Blippy Makes Credit Social

How far can social networking go, how about into your wallet? Blippy makes credit card transactions social. I was reading a recent article about Blippy and I was floored by this next level of social networking.

The website asks, “What are your friends buying?” Register for an account, enter your credit card info (which is not kept on record) and share with the world what you are buying. Your Blippy account is updated with what you just bought. Other Blippy users can comment on your purchase. You can tell Blippy what types of transactions you don’t want to go public. It also has a connection with Facebook and Twitter.

As a by-stander, I think this website is cool. Now I can see what other people are buying and if I see something nice, I might buy the same thing. All I can say is that a recent poll stated 70% of lawyers are using social networking in case proceedings. Use this service at your own risk.

Do you think Blippy is too much information?
http://www.blippy.com

Classifications of Facebookers

CNN recently did a classifications of the most annoying  Facebookers. Can you relate to any of these listed here? Do you have any to add?

1. The Let-Me-Tell-You-Every-Detail-of-My-Day Bore.  – tell me more?
2. The Self-Promoter. – every link to your blog (I am guilty of this one)
3. The Friend-Padder. – 1000 friends?
4. The Town Crier. – I can’t take who just died.
5. The TMIer. – too much info
6. The Bad Grammarian – I can’t spell
7. The Sympathy-Baiter. – too much bad news
8. The Lurker. – not much participation but they know alot about you
9. The Crank. – complainers
10. The Paparazzo. – constantly tagging posting photos
11. The Obscurist. – not clear updates
12. The Chronic Inviter. – constantly sending out group invites

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/08/20/annoying.facebook.updaters/index.html

Big Events Shut Down The Net

The net is still in diapers. Every time a big event happens, the Internet seems to experience lag and major websites just simply shut down. When Michael Jackson’s funeral was held during a weekday in the middle of the afternoon, the world watched the event mostly at work online. This event alone seemed to cause everything online to hick-up.

Think about these facts:

• Amazon just turned 15
• Twitter is a new communication form started in 2006
• iTunes launched in 2001 and now represents half of music industry sales

Can we just admit to ourselves that the Internet is just still just learning to walk? Web 3.0 is approaching, but the fact is it is never too late to get on the web bandwagon and embrace the technology.

R.I.P. Geocities

Geocities was closed today by Yahoo. I used Geocities to create my first webpage to get my first Internet job back in 1996. Yes, the page was rudimentary and featured a flaming guitar, but it was a building block for later success. I actually think my website address had so many tildes “~” that it was impossible to remember.

Geocities was a true pioneer that now has been surpassed with more powerful user-centric based website creation tools. Rest in peace Geocities.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/10/geocities-closing.html

VMA Tweet Tracker

During the 2009 Video Music Awards, I noticed a MTV correspondent using a web tool that highlights the popular Tweets called Tweet Tracker. Throughout the VMAs, the host would switch to the Tweet Tracker, very much like a meteorologist, and review the hottest topics on Twitter. Kayne West’s outburst on Taylor Swift ranked high on the hot topic list.

In future, I truly can see a forecaster on the evening news whose sole purpose is to give the 5 day outlook on web content. The technology will most likely not be Twitter, but as the net grows a collective consciousness, the need for an expert to give analysis of trends will be of high regard.

Below is a link to the MTV Tweet Tracker. The tracker is no longer active for the show since it ran in September, however the tracker is still functioning and tracking Twitter.
http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2009/twitter.jhtml

Oh No! Your Parents Just Joined Facebook?

The other day I heard a few talk show hosts insinuating that Facebook has “Jumped The Shark“. I then saw on Doug Craver’s TechBytes and on a few Twitter feeds the website My Parents Joined Facebook referenced. The website insinuates that youth can no longer post everything happening in their lives on Facebook because now their parents will find out about it.

For example, a college student kept asking her father for money to pay for rising book fees. However after dad joined Facebook, became friends with their kid and started reading about her excessive partying, the money was cut off. Then the student “Unfriended” their dad so he couldn’t read her updates any longer. The reality is this trend is rising everyday and this new website, My Parents Joined Facebook says, “this is your chance to get back at them for taking away your public privacy.” The idea is to share the embarrassing messages parents are writing on your Facebook wall in order to fight back.

