Peter’s Soapbox

Book Review: Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk

This weekend I burned through Gary Vaynerchuk’s book, “Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion.” Continue reading Book Review: Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk…

Book Review: The Facebook Era by Clara Shih

Last month, I read The Facebook Era: Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products, Reach New Audiences, and Sell More Stuff. It is somewhat larger and more up to date than “I’m on Facebook Now What???” Although I liked it, like the previous Facebook book, I found that it failed to adequately address the issue of social networking security and, like just about any “guides” to “success,” unless you have your killer product, app, service, etc., already, this book won’t do you any good until you do. Also, due to the recent Facebook redesign, certain aspects of  this book no longer apply or need to be updated.

Book Review: I’m on Facebook – Now What???

I just read I’m on Facebook–Now What???: How to Get Personal, Business, and Professional Value from Facebook. While the majority of this 100 page book was review for me, I would recommend it to anyone who is brand new to Facebook or social networking in general.

Continue reading Book Review: I’m on Facebook – Now What???…

Astrology, Biking, Coffee, Fresh Ubuntu, Prayer, Roy Orbison, and Stacking Wood

Warning: Totally spastic and lacking-of-focus post coming, but it should have something for everyone, so whether you are into astrology, open source, podcasting, synchronicity, music, caffeine, faith, or fighting big oil, there’s something here for you! Continue reading Astrology, Biking, Coffee, Fresh Ubuntu, Prayer, Roy Orbison, and Stacking Wood…

Social Networking – Friend and Follow Everyone?

I’ve noticed a few “web-celebs” have a tendency to “friend” and “follow” everyone who “friends” and “follows” them. My first impression remains: what can anyone do with all that chatter?

For example, Robert Scoble, an “A-List blogger,” claims he follows everyone that follows him. He’s got 5,000 friends in Facebook (the current limit), and is following 6,946 (at the time of this writing) people on Twitter. Author J.C. Hutchins has 741 followers and is following 745.

I can’t imagine what that’s like. I suppose since I review my Twitter and Facebook feeds via RSS, my method simply would not work, and I’d miss, well almost everything. From a “snapshot in time” perspective, these guys’ method may be more interesting, but if your motive is more like mine, to actually track everything that goes into your feed, it’s practically impossible to manage the sheer volume of noise that is going to be flying through that stream.

So, just for kicks, I am following more of the folks who follow me on Twitter. If I end up not following you after a period of time, I apologize in advance. I’m sure it’s not because the content of your feed is boring, I just don’t have the time to track it all (and play World of Warcraft). Okay, maybe it’s because it was a tiny bit boring, but please don’t assume that. Besides, it’s hard to compete with World of Warcraft.