Blogs and the Giant Time Vacuum

For the past few months I’ve found several dozen blogs that I really following. Through a combination of bookmarking and RSS feeds, I check in frequently and read items that interest me. Mostly these are sites pertaining to personal development or financial information or life hacks. 

Lately I’ve begun to wonder if I am spending too much time on these blogs. Many of them contain similar information, often presented in a different way. There are very few that actually make me think long and hard about something. Is it possible I am reading all these blogs as a way to avoid doing something of my own? How many times can I see the same quotes analyzed to death in various personal development blogs? 

I swear, it’s almost like an addiction – like people who need a cup of coffee in the morning to get going. On a day when I miss a particular blog, I find myself thinking about what I may be missing even though I know in my mind that I’m not really missing anything at all. 

I know some people who are addicted to the Weather Channel. They have it on all the time as if they are afraid to miss some important weather event in their area. What if I stopped reading all these blogs today? What would I be missing?  Isn’t it possible that all the tools I need to develop myself fully are already in me? Will reading one more blog analyzing Einstein’s quotes will spawn a million dollar idea in my head? 

Perhaps it’s easier to read other people’s work than it is to produce my own. I’m trying to write a blog of my own at least every other day, but some nights I’m so tired and worn out  from reading all these other blogs, I feel like there’s nothing left to say about anything (of course I know that’s not true, it just feels that way). 

I have a smart phone where I get tweets and emails all day long. I also have internet access, so I can check in on my blogs during the day. I’m thinking it’s time to wean myself from this constant flow of information. I need more time to think for myself and to come up with my own ideas, rather than listening to everyone else’s. 

Ironically, I read a blog today where the author talked about trying to do something for 14 days. His theory is that anyone can do anything for two weeks and that two weeks is enough time to find out if you like or dislike something. So I am going to try and limit my blog reading for two weeks and see how I like it. If it doesn’t work, I will just start reading them again. If the two weeks allows me to be more productive, then maybe it will be something I keep for the long term.

Should be an interesting two weeks.

The Unknown Link

I love Twitter but I’ve become increasingly worried about the links that people send in their tweets. Most commonly, tweets contain a link that has been shortened using a service like bit.ly, which makes it possible to squeeze it into a tweet, but leaves the reader unable to tell where the link really goes. It is a huge leap of faith to click on that link, even if you are confident that the originator is trustworthy.

Twitter has had instances of accounts being hacked, so clearly there is a real possibility that you could get a tweet with a link that leads you to some kind of malicious site or undesirable content. 

By now, most of us know not to open email attachments from unknown or questionable sources and to be wary of clicking links in emails if we are uncertain where they lead. But lets face it, that doesn’t stop most people from clicking on things they should otherwise ignore or delete.

Personally, I mostly access Twitter from my android phone (HTC 2), so I am probe to simply clicking a link whenever I see one I want to explore. I know the risks and I try to be smart about it, but I know I am walking a dangerous line clicking on those links. 

I have heard there are sites that can decipher the shortened links and I know there are add-on’s for various browsers, but those don’t help much for those of us who use smart phones to access Twitter. 

Of course this issue brings up a great opportunity for someone to devise a clever and easy solution to help folks know where a shortened link goes before they click on it. I wish I had the technical skills (and time) to come up with a solution.

Where’s the Social in Social Media?

‘I’m at the mall with the family’. ‘Just had dinner at McDonalds’. 

How many times have you seen these kinds of tweets or facebook postings? While it can be interesting to see where friends are or what they are doing, it seems like there’s not always a lot of social in social media. Certainly there are some folks who really know how to start a conversation (and to keep it going). For everyone of the people who are good at getting the conversation going, it seems like there are ten more people who use social media to update friends on their location or their activities. 

When you tweet ‘I’m at Bob’s Diner’, why not tweet ‘I’m at Bob’s Diner on Main St, the meatloaf special is to die for!’. Or ‘Who’s been to Bob’s Diner – suggestions?’

When you are at the mall, how about ‘At the mall, HUGE sale at Sears  – get here now.’ 

Wouldn’t it be great to tweet or post something that starts a conversation or encourages feedback, or gets some kind of threads going amongst your followers? Hopefully social media is new to lots of people and it will take time to get the hang of it. I’m amazed at how many posts I see or tweets I get that are one-time-only affairs. What about tweets or posts that are the start of the conversation, rather than one and done posts. 

Social media gives us the tools to explore any number of topics in a way never imaginable just a few years ago. Imagine getting thoughts or opinions from hundreds or thousands of people. 

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy sharing a little bit of my friends lives and knowing what they are doing, but I would love to engage in a conversation about something and to know what they think or how they feel about a given topic. Perhaps it will just take time for people to get the hang of it.  Maybe people just need to keep posting stimulating thoughts and questions in the hopes that more people will join the conversation. 

More Thoughts About Legacy

Sites like Tumblr, WordPress, and others offer anyone who has a computer the opportunity to create a very unique and personal history. Presumably this history could exist for all time (obviously it won’t, but it’s fun to think of it that way). One reason I am trying to write a personal blog on a regular basis is to create such a history both for myself and my kids. I hate to write with paper and I doubt I could ever keep a traditional paper journal for long, but a personal blog seems to be interesting enough that I might stick with it. 

