Brands are noticing. They’re flocking to Pinterest, and if you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet, they could be stealing your web traffic. A recent study by Shareaholic revealed that Pinterest drove more traffic to online retailers than Twitter during the month of February, which is especially impressive when you consider that Twitter has nearly ten times as many followers.

Long story short: if you’re selling a product — any product — Pinterest should be a part of your marketing strategy. I’m not talking creating one board, pinning a single product image to it, and calling it a day. Consider applications and situations in which that product might come in handy. Selling spatulas? Curate a board of recipes. Picture frames? Pin some especially picturesque moments. You get the idea.

Pinterest makes it easy to pin images while you’re browsing the web: just add the ‘Pin It‘ shortcut to your browser’s Bookmarks toolbar and click it whenever you see a pinworthy image on a webpage you’re viewing. All of the images on that page will pop up and you can choose which one to pin to your board (along with an automatically embedded link to the page where you found it). If you’re pinning images from your own website — which you should be, along with others — this can provide you with link-building SEO benefits by giving your website a slice of the 270-million-unique-monthly-visitors pie that Pinterest generates.

Pinning is easy, doesn’t have to be time consuming, and is a great place to show off your brand’s (a) product and (b) creativity. What are you waiting for? Launch that brand page and start generating traffic (before your competitors do).

Instagram was first added to Apple’s App Store in October 2010, and by July 2011, 100 million images had been uploaded to the service. Just one month later, in August 2011, that number was estimated to be at 150 million. At last count — in September 2011 — the app had surpassed ten million registered users. It’s incredible how quickly the free, easy-to-use app has grown, and impressive that it’s done so without a lick of in-app advertising. So how are brands infiltrating this space?

Within my own local market, I’ve seen Atlanta-based businesses Ale Yeah! and Fox Bros. BBQ take on the challenge of Instagram successfully. Both companies have a single physical location — Ale Yeah! is a craft beer market in Decatur, and Fox Bros. is a restaurant just around the corner on Dekalb Avenue. Both carry great products and both use Instagram to give fellow iOS users compelling reasons to hop in our cars and make a beeline for their cash registers. For instance, every time the growler menu changes or a new brew arrives in store, Ale Yeah! snaps a picture and uploads it to Instagram. That account, which has 150+ followers, happens to be linked to the brand’s Twitter account (@aleyeahbeer), so that neat little picture goes out to its 1300+ Twitter followers as well.

Fox Bros.’ Instagram account is also linked to its Twitter handle (@foxbrosbarbq), which means that its 130+ Instagram followers and its 1700+ Twitter followers all see the same behind-the-scenes images of brisket, wings, and the daily specials. We’ll oftentimes get a sneak peek at the preparation process for the award-winning joint’s mouthwatering meals, which helps users feel more deeply connected with the establishment and the food it creates. Plus, Instagram users can like and comment on the photos they see, which makes it a great forum for customer feedback, too.

When you’re considering adding Instagram to your brand’s social strategy, ask yourself what exciting things you love to share about your business. Maybe it’s your company culture. Maybe you’ve got a unique product or service to show off. Regardless, it’s entirely possible that you’re missing out on a great social tool by sticking to the “major” networks and forgetting about “little” guys like Instagram (who really aren’t so little after all).

However, believe it or not, Facebook isn’t going to be around forever (at least not in its current form). Like MySpace and Friendster before it, Facebook will, in perhaps as little as a few years, seem primitive and antiquated. Why do you think they’re trying to get you to use the network as a hub for autobiographical information with the Timeline profile? Because if you invest the time in it — if you upload your pictures and fill in your information and use Timeline in the way they really want you to use it — it’s going to be hard as hell for you to leave the network when the Next Big Thing(s) come along, because you’ve made a personal investment in the former. It’ll be like getting the opportunity to move into your dream home but only on the condition that you leave your neatly-organized boxed of mementos, letters, and photographs behind.

That being said, I think that social media is headed in an exciting direction, and that the network(s) that will one day replace Facebook as the most powerful social platform(s) on earth will be great ones. I am using the (s) here intentionally, because I do not believe that one gargantuan network will be able to overcome Facebook on its own. It will be smaller networks — maybe even dozens of them — that appeal to niche groups of users that will be the Next Big Thing(s).

