the next episode, which was finished long in advance of airing. Besides, as much as some might like to picture shadowy Fox executives wringing their hands over the joke, we just can’t imagine any exec exclaiming, “What? People are writing about our two-decade-old series all over the internet because of one joke?! Well dont let them do it again!”

However, you’d think that the TV channels would get the shows before the websites so you never know…



UPDATE Simpsons’ Executive Producer Al Jean revealed in an exclusive interview with the NY Times David Itzkoff that the motives behind the anti-Fox News gag were light in spirit:

Mr. Jean said the “Simpsons” producers — in particular, the creator of the series, Matt Groening — were pleased with how the first Fox News joke seemed to ruffle the feathers of Bill O’Reilly, the host of the Fox News program “The O’Reilly Factor.” (On his show last week, Mr. O’Reilly played the “Simpsons” satire of Fox News and, with a smile, said of the cartoon family: “Pinheads? I believe so.”)

The “Simpsons” producers could not let that remark stand, so they rushed their second Fox News joke into Sunday’s episode — so late in the production process that the gag could only be inserted into the version shown in North America, but not into versions shown in foreign markets or on the Internet.

“There’s a lot of masters that go out,” Mr. Jean said in a telephone interview, “so to save money we just put it in the one master that’s for the U.S. and Canada. More money that will then go to Fox News and undoubtedly to Bill O’Reilly.”

Mr. Jean emphasized that neither he nor his “Simpsons” colleagues have ever been told by their corporate Fox parents to stop making fun of Fox News.

Check out the opening from Fox below as well as the Hulu version below that:

Follow us on Twitter.

Sign up for Mediaite’s daily newsletter.

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Good <b>News</b>, for a Change (SWJ Blog)

Ann Marlowe, not known for optimistic reporting and commentary on our efforts in Afghanistan, takes a different tone in her Weekly Standard piece entitled Good News, for a Change. BLUF: "… Zabul seems to be on an upward path. ...

Obama Defends Decision To Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts « CBS Los <b>...</b>

President Barack Obama on Tuesday staunchly defended his decision to compromise with Republicans and temporarily extend about-to-expire tax cuts for all Americans.

Steve Lopez: Dodgers divorce ruling good <b>news</b> for fans who want <b>...</b>

Around my office, the reactions were nearly unanimous recently when it came time to decide whether to keep our shares in a Dodgers season-ticket plan. One guy had the good sense to opt out; the rest of us saps, who...

bench craft company rip off photo

Good <b>News</b>, for a Change (SWJ Blog)

Ann Marlowe, not known for optimistic reporting and commentary on our efforts in Afghanistan, takes a different tone in her Weekly Standard piece entitled Good News, for a Change. BLUF: "… Zabul seems to be on an upward path. ...

Obama Defends Decision To Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts « CBS Los <b>...</b>

President Barack Obama on Tuesday staunchly defended his decision to compromise with Republicans and temporarily extend about-to-expire tax cuts for all Americans.

Steve Lopez: Dodgers divorce ruling good <b>news</b> for fans who want <b>...</b>

Around my office, the reactions were nearly unanimous recently when it came time to decide whether to keep our shares in a Dodgers season-ticket plan. One guy had the good sense to opt out; the rest of us saps, who...

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Good <b>News</b>, for a Change (SWJ Blog)

Ann Marlowe, not known for optimistic reporting and commentary on our efforts in Afghanistan, takes a different tone in her Weekly Standard piece entitled Good News, for a Change. BLUF: "… Zabul seems to be on an upward path. ...

Obama Defends Decision To Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts « CBS Los <b>...</b>

President Barack Obama on Tuesday staunchly defended his decision to compromise with Republicans and temporarily extend about-to-expire tax cuts for all Americans.

Steve Lopez: Dodgers divorce ruling good <b>news</b> for fans who want <b>...</b>

Around my office, the reactions were nearly unanimous recently when it came time to decide whether to keep our shares in a Dodgers season-ticket plan. One guy had the good sense to opt out; the rest of us saps, who...

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Good <b>News</b>, for a Change (SWJ Blog)

Ann Marlowe, not known for optimistic reporting and commentary on our efforts in Afghanistan, takes a different tone in her Weekly Standard piece entitled Good News, for a Change. BLUF: "… Zabul seems to be on an upward path. ...

Obama Defends Decision To Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts « CBS Los <b>...</b>

President Barack Obama on Tuesday staunchly defended his decision to compromise with Republicans and temporarily extend about-to-expire tax cuts for all Americans.

Steve Lopez: Dodgers divorce ruling good <b>news</b> for fans who want <b>...</b>

Around my office, the reactions were nearly unanimous recently when it came time to decide whether to keep our shares in a Dodgers season-ticket plan. One guy had the good sense to opt out; the rest of us saps, who...

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Good <b>News</b>, for a Change (SWJ Blog)

Ann Marlowe, not known for optimistic reporting and commentary on our efforts in Afghanistan, takes a different tone in her Weekly Standard piece entitled Good News, for a Change. BLUF: "… Zabul seems to be on an upward path. ...

Obama Defends Decision To Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts « CBS Los <b>...</b>

President Barack Obama on Tuesday staunchly defended his decision to compromise with Republicans and temporarily extend about-to-expire tax cuts for all Americans.

Steve Lopez: Dodgers divorce ruling good <b>news</b> for fans who want <b>...</b>

Around my office, the reactions were nearly unanimous recently when it came time to decide whether to keep our shares in a Dodgers season-ticket plan. One guy had the good sense to opt out; the rest of us saps, who...

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Good <b>News</b>, for a Change (SWJ Blog)

Ann Marlowe, not known for optimistic reporting and commentary on our efforts in Afghanistan, takes a different tone in her Weekly Standard piece entitled Good News, for a Change. BLUF: "… Zabul seems to be on an upward path. ...

Obama Defends Decision To Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts « CBS Los <b>...</b>

President Barack Obama on Tuesday staunchly defended his decision to compromise with Republicans and temporarily extend about-to-expire tax cuts for all Americans.

Steve Lopez: Dodgers divorce ruling good <b>news</b> for fans who want <b>...</b>

Around my office, the reactions were nearly unanimous recently when it came time to decide whether to keep our shares in a Dodgers season-ticket plan. One guy had the good sense to opt out; the rest of us saps, who...

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Next time you hear an economist or denizen of Wall Street talk about how the "American economy" is doing these days, watch your wallet.

There are two American economies. One is on the mend. The other is still coming apart.

The one that's mending is America's Big Money economy. It's comprised of Wall Street traders, big investors, and top professionals and corporate executives.

The Big Money economy is doing well these days. That's partly thanks to Ben Bernanke, whose Fed is keeping interest rates near zero by printing money as fast as it dare. It's essentially free money to America's Big Money economy.

Free money can almost always be put to uses that create more of it. Big corporations are buying back their shares of stock, thereby boosting corporate earnings. They're merging and acquiring other companies.

And they're going abroad in search of customers.

