Category: Social Networking

Posted on

Why I'm Quitting Facebook

Let me put it in a way that will resonate with many of my friends: are you sick of the two-faced lies coming out of Washington these days? Facebook does the exact same thing to you, i.e., lying.
Here are a few examples I turned up in literally 1 minute of searching. Note that almost all of them are from the last few months – and this behavior has been going on for over ten years.

Seriously, if you care at all about integrity or privacy, do your own Google (or Duckduckgo.com) search for “facebook lies,” “zuckerberg lies,” or “facebook is bad for you” and see for yourself. I’m not talking about crazy conspiracy theories here – these are plain as day lies that are out in the open for anyone who cares to set aside the dopamine hit they get from all the Facebook and Instagram “likes” from their online friends.
You could say it all comes down to the fact that I just do not appreciate being lied to constantly.
Friends will still be able to find me here, on Twitter, and LinkedIn, on Signal, by email, by phone, and at home.

Posted on

Summer Wrap-up: 2010

It seems like just last week it was Memorial Day and I was at Jamie and Lisa’s for a barbeque, yesterday it was Independence Day and I was at a barbeque with Steve, and now Labor Day has come and gone in a flash. So much for summer.
I’ve been more outgoing and made more new friends this summer than I have in years past, which is excellent. I’ve been channeling my inner Tim Ferriss and killing my inner wuss. (Watch out, Kim).
My biking was rewarding. I did more road biking than mountain, which isn’t my preference, but it was certainly enjoyable, so I’m not complaining.
Aikido has been getting fun again. My sensei has informed me I will be testing for nidan next month in Boston. I am happy.
The coffee shop has been up and running for a month. Business is steady, and I am only involved on rare occasions. Paradigm is under the daily operation of a new manager, so I get to jump in and do the work that I enjoy only when I am really needed or want to be “in the way.”
One casualty of all this has been the Fresh Ubuntu Podcast. While it hasn’t been pronounced dead, it is definitely on life support. I’ve been busy. Harlem has been busy. Leftyfb is getting married in a few weeks. CafeNinja is a regular contributor to our friends at h4cked.
Finally, I will be departing for a month-long trip to Brazil in November.
And yes, I’m still on Facebook. *grumble*
Wow. Life is good.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave, When First We Practice Social Networking…

Scott Willsey recently asked how I am trying to keep afloat in the sea of social networks in which I swim. First off, I’m starting to ignore a bunch of them. I rarely log in to Facebook, Pownce, or LinkedIn anymore. I have never logged in to Myspace since I created my account. I am taking steps to synchronize Twitter and Jaiku, both of which are catch-alls for the rest of my public social stuff. See below:

Peter's Extended Soapbox

The blue links are updated manually, meaning I go to del.icio.us and tag links there when I feel like it. The rest are all automatic. Twitter receives all of its stuff via twitterfeed.com, and Jaiku subscribes to my Twitters directly.Update: Jaiku does not appear to be reading my Twitter feed. I pointed it at my Twitter feed this morning, and over 12 hours have passed with no updates being ready, so it’s pretty much an island.

Posted on

Twitter this!

I couldn’t find a “twitter this” bookmarklet last night, so I made my own. Add this link to your bookmarks to enable you to automagically copy and paste a link into your Twitter status box.