Weekend reading: The most persuasive words in English

It’s time for another installment of Weekend Reading. There have been a lot of great articles published this week. These few are worth taking the time with your tablet this weekend to read and digest.

1.  Does BuzzFeed Know the Secret? – New York Magazine’s feature story on BuzzFeed and founder Jonah Peretti could be the answer newspapers are looking for to solve their advertising conundrum.

2.  Understanding the Anatomy of Giving – This one is for my nonprofit friends out there. This whitepaper from SEI Private Wealth Management reveals insights into why “ultra-high net worth individuals” give and how much more willing they are to give. Hint, hint: give them a reason to form a partnership based on strategic philanthropy. (h/t David Lawson)

3.  The Most Persuasive Words in English: The Psychology of Language – It actually took me a while to get to this one, but I am glad I did. Buffer co-founder Leo Widrich has put together one of the most fascinating blog posts I have read this year. He makes a compelling case why changing the way we speak and write could make us all more effective at what we do for a living. This one is at the top of the list of the reads this weekend.

Happy reading!

Censorship does not lead to sales

My mom used to always tell me “If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all.” I’m sure we can all say that. But what if your mom is Chapstick and her idea of not saying anything at all is deleting your comments because you disagree with her posting what’s being called a sexist and objectifying advertisement?

The company has been deleting comments related to its latest ad where a woman’s butt is front and center as she hangs over a frantically torn apart couch searching for something – change, the remote control, possibly Chapstick?

The only clue you get is the graphically placed bar below the woman with the statement “Where do lost Chapsticks go? Be heard at Facebook.com/Chapstick.”

I guess “being heard” was really only being offered to people who like the brand.