Thanks to fast-growing China, India, and Brazil, giant American corporations are racking up sales. They're selling Asian and Latin American consumers everything from cars and cell phones to fancy Internet software and iPads. Forty percent of the S&P 500 biggest corporations are now doing more than 60 percent of their business abroad. And America's biggest investors are also going abroad to get a nice return on their money.



So don't worry about America's Big Money economy. According to a Wall Street Journal survey released Thursday, overall compensation in financial services will rise 5 percent this year, and employees in some businesses like asset management will get increases of 15 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is back to where it was before the Lehman bankruptcy filing triggered the financial collapse. And profits at America's largest corporations are heading upward.

But there's another American economy, and it's not on the mend. Call it the Average Worker economy.

Last Friday's jobs report showed 159,000 new private-sector jobs in October. That's better than previous months. But 125,000 net new jobs are needed just to keep up with the growth of the American labor force. So another way of expressing what happened to jobs in October is to say 24,000 were added over what we need just to stay even.

Yet the American economy has lost 15 million jobs since the start of the Great Recession. And if you add in the growth of the labor force -- including everyone too discouraged to look for a job -- we're down about 22 million.

Or to put it another way, we're still getting nowhere on jobs.

One out of eight breadwinners is still out of work. Most families in the Average Worker economy rely on two breadwinners. So if one out of eight isn't working, chances are high that family incomes are down compared to what they were three years ago.

And that means the bills aren't getting paid.

According to a recent Washington Post poll, more than half of all Americans -- 53 percent -- are worried about making their mortgage payments. This is many more than were worried two years ago, when the Great Recession hit bottom. Then, 37 percent expressed worry.

Delinquency rates on home loans are rising. Distressed sales are up as a percent of total sales.

Most people in the Average Worker economy own few shares of stock, if any. Their equity is in their homes. But with all the delinquencies and distressed sales, the housing market has a glut of homes for sale. As a result, home prices are still dropping. So the net worth of most Americans is still dropping.

And even though interest rates are falling, most people in the Average Worker economy can't refinance their homes. They can't get home equity loans. Banks don't want to lend to the Average Worker economy because people in it are considered bad credit risks. They still owe lots of money, their family incomes are down, and their net worth has fallen.

And according to the Reuters/University of Michigan survey of American consumers, expectations about personal finances are at an all time low.

Inhabitants of the Big Money economy are celebrating Republican wins last week. They figure financial regulations will be rolled back, environmental regulations will be canned, the Bush tax cut will be extended to the top 1 percent, and it will be harder for workers to form unions.

Inhabitants of the Average Worker economy aren't so sure. The economy has been so bad they're angry at politicians. They showed their anger at the ballot box. They took it out on incumbents.

But if nothing changes in the Average Worker economy, there will be hell to pay.

Robert Reich is the author of Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, now in bookstores. This post originally appeared at RobertReich.org.

Last night, for the second week in a row, The Simpsons took a shot at corporate cousin Fox News. However, if you’re clicking over to Hulu or Fox’s websites to check out this week’s helicopter gag, you’re going to be disappointed. WebNewser has noticed that the joke, from the episode’s opening credits, has been removed. Did someone at Fox (other than Bill O’Reilly) complain?

Well, maybe. However, as much as we love a good conspiracy, our money is on WebNewser’s second hypothesis, that the gag was added at the very last minute and after the websites had received their copy. We can easily imagine the producers of the show getting so excited about the media coverage of the first joke (and thoroughly enjoying O’Reilly’s take down of it) that they rushed to their computers to add the new joke to the next episode, which was finished long in advance of airing. Besides, as much as some might like to picture shadowy Fox executives wringing their hands over the joke, we just can’t imagine any exec exclaiming, “What? People are writing about our two-decade-old series all over the internet because of one joke?! Well dont let them do it again!”

However, you’d think that the TV channels would get the shows before the websites so you never know…



UPDATE Simpsons’ Executive Producer Al Jean revealed in an exclusive interview with the NY Times David Itzkoff that the motives behind the anti-Fox News gag were light in spirit:

Mr. Jean said the “Simpsons” producers — in particular, the creator of the series, Matt Groening — were pleased with how the first Fox News joke seemed to ruffle the feathers of Bill O’Reilly, the host of the Fox News program “The O’Reilly Factor.” (On his show last week, Mr. O’Reilly played the “Simpsons” satire of Fox News and, with a smile, said of the cartoon family: “Pinheads? I believe so.”)

The “Simpsons” producers could not let that remark stand, so they rushed their second Fox News joke into Sunday’s episode — so late in the production process that the gag could only be inserted into the version shown in North America, but not into versions shown in foreign markets or on the Internet.

“There’s a lot of masters that go out,” Mr. Jean said in a telephone interview, “so to save money we just put it in the one master that’s for the U.S. and Canada. More money that will then go to Fox News and undoubtedly to Bill O’Reilly.”

Mr. Jean emphasized that neither he nor his “Simpsons” colleagues have ever been told by their corporate Fox parents to stop making fun of Fox News.

Check out the opening from Fox below as well as the Hulu version below that:

Follow us on Twitter.

Sign up for Mediaite’s daily newsletter.

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Good <b>News</b>, for a Change (SWJ Blog)

Ann Marlowe, not known for optimistic reporting and commentary on our efforts in Afghanistan, takes a different tone in her Weekly Standard piece entitled Good News, for a Change. BLUF: "… Zabul seems to be on an upward path. ...

Obama Defends Decision To Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts « CBS Los <b>...</b>

President Barack Obama on Tuesday staunchly defended his decision to compromise with Republicans and temporarily extend about-to-expire tax cuts for all Americans.

Steve Lopez: Dodgers divorce ruling good <b>news</b> for fans who want <b>...</b>

Around my office, the reactions were nearly unanimous recently when it came time to decide whether to keep our shares in a Dodgers season-ticket plan. One guy had the good sense to opt out; the rest of us saps, who...

true bench craft company rip off

Good <b>News</b>, for a Change (SWJ Blog)

Ann Marlowe, not known for optimistic reporting and commentary on our efforts in Afghanistan, takes a different tone in her Weekly Standard piece entitled Good News, for a Change. BLUF: "… Zabul seems to be on an upward path. ...

Obama Defends Decision To Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts « CBS Los <b>...</b>

President Barack Obama on Tuesday staunchly defended his decision to compromise with Republicans and temporarily extend about-to-expire tax cuts for all Americans.

Steve Lopez: Dodgers divorce ruling good <b>news</b> for fans who want <b>...</b>

Around my office, the reactions were nearly unanimous recently when it came time to decide whether to keep our shares in a Dodgers season-ticket plan. One guy had the good sense to opt out; the rest of us saps, who...

bench craft company rip off advice

Good <b>News</b>, for a Change (SWJ Blog)

Ann Marlowe, not known for optimistic reporting and commentary on our efforts in Afghanistan, takes a different tone in her Weekly Standard piece entitled Good News, for a Change. BLUF: "… Zabul seems to be on an upward path. ...

