5 posts tagged “facebook”

So I'm trying out this new Facebook application called BlogIt. Apparently it's supposed to update my blog as well. Technically this is a test but I'm discovering a lot of very useful applications like this on Facebook. It just takes a while to find them and most of the time I'm discovering them via someone else. In this case, via a Twitter post from a Bay Area Derby Girl who was referencing AnilDash....and I found it there.

Discoverability is a pretty big issue in my opinion for many applications, brands, information and general cool stuff that's floating around the net. It's one thing to do a google search for something you are specifically looking for but what about those things that you just don't know exist? I'm using Twitter a lot more because I found out they have a Facebook application but not sure if I would have looked for it. I saw someone else using it.

It's one of the things I think about a lot when I'm looking around online. Getting the right people to your site is not a science, nor is it an art form. It's a bit of both mixed in with being as connected as much as you can. Turning over every rock as they say. How do you discover things online? There's definitely a point where it gets to be a bit too much at time. My dad, who is 70 and retired, is just now discovering the web. I have to talk to him a little bit more about what he looks for and how he finds things. He's not at ALL the type that I would think to be "surfing" the web but there's a community out there for him. I wonder if they know?

UPDATE: It worked really nicely!   I think I'm going to love this application!  Go here if you want to check it out: http://www.typepad.com/features/blogit.html

As I was lamenting over all the random shit on my Facebook page - seriously, can we stop it - I noticed an ad for yet another social networking site called Boomj.    They market it as a place for the over 30 crowd.    Of course I had to wander over and take a look.    My first thought was the obvious.   Do I REALLY need another social networking site? REALLY? I think I'm going to sign up.   The worst thing that will happen is I hate it and never go back or delete my account.     My next question though before I do sign up, is do I really want to grow up?  REALLY?   

Hmm, maybe I'll take a few days and think about it.   Anyone else joined and have opinions on it?    I'll have to see if there are any reviews or news about it.   Oh and apparently there's this new term called "Generation Jones" that refers to those in between the Xers and the boomers.   I hate all these generation terms and I think technically I'm an Xer although I've never identified with them that much.    And I'm not really a boomer.    Does that make me a Joneser..... :)

Oh and remind me to mention how wonderful I am at inserting my foot in my mouth.... not now but some day in the distant future.   I've really got to stop doing stuff like that.   My word of the week: AWKWARD.  

Daydreams of Friday run through my head.

I'm wondering if it's come to that point where email was about 10 years ago (or more for many people).    Email was kind of like a novelty, everyone had to have it they joined the various free email accounts and started forwarding emails, jokes and other things in droves.     Remember that?   I have some family members that are still a little stuck in that day and age and I really don't have the heart tell tham that I pretty much delete every email they send me.     Well, to be fair, once in a while I will click on one just to say I do look at their emails.    

Anyway, now it looks like social networing sites are getting to be that way.  Looking at this post from The Gadgeteer and on sad but funny side, this post from ValleyWag, could the writing really be on the wall (especially literally on Facebook)?    I really laughed at the ValleyWag post that highlighted a bank intern who was fired because of his Facebook page.    While that sounds really inflamatory, it was basically highlighting that the kid said he had a family emergency and had to fly to New York so wouldn't be in the office for the next few days.     He obviously wasn't very bright because he posted pictures of himself at a Halloween party that very night.     It's funny BUT also  a bit sad as it highlights that you have a lot of young people entering the workplace with unreasonable expectations of a clear barrier between their social and work life.    As weird as it sounds, I think the older generations who have embraced Web 2.0 and new media but also remember a time when there was no "internet" have an upper hand.   They can recognize these things and so they approach with an optimistic yet cautious and informed approach.   

What do think and are your social networking habits still in a manageable range?   I remember when an 'anonymous' blog was the way to go but that quickly turned on itself as people said you have to be transparent.    Perhaps people will go back to that anonymous view ala Gossip Girl and post away about their social life with little fear of being "caught at the party."   

Rumors of Microsoft "in talks" to buy Facebook are plastered everywhere.   As a former MSN Spaces person, and current Facebook user, I'm not so sure how I feel about this.    $10 Billion is a LOT of money, an obscene amount of money.    Part of me wants to think that MS really must be insane if they are seriously contemplating that dollar amount, while the other part thinks Zuckerberg would be insane not to take the money and run.   

But let's really think about that deal.... what would happen to Facebook or rather to the community on Facebook?    Plus wouldn't Microsoft be better off looking at a more "global" social networking site for much cheaper?   Facebook has a community of 40 million, with about 30 of those being in the US.    With the right marketing mix, Microsoft could save money on another site or [brace yourself] build one themselves.    I'm not sure whatever happened to a company that used to lean towards building rather than buying.   Perhaps we need a little bit of the Blue Monster to inspire on this one.   I could make my own opinionated theories on how this one could end in several different scenarios, but let me just wait and see.   

In other things, I saw the craziest post today that highlighted how Scientists at the University of Iowa Public Policy Center (that's a mouthful) are testing pay-as-you-drive scenarios.    It was an interesting concept, until I found out ultimately about the underlying reason - TAXES.    As the government continues to look at more fuel-efficiency on the road, they are also predicting that it will directly impact the imposed gas taxes.    Less gas purchsed, less taxes recieved.    But yet, they provide tax breaks for purchasing a fuel efficient car...but I won't delve deeper into that irony.    The pay-as-you drive testing is basically like a taxi meter and you'll pay taxes based on the mileage you incur in a month.     I kind of think that's crazy but it could be just me?  

It also got me thinking about what will happen with this scenario once the hybrids really reach mass market?   They'll have to get taxes out of me somehow and apparently they are working on that now.    I bet we'll even have to pay for the meter to be installed.       

I have a pretty busy job, which is actually an understatement but I won't want to sound whiny.   It's stressful but I think that mostly comes from myself and my own work ethic.     My goal with this blog is to try and write something a few times every week - if not more.   I'm not sure I'll ever have the time for daily entries but it would be nice.     I saw Judie of Gear Diary posted a recent question on her Facebook site asking " What are your best tools or suggestions to stop procrastinations and stay motivated."   I have to admit that I found the question pretty intimidating itself because sometimes I feel likely I'm barely getting by, let alone ever getting ahead.     The humongous stack of publications sitting at my desk waiting to be read, haunts me every day when I walk in.        I'm tempted to take one or two home every day but it's just as hectic at home that and I try really hard not to mix work with home.     

I'm more interested to hear about how other people stay ahead of the curve, so some of the suggestions have been very interesting.   However, I think I need another step, perhaps some type of intervention so I stop taking on too much and..... 

Of course, it doesn't help at ALL when you've got laundry and cleaning you have to do at the house but the video game you just got has consumed your ENTIRE Sunday!   My husband was actually happy that I took the time to be a complete vegetable since he rarely sees me shut down.     In case you're wondering - BIOSHOCK RULES!  

Oh and in case you have actually read all the way down to the end, not only am I surprised, I also wanted to let you know that HTC Europe will be making an announcement tomorrow.    Not sure of the specific timing, but I imagine I'll be asleep when the release drops.    I'll follow up tomorrow with a link.