The Next Big Thing(s) will allow users to create, share and explore media that are most appropriate for the subject matter and are preferred by those who are doing the creating, sharing, and exploring. Based on current trends, I think that, for most users, these preferred media will be visually stimulating ones. The amount of content that is uploaded to and viewed on YouTube every single day is astounding: a year ago, over 35 hours worth was added every minute. We can only assume that number has risen over the past twelve months or so, and will, more likely than not, continue to rise.

The Next Big Thing(s) will be quick and spontaneous in their engagement. As a social media manager, I will be the first to admit that spending all day every day “wired in” has screwed with how I think about and interpret, create and digest information. It’s hard for me to pick up a book and read more than a few pages without getting up to do something else. Writing a 500+ word blog post is something I really have to work at, because I rarely put thoughts together that exceed 140 characters. I am great at being concise and at multi-tasking, but only at the expense of my aptitude for dedicated concentration. I am an exaggerated case because of my occupation, but this is the effect that social media will, I think, have on all of its users, in one degree or another, at some time or another. We will not be inclined — or, rather, able — to sit down and focus on an article or a video that is shared with us via a social network as long as we know that other content is popping up around us. We don’t want to miss anything, and for maximum saturation, speed and spontaneity are key.

The Next Big Thing(s) will delve deeply into our personal lives, much like Facebook does, but we will not realize they are doing so. They will collect and use data, make assumptions about us, and feed us content based on those assumptions. We will not need to type a single interest or birthdate or even a gender into their systems; they will analyze what we view, and what we share, and what we create, and do magical things with that information. There’s a good chance they’ll realize things about us before we realize them about ourselves, just based on the colors of our images or the soundtracks for our videos. It will be uncanny and maybe a little terrifying, but must of us won’t even realize these things because it will be a tool for narcissism and we’ll be too busy looking in the mirror to think about what’s behind it.

The Next Big Thing(s) will probably be great for brands, depending on how much of that super-personal data is made available to them. Don’t get left behind by putting all of your eggs in the Facebook basket. If you’ve got great visuals, check out image-based platforms like Instagram and Pinterest. If your pictures are accompanied by stories and links, sign up for Tumblr. And if you want to optimize your social media activity for higher search rankings, you’d better get on the Google+ bandwagon. Post your content and look at how users engage with it — you’ll soon see where your strengths lie, and realize that interacting with a few users on a small platform rather than a ton of users on a behemoth platform can mean more clicks, better ROI, and a more powerful online presence for your brand.

You’ve undoubtedly heard rumblings that your Facebook profile is about to change. Pretty drastically. I think it’s the biggest shift in user experience Facebook has made to date, but I also think it’s one of the smartest moves they’ve ever made. Sure, people will gripe and whine and boycott for a week or two like they always do, but they’ll soon learn to love the new Timeline interface. It gives users what they want — an outlet for self-expression an opportunity to project a carefully-crafted version of themselves to the world — while simultaneously allowing Facebook to access very, very detailed information about each user, which can then be used for very, very targeted advertising campaigns.

Facebook will tell users that they’ve built Timeline to provide individuals with the ability to archive and recall personal data, and it does do that. But the more information users plug in to their timelines (Broke a bone? Had surgery? Lost a loved one?), the more sentimental value they’re going to attach to it, and the more likely it is that they’ll continue logging in to Facebook to view or update the data they’ve entered. If users buy into Timeline — and they will, because it’s pretty and easy, and also a great way to simultaneously indulge in a little bit of narcissism while letting people know who you are (or who you want them to think you are) — they’re likely to become users for life. There is no option to download, print, or otherwise save your timeline. If you want to see what you’ve written or where you’ve been as it’s been tracked by Facebook, you’ll have to log in, and when you do so, you’ll be confronted with ads from companies that have made inferences about your relationships, your livelihood, and your personality based on the details you’ve added to your timeline.

So why is the radical shift to the timeline format a smart choice on Facebook’s part? Because it makes the social network much more than a communication tool without sacrificing simplicity. When paired with Facebook’s recently updated privacy settings, it allows users to project highly-specific, multidimensional images of themselves to their networks while maintaining authenticity by adding dates and tags and check-ins. And of course, it means incredible marketing opportunities for advertisers, since they’ll be able to target users in a much more individualized manner based on all those little details you can now enter into your timeline.