Obama Defends Decision To Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts « CBS Los <b>...</b>

President Barack Obama on Tuesday staunchly defended his decision to compromise with Republicans and temporarily extend about-to-expire tax cuts for all Americans.

Steve Lopez: Dodgers divorce ruling good <b>news</b> for fans who want <b>...</b>

Around my office, the reactions were nearly unanimous recently when it came time to decide whether to keep our shares in a Dodgers season-ticket plan. One guy had the good sense to opt out; the rest of us saps, who...

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why internet marketing

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

The word “mentorship” usually evokes imagery of an older, more experienced individual imparting knowledge and know-how upon a younger, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed individual — that’s the traditional use of the word that we’ve all come to know and accept.

Alexa Scordato, however, is turning that word on its head with a concept she calls reverse mentorship. Scordato currently serves as the community manager at 2tor, an education technology startup. Fresh out of college, though, she first started her career as an executive assistant at Mzinga, a social software company, where she and Chairman and CEO Barry Libert took part in a reverse mentorship.

Pairing senior executives with digital natives seems like an obvious win for the digitally challenged; you put in a few hours a week, and the youngster teaches you how to use Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter and Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook. The term “reverse mentorship” can be a bit misleading in that way. What it really is, though, is a two-way conversation — digitally savvy newcomers to the business world have the opportunity to impart their tips and tricks for mastering the class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet, and senior business leaders act as role models and career coaches for budding professionals.

Over the past few years, Scordato has become a very vocal advocate for reverse mentorship, speaking on the subject at various events, including TEDxBoston and Pivot Conference.

While reverse mentorship may be a concept that’s been in practice for a while, we really like Scordato’s take on the subject. Inspired by her thoughts, here are just a few reasons why your business should consider setting up a reverse mentorship program.

There Are Knowledge Gaps on Both Sides

The beauty of reverse mentorship is that it takes both sides into account, realizing that we all come with our flaws, whether we’re 22 years old and fresh out of college or 60 years old, steering a business.

“There’s a big crisis that I think we’re experiencing right now in the marketing industry, which is a severe knowledge gap,” said Scordato at PivotCon. “There are a lot of very seasoned marketers out there who are struggling to basically understand the new rules of marketing.”

That’s just one side of the story. Scordato also explained that, like many other Millennials straight out of college, she had a lot to work on professionally: “I lacked business acumen. I was fascinated with Barry’s lingo — things like EBITDA and cash flow. I didn’t understand any of it. But it was interesting, because I realized that he was equally fascinated by this thing called Twitter.”

Scordato and Libert paired up each day for 30 minutes before the work day began. Their morning routine consisted of blogging and engaging via social media. Scordato explained the end result, “ got him on Facebook; put his speaking gigs on YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube; he’s on LinkedInclass="blippr-nobr">LinkedIn; we wrote 53 blog posts together over the course of a year, and you can tweet him.”

Each employee has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Learn about your employees — what they excel in and where they need improvement — and pair them with others who complement those qualities.

The Future of Business Is Social

Communication models are evolving within organization and outside of them. Communication with colleagues or customers is becoming more direct, making it faster and easier to collaborate with others. Dying are the days where the only means of communication with customers was via a toll-free number or a suggestion box. Many areas within business are embracing social and digital media — CEOs, public relations pros, salespeople and recruiters to name a few.

“The future of business is social,” Scordato stated. “We have to stop thinking about our companies as a corporate ladder. It doesn’t resonate with me, it doesn’t resonate with my peers. If we want to be an organization that really embraces change and adopts and is innovative, we need to think faster, smarter, social.”

The digital age is upon us — it’s time to embrace technology and see what your organization can accomplish.

The Generation Gap Argument is Old

“That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation often becomes the height of wisdom in the next.”/> — John Stuart Mill, British philosopher (1806-1873)

When discussing the evolution of technology, it’s almost inevitable that someone will bring up the argument that there’s an inexplicable knowledge gap between youngsters who grew up with computers, cellphones and other gadgets and old fogies who remember the days when TVs and radios didn’t exist. Sure, there have been many technological advances in the past 50 years, but that doesn’t excuse anyone from learning.

Furthermore, we must remember that each new generation is not a new subset of humans — we are all people, and we all share commonalities. And most importantly, we can all learn from one another.

Let’s get over the excuse that there are too many differences between generations, because frankly, it’s lazy and outdated. Scordato sums it up nicely:

“We need to think about reverse mentorship and pairing young people with seasoned executives. We need to stop thinking about it as an ‘us versus them’ conversation. It’s a two-way street. I’m not going to stand here and say, ‘Oh my gosh, these people over here don’t get it. They’re slow. They’re old. They don’t know what they’re talking about.’ And I would expect that people I want to learn from, my mentors, wouldn’t look at me and say, ‘Alexa doesn’t know anything. She’s just one of those Millennials.’ ”

The sooner we acknowledge our similarities along with our differences, the sooner we can begin to learn from each other and bridge the so-called generational gap.

Conclusion

Adopting a reverse mentorship program isn’t a matter of reworking business processes or changing staff. It can be as simple as matching up compatible employees and enabling them to meet during lunch to discuss topics that they’re interested in. The important thing is to facilitate a two-way dialogue between newcomers and veterans at your business to encourage sharing of useful skills and knowledge.

Has your organization tried out reverse mentorship? If so, let us know about the experience in the comments below.

More Business Resources from Mashable:

- 6 Ways to Score a Job Through Twitter/> - Small Biz Checklist: 5 Important Tasks for the End of the Year/> - HOW TO: Boost Holiday Sales With Commonly Overlooked Marketing Strategies/> - Social Point of Sale: The Holy Grail for Location-Based Marketers/> - 4 Job Search Tips for Aspiring SEO/SEM Specialists

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, mikdam

For more Business coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Businessclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Business channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

In this month’s issue of Wired Magazine, writer Ted Greenwald described the trending Silicon Valley meme, “WDYDWYD or Why Do You Do What You Do?” calling it the “hottest team-building meme since Outward Bound.”

The meme originated in 2004 at Burning Man by artist Tony Deifell who posted photos of strangers answering the questions on the Ning social network. The inspiration behind the meme originated with a call he received late one night from a young student working on a school project. She blurted out, “Why do you do what you do?” Deifell was quite taken a back, and like many people faced with the question, he embarked upon an existential meditation.

I couldn’t get the words out in a clear way. I tried to refigure how to make my answer more essential. I realized I needed to be more deliberate in my choices in the world. It haunted me.

Deifell has since carried WDYDWYD from the festival to the Silicon Valley boardrooms of the National Holistic Institute, Google and Twitter. The site, which he describes as an open-sourced art project, is still growing steadily on Ning.

Student Joe Moloughney founded the WDYDWYD Facebook group, calling it a worldwide community art project with 1,500 members. Their Twitter page has over 1,000 followers. Artists like photographer Bill Kennedy, author/cartoonist Hugh MacLeod and French performance artist Séverine Carminati have all got involved.

