You! Over there behind the computer screen. You’re the culprit. Right now you’re logged into Twitter. That fancy Tweetdeck or Hootsuite is spewing forth a never ending stream of tweets from your friends. It even downloads them while you’re watching Netflix or for heaven sakes, playing a video game.

Stop it!  You are the reason Twitter bandwidth is scarce. You and the 200,000 others who have a Twitter client running but aren’t playing attention.

Some people are worse. They’ll have Tweetdeck on the PC and be using a Twitter client on their smart phone.

Turn them off. Close that client when you’re not using it.

Do you realize that even if you’re not sending a tweet, the client is routinely asking Twitter for updates. Updates you might not even be getting because dang if anyone sent you a tweet in the last hour, or a DM all day.

So right now. Turn it off. Close that window. Exit that app. Give Twitter and the rest of us a break. Let’s give that bandwidth back so others can enjoy it.

Glad I got that off my chest. Hey wait. This is a perfect topic for a Battle.

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Tag, my brother, designed these shirts for an upcoming ALS walk.  Tag is afflicted with ALS and has formed a team for the September 11th walk in Marion, Il.

Family, friends, caretakers and more will be walking with Tag for the 5k course. He will be motoring along in his wheelchair. The rest of us have to actually walk. Ha.

If you’re interested in joining us on that walk, give me a shout. Tag would love your support.

Thank you friends for your continued support, prayers, and positive energy.

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So I asked my Twitter friends to finish the joke for me, “A social media expert walks into a bar; he orders a ….”.

Here’s what they had to say:

CocktailDeeva:Wait..what is a social media expert doing out in public?

lizscherer: a shot of humility

RobynsWorld: he waits to order until he polls on twitter asking what be should order.

chrisheuer: only one thing to order, a Me-tini, because if they think they are an expert, they are probably putting the ME in media everyday

StLLegend: influence

ldupin: a wifi hub to tweet his order. / a team to build a collaborative cocktail./Guru music.

MichaelStanisci: (shot of wild turkey in under 140 characters)

dan_munz: redesign with more drop shadows.

RexDixon: tweet’zoo (like a baltimore zoo, only with a bird stirrer!)

AMP_Agency: He orders the same thing @Mashable ordered

karirippetoe: a mashup martini.

chrisheuer: put it on my browser tab! (Chris couldn’t  figure out who came up with it, so I’m giving him credit.)

theslynch:he…blames the Google goggles.

Genuine: orders everyone a drink and then tries to find out how to monetize it.

jennifertyree: He orders a c-um shot!!! (its a drink, but for a guy to order it, is kinda weird!!lol)

WDWFieldGuide: Via is iPhone & waits until he has an audience to drink.

What’s your best punch line? Leave a comment or tweet it out.

Cheers, and hey bartender, I’ll have a…

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Or are they really?

Sharon, my wife, took time to honor mail order catalogues by showing how they’ve been replaced.  Amazon, Zappos, and yep, Sears, have all gone over to ordering on the web.

But has the day of mail order catalogues gone or just been enhanced?

Sure Amazon and such are faster but a lot of classic ordering remains.

1) Flip through and find the things you want.

2) Fill out the paperwork and send it off.

3) Wait to receive the goods.

Where you see the most difference is in the following:

1) More choices

2) No more wish lists on scraps of paper to lose or confuse

3) Live order tracking

But sometimes it’s not as good.

1) You can’t ‘pass the list on’ to just anyone. If they don’t use that service, they can’t buy what’s on your list there.

2) No more phone updates.  You used to be able to call Sears and check on your order.

3) No more catalogue circling or tearing out pictures to share.

My three ideas to ‘get back to the fun’ of catalogues.

1) Allow non-members to order with just a credit card.

2) Clearly provide an easy to see and use 800 # for order status checking.

3) Create a way to share a wishlist w/out that single column scroll behind some obscure link.  How about a big array of item images, with highlighting around the ones I want most?

None of these is difficult to implement but they all steer away from controlling the users, getting their information, and avoiding human interaction.