I’d mark my calendar for that IPO if I were you.

Turns out I was wrong. LinkedIn can actually be an excellent B2B marketing tool if you know how to use it correctly, and you don’t have to turn yourself into a spambot to do so. To make the most of your account, keep these two goals in mind when you’re using LinkedIn:

Optimize. Search engines like LinkedIn and fresh content, so if you regularly update your profile, you’ll be more likely to show up at the top of results pages when people are searching for your name. However, if you use just the right key words and phrases, you can also boost your rankings when people are searching for broader terms related to your area of expertise and profession. The two sections you’ll want to make sure are keyword-optimized are the outbound links that appear near the top of your profile and your ‘Specialties’ section, which is frequently indexed by Google and the other major search engines.

You can add up to 3 links to your profile and have the option to customize their anchor text, which can help improve your rankings (and the rankings of the website you’re linking to) for that particular keyword. For instance, if you work for XYZ Marketing Agency, provide a link to your company website with the anchor text “XYZ Marketing Agency,” not just the standard “Company website.” Likewise, if you’re a blogger who focuses on digital marketing strategies, link to your blog with anchor text like “Digital Marketing Strategies Blog.” Be as specific as possible.

You should also include as many relevant keywords as you can muster up in your ‘Specialties’ section, separated either by commas or line breaks. Try to include everything you have experience with to broaden your horizons and the effectiveness of your optimization. People will be able to find you when they’re looking for a professional in a given industry whether they’re using LinkedIn’s internal search function or an external search engine.

Contribute. And that doesn’t just mean join a lot of groups. Yes, you’ll want to seek out, join, and participate in relevant LinkedIn groups where you can use your professional expertise to help out prospective clients and industry peers, but there are a number of other ways you can contribute to your LinkedIn network and let them know that you’re a reputable source when it comes to (blank). Check out LinkedIn Answers, where users can ask and answer questions that are categorized by topic. This feature is similar to Quora but has a more closely defined set of categories, all of which relate to work and business in one way or another. You can ask or answer questions about everything from sales and marketing strategies – what works vs. what doesn’t – to the legalities of forming a startup, the benefits of pursuing a post-graduate degree, and more.

You should also take care to update your status on a regular basis, and to review your network’s updates while you’re at it. Status updates are a great chance to strut your stuff by letting people know about a project you’ve been working on, a big sale you just made, or to ask for business advice or suggestions. When you comment on other users’ status updates, your comment will show up to everyone in their network, too, so it’s a great way to gain some (potentially valuable) exposure.

Of course, make sure that your profile is always up-to-date. Including information like your entire job history, links to any projects you’re working on, current contact information, and recommendations is important, but becomes irrelevant if you never log in and don’t do anything to drive traffic to your profile. Once you start to use LinkedIn to establish yourself as an authority within your industry, people will start turning to you for solutions and partnerships. Whether you’re a freelancer, a CEO, or somewhere in between, there are easy and effective ways to draw people to your business by way of your LinkedIn profile, making it a great tool for your marketing and branding efforts, both personal and company-wide.

So why are people so eager to join Google+? As some have suggested, it might have something to do with the exclusivity factor. It’s been an invite-only network thus far, and we always like to feel like we’ve been specially selected to try out something new. Part of what people loved about Facebook was lost when it decided to open up membership to users who weren’t necessarily associated with a college or university. And then another part of it was lost when brands caught wind of the platform and started pushing some serious advertising messages into everything we did. Maybe we like it because it’s allowed us to feel like we’re escaping those ads that seem to follow us everywhere we go online (for now). Of course, we’re not – Google+ is a Google product, which means that any information you pump into it will be used to determine which display advertisements you see, which websites show up first in your Google search results, and how you’re marketed to on other Google platforms such as Gmail.

Maybe we like Google+ because it makes one of the more complicated aspects of Facebook use – privacy – seem much more simple to understand. On Facebook you can sort your friends into lists to control who has access to what information, but unlike Google+ Circles, Facebook lists require a lot of clicking around and experimenting to really know what you’re giving certain people access to. Facebook also tends to introduce new “default” privacy settings on a regular basis without pointing out how these changes affect your information and how you can customize them.