The reality is everyone should realize that whatever you write as your status, on your wall, or any picture you upload is permanent record online. Even if you delete your account or remove the information later, a search engine, the site hosting the material or another user will be retaining your information. Be careful out there in Internet land!

http://myparentsjoinedfacebook.com/

WTF! the CW

I just recently stumbled upon the CW’s most recent fall campaign for their upcoming TV lineup. Most of the clips were specifically for Gossip Girl and focused on scenes that were cliffhangers. Four letters kept flashing across the screen that caught my attention.

If I texted you the letters “WTF!”, what would you think I am communicating? I guess the CW network doesn’t think that parents would figure out that their Watch This Fall (WTF) campaign meant What The F#$%! to the text message generation. I know that the CW’s campaign is tongue and cheek, however it is truly dangling the ignorance card between generations. Since the demographic for the CW is primarly youth and WTF! is a universal text language message that youth understand, the connection is clear. I may be going overboard on this one, but it seems like a line has been crossed.

So I ask, “WTF! on the CW?”
Send Feedback to the CW
Text message acronyms

MySpace Jobs

Recently I got an email from MySpace that they’ve added new features to their website. The trend recently is that MySpace has been on the downturn because other social networking platforms like Facebook are gaining popularity. Thus, I wasn’t surprised when I heard that MySpace was trying to stay relevant. So why not add a job board to your website when the economy is down?

The MySpace job portal in my analysis seems to be nothing more than one big refined Google search. The page layout and the actual results for same key terms are similar in Google and MySpace Jobs. The site does however feature a few videos that are strong in helping you land a new job. It also has a tab if you are looking to go back to school, you can search for a higher degree.

MySpace has added a new “Job” feature to their website, but it’s really just repositioning technology from Google. The bottom-line is that as long it’s a benefit for the users, it’s a benefit to the site.

http://jobs.myspace.com/

Commentary: Stop Over-sized Ghosted TV Promos?

Since I am a social network addict, I don’t watch that much TV anymore, but when I do, I have started to track a trend. Have you noticed the size of the ghosted TV logos? These promos are either getting larger or they are animating out of control. In the past they used to just be a small little logo of the station in the bottom right corner of the screen, now they have become something else.

If you look above, here is an example from TBS of Bill Engvall walking out over the show I am currently watching to promote his show. It always happens right after you return from a commercial break. I am sometimes unsure if this ghosted actor on my screen is part of the scene I am watching or a promo until they magically fade away. Some other examples of these TV promos besides walk-outs are countdowns to the premiere of a big event happening in less than 24 hours.

Are these interruptions getting out of control? Are these other shows that are being promoted much more important then the one I am watching? Can we pay extra to get these logos removed from our TV shows?

Commentary: Tired of Social Media?

Everywhere you turn, whether if its on the six o’clock news or at sporting events, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn advertisements are posted. “Join us”, “Follow Us”, “Hit Us Up”, “Make Us Your Friend”, “Connect With Us” on the Internet is the message we continually hear from companies. Are we starting to reach the breaking point with all the inundation of the social media fad? Honestly, how many more times can we hear about that party that happened last night? How many more times can we hear the story about your goldfish that came back to life after a food coma?

In the next few months, more and more people will begin to delete their profiles and go offline. More viruses will be hitting our Twitter accounts. More scams will be encroaching on our lifestyles via social media (SM). Advertising will be coming soon to Twitter and every other Tweet will be slammed with ad words and search related noise. The culmination of all of these threats will turn off many users, but will we truly lose them? Will it be too late to get back all those millions of users that got turned off by the social media bandwagon? I say, “no”.

Human nature is to be curious. Eventually another secure form of micro-blogging communication will emerge. We can’t get rid of social media phenomenon because our “friends” want to know what we are doing at all times.

So how will the world adjust to SM? Simple. New tools are appearing that will automate responses. Professional writing teams are being assembled to represent corporations in social media. The question is, how will the average person keep up with SM? Sure mobile applications give us the ability to update over lives on the go, but we tend to add even more to our schedules when something becomes faster. Eventually will we all just pay someone to do our social media for us, like someone mowing our lawns.

Are you tired of Social Media?