What’s your gripes, recommendations, and more about shopping online today.

Go.Shop.Review.

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CREEatives bills its self as ‘An Adventure in Social Storytelling’.

Here’s some detail on that:

“CREEatives” - social stories advanced one sentence at a time.

This is an adventure in social storytelling where you get to participate and we all create a story together.

Here’s what you do:

Pick a story on the page, hit the Replybutton to the right of that headline, and type in a sentence that will move the plot just a little bit further along.

Really. It’s not complicated. But it will be fun!

Sounds like fun and it is. Great thing is that the fun increases exponentially as more people participate.

Storytelling comes and goes on various websites and blogs, so CREEatives isn’t totally new ground. Fresh though is multiple story lines, included photos, and sense of community.  These stories aren’t hidden behind password protected forums or memberships. Just go to CREEatives and post a reply.

I’ve already contributed to all three initial stories. How about you? Want to make a mystery? An adventure novel? Or perhaps comedy is your thing?  This is your chance.

Go.Write.Create.

CREEatives

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Vacationing in Nashville was more than visiting new places, it was getting there a new way.

Guidance by GPS is new to the Jordan family. Owing one has always seemed frivolous especially with the abundance of good maps, online and off. It took begin between places to help us find a use for GPS.

Having made our way to the Nashville Zoo via conventional map, we wanted lunch before hitting the Country Music Hall of Fame.  Being foodies, we’d already picked out a lunch spot, Martin’s Bar-b-que, from Diners, Drive-in’s, and Dives. Now how to get there from the zoo was the question.

Yelp and Navigation to the rescue!

A few taps on the myTouch Slide and Martin’s was located in Yelp. Yelp provides an in-app link out to Navigation. Tap and go you might say.

Navigation plotted a map and offered up the choice for navigate by voice.  You know we chose that.

Just getting from the parking lot at the Nashville Zoo to the main road was fun.  The voice gave us turn by turn directions until we were on the straight shot road to lunch.

We quickly formed some opinions about this app:

1) the female voice came off very bossy.

2) the navigation was insistent in getting us in the correct direction.

3) after a flurry of direction, the sudden silence was odd once we’d reached the main road.

Several minutes later found us at the end of Navigation’s directions and we looked to the right where the restaurant was supposed to be. Nope. Not it.

Turns out the restaurant was about a block up on the opposite side of the street, and in a small plaza. Apparently the app’s map was not up to date.

Over the course of the weekend we allowed the Navigation app to guide us even when good directions were in hand.  Half for the fun of listening to the voice give orders, and half to see how close it was.

Final comments:

1) Voice was equally amusing/annoying. Needs to sound more human.

2) Directions were 90% + accurate. Better than most folks sense of direction.

3) Frequency of updates would be nice.  Long quiet periods make you wonder if you’re lost or the app is dead.

Will we use it again? Certainly! It’ll be great for hunting down those restaurants on the spur of the moment in strange towns. For us this is a fairly common need.

Go.Navigate.Enjoy.

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Joining a battle was never so tasty as biting into this pizza from Dewey’s in University City.

Tweeting is only have the fun of twitter.  Getting together in person, known as a tweetup, is where you have the most fun. Spotlighting tweetups during the summer is the Bring A Tweep To Lunch series, aka #BATTL.

Running between Memorial and Labor day, it’s a summer of Friday lunches with twitter friends, tweeps. Eating at a different restaurant each week adds both variety and a chance to share the chance to come across the metro area.

Most recently the group crashed lunch at Dewey’s Pizza.  Renowned in St. Louis as a prime place to snag a pie, the Dewey’s in UCity is close to the Delmar Loop.  Put those two things together and the place fills up quick on a Friday.  Lesson learned. Go early and get all your attendees there on time.

Mixing up locations causes a mix of tweeps showing up. There are some regulars for sure, as well as surprise drop-ins.  The occasional social networking novice joins in here and there.

Organizing? Planning? Almost zero.

