Posts Tagged ‘web 2.0’

photo credit: dollie_mixtures

Today I am on a roll!

You want to instantly plug in awesome photos like this one? Check out Photo Dropper!. This fantastic wordpress plugin lets you grab Creative Commons photos right from your dashboard and sizes it and puts all the lovely code in for you.

Ah…blogging hacks…so wonderful.

I have a sinus infection…again! But thanks to facebook one of my very informed and well meaning friends just told me about a product I can use to kick this infection to the curb. Here’s the process:

1. I tweet about my misery via my facebook and twitter account
2. Friends leave well wishing comments and condolences
3. One friend in particular recommends a product she’s had awesome experience
4. I jump on Google to find the product, read ingredients, instructions, other customer reviews, and get a price.
5. I search engine where to find it in the REAL world.

while I was checking out all the specs for this amazing nasal flushing product I read one of the best reviews ever. I mean, this guy was fantastic! Funny, lyrical, illustrative…just a joy to read. He even wrote a haiku about an instant brownie mix! Freakin awesome.

God I love the Internet.

I bet you are super web savvy. I bet you’ve got a nice little collection of web profiles and accounts. You know just what is going on with them and how they all fit together. If your online persona was a painting what would it look like? The Mona Lisa perhaps? Well, mine would probably resemble a Jackson Pollack…only with bright pink shades. I am all over the web but it’s not entirely clear who the hell I am at this point. It’s a little crazy.

Here’s the current breakdown:

Web Profiles and Pages:

• 5 (?) Gmail Accounts – um….how do I justify all these…meh…I’ll do that later!
  3 Twitter Accounts – oh Twitter…I’m trying to get into you…but it’s such a challenge being a twit!

• 2 Wordpress Websites – 365daygirl is doing well, my other “girl” blog however gets slammed with spam.
• 2 Myspace Accounts – I don’t go on MS anymore…too creepy.
• 2 Facebook Profiles – one in married name (I’m divorced) the other in super fancy new name!
• 2 Yahoo Mail Accounts – 1 is spam. the other…was an a whim.
• 2 Youtube Channels – one is personal the other is all for YOU! :)
• 1 Digg Account – I really like DIGG…I just don’t ever use it.
• 1 Flickr Account – this has gone through 3 “username” transformations…I’m so wacky.
• 1 Yelp Account – great site that hardly any one in my state uses…*sigh*
• 1 This Next Account – another great site that I need to update
• 1 Shop Style Account – it’s like playing dress up…but it takes me hours to “play” with it!

My “Friends”…Real and Virtual:

• Facebook: 137 – I have more “guy” friends than “girl” friends which bugs me a little…even though I really like boys and a few in particular :)
• Flickr:49 – a handful are real professional friends, the rest are just cool people that take photos I drool over
• Wordpress: a bunch of friends have left comments. I’ve been bookmarked by some new people, but I don’t really know how many people are reading.
• Twitter – 300 something on “catthegirlguru”, and just a handful on 365daygirl since I have done much “tweeting”.
• Youtube – like 2 friends? 3 if I count myself from the personal account. lol
• Yelp – 15 friends…most of them from out of state.

  I could go on and on with this…but I’d rather hear about your webness :)
  So, whatchoo got goin on in your web universe? Is it working for you? Or do you try not to think about it all?

  Tags: blogging, digg, email, facebook, flickr, friends, myspace, shop style, social media, this next, twitter, web 2.0, wordpress, yahoo, yahoo answers, yelp, youtube

I have a question for you web users out there: How much does your use of your devices and your web profiles to express your interesting little self COMPARE to how much you use all that to screw around?

Folks be forewarned – I am one opinionated little missy but I say this all out of LOVE: *steps onto soapbox

Ahem.
Being in this here Information Age is a real challenge. An exciting one mind you – at least depending on how you look at it. I think those of us that are thriving within it know just how to rock the social media. Everyone else may just be cluttering up the net with virtual chatter. People we love too! It’s so freakin sad sometimes! I know it bums me out when I read more about a friend’s Farmville status reports then their actual life! Let me be a little voice of sense and reason here okay? Just because you are awesome at growing pixelated vegetables doesn’t mean all your friends care to know… each and every time you get a new sprout or rutabaga spouts up from the virtual ground. Does Oprah rock at Farmville? Hell. If. I. Know! Thankfully she doesn’t share those precious little updates with her fans on her web profiles.

I know I’m gettin on my high horse here but I just find it ridiculous reading about stuff that DON’T MEAN SHIT! So instead let me tell you how you can share somethin REAL and how it’s really not all that hard.

