StumbleUpon Addiction

I never really knew what social bookmarking was until last week in class. I brushed it off like it was just another thing and actually thought that this was limited to the very talented "computer geeks". It was then that I read Shannon and Analee's blog really praising StumbleUpon for it's unique way of sorting your interests and I was interested. But even then, I was very determined not to write ANOTHER blog on this subject trying my best to think "outside of the box". After I wrote my previous blog, I couldn't think of anything interesting to write about so I decided to pay a visit to StumbleUpon.

I created an account, my username is anaceci if anyone would like to add me, and I read what this new program was about. I checked a few boxes about my interests and clicked on the Stumble button. The first page I saw was a drawing page. It was entertaining but not entertaining enough. As I kept clicking the button, I ended up finding a handful of fun websites that I would have not even known about if it weren't for StumbleUpon. Minutes really turned into hours and I have spent approximately three hours stumbling.

I agree with many who blogged about social bookmarking when they say it is a fun tool to use and will ultimately be very helpful when conducting research or writing a paper. If anything it might help you find your "true match" better than EHarmony.com. Finding people with your exact interests might bring about a potential love connection. Maybe StumbleUpon should think about advertising this side of the social bookmarking... it could be called... StumbleUpon Love. Jaja, wow.

Here are my top five sites that I have stumbled upon!

Have fun!

5. Singing Horses
4. Taste Spotting
3. Games for the Brain
2. Optical Illusions
1. Musicovery

The Myspace Debates

Cue presidential music: dum, dum, dum,dum, dum, dudumdudumdudum dum..



Please play this video while reading the remainder of my post for comedic effect... Thank you.


The Washington Independent has reported that the Commission on Presidential Debates will air the presidential debates on the social networking site, Myspace. Along with the airing, users will be able to access a toolset from MyDebates.org powered by Myspace. Below is a screenshot:




Okay this is actually SUPER COOL! You can take a quiz about issues you care about and it will match you up with your candidate, either McCain or Obama. It will rank your issues on importance and if you choose the "I don't care" button it will skip to the next issue. If you read both stances and do not know which to pick, it will mark it with a question mark and say you need to watch the debates to hear them both out. Cool ehh?

Another cool feature, guys! It actually has surveys and graphs of what other Myspace users think is important. You can check the map to see who is winning the Myspace vote, Obama is beating John McCain by an overwhelming amount. I believe there were four states for McCain, 6 undecided states, leaving a WHOPPING 39 states for Obama!! WOW! To be critical, though, Myspace does not offer the amount of people surveyed and if there were an equal number per state. But that aside, I really liked this new feature Myspace has added!

Final cool feature... you can actually send in your questions to the website and some lucky people will actually have them answered by the nominees! WHATT? That is soo cool! This is a GREAT digital media marketing tool to increasing the ratings among young adults to the debates. This election has been pretty wild, and many people are voting for personalities and not issues. Myspace and MyDebates have brought us back to the issues. The Commission is really trying to hook on to the most popular website on the Internet right now. I think this is a very smart move and will see good results.

This just goes to show how cool Web 2.0 can be. I am looking forward to the debates! The first one airs Friday, September 26!!! Visit Myspace.com/mydebates.


I will leave you with my FAVORITE music video this year called "Yes We Can".



YES WE CAN!

Celebrity Blogging

One thing we have talked about in our Social Media class is personal PR or personal branding. Handling your own image is made possible today through blogs. Recently, I have noticed that more and more celebrities are beginning to keep up with their blogs religiously. A classic example is with Kanye West. Mr. West is not a big fan of the paparazzi and was arrested for "vandalism" after attacking a paparazzo and shattering his camera. Soon after, he posted a blog saying he would "rant later". We have seen much ranting on his blog about MTV and other issues, but why? Why would he care so much to leave a blog? After all having millions of dollars and bazillions of fans must give you something to do right?

Well it turns out that celebrities are taking their image out of gossip mags and sites hands and putting it back into their own. This is a classic example of personal PR or branding. After a story or picture is posted on Perezhilton.com or other gossip sites and they don't agree, they will post on their blog their side of the story and try to clear their name.

In Paul Gilin's The New Influencers, he writes that people "exert influence by aggregating the thoughts and opinons of others whom they trust" (pg. 27). Celebrities can influences millions of fans through their blogs because it is a direct conversation with them.

Many celebrities are using this power to promote their political beliefs. For example, Lindsay Lohan and, rumored partner, Samantha Ronson posted a blog on LiLo's Myspace page about John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin. She writes, "Is our country so divided that the Republicans best hope is a narrow minded, media obsessed homophobe?" She goes on to offer a piece of advice, "Oh, and…Hint Hint Pali Pal- Don’t pose for anymore tabloid covers, you’re not a celebrity, you’re running for office to represent our, your, my COUNTRY!"

LiLo knows she is a NEW INFLUENCER (to tie in our textbook). She uses this influence to be a responsible CITIZEN MARKETER (ha, another one) and make her beliefs known to her fans and maybe they might listen.


Disclaimer: My computer has short-circuited 6 times so I am blogging through my Sprint Treo. This is the reason for the lack of links and pictures but I promise to add them as soon as I get my new computer! Thanks!

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We have all seen the classic movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarves where the Evil Queen asks the Magic Mirror her famous question:


"Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?"


In this day and age, I think it would be more appropriate to ask:


"Google, Google on the computer screen, what juicy and incriminating information can be seen?"

Clever... I know.

When reading Pew Internet Study on Our Digital Footprint, I kept seeing the word "footprint" being stressed over and over again. So, what is this footprint and how the heck do I get rid of it? According to this study, a footprint is any personal information or activity that is archived on the Web and can be found on a search engine.

WHAAAAAATTT?!?!

I thought wire-tapping was bad, now we are being "web-tapped" too? If that isn't bad enough, we have to worry about digital-resumes screwing us over at interviews for potentially life-changing jobs. Yep, that's right, companies are now replacing interviews and references with Google. (At this time, please search through your Facebook profiles, as well as Myspace profiles, and delete any incriminating information, thanks.)

This has gotten a little scary. Before this Web 2.0, predators would actually have to work to track us down. Now, it is all through a couple of clicks on the Internet. The worst part about it is that we may be setting ourselves up for these culprits. Social networking sites are painting such a perfect picture of us, that we don't people stalking us to know where we will be and when. All people need to do is check our status or our events to try and find us.

I agree with the authors of that Pew study when they say that PRIVACY IS DEAD! It is gone. Poof! Bye-Bye! Yet, we as responsible "citizens" must try and filter the content of what is getting on the Web. So, the moral of the story is... maybe people don't need to know where you are every second of the day and maybe you should reconsider tagging those pictures from downtown Thursday. After all, it might come back and bite you in places where you don't want to be bitten.


Disclaimer: So, it took pretty long to post this blog and I apologize for the lack of links and pictures but my computer has short-circuited a number of 6 times since yesterday and the computer techs at school can't seem to find what is wrong with it. I have been writing this blog on my Sprint Treo, which makes it hard to add in these fun touches. On a lighter note, I will be getting a new computer next week so I will fix this blog then.