Trial and error resulted in this simple formula:

1) Set the schedule – pick the dates/times ahead of time

2) Pick a place with adequate seating – again, pick early

3) Announce it on Twitter – the hashtag for the original series is #BATTL.

4) Explain it – expand what it is. Just don’t say #BATTL at Dewey’s for example. Better is Friday tweetup at Dewey’s at 11:30 #BATTL #STL.

5) Tell all your local twitter friends.

6) Add the series to any available social networking calendars.

Rinse and repeat each week.

Things not to worry about:

1) How many people show up

2) Who shows up

3) Turning the event into something other than breaking bread with friends.

Goal

The goal is to get folks who only chat online to meet in person, share a meal, and hopefully the magic happens from there.

Go forth and #BATTL.

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Being Informed Goes Beyond Knowing Your Own Child’s Internet Usage

Guest blog by ToBeThode, of To Be Thode, and @tobethode.

Protection

As a mom of five, both stepchildren and biological, I try to protect my kids from the dangers of social media.  Of course, my one and four-year-old are not using Facebook and Twitter yet.  With the way this society operates though, it will not be long before my pre-K son is surfing the net and I have to monitor his usage.  As it is, I already have to watch and be aware of every site that my 8, 9, and 17 year old visit.  I thought I was doing a good job protecting them.  I thought I didn’t have to worry about their pictures being all over the web (unless I added them myself) or their names used in ways that were undesirable.  That was until I realized that, despite my own safeguards, my kids’ identities were not protected.

Discovery

The real shocker came when I found out that my own stepdaughter was in on the game.  My teenage daughter is required to give me the phone numbers of her friends and the places where she is visiting.  It may seem “controlling” to some, but to me, it is just smart.  Little did I know that, thanks to social media, I would find out about her social life.  If you are not aware, Blackberry has an application for Facebook.  As part of that application, you can find Facebook friends simply by allowing Facebook to search your contacts.  This seemed like a great way to connect to friends so I allowed it.  Facebook and my Blackberry met up and did their thing.  Upon logging into Facebook, I was informed that I have friends to add.  What it really should have said was “Surprise! Your kid is lying to you!”

Facebook told that my daughter’s friend “Lisa” (names changed to protect those completely guilty) was really my stepdaughter’s hidden boyfriend “Joe” (again, guilty).  What am I saying?  My daughter gave me a friend’s number to contact her that was really her secret-boyfriend’s number.  Of course, I went to his Facebook page and those of her other friends that she was lying about.  What I found was shocking.  I discovered pictures and comments about my daughter.  Not only first name, but last as well.  In addition, there were pictures that made my stomach turn.  They were innocent enough, but a complete shock to me as the mom who said this relationship was not acceptable because this boy (or man, depending on how you view age) was too old and in bad character.  I immediately contacted this boy and her other friends and told them to remove the unacceptable pictures.  I then talked to my stepdaughter about what I had found.

Fallout

Her answer was clear… “I told them Facebook would get me in trouble.”  Interesting choice of words, don’t you think?

Facebook “ruined her life” according to her.  She said little as to why all of this happened in the first place, but she knew deep down that having her name and pictures on Facebook were going to be the end of her secret relationship.  She thought she was somewhat “safe” because she did not have a Facebook of her own.  Little did she know that my Blackberry was friendly with Facebook.  Little did I know that her absence from Facebook was not enough to keep her and her identity safe.

Conclusions

I think social media is fantastic for some uses.  I even think that kids, while supervised, can benefit from the use of social media.  Where the problems start are when parents are not aware, or in my case, not informed.  My suggestion to all parents is this:  Know what your kids are doing online.  In addition, go further and know what their friends are doing.  You may never know what is out on the World Wide Web about your children if you don’t do your research.  Believe me; I will be doing more than just watching my own kids’ online use from now on

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via RSA Org.

This video is a look at what motivates workers. You’ll be surprised.Similar Posts:

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Have Postcards; Will Send!, originally uploaded by Tojosan.

Send me a DM on Twitter, a Facebook message, or an email.
Include name, address, and mention postcard.
These are zero obligation gifts from me to you.
Cheers.

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