With Google+, it’s easy to view your profile as another user, and directly under any content you post are some shiny little buttons that indicate which of your Circles will be able to see and engage with it. We’ve all got different airs and different images we want to project depending on who’s watching us. Google+ lets you be yourself with your friends, your professional self with your coworkers, and your well-behaved self with your family, all from a single platform.

So maybe it’s the simplicity. Maybe it’s the immediate lack of advertising. Maybe it’s the schizophrenic hidden inside of all of us. Or maybe it’s because Google+ is just better than any other platform. It’s not just a web-based platform where we can go to be social – it brings a personal, social aspect to the web itself.

Media Logic reported last week that fashion retailer Ann Taylor’s Facebook fan base jumped 10% between June 5-8 thanks to a Facebook-only shopping spree giveaway and 30% off coupon offered to fans during that 3-day period. The spike also contributed to a 17% increase in ‘likes’ between May 22 and June 21, when Ann Taylor went from 147k to 173k total Facebook fans.

It’s obvious why these new fans hit the ‘like’ button on Ann Taylor’s Facebook page: because they were willing to exchange their endorsements for a high-value coupon and a chance to win a shopping spree at the store. Both fan-exclusive offers were reason enough for 26,000 Facebook users to ‘like’ Ann Taylor, and in effect, let their friends on the social network know that this is a brand they’d recommend. Bu will Ann Taylor’s social marketing team be able to continue to please these consumers, each of whom came at a cost to the retailer in the form of a 30% discount and a $1,000 shopping spree?

In other words, these fans were expensive, and they’re likely to continue to be expensive as long as they remain fans. Coupons and contests are what’s valuable to Ann Taylor’s newer users. If the brand wants to sustain these relationships, they’ll have to keep making valuable offers to their Facebook consumers – probably more coupons and contests. If they’re prepared to make the investment, they’re all set, but if they’re not, these high-value promotions might not have been a great idea.

While ‘likes’ are great, they aren’t always indicative of success in the social media realm. What you really want to do with your brand’s presence on social networks is to build relationships with your consumers. It’s true that in order to do so you’ll have to find a way to make yourself attractive to users, but you’ll want to do so in a genuine, authentic way that lets them know what they’ll be able to expect out of this relationship in the future.

Why should they ‘like’ – publicly endorse – your brand? What’s in it for them? The initial value proposition that you make to users of a social network should be worth their recommendation, but should also be indicative of what they can expect to receive in exchange for their sustained support in order to ensure that they’ll stick around.

Getting that first ‘like’ can be easy if you’re willing to give away freebies (a la Ann Taylor), but it’s only half the battle; the hard part is finding ways to build a social community that will engage your fans over time – and keep them from ever thinking about clicking ‘Unlike.’

Irene’s journey through life began in the Pittsburgh suburb of North Braddock, Pennsylvania in 1920, where she was born to a welder and his wife, the third of four children. She spent her childhood in McKee’s Rocks, Pennsylvania, jumping streetcars and setting off fireworks on the Fourth of July with her siblings. She graduated from high school in 1938 and went on to work at Isaly’s, first in Pittsburgh, and then in a small town in northwest Pennsylvania after marrying Leon Dhanenes in the 1940s.

Over the next half a century Irene would raise two sons and a daughter, travel with family, and look out for sunshine, flowers, and chirping birds wherever she went. She was a strong-willed and sincere individual who cared deeply for her 3 children, 6 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren.

She is survived by her children and preceded in death by her husband, a sister, and two brothers, as well as her loving and rotund four-legged companion, Patches.

My grandmother – Mamaw, we called her, because some grandchild once upon a time didn’t bother to learn how to pronounce ‘grandma’ correctly as a toddler – passed away on Monday after a short illness at the age of 91.

I remember that when I was a young and impressionable child she’d yell at me for using “great” as an adjective to describe her because she didn’t ever want to be called a “great grandma.” When she broke her hip last year, she didn’t tell anyone until the pain had kept her from bundling up in her Carhartts and going out to feed the birds and fetch the mail for a few consecutive days. She didn’t want help, she didn’t want to be a bother, and she sure as hell didn’t want to end up in a nursing home. And she got what she wanted.

When I wrote her obituary on the day she died, I spent a lot of time reflecting on her character and revisiting memories and an interview I’d had with her for a history project some four years ago. One writing guide I read suggested I come up with three or four words to describe the deceased, and suggested the following: “Compassionate, loving, and kind.” I laughed out loud.

