The Social Network (Facebook ‘the movie’)

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Stacey
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I went to the cinema last night to see Scott Pilgrim. On that note, by the way, it’s bizarre  but pretty cool! Anyway, I’m sad… I like trailers. I in fact get there earliy enough to see them. Last night I saw a trailer for film called “The Social Network.” It’s about Facebook… or rather how it came about. Now, I love social media. I really do. And I’m a sucker for Facebook. But I can’t imagine I would ever want to watch the movie. It would be like watching a movie about how email came about… or how search engines started. Those are the type of topics, in my mind, that are great for articles. But for a 90+ minute movie? Really?

Here’s the trailer anyway:

Posted in Facebook | 1 Comment

Facebook Going all ‘Foursquare?’

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Stacey
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So, Facebook are going all Foursquare, it seems.

I posted about Fourquare a while back – having concluded that it makes life a little too easy for stalkers. See, I don’t mind stalkers, just as long as they do some bloody hard work for their information! ;-)

Anyway, Facebook has obviously seen opportunity in this Stalker-Information style service and so has announced, ‘Places.’ And guess what? It works pretty much just like Foursquare does in that yuo “check in” from wherever you are. I don’t think there’s any Mayorships to be had, though, but given Facebook’s 500 million strong user base, I’m thinking there’s a good chance it might outshine Foursquare.

When you check in at a location, it will share that info with your friends, allowing them to comment or ‘like,’ (which, let’s face it, is just a lazy alternative to a comment). But is it really relevant? Do your hundreds of friends care one iota if you log in from Starbucks in Piccadilly Gardens? Do they give a damn if you login from a train station. It’s not exactly exciting news, is it?

Hmm… maybe they should add, alongside the “like” option, a “Who gives a damn?” option….

Now, let’s face it, Facebook doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to privacy, so whether or not this is yet another move that backfires remains to be seen.

For now, the social media giant isn’t monetizing this service. Though, of course, there is potential in the future for them to engage companies and earn quite lucrative sums from it.

Posted in Facebook, Foursquare | 1 Comment

People Will do ANYTHING for a ‘Like’

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Stacey
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Yes, we all know people in real life will do anything to be liked. But when it comes to social networking, a ‘like’ has a little more value than just someone’s opinion. On Facebook, getting enough people to ‘like’ your pages can really get you a lot of visibility, potentially powerful in driving traffic to websites and so on.

But it seems some people will do just about ANYTHING to achieve that.

When I logged in just now, I noticed this on my news feed:

I walked right into the trap, of course, by clicking on it and was pretty appalled to see this:

How sick? Someone is basically using somebody’s suicide (if this is actually remotely true) to publicise their frikkin page! I clicked on ‘like’ to see what happens… and then it takes you “share,” (where the ‘omg RIP to her’ message is already provided by default). I won’t share this. So I couldn’t see beyond that.

But irrespective of whether this is a true story of some poor girl committing or not, using her story (or even worse, inventing it) is really a pathetic way to  get people to ‘like’ your page.

Besides, there’s nothing more shallow than someone pretending to like you just to get something out of it, is there??

Posted in Facebook | 3 Comments

How F***ed Up Is Your Life? (And Other Facebook Quizzes)

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Stacey
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I logged in to Facebook today for a nosey through the latest updates. My friends are all generally having pretty good summers. Lots of photo uploads from various holiday locations and overall incredibly chirpy wall posts.

And then this…..

Oh Happy Days!

Well, way to bring the mood crashing down. Thinking that it was a rather ‘biased’ quiz title, leaning generally towards concluding one way or another that your life is messed up to some degree, I couldn’t help but click through to take the test myself for humour’s sake. However, it wouldn’t let me unless I was prepared to allow it some level of access and I wondered whether this might mean it ended up posting this stuff automatically to my wall. That was a no-go. Why on Earth would I want my family and friends seeing some manic depressive style quiz result that has decided on my behalf that the world is against me? I wouldn’t.

The same rules apply for all of QuizBone’s quizzes. You can check out their titles but you can’t take them without allowing the application access.

I honestly can’t bring myself to put a manic depressive one on my wall, but curious as to just what questions these quizzes would comprise of, I took one…

Who is your celeb boyfriend?

Now, I only picked that one because Taylor Lautner is my guilty pleasure and his picture was used! I can categorically say that, unless my other half has a secret life as a Morrissey tribute act, that the nearest I have or will ever come to a celebrity boyfriend is the life size cut out of Peter Andre that I had as a teenager. Anyway…. here’s how that quiz went:

Erm….well, I’m tone deaf, couldn’t act if my life depended on it, have the musical abilities of a half dead goldfish and if I started rapping my boyfriend would have me sectioned…. so I suppose that leaves, ‘Write lyrics.’ I’m beginning to wonder if this is the right quiz for me… assuming there are very few celebrity ‘boytoy’ digital media marketers out there.