Things to Post: Links
This is the easiest type of content to post and it can still be unique to you. So go ahead and post links to all sorts of great stuff:
*Movies
*Events
*Clothing
*Toys
*Software
*Music

Things to Post: YOU-ness
You can also share the unique and weird stuff about YOU:
*Your wacky philosophies
*Your silly adventures
*Even your wisdom
*I suggest postin little 1 to 2 line blurbs in most things and then spilling all the juicy details in a big wordy blog post. NOTE: formatting things with headers and bolded text is FANTASTIC.

Things to Post: Comment Lovin
Share the love okay? Tell your friends you are thinking about them or compliment them or somethin. Believe me they need to know and it’s just super nice and cool.
*Wall Comments
*Blog Comments
*Share a link just for them
*Refer some cool resource
*Tell them their photos are cute and you want to see more
LOVE LOVE LOVE!
SHARE SHARE SHARE!

And THROW SOME MUD ON THE WALL. Do not get all preciously perfectionist about it. Otherwise you won’t learn anything and nothing will progress into something truly valuable. Chances are you won’t say, post, or upload the most perfect thing at first. But you will learn if you practice and allow yourself to get some golden feedback :)

Take me for example. I’ve decided to put my goofy ass out there and produce content at the most basic freakin level possible with this whole project.
*I’ve uploaded the most amateur photos from my sorry ass little webcam.
*I wrote my first blog posts on the generic little wordpress template EVERYONE starts with.
*And I’ve posted my videos with the lamest lighting I have available – including the creepy blue glow of my laptop.

All with the intent to show you fabulous people what this whole journey starts out like. And I have learned every step of the way and produce better content each time! Half the time it’s from people that are just wanting to be helpful and lend their expertise:
“Can I show you how to not take Myspace photos?” -says Anomaly Boy who is a genius with Photoshop.

Let me get back to Oprah here – she’s nearly Queen of the Universe right? Her first Twitter post was all in caps and Shaq had to be the well meaning jerkface to tell her that she was SHOUTING on the web. Maybe a tad embarrassing but INSTANTLY fixable. Just by pressing a button.

So Here’s Your ACTION List:
1. Do.
2. Screw Up.
3. Learn!
4. Make something Prettier next time!

Or you could be one of those fortunate souls that produces something brilliant your first try and everyone wants more more more!

Either way it’s easy as pie :)

Okay I’ll get off my soapbox here and get back to work.

Fashion obsessed girls, I have a question for you:
Do you dress fashion forward or do you dress feminine?
What’s the difference you ask?
Well one is more for yourself and to impress other women (Fashion Forward) and the other is dressing more to attract men (Feminine). So I suppose the real question girls is: Do you dress for men or do you dress for women?. Here’s another breakdown for you:

Fashion Forward is:
*dynamic
*bold
*cutting edge
*androgynous
*sexy in a high fashion model way ala “my cheekbones and clavicle bones can slice you in two!”
Think: Mary Kate Olsen (you know with her slouchy coolness and morbid hotness)

Feminine is of course:
*body hugging
*form fitting
*flirty
*pretty or cute
*sexy in a playboy bunny way ala “here’s my boobs, betcha wanna play with em!”
Think: Kim Kardashian (ever noticed that girls ass? it’s devestating! I’m sure it’s given J-Lo a marathon run for her money!)

Personally I veer slightly more towards men because I enjoy flirty with them and accentuating my femininity. But I also have a very strong creative streak that allows me to get all creative and experimental.

I promised to post links from my video so here they are for you girls!
Fashion/Makeup Links for the Ladies!
*Fashion: Veni Caprice: store on Etsy where I got my awesome revolver hoodie dresses.
*Makeup: < href="http://www.youtube.com/user/SarahVictor">Sarah Victor: does really fun and super informative makeup tutorials on youtube. You can also check out her facebook fan page (I just became a fan myself!).

Spread the social media joy and tell your girlfriends to look, read, or watch 365 Day Girl and I’ll post more girly goodness for you!

Last Day of My First Week! It’s been a helluva start! Later on today I will do a recap of the events and try to answer some of the questions I’ve received from some of you (like…”uh, what is it about?”)

In other news, as I was “approving” the comments for this blog I noticed that I have not received ANY spam comments to date! That is amazing since on my other blog (catthegirlguru.com) I get like 20 a week all spouting various gibberish at me.

REAL, ACTUAL COMMENTS!!!! God, they are just golden! I think…I’m gonna cry a little…

Okay maybe not actually cry but I still think it’s total RadCakes! :) Thank you!!

Speaking of REAL friends and REAL comments from such I want to give Big Pretty Thanks to Michelle for steppin up and being the first girlfriend to comment on this site. Such a goddess! In fact, I shall change your name in my phone to include the “goddess” tag :)

Yay! Keep it comin! Oh and feel free to comment with any questions you have about the project like “why are you doing this?” or “what was that you said on that last video?”, etc. etc. And also I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics I blog about.

Got all my basic profiles set up! Now it’s time for some tweaking of settings! Hot dog!

What can I say…I’m a sucker for starting projects :)