Mamaw fit that description in her own way, but it certainly wasn’t conventional, and I wouldn’t use those words to describe her to a roomful of strangers. She was resolute, she was strong-willed, and she was earnest. She knew what she liked and usually stuck to it, but would occasionally make new discoveries – for instance, that Pabst Blue Ribbon functioned just as well as Rolling Rock for her regular nightcap.

But while her will and her stubbornness may have made her difficult to converse with on some topics and even to be around at times, they are what I admire most about her life. She grew up in a humble home in a Pittsburgh suburb during the Great Depression with a father who often had trouble finding enough work to support his wife and four children, but as she told me in our interview,

We didn’t have a lot, but it’s all we knew. We were happy enough. We loved each other, we got along well, and that was what mattered most.

While Mamaw might not have been openly compassionate and might have grumbled a bit more often than was really necessary, love mattered to her, and so did happiness, and those are two things that I have always felt when I’ve thought of her, regardless of how frustrated or offended she might have made me feel in some past moment.

When I think of her, I think of the things she appreciated and how much she valued the simplest pleasures. She’d sit outside for hours in the sunshine, sometimes with a book, but often not. She’d take me out to see the lilacs or the lilies of the valley the day that they bloomed, as she’d been watching and waiting for them to present to her the first signs of spring after a long Pennsylvania winter. There was no sight that made her more complacent than that of a male cardinal against the snow, and she always savored the canned fruit in heavy syrup she’d split between the two of us after she cooked me dinner. She delighted in seeing my brothers and I open the presents she’d picked out for us on every birthday and holiday, and in lighting a fire when the whole family was piled into her den on Christmas Eve.

Mamaw lived simply but happily. She was as sharp as a tack and never lost the will to grow, to learn, and to maintain a sense of pride that she developed and earned on her own accord. I can only hope to emulate her incredible willpower and deep awareness of the things that matter most – and then some.

So I looked it up. AND IT’S ALL TRUE!

There really is a parasite called Taxoplasma gondii that is super smart and evil. The Lord Voldemort of parasites, if you will. Its life cycle has two parts: the sexual part and the asexual part. The asexual part can occur in any cozy little warm-blooded mammal, but the sexual part can only occur in members of the Felidae family – cats. So yes, as Celeste said, it makes sense that the ultimate goal of the parasite is to always be in a cat. But how does it manage that?

When this vile little protozoa finds itself in the belly of a mouse, rat, or bird – which is usually where it’s born or implanted as a baby – it’s pissed. So it crawls up into the brain of that poor, unsuspecting creature and takes the wheel, convincing its vehicle that it loves the smell of cat pee. It does not want to sleep in its own bed anymore. It wants to sleep in a puddle of cat pee. It wants to roll in it, bask in it, be refreshed by it. The smell of cat pee suddenly gives the carrier an orgasmic sensation, so it heads for the nearest puddle of fresh piss… and gets eaten by the cat who made it.

The cat gobbles up that rodent like my cousins gobble up the Thanksgiving turkey, and the parasites find themselves in the belly of a cat. SCORE! They can now enter the sexual phase of their life and make babies to their little nuclei’s content. Then these new parasites get pooped out (as is nature’s way) and gobbled up by more rodents and the great circle of life begins again.

But sometimes the parasites get ambitious and decide they want a mansion instead of an igloo so they make their way into human bellies. Of course it’s gross in there, with all that swallowed bubble gum floating around, so they head for the highlands in between our ears. When Celeste told me this, I immediately thought of Animorphs, but apparently they still haven’t proven that those are real; instead, something worse turns into the people who play host to Taxoplasma gondii –

they turn into crazy cat ladies.

Women infected with the disease become more warmhearted and caring, according to a study – and they also develop schizophrenic tendencies. Men, on the other hand, just turn into assholes (Researcher Jaroslav Flegr said his male subjects became more suspicious, jealous, dogmatic, and expedient).

And scientists estimate that about half of the world’s population has been infected with Taxoplasma gondii, actually impacting human cultures. Why do you think the men at Brewdog thought it was a good idea to sell a 55% ABV beer inside of a dead squirrel? Because cats eat squirrels, which means that it’s never a bad thing to set up camp inside of them for a little while.

This is important stuff to know, people. As one blogger wrote, “If you know someone who suddenly starts acting crazy, you should ask him or her if they have a cat.”