Ah now this one I can answer. Humour! A pretty boy with the personality of a wet dish cloth holds no appeal to me. And I would hate to date someone who fancies themselves as being more creative than me ;-) Not that I’m competitive or anything. Ahem.

Hmm, this one is simple enough. Red. But I am confused as to when ‘rainbow’ became a colour.

Erm…well… if I had a choice I would go to a theme park or Go-Karting or something fun. I certainly wouldn’t suggest hanging out in town with yoghurt! Is it just me who thinks that’s weird. So I guess, given my love of beaches, I’ll take that one.

Ok, I’m 25. That isn’t old. But this quiz just made me like an inhabitant of the local geriatric hospital. Seriously? 16 is an option???

If I knew who I were going to get on this quiz I wouldn’t have just spent the last couple of minutes of my life doing this. I will never get those minutes back you know. However, just because I secretly love Twilight, I’ll hazard a guess at Taylor?

Oh no…. my guess was wrong.

Lil Wayne? Lil Wayne? Seriously? QuizBone thinks that I am having a secret celebrity affair with Lil Wayne?

I specified that I don’t like to rap, that I like funny guys and quite like the beach. So QuizBone has set me up with a rapper currently serving prison time for the possession of a loaded gun, who is about as funny as tooth ache?

I’m thinking there’s something going wrong with the ‘science’ behind this one!

Oh well…. if applications are good for nothing else, they’re alright for laughing at!

Posted in Facebook | 3 Comments

The Facebook Apocalypse

Posted on August 8, 2010 by Stacey
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I’m sure it isn’t only me who is sick of those group invites that basically tell you Facebook is going to start charging you to use the site unless ten billion people and all of their friends join such and such a group.

Why do people still believe this?

For a start, if Facebook were going to charge its users for access, I’m thinking they would find a better way to notify us all than by nominating a handful of illiterate users and saying, “Hey you. If you don’t set up a group, spam all your friends and make them join it, then we are going to make everyone pay.”

I don’t know what annoys me more. The people who set these groups up or the mass panic brigade who believe it. I had another invitation today from someone I knew years ago on Facebook. She did not start the group, but is passing it on. She evidently genuinely believes that Facebook is going to go pay-per-use and she thinks this is as tragic as the end of the world might be.

For a start: it’s not going pay-per-use. Secondly, if it did, that would not mean the end of the world. It wouldn’t be a tragedy of apocalyptic proportions, nobody would die as a result, the glaciers wouldn’t melt any quicker and the world would still turn.

So please, please, please stop sending me invitation to silly groups. Please? Pretty please? Spam is making Facebook irritating.

Posted in Facebook | 3 Comments

5 Stalker-Like Tendencies Facebook Has Instilled in us ALL!

Posted on August 4, 2010 by Stacey
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I’m not a stalker. Really, I’m not. That flasher style rain coat I have? It’s just for the rainy Manchester winters. And the binoculars I keep in my pocket… they’re for bird watching! Ok seriously, I don’t have a flasher coat or binoculars (yet). But whether you’re a grade A certified stalker pro or you’re really not, you’ve probably fallen victim to Facebook Stalking Syndrome. That is, you’ve acquired one or two habits that take ‘nosey neighbour’ to a whole new level….

Reading Public Disputes…. In Utter Fascination

We’ve all got at least one person on our friend list who insists on airing dirty laundry in public, right? In fact, thanks to Facebook you can probably find out who is sleeping with your next door neighbour’s husband quicker than you could have heard the argument through your wall. News travels and Facebookers love to gossip. I openly admit that if I see someone has a potentially argumentative or dramatic status, I go through and read the comments and quite enjoy the story unfolding! Yes, this is without doubt the virtual equivalent of my Nanna’s bad habit – putting a glass to the wall when the neighbours are fighting!

Photo Scouring

When you see someone has a new picture up do you go right through and look at the entire album? Do you think to yourself, “Bloomin’ ‘eck, she’s put some weight on since school,” or “His girlfriend’s alright looking… punching above his weight isn’t he?” See, once upon a time if you openly admitted to someone that you have been looking through photos of someone you haven’t seen for 20 years, including baby pics, holiday snaps and those of drunken nights out, you’d be classified as obsessive. Today, you can excuse this with one word: “Facebook.”