But this meme is still primarily just on the West Coast. So, what would the East Coast answer? I asked a few prominent East Coasters, “Why do you do what you do?”

Here are their answers:

“To someday be able to answer this question.”

- Ashley Casselman, Senior Associate at the World Economic Forum.

“I am an insecure short girl from Florida. I never considered myself enough.”

-Laurel Touby, Founder and SVP, mediabistro.com

“I do what I do because of the thrill of discovery. And becuase the world is changing at an incredibly rapid rate, and somebody needs to be there to chronicle it.”

- Seth Porges, an Editor at Popular Mechanics

“I love the Internet, sure, but I mostly do what I do because of the people in my industry.  It’s a world of movers, shakers, api-makers.  Everyone is smart, and on the cutting-edge of what’s next.  It’s simply the most exciting industry to work in, and also the most fun.”

-Soraya Darabi, Co-Founder of Foodspotting.

“Because I can’t stop…and I’m not sure I want to.”

- Julia Kaganskiy, Editor of The Creators Project and Founder of the ArtsTech Meetup.

“Because making the world suck less is SO MUCH FUN.”

- Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder of Reddit and Head of Marketing for Hipmunk

“I do what I do because I’m a huge nerd.  At RJMetrics, we use technology to solve complex, interesting problems for some of the fastest-growing companies in the world.  This makes for nerd paradise, and I wouldn’t trade it for any other job.”

-Robert J. Moore, CEO of RJMetrics.

“In my case, the answer comes down to “enlightened self interest”.  I am truly focused on the long-term goal of leaving the world a better place than I found it (the wonderful concept of ‘tikun olam’). As a pragmatic capitalist, I believe that can best be done by harnessing the powers of free market forces, and as a believer in democracy, I believe that society then needs to work collectively to tweak the margins to guide humanity in the right direction. As a result, I have created a unique and strange personal world surrounding me…like a high tech PeeWee’s Playhouse. I am an entrepreneur, angel investor, teacher, mentor, speaker, father, futurist and political activist, all of which taken together occupy me 16 hours a day, seven days a week, with an insane work and travel schedule. But I truly believe that I am having more pure fun in life than almost anyone else I know, and this combination of pleasure and purpose is Why I Do What I Do.”

- David S. Rose, Managing Principal of Rose Tech Ventures and founder and Chairman of New York Angels.

What makes our New York answers resemblant of our city? A touch of irony perhaps? A grittier sense of responsibility? A necessity to be edgier?

After asking so many of my peers, I gave it a think. I do what I do because every writer requires inspiration. So my fellow East Coasters, WDYDWYD?

bench craft company rip off

Hulu plans its own entertainment <b>news</b> show, but will anyone watch?

As Peter Kafka at MediaMemo reports, Hulu is currently casting for a presenter for the show which will be published daily, taking a 'Daily Show'-style satirical approach to the latest entertainment news. Hulu (backed by US TV giants NBC ...

<b>News</b> Alert: Big Growth for Internet Ads Through 2014: Tech <b>News</b> «

eMarketer, a New York-based research firm estimates spending on US internet advertisements, will grow 13.9 percent to $25.8 billion for the full year. It expects a 10.5 percent increase in US online ad spending in 2011, ...

Exclusive: Gen. Petraeus Not &#39;Sure&#39; Victory in Afghanistan by 2014 <b>...</b>

In my exclusive interview with General David Petraeus he was encouraged by the progress made since President Obama's surge of forces into Afghanistan, but is he confident that the Afghan army can take the lead from US forces by NATO's.

bench craft company rip off

Hulu plans its own entertainment <b>news</b> show, but will anyone watch?

As Peter Kafka at MediaMemo reports, Hulu is currently casting for a presenter for the show which will be published daily, taking a 'Daily Show'-style satirical approach to the latest entertainment news. Hulu (backed by US TV giants NBC ...

<b>News</b> Alert: Big Growth for Internet Ads Through 2014: Tech <b>News</b> «

eMarketer, a New York-based research firm estimates spending on US internet advertisements, will grow 13.9 percent to $25.8 billion for the full year. It expects a 10.5 percent increase in US online ad spending in 2011, ...

Exclusive: Gen. Petraeus Not &#39;Sure&#39; Victory in Afghanistan by 2014 <b>...</b>

In my exclusive interview with General David Petraeus he was encouraged by the progress made since President Obama's surge of forces into Afghanistan, but is he confident that the Afghan army can take the lead from US forces by NATO's.

bench craft company rip off

Hulu plans its own entertainment <b>news</b> show, but will anyone watch?

As Peter Kafka at MediaMemo reports, Hulu is currently casting for a presenter for the show which will be published daily, taking a 'Daily Show'-style satirical approach to the latest entertainment news. Hulu (backed by US TV giants NBC ...

<b>News</b> Alert: Big Growth for Internet Ads Through 2014: Tech <b>News</b> «

eMarketer, a New York-based research firm estimates spending on US internet advertisements, will grow 13.9 percent to $25.8 billion for the full year. It expects a 10.5 percent increase in US online ad spending in 2011, ...

Exclusive: Gen. Petraeus Not &#39;Sure&#39; Victory in Afghanistan by 2014 <b>...</b>

In my exclusive interview with General David Petraeus he was encouraged by the progress made since President Obama's surge of forces into Afghanistan, but is he confident that the Afghan army can take the lead from US forces by NATO's.

bench craft company rip off
Hulu sus planes de <b> propio entretenimiento de noticias </ b> muestran, pero a nadie ver? Como Peter Kafka en informes MediaMemo, Hulu es actualmente el casting para un presentador de la serie que se publica todos los días, teniendo una 'Daily Show' al estilo de enfoque satírico de las últimas noticias de entretenimiento. Hulu (respaldado por EE.UU. gigantes de televisión NBC ...

<b> Noticias </ b> Alerta: gran crecimiento para los anuncios de Internet a través de 2014: Tecnología <b> Noticias </ b> «eMarketer, una sede en Nueva York la firma de investigación estima el gasto en anuncios de Internet en EE.UU., crecerá un 13,9 por ciento a 25,8 mil millones dólares para todo el año se espera un aumento del 10,5 por ciento en el gasto de EE.UU. de publicidad en línea en 2011, ...

Exclusivo:. general Petraeus no es y # 39 ; Claro &#39; victoria en Afganistán en 2014 <b> ...</ b> En mi entrevista exclusiva con el general David Petraeus se sentía alentado por los progresos realizados desde oleada del presidente Obama de las fuerzas en Afganistán, pero es que Confiamos en que el ejército afgano puede asumir el liderazgo de las fuerzas de EE.UU. en la OTAN.


bench craft company rip off

Hulu plans its own entertainment <b>news</b> show, but will anyone watch?

As Peter Kafka at MediaMemo reports, Hulu is currently casting for a presenter for the show which will be published daily, taking a 'Daily Show'-style satirical approach to the latest entertainment news. Hulu (backed by US TV giants NBC ...

