It’s become a part of almost every conversation I have lately because at some point someone mentions something they wrote, did or read on Facebook. Up until a little while ago if I dared talk about anything computer or internet related in a social setting I was made fun of. Now, social media has allowed for every man, woman and their dog (literally, have you see dogbook yet?) to get connected, online.
Part of the attraction is news feeds: You get that Facebook notification email that someone sneezed so you hop on over to your profile or home feed.
Scenario #1: Love. Once thing that John and I were talking with Duane about was when someone changes their relationship status… “Bob is now listed as single” WOOSH! Everyone rushes to Bob’s wall to ask questions, see what’s up, are there pictures up of his newfound single-ness? What happened to Betty? WOOSH! Rush over to Betty’s wall, she’s got a nasty status update posted: “Betty is thinking Bob should drop dead”. Uh Oh! Suddenly (depending on your privacy settings) your hundred contacts, colleagues and acquaintaces know that you are sleeping on the couch tonight.
Scenario #2: Full Dance Card. Thanks to people sending event invites to everyone on their friends list, I seriously have about 5 different options of ‘things to do’ almost ever night of the week – and I have less than 100 people on my list. I am by no means some super hyper popular person but wow, yeah. Do I formally “decline” events that I cannot attend or do I leave them awaiting approval long past the event date? What if I decline one but then that friend can see that I’ve accepted another? What about those poor SOBs that haven’t started drinking the Kool Aid – they won’t be able to see the event because, it’s *only* on Facebook. Suddenly I feel like we’re put into two classes: total ‘social’ sweethearts or anti-social non-responsive a-holes.
Scenario #3: High school. Now I went to an awesome school with only about 300 people so you pretty much knew of everyone. Unfortunately for some, there were some people that you just didn’t really want to know and now 10 years later… you could seriously care less about them let alone remember the last time you thought of their existence. But this is Facebook and you could a) lurk and see what they’ve been up to/how good they’re looking b) chat them up.
With b), suddenly all past differences are tossed aside (because we’re all adults now, eh) and you are just so happy to write on their wall “OMG I haven’t heard from you in AGES how are you?”… let’s see hmm “…over the last TEN years I’ve…”
Don’t get me wrong at all, like I said, I love my little high school. I just find it funny that ex’s or strangers are suddenly all about contacting folks, just because they *can*, well at least until they get blocked anyway.
Scenario #4: Security. My brother is currently looking for a job. I asked him tonight if he was on Facebook yet, to which he replied that he heard at a seminar that employers will search for you, on Facebook and Myspace, to either learn more or see what you’re really like.
I understand but I have to say … “everybody’s doing it!”. In my case, I have a pretty public blog that even my bossed asked me to help him subscribe to the other day. It’s a non-issue as I’m totally Googleable anyway. My Facebook profile is straightforward and honest, just like this site. I omit a couple names, I don’t post my mobile number and I usually only add people that I have met, know or at least know of (or we have several friends in common). But there must be some kind of censorship going on especially if you know (or don’t know) just who is reading. This opens things up perfectly for Miss604.com poll #3:
Poll accepts more than one answer, so check however many apply.
Poll Removed
To view and vote on past polls, visit the Miss604.com poll page.
Regardless of its use, it’s addictive even if you won’t admit it. Check email, check Facebook – it’s become a part of our daily routines and I’m just wondering where it’s going to go from here.
I heard about WordCamp a little while ago because I have Matt on my Twitter and he mentioned something about tickets.
WordCamp is a 2-day conference for WordPress users and developers. The first day will focus on how to be a better blogger, the second on the development and future of WordPress. …To get WordPress users together, learn from each other, figure out the future of publishing on the web, and have a good time [WordCamp]
Photo credit:
byte on Flickr
I’m SO wishing I was there right now, the tickets were dirt cheap and it’s in lovely San Francisco. I suppose I don’t really have an excuse aside from not getting some time off work and not having a (valid) passport – I’d have to do the Bellingham Airport thing again.
I’ve been using WordPress for about 10 months now, I was slow to get started as Miss604.com was Blogger-published since 2004. Since making the switch, which at first was a little scary, I’ve been enlightened and know just how capable WordPress is as a platform. This enabled me to recently single-handedly overhaul my company’s website using WordPress as a CMS. I’m also super excited about a possible new theme or look to Miss604.com, although I don’t really want to stray too far from what it is now.
Regardless, I’ll be keeping on top of the WordCamp action (including WP newbies and veterans alike) through the WordCamp Blog and I’ll also be living vicariously through John Biehler, local Vancouver blogger who is in attendance.