Checking up on the Ex

Unless someone has their privacy settings on “Fort Knox Mode,” you will be able to see some information about them even if you’re not on their friend list. Have you checked out your ex on FB lately? Even been tempted by a sneak peak just to see if they’re seeing anyone, if they have any new piccies up? Don’t lie now! ;-)

Checking up on Next Week’s Date

Ok, personally I haven’t been ‘dating’ since I joined Facebook. I’ve been with my current other half for 7 years now (yes, since before I even joined FB) so I haven’t any personal experience of this. But I do have to laugh when friends talk to me about people they are going on a first date with at the weekend. Most of them will either show me the guy’s pics on Facebook and some of them even admit to having checked out his friends and/or family. Now, had my current boyfriend turned up on our first date telling me he knew all about my brother, my Mother and all my friends, I would have edged slowly to the door and filed a restraining order. Again, such behaviour can now be justified with the one magic word: “Facebook.”

Relationship Status Watching

When ‘in a relationship’ becomes ‘it’s complicated,’ you know it’s not good news. When ‘in a relationship’ turns into ‘engaged,’ you can be pretty sure that dishy guy who works in your building is off the menu and then you get to go and tell your friends about it…. if they don’t already know! Yes, thanks to Facebook we know about breakups, make-ups, two timing and everything in between quicker than ever before. In one particular case I can mention, a male acquantance of mine broke up with his other half by changing his status to single…. rather out of the blue. Evidently it was then the job of her friends to let her know she was single! Harsh, to say the least.

But I admit it. If I see someone has a change in status, I do go nosey at their profiles. It’s not just me that does that though, is it? ;-)

And while we are on the topic of stalking…. one of my absolute all time favourite performance poems:

Posted in Facebook | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Foursquare – Making Life Easy for Stalkers!

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Stacey
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foursquare logo Over the weekend, I reluctantly downloaded Foursquare for my iPhone. My other half has been talking about it for the best part of a week and telling me repeatedly I should register. Eventually, I caved and registered. Now let me start by reminding you all that I thought Twitter was ‘stupid’ at first, so my first impressions don’t have the best track record. I am now somewhat the Twitter fan! But anyway, I have a habit when I start using something of pointing out everything I don’t like first and then letting it grow on me. Slowly.

So, for anyone who has not yet let Foursquare invade their lives, here’s an overview. It’s pretty much another social networking site, though this time with a difference. It’s location based and designed for mobile Internet usage specifically. Essentially, you register, download the app (available on iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Windows Phone 7 and WebOS) and then you ‘check in’ from wherever you are. ‘Checking in’ from various venues and regularly will see to it that you’re awarded points and potentially could become the ‘Mayor’ of these place. So here are my issues with it…

Stalkers and Burglars

Once upon a time stalkers used to have to pitch up outside your house with a pair of binoculars to see you half undressed. Now they just have to keep an eye on your Facebook because someone at some point will tag a photo of you in an undignified state. By the same token, stalkers once had to physically follow you around skilfully from a safe distance to know where you are going. Thanks to Foursquare, they just need a smart phone now. Seriously, we’re making life really easy for these guys.

On a serious note though, there are potential issues here that many users have raised. If you ‘check in’ from a certain location, you have the option to share this with your Foursquare friends. Now, like I said, this is an ‘option.’ But surely deciding not to defeats the purpose of what Social Media platforms are really for? Of course you can restrict your friend list, but again some people could argue that this defeats the purpose of social media again. I’m not really concerned about my safety using Foursquare. Largely because I’m not aware of any stalkers I’ve acquired! But I can see why people might worry. Like anything though, it’s optional. If you’re concerned about your safety playing it, don’t play it.

Similarly as with stalkers, there are people complaining (through forums and on the app store application page through reviews) that this opens up the doors for burglars to know when you are not at home. Honestly though, if you don’t feel safe, don’t play or don’t open your friend list up to people you don’t know and trust.

There’s no Gameplay

I thought, from listening to my boyfriend talk about it, that becoming the ‘Mayor’ of somewhere would involve some skill. It does not. It just involves opening up an app and clicking ‘check in.’

Too Easy to Cheat

My other half is somewhat upset at the moment that the Mayorship of the building we live in is held by someone who also holds to Mayorship of a whole host of surrounding venues. See, we live in a busy city centre. So from my flat I can log in to dozens of places. It seems this particular player has been doing so and, my boyfriend being overly competitive about things like this, he’s not amused. Personally, I couldn’t care less. Unless ‘Foursquare Mayors’ start being afforded the same powers that the police have, it really won’t affect my life!