<b>News</b> Alert: Big Growth for Internet Ads Through 2014: Tech <b>News</b> «

eMarketer, a New York-based research firm estimates spending on US internet advertisements, will grow 13.9 percent to $25.8 billion for the full year. It expects a 10.5 percent increase in US online ad spending in 2011, ...

Exclusive: Gen. Petraeus Not &#39;Sure&#39; Victory in Afghanistan by 2014 <b>...</b>

In my exclusive interview with General David Petraeus he was encouraged by the progress made since President Obama's surge of forces into Afghanistan, but is he confident that the Afghan army can take the lead from US forces by NATO's.

bench craft company rip off

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

The word “mentorship” usually evokes imagery of an older, more experienced individual imparting knowledge and know-how upon a younger, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed individual — that’s the traditional use of the word that we’ve all come to know and accept.

Alexa Scordato, however, is turning that word on its head with a concept she calls reverse mentorship. Scordato currently serves as the community manager at 2tor, an education technology startup. Fresh out of college, though, she first started her career as an executive assistant at Mzinga, a social software company, where she and Chairman and CEO Barry Libert took part in a reverse mentorship.

Pairing senior executives with digital natives seems like an obvious win for the digitally challenged; you put in a few hours a week, and the youngster teaches you how to use Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter and Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook. The term “reverse mentorship” can be a bit misleading in that way. What it really is, though, is a two-way conversation — digitally savvy newcomers to the business world have the opportunity to impart their tips and tricks for mastering the class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet, and senior business leaders act as role models and career coaches for budding professionals.

Over the past few years, Scordato has become a very vocal advocate for reverse mentorship, speaking on the subject at various events, including TEDxBoston and Pivot Conference.

While reverse mentorship may be a concept that’s been in practice for a while, we really like Scordato’s take on the subject. Inspired by her thoughts, here are just a few reasons why your business should consider setting up a reverse mentorship program.

There Are Knowledge Gaps on Both Sides

The beauty of reverse mentorship is that it takes both sides into account, realizing that we all come with our flaws, whether we’re 22 years old and fresh out of college or 60 years old, steering a business.

“There’s a big crisis that I think we’re experiencing right now in the marketing industry, which is a severe knowledge gap,” said Scordato at PivotCon. “There are a lot of very seasoned marketers out there who are struggling to basically understand the new rules of marketing.”

That’s just one side of the story. Scordato also explained that, like many other Millennials straight out of college, she had a lot to work on professionally: “I lacked business acumen. I was fascinated with Barry’s lingo — things like EBITDA and cash flow. I didn’t understand any of it. But it was interesting, because I realized that he was equally fascinated by this thing called Twitter.”

Scordato and Libert paired up each day for 30 minutes before the work day began. Their morning routine consisted of blogging and engaging via social media. Scordato explained the end result, “ got him on Facebook; put his speaking gigs on YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube; he’s on LinkedInclass="blippr-nobr">LinkedIn; we wrote 53 blog posts together over the course of a year, and you can tweet him.”

Each employee has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Learn about your employees — what they excel in and where they need improvement — and pair them with others who complement those qualities.

The Future of Business Is Social

Communication models are evolving within organization and outside of them. Communication with colleagues or customers is becoming more direct, making it faster and easier to collaborate with others. Dying are the days where the only means of communication with customers was via a toll-free number or a suggestion box. Many areas within business are embracing social and digital media — CEOs, public relations pros, salespeople and recruiters to name a few.

“The future of business is social,” Scordato stated. “We have to stop thinking about our companies as a corporate ladder. It doesn’t resonate with me, it doesn’t resonate with my peers. If we want to be an organization that really embraces change and adopts and is innovative, we need to think faster, smarter, social.”

The digital age is upon us — it’s time to embrace technology and see what your organization can accomplish.

The Generation Gap Argument is Old

“That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation often becomes the height of wisdom in the next.”/> — John Stuart Mill, British philosopher (1806-1873)

When discussing the evolution of technology, it’s almost inevitable that someone will bring up the argument that there’s an inexplicable knowledge gap between youngsters who grew up with computers, cellphones and other gadgets and old fogies who remember the days when TVs and radios didn’t exist. Sure, there have been many technological advances in the past 50 years, but that doesn’t excuse anyone from learning.

Furthermore, we must remember that each new generation is not a new subset of humans — we are all people, and we all share commonalities. And most importantly, we can all learn from one another.

Let’s get over the excuse that there are too many differences between generations, because frankly, it’s lazy and outdated. Scordato sums it up nicely:

“We need to think about reverse mentorship and pairing young people with seasoned executives. We need to stop thinking about it as an ‘us versus them’ conversation. It’s a two-way street. I’m not going to stand here and say, ‘Oh my gosh, these people over here don’t get it. They’re slow. They’re old. They don’t know what they’re talking about.’ And I would expect that people I want to learn from, my mentors, wouldn’t look at me and say, ‘Alexa doesn’t know anything. She’s just one of those Millennials.’ ”

The sooner we acknowledge our similarities along with our differences, the sooner we can begin to learn from each other and bridge the so-called generational gap.

Conclusion

Adopting a reverse mentorship program isn’t a matter of reworking business processes or changing staff. It can be as simple as matching up compatible employees and enabling them to meet during lunch to discuss topics that they’re interested in. The important thing is to facilitate a two-way dialogue between newcomers and veterans at your business to encourage sharing of useful skills and knowledge.

Has your organization tried out reverse mentorship? If so, let us know about the experience in the comments below.

More Business Resources from Mashable:

- 6 Ways to Score a Job Through Twitter/> - Small Biz Checklist: 5 Important Tasks for the End of the Year/> - HOW TO: Boost Holiday Sales With Commonly Overlooked Marketing Strategies/> - Social Point of Sale: The Holy Grail for Location-Based Marketers/> - 4 Job Search Tips for Aspiring SEO/SEM Specialists

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, mikdam

For more Business coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Businessclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Business channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

In this month’s issue of Wired Magazine, writer Ted Greenwald described the trending Silicon Valley meme, “WDYDWYD or Why Do You Do What You Do?” calling it the “hottest team-building meme since Outward Bound.”

The meme originated in 2004 at Burning Man by artist Tony Deifell who posted photos of strangers answering the questions on the Ning social network. The inspiration behind the meme originated with a call he received late one night from a young student working on a school project. She blurted out, “Why do you do what you do?” Deifell was quite taken a back, and like many people faced with the question, he embarked upon an existential meditation.

I couldn’t get the words out in a clear way. I tried to refigure how to make my answer more essential. I realized I needed to be more deliberate in my choices in the world. It haunted me.

Deifell has since carried WDYDWYD from the festival to the Silicon Valley boardrooms of the National Holistic Institute, Google and Twitter. The site, which he describes as an open-sourced art project, is still growing steadily on Ning.

Student Joe Moloughney founded the WDYDWYD Facebook group, calling it a worldwide community art project with 1,500 members. Their Twitter page has over 1,000 followers. Artists like photographer Bill Kennedy, author/cartoonist Hugh MacLeod and French performance artist Séverine Carminati have all got involved.