A short while ago Keira told me about the butcher shop/deli at So.Cial, the place I’ve been passing on my way to work for months and always thought it was *just* an oyster bar. But on recommendation from Rod, Keira then checked it out, loved it and passed along the knowledge to yours truly.
Today a co-worker and I wanted to grab a quick bite for lunch and he said the word “sandwich”. I immediately thought of this place and we decided to go check it out. From 322 Water Street, head up the stairs and to the back of the hallway, past the restaurant/oyster bar.
Choose from our selection of local & organic custom cut meats, house made charcuterie, terrines, sausages, bacon and a delicious assortment of condiments. Special orders are also welcome. [So.Cial]
Everyone was right, it’s DELICIOUS. I had the “small” sandwich (which was anything but), choosing from any type of select meat and every delectable topping imaginable. The “small” is a triangle-sized portion of fresh focaccia and comes with a side of house-made chips for $4.50. I have to say, we’ll definitely be back.
I found an incoming link on my WordPress dashboard this evening from Vancouvergo.com. Now I’ve seen these types of sites before, sometimes the just look for syndicated blog posts or news articles about a certain topic, in this case “Vancouver”, and conglomerate that information onto one big website or source.
That’s all fine and dandy because most sites like that use the original post and link directly to the original entry on the author’s site.
However, in the case of Vancouvergo.com they have completely copied/pasted the html from my blog post and created their very own hyperlink for the article. The only link back to my site was actually something I linked to in the body of my posts – hence my WordPress notification. Other than that, there is not one hyperlink to my actual story, only plain text at the very end saying: “From
https://www.miss604.com/2007/07/vancouver-summer-events-guide-pt-3.html” (no link).
There is no comments section or contact form on the site so if you or someone you know is an editor of Vancouvergo.com I would simply ask that you do not copy and paste my story and create your own hyperlink for my article, soaking up my google juice and reproducing my original content without permission. I’m happy to be included as a source for Vancouver info and feel free to syndicate my posts on your site as long as you fully link back to the source with credit. At the very least state “By Rebecca Bollwitt” or I’ll even settle for “By Miss604” at the top of the article. [view this site’s Creative Commons license].
I’m growing tired of seeing inbound links to my blog from news aggregators. If I felt these aggregators were around to provide a relatively cohesive website for a particular topic, I might support them. But most of the ones that link to me are simply trying to make a profit on advertising, and that bothers me that other people are using my work to try and make money. To counter that, I have explicitly stated on the bottom of my blog (in the footer) that the works on this website are protected under a CC non-commercial license. I don’t mind other people cutting pieces out of my articles to support intellectual blog entries of their own, even if they have adsense (because I have some here on my buried pages), but I’m going to deliberately clamp down on aggregators, or people who I feel are lifting blog entries of mine. [Duane Storey]
If you are a blogger, photo sharer or user of the web, please take some time to educate yourself about Creative Commons licensing and attribution on the CC site wiki or read Duane’s post regarding photos.
I’ve been through garbage strikes in this town before, and they’re not pretty as no one would expect they would be. I’ve also been to Toronto during a heat wave AND a garbage strike in the middle of August and well, I think it actually made the town smell a little better.
All joking aside city workers in Vancouver, who are an integral part of the maintenance and upkeep of our tourist-attracting streets and dispose of our household waste, could be going on strike very soon.
Take full advantage if it’s your day to drag those garbage cans to the curb because it could be your last chance for a long time… Last-ditch talks aimed at averting a strike by outside workers in Vancouver have broken off, and there’s still no deal in sight. They started hopefully, but ended abruptly yesterday, with what is being described as a “significant distance” between the two sides. [News1130]
Vancouver’s 1,800 outside workers, including garbage collectors, will refuse to work overtime as of 11 a.m. Thursday, while 375 district and recreational staff in North Vancouver will ban overtime and will work to rule… Mike Jackson, President of CUPE Local 1004, said garbage collection likely wouldn’t be affected by an overtime ban. “It’s only if pickets go up, that’s when garbage is affected.” [Vancouver Sun]
That isn’t very good news, which only makes me think of the upcoming fireworks, the Celebration of Light, that attract millions of spectators to the downtown core and surrounding beaches over several nights. I see how the trash cans along Robson get stuffed just by the end of the day (side note: the tray in front of the trash cans is for recyclables, not frappucinno and slurpee cups).
If the photo above is any indication it can get really messy, and with no one to clean it up do you suppose they’ll just find volunteers? Cancel the event altogether? We’ll find out more tomorrow as negotiations are still underway.