For Christmas this past year I registered my kids names as domain names. Thankfully they were all available. My oldest is only 9, but she is a very good writer for her age and loves to read. She has had her own email address on gmail for more than a year and she has become fluent dealing with email communications. For her in particular, I thought it would be fun for her to write some blogs from time to time. How fascinating will it be when she is 20 or 30 to look back at her thoughts at this age? 

Like generations past, my generation still relies on family stories and photos to better understand our history. We rely on our parents to tell stories of our childhood. I wonder if my children will be part of the leading edge generation that will have digital histories of their childhood and other family histories. When I think about it, I would love to see better pictures and blog posts from my grandparents or great grandparents. My grandparents have told me about Pearl Harbor, but it would have been so amazing to be able to read a blog from that day to know exactly what they were feeling and what was happening in our town and our country. I imagine there are many blog posts out there about the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. My daughter was born shortly after those attacks and really doesn’t know anything about them. When the time comes I hope to be able to use the internet to help paint a clear and accurate story for her that is very different from the way we are used to learning (mostly in textbooks or movies). 

So my thought here is simple. Blogging is simple, it’s free, and it may outlive you. Consider opening an account on Tumblr or WordPress and start creating your legacy online. If you are comfortable with it, think about having your kids start their own blog. Approach it as something fun and interesting. Try to make an entry once a week (or more). After a year or so, go back over your posts and look at how you felt about things or ponder all that has happened in your life in such a short time. Life seems to fly by at the speed of light and there are so many things that get overlooked or forgotten. Consider the possibility that family members that you will never meet will one day read your words. What would you say to them? What would you like them to know about you and their other family members? What would you like them to know about current events or other topics that interest you?  

Social Media Brings Many More Questions Than Answers

I saw two very interesting tweets today, both from the same person and both seemingly funny at first glance. One tweet mentioned the individual’s boss and how she was acting like a bi&*$. The other stated that this person had called in sick to work. First I laughed, then I got thinking and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that these two tweets bring up several questions.

• What if the boss sees these tweets? Being called names is not flattering and the possibility of an employee skipping out on work is equally troubling. 
• What kind of judgment does this person have?  I don’t know about their judgement, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they are ignorant of the fact that their boss would have easy access to these tweets.
• What about the legacy this person is leaving behind?  Is this something to be proud of? Is this something they want their next (potential) employer to see? Is this something they would want their children or loved one’s to read?

Of course this is a workplace scenario, but as we are moving our thoughts and interactions into the social media space, we need to start thinking about how we are creating these open records of our lives. Not only are these records open, but they are potentially going to be available forever. It’s possible that you will be long dead and people will have access to information you have left behind online. 

People need to start thinking today about their online postings and interactions. While it may seem like a good idea at the moment, do you really want a potential employer looking at your tweets where you are bashing your current boss or coworkers? Would your current boss like to see messages like the ones I mention?

The internet is likely the most powerful tool ever created. With that great power comes great responsibility. Take some time and think about what you are doing online and what effect it can have on your job, your family, and your legacy. 

Life hack websites

For the past month or so I’ve been combing the internet for ‘life hack websites’. These are sites that purport to offer all kinds of advice about anything and everything to help make your life better. Advice almost any conceivable subject from health and fitness to finances to relationship advice. I’ve visited about 50 different websites and although there is some great content out there, I’ve noticed that most sites contain content that seems to be regurgitated for similar sources. It reminds me of copying a friend’s term paper in high school, but changing a few words so the teacher doesn’t noticed that you copied it. 

I’m not saying there is anything wrong with this. Quite the opposite. What has intrigued me so much is the fact that there are so many websites that seem to offer roughly the same content and that many of them seem to be making some kind of money. Of course this is an assumption based on advertising that I see on the pages as well as affiliate links and the like. 

Why does this intrigue me? I have approached blogging and setting up websites thinking that I had to provide the best, most original content to stand out. Seeing all these life hack sites forces me to question my assumption. Clearly there are many people chasing the same niche. Undoubtedly they are experiencing various levels of success, but I am starting to think that being number 1 is a worthy goal, but not necessarily the only goal. There may be value in being number 50. 

Again I don’t know if number 50 is really making any money, or if they are just doing it for fun. Either way, looking at this niche has made me question how and why websites (or blogs) are successful. Perhaps there is as much art as science involved here. 

As a side note, my favorite site remains lifehacker.com. It’s pretty simple and straightforward but I find that many of the items are different than I see on other sites. In addition, the topics are much more diverse ranging. For example, right now on lifehacker.com there is an article about LED lighting on your deck and there is one about managing your finances (in addition to many others). Not all the articles are relevant to my life, but I like the diversity and while I know there articles that can be found on other sites, there seems to be less regurgitation on lifehacker than on other sites. 

How can anyone take such a bad photo?

I decided it was finally time to post an actual photo of myself on my blog and facebook and all that good stuff. I must have taken a dozen pictures, each worse than the one before it. How is that possible?  It’s like having my drivers license photo taken over and over. 

In this picture it almost likes I have gas or some other abdominal problem. As I thought about posting this picture, it occurred to me that I’ve never seen a picture of myself that I like. Maybe I have an unrealistic ideal of myself that leads me to believe that I am far more handsome that I actually am. Whatever the case – these pictures make me cringe. 

But I notice that everyone has pictures with their accounts. So I had to pick the lesser of two evils. Do I look stupid because I don’t have any picture, or do I just have a stupid-looking picture? I guess the picture won.

I suppose I really need to try and get a better picture. Eventually there should be one picture that accidentally makes me looks like the handsome stud that I know is lurking inside.