But this meme is still primarily just on the West Coast. So, what would the East Coast answer? I asked a few prominent East Coasters, “Why do you do what you do?”

Here are their answers:

“To someday be able to answer this question.”

- Ashley Casselman, Senior Associate at the World Economic Forum.

“I am an insecure short girl from Florida. I never considered myself enough.”

-Laurel Touby, Founder and SVP, mediabistro.com

“I do what I do because of the thrill of discovery. And becuase the world is changing at an incredibly rapid rate, and somebody needs to be there to chronicle it.”

- Seth Porges, an Editor at Popular Mechanics

“I love the Internet, sure, but I mostly do what I do because of the people in my industry.  It’s a world of movers, shakers, api-makers.  Everyone is smart, and on the cutting-edge of what’s next.  It’s simply the most exciting industry to work in, and also the most fun.”

-Soraya Darabi, Co-Founder of Foodspotting.

“Because I can’t stop…and I’m not sure I want to.”

- Julia Kaganskiy, Editor of The Creators Project and Founder of the ArtsTech Meetup.

“Because making the world suck less is SO MUCH FUN.”

- Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder of Reddit and Head of Marketing for Hipmunk

“I do what I do because I’m a huge nerd.  At RJMetrics, we use technology to solve complex, interesting problems for some of the fastest-growing companies in the world.  This makes for nerd paradise, and I wouldn’t trade it for any other job.”

-Robert J. Moore, CEO of RJMetrics.

“In my case, the answer comes down to “enlightened self interest”.  I am truly focused on the long-term goal of leaving the world a better place than I found it (the wonderful concept of ‘tikun olam’). As a pragmatic capitalist, I believe that can best be done by harnessing the powers of free market forces, and as a believer in democracy, I believe that society then needs to work collectively to tweak the margins to guide humanity in the right direction. As a result, I have created a unique and strange personal world surrounding me…like a high tech PeeWee’s Playhouse. I am an entrepreneur, angel investor, teacher, mentor, speaker, father, futurist and political activist, all of which taken together occupy me 16 hours a day, seven days a week, with an insane work and travel schedule. But I truly believe that I am having more pure fun in life than almost anyone else I know, and this combination of pleasure and purpose is Why I Do What I Do.”

- David S. Rose, Managing Principal of Rose Tech Ventures and founder and Chairman of New York Angels.

What makes our New York answers resemblant of our city? A touch of irony perhaps? A grittier sense of responsibility? A necessity to be edgier?

After asking so many of my peers, I gave it a think. I do what I do because every writer requires inspiration. So my fellow East Coasters, WDYDWYD?

bench craft company rip off

Hulu plans its own entertainment <b>news</b> show, but will anyone watch?

As Peter Kafka at MediaMemo reports, Hulu is currently casting for a presenter for the show which will be published daily, taking a 'Daily Show'-style satirical approach to the latest entertainment news. Hulu (backed by US TV giants NBC ...

<b>News</b> Alert: Big Growth for Internet Ads Through 2014: Tech <b>News</b> «

eMarketer, a New York-based research firm estimates spending on US internet advertisements, will grow 13.9 percent to $25.8 billion for the full year. It expects a 10.5 percent increase in US online ad spending in 2011, ...

Exclusive: Gen. Petraeus Not &#39;Sure&#39; Victory in Afghanistan by 2014 <b>...</b>

In my exclusive interview with General David Petraeus he was encouraged by the progress made since President Obama's surge of forces into Afghanistan, but is he confident that the Afghan army can take the lead from US forces by NATO's.

bench craft company rip off

Hulu plans its own entertainment <b>news</b> show, but will anyone watch?

As Peter Kafka at MediaMemo reports, Hulu is currently casting for a presenter for the show which will be published daily, taking a 'Daily Show'-style satirical approach to the latest entertainment news. Hulu (backed by US TV giants NBC ...

<b>News</b> Alert: Big Growth for Internet Ads Through 2014: Tech <b>News</b> «

eMarketer, a New York-based research firm estimates spending on US internet advertisements, will grow 13.9 percent to $25.8 billion for the full year. It expects a 10.5 percent increase in US online ad spending in 2011, ...

Exclusive: Gen. Petraeus Not &#39;Sure&#39; Victory in Afghanistan by 2014 <b>...</b>

In my exclusive interview with General David Petraeus he was encouraged by the progress made since President Obama's surge of forces into Afghanistan, but is he confident that the Afghan army can take the lead from US forces by NATO's.

bench craft company rip off

Hulu plans its own entertainment <b>news</b> show, but will anyone watch?

As Peter Kafka at MediaMemo reports, Hulu is currently casting for a presenter for the show which will be published daily, taking a 'Daily Show'-style satirical approach to the latest entertainment news. Hulu (backed by US TV giants NBC ...

<b>News</b> Alert: Big Growth for Internet Ads Through 2014: Tech <b>News</b> «

eMarketer, a New York-based research firm estimates spending on US internet advertisements, will grow 13.9 percent to $25.8 billion for the full year. It expects a 10.5 percent increase in US online ad spending in 2011, ...

Exclusive: Gen. Petraeus Not &#39;Sure&#39; Victory in Afghanistan by 2014 <b>...</b>

In my exclusive interview with General David Petraeus he was encouraged by the progress made since President Obama's surge of forces into Afghanistan, but is he confident that the Afghan army can take the lead from US forces by NATO's.

bench craft company rip off

Hulu plans its own entertainment <b>news</b> show, but will anyone watch?

As Peter Kafka at MediaMemo reports, Hulu is currently casting for a presenter for the show which will be published daily, taking a 'Daily Show'-style satirical approach to the latest entertainment news. Hulu (backed by US TV giants NBC ...

<b>News</b> Alert: Big Growth for Internet Ads Through 2014: Tech <b>News</b> «

eMarketer, a New York-based research firm estimates spending on US internet advertisements, will grow 13.9 percent to $25.8 billion for the full year. It expects a 10.5 percent increase in US online ad spending in 2011, ...

Exclusive: Gen. Petraeus Not &#39;Sure&#39; Victory in Afghanistan by 2014 <b>...</b>

In my exclusive interview with General David Petraeus he was encouraged by the progress made since President Obama's surge of forces into Afghanistan, but is he confident that the Afghan army can take the lead from US forces by NATO's.

bench craft company rip off

Hulu plans its own entertainment <b>news</b> show, but will anyone watch?

As Peter Kafka at MediaMemo reports, Hulu is currently casting for a presenter for the show which will be published daily, taking a 'Daily Show'-style satirical approach to the latest entertainment news. Hulu (backed by US TV giants NBC ...

<b>News</b> Alert: Big Growth for Internet Ads Through 2014: Tech <b>News</b> «

eMarketer, a New York-based research firm estimates spending on US internet advertisements, will grow 13.9 percent to $25.8 billion for the full year. It expects a 10.5 percent increase in US online ad spending in 2011, ...

