I Officially Don’t Like Plurk

I officially don’t like Plurk.

From a User perspective, it is messy.  I am not used to navigating horizontally and it feels uncomfortable for me to do so.  I also don’t like having to chose or having the option to chose words like; gives, wants, hates, loves, feels, pukes.. Oops I meant plurks.

There is always 134090327 unread messages.

The only things I do like is the ability to embed media into the “plurks” and the fluidity of conversation.

Since those things are key, there is a possibility that I won’t always be a hater.

Twitter can break down all it wants to… I’m still a fan.

Sick of The Blogosphere

Okay, it’s official.. I am sick of reading blogs.  I no longer want to read “social media” or “SEO” type blogs because they are honestly not saying anything new.  When I was first starting out, they were great, but now it is just the same old thing for a popularity contest.  Once something new comes out that is embraced, like Plurk, everyone rushes to their blog to be the first one to talk about it.  That’s fine.. and I get it but… I am too busy to care about blogging about these new tools and sites.  When something comes out, lets just assume I am using it!

I am also kind of sick of SEO blogs that are written in complete buzz words. Everyone is afraid of blogging seriously now because they might be accused of using poor strategies.  My opinion, if you a good strategist… you are probably too busy WORKING to blog.

I really respect bloggers who have slowed it down a bit and have decided to discontinue reading those bloggers who create bad SEO link bait to get traffic.  Sorry… I am too busy working to read these blogs now.

By no means am I upset about any of this.  I love my Twitter because I can see my peers links to their blog posts with titles and if I am interested, I will read it.  I no longer have to even go to my RSS reader.  In my opinion, if it is a Social Media or SEO blog and it is not using Twitter, than it is a bad blog. However, I am still reading some entertainment and music blogs through a reader.

From now on I am only going to use this blog when there is something really worth writing about.

Twitter People You Should Follow

Twitter obsessed and starving for social success, the new Twitter follow referring site Twubble is awesome.

If it catches on than many users will be vewy Twubbled by the amount of follower requests they are receiving. Haha.. get it? Twubbled?

Anyways…

Another downfall to it… It will always suggest you befriend @scobleizer (if your not already). This is because it works based on common followers, just like Facebook’s; People You May Know, and not based on interests or similar terms. And it is listed from most important Twitter users to least important, as you can tell.

For some reason this Facebook feature, while I understand it, really bothers me because tons of people are requesting to be my friend. Thankfully I have enabled the new Facebook privacy settings

I am definitely going to take advantage of Twubble and expand my network! So if @Frozen2late requests to follow you… now you know why.

Politicians are Following Me!

About 2 weeks ago, my Blackberry started going insane. It was notifying me about the 20 new Twitter followers I had in about 20 minutes. Naturally, I suffered from PVS <Phantom Vibrate Syndrome> the rest of the day.

All of the followers, were names of politicians. It would make sense that I am not the only one this is happening to. Obviously I understand the value of these politicians, or rather the marketing dept’s of them, following me on Twitter. But something about this strikes me as wrong!

So in response to Politicians following me on Twitter:

You are all blocked!

Busy Busy Busy

I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth!

I am now working for Morpheus Media. It is an amazing job and I couldn’t be happier.

They keep me super busy, therefore I wont be posting as frequently, but I will definitely still be writing.

Follow me on Twitter for updates on day to day things!

Pownce Me

If you didn’t hate this guy enough already….

Digg founder Kevin Rose launched Pownce to the public this month. I discovered that I already had profile, and logged in. I must have had an invite and signed up and forgot about it. So I do what I always do when I am faced with a new social media site, I looked at every possible page and got lost in it for an hour. Then, I started adding friends… the usual suspects.

If you don’t like Twitter, you will most likely hate Pownce. It has the same concept, except Pownce is more tied into Digg, almost shamelessly. In my opinion, it is a really quick way to ask all of your loyal friends to Digg your stuff in a “Twitter” style. The Scobleizer wrote a good comparison of the two.

Twitter for sure has better expressions, like “Tweet”, “Twittle”, etc. Pownce is kinda lame in that sense. This matters in my opinion because it all becomes part of our vocabulary, our langauge. Twitter also has that cute little bird.

I jotted down some things about Pownce:

• Really easy find friend/ add friend feature.
• Comment system that is easier to follow than Twitter.
• To improve your Pownce you can Upgrade for $20 per year .
• You can add your Profiles on other Social Networks, Screen Names, and Websites on your main page.
• You can Forward other people’s posts to other friends.
• Displays Youtube videos on posts. (I wish I could call these Tweets but it doesn’t work!)
• There are advertisements/ sponsors every 5o posts or so with discount Pownce codes. (Eliminate this with Upgrade)
• You can post a file up to 10MB (upgrade = 100MB)

Obviously, I get the idea but it’s not as good as Twitter in my opinion.

10 Websites that Lived in my Tabs during 2007

2007 was a huge year for Web 2.0 and my Firefox browser! Becoming almost unbearable, there are multiple sites that must be updated and checked on an hourly basis. Thank goodness for RSS readers. With the uproar of Social News, Social Media, and the overwhelming number of blogs to read, I thought it was about time to pay homage to the sites that have been living in my Firefox tabs.

1. Facebook- As I discussed in my latest SEO Chicks post…this was the year of Facebook.                                                                                                                            
2. Stumble Upon- This great tool can generate huge traffic spikes or keep you entertained for hours. Don’t forget to “Stumble” all my posts. There is also a topnotch Facebook application for Stumble Upon users.
3. Digg*- Such controversy that I can’t help but to partake. Digg is often fun but also really annoying. I keep it open in my browser because I have a lot of friends articles to digg. “Gotta Digg”                                    
4. Twitter- I’m really on the fence about Twitter. I get it and its fun and a great attention getter for 5 minutes… I’m not sure if I could ever get used to doing it. I tried doing it from my Blackberry, from IM, from the website, and I just don’t think it’s for me. However, I keep it open to read about my friends who love twittering.
5. Sphinn-Quite honestly one of the most addicting Social News Sites to pop up. It’s like an instant update of the industry. If I missed something while reading my daily feed, I get caught up on Sphinn. And of course its great to be able to give friends and mentors the props that they deserve. It’s like a huge community that is feeding each other!                                                                                                                                  
6. Mixx- Even though this site is still very new, and I don’t see the word “beta” dissapearing anytime soon, it’s fun! It has fresh appeal to me and in my opinion is a lot easier to use than Digg, so it lives in my tabs!
7. Mashable*- A social news blog that updates so frequently, I am forced to read and re-read daily. Because I tend to get fustrated when I see the number (319) in my feed headline, I usually revisit Mashable during the day outside the reader!                                                                                                              
8. Engadget- The insanely popular gadget blog that in my opinion is as important to read as any blog. I’m a gadget fiend, and I love reading about new technology… I just wish I could afford half of the things reviewed on this blog.                                                                                                                                                     
9. SEO Book- The guy who wrote the book, Aaron Wall, has such useful website and blog! I research keywords using his tools all the time as well as use his SEO plug-in for Firefox. I keep his latest research tool open all day long.                                                                                                                                
10. Gmail/Chat- OK, this is a given…but it lives in my tabs and on my Blackberry! I am a big fan of G-mail and G-Chat. A few weeks ago AIM integrated with G-Chat and now this is the most important tab on my browser. Last week, I had an issue with my Gmail account and I couldn’t sign in…. I felt like a part of me was missing.

* These sites are most often read using my Bloglines reader.