“I’ll probably never know whether he left his gun in the car on accident or just didn’t wanna kill them. He told me he wanted a burger. What was I gonna say? MacLeary’s makes good burgers.

He must have held his own in there, whatever happened. The pub was wrecked. Shattered mugs, pool balls, and beer littered the floor between the remnants of a half dozen once-sturdy wooden bar stools. A splintered pool cue stuck out of the wall through an ancient, faded Cubs poster. And Marty, except for a few bruised knuckles, he walked out unscathed, burger in hand, with a big ‘ol shit-eating grin on his face. I knew there was something wrong when I saw that smile. Marty only smiles for one reason.”

“Social media distinguishes itself from less versatile interactive mediums of the past like print and traditional advertising by giving life to the Intelligent User.

This modern distinction is often misunderstood by web developers and under-appreciated by users because the power of choice is a novel distinction.

It didn’t exist in previous mediums. In marketing, for example, consumers are used to the old paradigm where they listen passively and marketers tell them what to think. The interaction only moves in one direction.

On the Internet, interaction is more involved and the Intelligent User — as the consequence of this new system — has overtaken the old paradigm.”