So those are my gripes with it. That said, there’s a lot it has going in its favour too and I will follow this post up with another more ‘positive’ one when I’ve fully gotten to grips with it. Maybe! In the meantime, I am considering pitching my suggested tagline to them:-

Foursquare – Making life easy for stalkers since 2009!

Posted in Foursquare | 1 Comment

Life in 140 Characters….

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Stacey
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twitter life story

Twitter is amazing. But let me honest. When I first heard about it my instant reaction was, “What a stupid idea? Blog posts that are limited to 140 characters? THAT will never take off.”

Yes, my words were well and truly swallowed when not all that long later I became a bit of a fan… reluctantly at first. But now I use Twitter both professionally and personally and really do see the benefits both for recreation and networking.

Evidently, I think about Twitter too much, as I was randomly contemplating what I am about to post on my short walk home from work this evening. What if we all went a little bit Twitter-insane and we were limited to 140 characters to sum up our day? Our week? Our year? Our lives?

Well, I’m taking up the challenge (and very much invite you to do the same). Sum up your life in 140 characters or less – no links! ;-)

Mine:

Awesome family, boyfriend job and friends! Lucky girl, but there are days that I forget it. Perfectly flawed. Different… just like you. ;)

Posted in Twitter | 6 Comments

Your Name is NOT Viagra

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Stacey
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Let me start by apologising if your name actually is Viagra. In that case, of course, this blog post probably isn’t relevant for you… and out of interest, did you have a difficult childhood?

Anyway, I’ve managed a number of blogs over the last few years and whatever the niche area, whatever the tone, whatever the purpose, there was one consistency – COMMENT SPAMMERS! Rather than complain, whine and curse about them, however, I thought I would instead reach out and offer some ‘friendly’ advice. So here we go:-

1.     Your name really isn’t Viagra…

…. or ‘weight loss,’ ‘Payday loans,’ or ‘teen brunettes,’ for that matter. It’s really not. Now let me let you in on a little secret. You’ll find your name on your birth certificate. In fact, most of now have social media profiles… if you set yours up before you forgot your name, you could even just copy and paste it from one of your networking profiles straight into that ‘name’ section on the comment form.

2.     Fklgjdfgkdfjshjhsjfhfdjhg is not a word.

Nor does it become a word if you repeat it seventeen times. Just to add to that, finishing that sort of ‘comment’ with a link promising many teen hotties doesn’t make sdfjhsdfjhsdjkh a word either. It’s not in the dictionary. Really… go check for yourself.

3.     I know I’m not your first…

When you tell me I’m the best blogger you ever came across who made you feel as grateful for the ‘helpful’ content, when you tell me mine is the first blog of its kind you ever saw, I know you’re trying to make me feel special. And even if your target blogger is naive enough to believe you at first, when she goes through your back links, she’ll find out that you’re just another player spammer.

Ok seriously, we get why people comment spam. What I don’t get is why these people don’t take the time to make a valid point and obtain a link by taking part in a discussion. That type of networking has a much longer term positive effect than a disposable spam comment that will be deleted! I actually don’t even mind keywords in names (within reason, of course) when the comment is valid and adds something of value to the discussion!

I installed CommentLuv here, which provides a link to the most recent blog post of the blogger. Why? Well frankly I think if someone takes the time to partake properly then a link is perfectly fine! Plus, people actually taking part in a real discussion often have blogs with posts in a similar topic area. I use CommentLuv as a way to find other blogs and bloggers I often end up reading regularly.

But I won’t entertain spammers. Once upon a time, I found it funny to read spam comments (before deleting them, of course). Now? Well now I’m just bored of them….

Posted in Blogging | 12 Comments

A Little Social Media Rhyme (Terribly Geeky)!

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Stacey
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Yes, I am sad enough to sit & rhyme social networking sites. Oh well….

Come in and relax,
Grab a coffee, be seated,
For a tale of a time
When only birds Tweeted….
A tale of a time
When you’d only Digg holes,
And Stumble on rubbish
Left out on the floor,
When Buzz was a sound
You might be hear from a bee,
Before MySpace and Facebook
Made stalking easy.
Before we all cared about
Liking or adds,
And Hi5 was the gesture
Of embarrassing Dads,
Go back to a time
Before that blue bird,
A time before ‘Bebo’
Could pass as a word!
When writing on walls
Was anti-social and rude
A time when delicious
Was only for food…
I did have a tale,
Of that distant time,
But appear to have lost it
In this tacky rhyme…
So excuse me a moment,
I have to retreat,
I’ve got people to follow
And links to retweet!

Posted in Digg, Facebook, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Twitter | 7 Comments