Tag Archives: how do i do it

Why so serious, social media?

Businessman sitting in an office and using a laptopThis post is a result of joking around on Teh Twitters with Josh Sternberg, who pointed out that social media, God bless it, has a tendency to get blown way, way out of proportion in terms of, well, everything. Of course there are some things that the deserve the hyperbole–you know, like the snowmaggedeon/snowpacolypse. But being the pragmatic, rational people we are, when we see people make overblown statements it just makes us wonder, “Hmm, what’s the real message behind this message?”

And looking at this from a post-modern perspective, we understand that everyone’s reality is different and there are different perspectives on any given topic, but relying on the snake-oil salesman approach will eventually catch up to you. Continue reading

The Done Thing on Foursquare

Businessman Standing on GlobeI just joined Foursquare last month at the urging of a friend who lives in Brooklyn. “This way I can see if you’re ever in the neighborhood, and we can hang out,” he said. I muttered something about calling him if I wanted to hang out, but whatever. I’m nothing if not curious, so a-Foursquaring I a-went.

I don’t know if you’ve ever played an RPG, one of those video games where you’re on a long, epic quest and there are lots of little side quests and mini-games that are not strictly necessary but they get you more points? Well, if you have then you will understand me when I say that Foursquare became instantly addicting. Points! POINTS. I must have the pooooooints!

You might think that’s silly and look down your nose at people who use Foursquare, but hey, you can go hang out with the people who refuse to say Twitter is anything but a waste of time. If you don’t like it, don’t use it, but don’t get all huffy about something that is, at worst, a harmless game.

Anyway. /wagging finger. Continue reading

How We Follow

Tire Tracks Disappearing into the Desert

Choosing who to follow on Twitter is like the tagline of any action movie sequel: this time, it’s personal.

Talking to fellow PRBC-ers made me realize all the different barometers people use to decide with whom they interact on Twitter. There is no right and wrong way, I guess, except spam-following. Which is totally doing it wrong. But discussing what makes someone followable or not is, I think, valuable because lots of us still aren’t sure what our personal rules should be. Continue reading