Exclusive: Gen. Petraeus Not &#39;Sure&#39; Victory in Afghanistan by 2014 <b>...</b>

In my exclusive interview with General David Petraeus he was encouraged by the progress made since President Obama's surge of forces into Afghanistan, but is he confident that the Afghan army can take the lead from US forces by NATO's.

bench craft company rip off

Hulu plans its own entertainment <b>news</b> show, but will anyone watch?

As Peter Kafka at MediaMemo reports, Hulu is currently casting for a presenter for the show which will be published daily, taking a 'Daily Show'-style satirical approach to the latest entertainment news. Hulu (backed by US TV giants NBC ...

<b>News</b> Alert: Big Growth for Internet Ads Through 2014: Tech <b>News</b> «

eMarketer, a New York-based research firm estimates spending on US internet advertisements, will grow 13.9 percent to $25.8 billion for the full year. It expects a 10.5 percent increase in US online ad spending in 2011, ...

Exclusive: Gen. Petraeus Not &#39;Sure&#39; Victory in Afghanistan by 2014 <b>...</b>

In my exclusive interview with General David Petraeus he was encouraged by the progress made since President Obama's surge of forces into Afghanistan, but is he confident that the Afghan army can take the lead from US forces by NATO's.

bench craft company rip off

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

The word “mentorship” usually evokes imagery of an older, more experienced individual imparting knowledge and know-how upon a younger, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed individual — that’s the traditional use of the word that we’ve all come to know and accept.

Alexa Scordato, however, is turning that word on its head with a concept she calls reverse mentorship. Scordato currently serves as the community manager at 2tor, an education technology startup. Fresh out of college, though, she first started her career as an executive assistant at Mzinga, a social software company, where she and Chairman and CEO Barry Libert took part in a reverse mentorship.

Pairing senior executives with digital natives seems like an obvious win for the digitally challenged; you put in a few hours a week, and the youngster teaches you how to use Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter and Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook. The term “reverse mentorship” can be a bit misleading in that way. What it really is, though, is a two-way conversation — digitally savvy newcomers to the business world have the opportunity to impart their tips and tricks for mastering the class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet, and senior business leaders act as role models and career coaches for budding professionals.

Over the past few years, Scordato has become a very vocal advocate for reverse mentorship, speaking on the subject at various events, including TEDxBoston and Pivot Conference.

While reverse mentorship may be a concept that’s been in practice for a while, we really like Scordato’s take on the subject. Inspired by her thoughts, here are just a few reasons why your business should consider setting up a reverse mentorship program.

There Are Knowledge Gaps on Both Sides

The beauty of reverse mentorship is that it takes both sides into account, realizing that we all come with our flaws, whether we’re 22 years old and fresh out of college or 60 years old, steering a business.

“There’s a big crisis that I think we’re experiencing right now in the marketing industry, which is a severe knowledge gap,” said Scordato at PivotCon. “There are a lot of very seasoned marketers out there who are struggling to basically understand the new rules of marketing.”

That’s just one side of the story. Scordato also explained that, like many other Millennials straight out of college, she had a lot to work on professionally: “I lacked business acumen. I was fascinated with Barry’s lingo — things like EBITDA and cash flow. I didn’t understand any of it. But it was interesting, because I realized that he was equally fascinated by this thing called Twitter.”

Scordato and Libert paired up each day for 30 minutes before the work day began. Their morning routine consisted of blogging and engaging via social media. Scordato explained the end result, “ got him on Facebook; put his speaking gigs on YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube; he’s on LinkedInclass="blippr-nobr">LinkedIn; we wrote 53 blog posts together over the course of a year, and you can tweet him.”

Each employee has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. Learn about your employees — what they excel in and where they need improvement — and pair them with others who complement those qualities.

The Future of Business Is Social

Communication models are evolving within organization and outside of them. Communication with colleagues or customers is becoming more direct, making it faster and easier to collaborate with others. Dying are the days where the only means of communication with customers was via a toll-free number or a suggestion box. Many areas within business are embracing social and digital media — CEOs, public relations pros, salespeople and recruiters to name a few.

“The future of business is social,” Scordato stated. “We have to stop thinking about our companies as a corporate ladder. It doesn’t resonate with me, it doesn’t resonate with my peers. If we want to be an organization that really embraces change and adopts and is innovative, we need to think faster, smarter, social.”

The digital age is upon us — it’s time to embrace technology and see what your organization can accomplish.

The Generation Gap Argument is Old

“That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation often becomes the height of wisdom in the next.”/> — John Stuart Mill, British philosopher (1806-1873)

When discussing the evolution of technology, it’s almost inevitable that someone will bring up the argument that there’s an inexplicable knowledge gap between youngsters who grew up with computers, cellphones and other gadgets and old fogies who remember the days when TVs and radios didn’t exist. Sure, there have been many technological advances in the past 50 years, but that doesn’t excuse anyone from learning.

Furthermore, we must remember that each new generation is not a new subset of humans — we are all people, and we all share commonalities. And most importantly, we can all learn from one another.

Let’s get over the excuse that there are too many differences between generations, because frankly, it’s lazy and outdated. Scordato sums it up nicely:

“We need to think about reverse mentorship and pairing young people with seasoned executives. We need to stop thinking about it as an ‘us versus them’ conversation. It’s a two-way street. I’m not going to stand here and say, ‘Oh my gosh, these people over here don’t get it. They’re slow. They’re old. They don’t know what they’re talking about.’ And I would expect that people I want to learn from, my mentors, wouldn’t look at me and say, ‘Alexa doesn’t know anything. She’s just one of those Millennials.’ ”

The sooner we acknowledge our similarities along with our differences, the sooner we can begin to learn from each other and bridge the so-called generational gap.

Conclusion

Adopting a reverse mentorship program isn’t a matter of reworking business processes or changing staff. It can be as simple as matching up compatible employees and enabling them to meet during lunch to discuss topics that they’re interested in. The important thing is to facilitate a two-way dialogue between newcomers and veterans at your business to encourage sharing of useful skills and knowledge.

Has your organization tried out reverse mentorship? If so, let us know about the experience in the comments below.

More Business Resources from Mashable:

- 6 Ways to Score a Job Through Twitter/> - Small Biz Checklist: 5 Important Tasks for the End of the Year/> - HOW TO: Boost Holiday Sales With Commonly Overlooked Marketing Strategies/> - Social Point of Sale: The Holy Grail for Location-Based Marketers/> - 4 Job Search Tips for Aspiring SEO/SEM Specialists

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, mikdam

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In this month’s issue of Wired Magazine, writer Ted Greenwald described the trending Silicon Valley meme, “WDYDWYD or Why Do You Do What You Do?” calling it the “hottest team-building meme since Outward Bound.”

The meme originated in 2004 at Burning Man by artist Tony Deifell who posted photos of strangers answering the questions on the Ning social network. The inspiration behind the meme originated with a call he received late one night from a young student working on a school project. She blurted out, “Why do you do what you do?” Deifell was quite taken a back, and like many people faced with the question, he embarked upon an existential meditation.