So please, if I start acting up, stay away from my brain. For your own sake.

Miceli prepares to take beef with Paris Hilton to federal court
By Mary Spicer for the Meadville Tribune

Although Lisa Miceli’s request for a preliminary injunction prohibiting Paris Hilton and just about everyone else involved(1) in “Paris Hilton’s My New BFF” reality competition series from, as Miceli puts it, “stealing my life” has been denied, the Meadville resident is preparing to battle on in federal court. Hilton’s third and latest search for a BFF (that’s Best Friend Forever, for the texting-impaired)(2) has been under way in Dubai, one of the seven United Arab Emirates, since mid-June. According to Miceli, Hilton’s search represents a hostile takeover of Miceli’s life, career and relationships, especially her romantic relationship with a member of the royal family of Dubai.(3)

Crawford County Court of Common Pleas Judge John Spataro denied Miceli’s June 26 motion that would have prohibited Hilton, “ISH Entertainment, MTV, VIACOM, Lionsgate, tabloids and/or any advertising agencies that Paris Hilton partners with” from contacting or communicating with Miceli, any member of her family, anyone named in her complaint or any member of their families. The motion would also have prohibited Hilton et al from “exploiting the private life of Miceli and the people that Miceli chooses to spend time with and make plans with or do business with.”(4)

In denying Miceli’s motion, Spataro wrote that on its face, it did not appear to meet the requirements of Pennsylvania law governing such motions. “Moreover, after argument on the motion, it appears that there is little merit to this motion,” Spataro noted in his order. So far, Miceli has represented herself in her battle against Hilton.

Her next step, Miceli recently called the Tribune to report,(5) is finding and consulting with a lawyer about pursuing her claims of copyright infringement against Hilton and the other parties in United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh.

Although she said she’s not contemplating further action on the civil complaint filed June 26 in Crawford County court, she says she hasn’t given up hopes of also pursuing claims of invasion of privacy and defamation.

Miceli is no stranger to the celebrity spotlight. In 2007 and 2008, she engaged in a long-running legal battle in Crawford County courts with representatives of basketball legend Michael Jordan,(6) who she claims is the father of her child. Although Jordan said he was not the father of Miceli’s child, two DNA tests supported his claim and the court agreed, Miceli has continued to dispute that position. A 1990 graduate of Meadville Area Senior High School, Miceli met Jordan in 1999 and the member of the royal family of Dubai in August 2008.

(1)Half a sentence into the article, the diction suggests that the story will be conveyed by a sarcastic and apathetic narrator in Spicer, the acclaimed Tribune reporter. Her potential unreliability must be kept in the reader’s mind throughout the story.

(2) The narrator’s use of the colloquial dialect in this instance again suggests her unreliability.

(3) This vague reference to an obviously specific individual confirms the suspected tone introduced by the narrator in the beginning of this first paragraph.

(4) This is a perfectly legitimate request on MJordanMistress’s behalf; however, it is unfairly made laughable in this instance. The exploitation of an individual’s life is in direct violation of her rights as an American: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. MJordanMistress feels that Hilton has been, in her words, “stealing my life” — that is, the first right guaranteed to all citizens by the United States Constitution. In doing so, Hilton and her celebrity comrades have effectually desecrated MJordanMistress’s liberty, the second of the her three basic rights. Ultimately then, if we follow the natural course of human emotion, the loss of her life and liberty are directly responsible for MJordanMistress’s self-quarantine from Dubai and her business there; the loss has prevented her pursuit of happiness with the member of the royal family of said emirate. Judge Spataro’s denial of MJordanMistress’s motion puts him in conflict with the traditional values of the United States government and, if upheld by the Federal Court, calls the ethics of the American justice system into question.

(5) The narrator attributes the information that follows to MJordanMistress, suggesting that the secondary source, and not the narrator herself, is not to be trusted; however, the narrator’s failure to use a direct quote from MJordanMistress certainly defames this suggestion and even contributes further to her own unreliability.

(6) The introduction of Michael Jordan as a “basketball legend” – a historically well-liked, well-respected figure in American culture – creates a bias in the reader’s mind before we even meet MJordanMistress’s opponent in battle. The narrator’s bias against MJordanMistress is thus crystal clear by the end of the article.