I couldn’t get the words out in a clear way. I tried to refigure how to make my answer more essential. I realized I needed to be more deliberate in my choices in the world. It haunted me.

Deifell has since carried WDYDWYD from the festival to the Silicon Valley boardrooms of the National Holistic Institute, Google and Twitter. The site, which he describes as an open-sourced art project, is still growing steadily on Ning.

Student Joe Moloughney founded the WDYDWYD Facebook group, calling it a worldwide community art project with 1,500 members. Their Twitter page has over 1,000 followers. Artists like photographer Bill Kennedy, author/cartoonist Hugh MacLeod and French performance artist Séverine Carminati have all got involved.

But this meme is still primarily just on the West Coast. So, what would the East Coast answer? I asked a few prominent East Coasters, “Why do you do what you do?”

Here are their answers:

“To someday be able to answer this question.”

- Ashley Casselman, Senior Associate at the World Economic Forum.

“I am an insecure short girl from Florida. I never considered myself enough.”

-Laurel Touby, Founder and SVP, mediabistro.com

“I do what I do because of the thrill of discovery. And becuase the world is changing at an incredibly rapid rate, and somebody needs to be there to chronicle it.”

- Seth Porges, an Editor at Popular Mechanics

“I love the Internet, sure, but I mostly do what I do because of the people in my industry.  It’s a world of movers, shakers, api-makers.  Everyone is smart, and on the cutting-edge of what’s next.  It’s simply the most exciting industry to work in, and also the most fun.”

-Soraya Darabi, Co-Founder of Foodspotting.

“Because I can’t stop…and I’m not sure I want to.”

- Julia Kaganskiy, Editor of The Creators Project and Founder of the ArtsTech Meetup.

“Because making the world suck less is SO MUCH FUN.”

- Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder of Reddit and Head of Marketing for Hipmunk

“I do what I do because I’m a huge nerd.  At RJMetrics, we use technology to solve complex, interesting problems for some of the fastest-growing companies in the world.  This makes for nerd paradise, and I wouldn’t trade it for any other job.”

-Robert J. Moore, CEO of RJMetrics.

“In my case, the answer comes down to “enlightened self interest”.  I am truly focused on the long-term goal of leaving the world a better place than I found it (the wonderful concept of ‘tikun olam’). As a pragmatic capitalist, I believe that can best be done by harnessing the powers of free market forces, and as a believer in democracy, I believe that society then needs to work collectively to tweak the margins to guide humanity in the right direction. As a result, I have created a unique and strange personal world surrounding me…like a high tech PeeWee’s Playhouse. I am an entrepreneur, angel investor, teacher, mentor, speaker, father, futurist and political activist, all of which taken together occupy me 16 hours a day, seven days a week, with an insane work and travel schedule. But I truly believe that I am having more pure fun in life than almost anyone else I know, and this combination of pleasure and purpose is Why I Do What I Do.”

- David S. Rose, Managing Principal of Rose Tech Ventures and founder and Chairman of New York Angels.

What makes our New York answers resemblant of our city? A touch of irony perhaps? A grittier sense of responsibility? A necessity to be edgier?

After asking so many of my peers, I gave it a think. I do what I do because every writer requires inspiration. So my fellow East Coasters, WDYDWYD?

bench craft company rip off

Hulu plans its own entertainment <b>news</b> show, but will anyone watch?

As Peter Kafka at MediaMemo reports, Hulu is currently casting for a presenter for the show which will be published daily, taking a 'Daily Show'-style satirical approach to the latest entertainment news. Hulu (backed by US TV giants NBC ...

<b>News</b> Alert: Big Growth for Internet Ads Through 2014: Tech <b>News</b> «

eMarketer, a New York-based research firm estimates spending on US internet advertisements, will grow 13.9 percent to $25.8 billion for the full year. It expects a 10.5 percent increase in US online ad spending in 2011, ...

Exclusive: Gen. Petraeus Not &#39;Sure&#39; Victory in Afghanistan by 2014 <b>...</b>

In my exclusive interview with General David Petraeus he was encouraged by the progress made since President Obama's surge of forces into Afghanistan, but is he confident that the Afghan army can take the lead from US forces by NATO's.

bench craft company rip off

Hulu plans its own entertainment <b>news</b> show, but will anyone watch?

As Peter Kafka at MediaMemo reports, Hulu is currently casting for a presenter for the show which will be published daily, taking a 'Daily Show'-style satirical approach to the latest entertainment news. Hulu (backed by US TV giants NBC ...

<b>News</b> Alert: Big Growth for Internet Ads Through 2014: Tech <b>News</b> «

eMarketer, a New York-based research firm estimates spending on US internet advertisements, will grow 13.9 percent to $25.8 billion for the full year. It expects a 10.5 percent increase in US online ad spending in 2011, ...

Exclusive: Gen. Petraeus Not &#39;Sure&#39; Victory in Afghanistan by 2014 <b>...</b>

In my exclusive interview with General David Petraeus he was encouraged by the progress made since President Obama's surge of forces into Afghanistan, but is he confident that the Afghan army can take the lead from US forces by NATO's.

bench craft company rip off

Hulu plans its own entertainment <b>news</b> show, but will anyone watch?

As Peter Kafka at MediaMemo reports, Hulu is currently casting for a presenter for the show which will be published daily, taking a 'Daily Show'-style satirical approach to the latest entertainment news. Hulu (backed by US TV giants NBC ...

<b>News</b> Alert: Big Growth for Internet Ads Through 2014: Tech <b>News</b> «

eMarketer, a New York-based research firm estimates spending on US internet advertisements, will grow 13.9 percent to $25.8 billion for the full year. It expects a 10.5 percent increase in US online ad spending in 2011, ...

Exclusive: Gen. Petraeus Not &#39;Sure&#39; Victory in Afghanistan by 2014 <b>...</b>

In my exclusive interview with General David Petraeus he was encouraged by the progress made since President Obama's surge of forces into Afghanistan, but is he confident that the Afghan army can take the lead from US forces by NATO's.

bench craft company rip off

Hulu plans its own entertainment <b>news</b> show, but will anyone watch?

As Peter Kafka at MediaMemo reports, Hulu is currently casting for a presenter for the show which will be published daily, taking a 'Daily Show'-style satirical approach to the latest entertainment news. Hulu (backed by US TV giants NBC ...

<b>News</b> Alert: Big Growth for Internet Ads Through 2014: Tech <b>News</b> «

eMarketer, a New York-based research firm estimates spending on US internet advertisements, will grow 13.9 percent to $25.8 billion for the full year. It expects a 10.5 percent increase in US online ad spending in 2011, ...

Exclusive: Gen. Petraeus Not &#39;Sure&#39; Victory in Afghanistan by 2014 <b>...</b>

In my exclusive interview with General David Petraeus he was encouraged by the progress made since President Obama's surge of forces into Afghanistan, but is he confident that the Afghan army can take the lead from US forces by NATO's.