Tag-Archive for » Twitter «

13
Jan
Don’t Shoot Me
Barbara Swafford

no photo badge Dont Shoot MeA lot of bloggers consider themselves to be private people. In fact, for various reasons, many don’t even publish a photo of themselves online let alone their real name.

However, with blogs and social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter, our privacy could easily be invaded.

Today’s Lesson

It seems like everyone has access to a digital camera and with the ease of their use, snapshots and videos are being taken at an alarming rate.

We see them on Twitpics, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and on blogs; often with a description of who is in the photo.

These days it appears anyone is fair game for having their picture published online.

But, what happens if someone shares photos or videos of us without our permission? Is that an invasion of our privacy?

Although there are laws which are suppose to protect that which is published, it makes me wonder, due to the internet and all of the social networking sites, are we losing what we once held so sacred?

I’m thinking “maybe so”.

What say you?

Today’s Assignment

How would you feel if someone posted photos or videos of you online without your permission?

Would you feel your privacy was invaded?

Would you ask them to remove them?

Or is this even a concern for you?

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Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, Social Networking  Tags: , , , , , , , ,  52 Comments
06
Jan
Mind Your Own Business, Or Not?
Barbara Swafford
LONDON - FEBRUARY 03: (FILE PHOTO) In this ph...

In recent weeks, news of the (2009) “Christmas Day Bomber” has been in the forefront.

In fact, it’s come to light the alleged suspect had been sending out warning signs for years by posting his feelings online.

In a report by Rueters

Abdulmutallab’s Internet postings on Facebook and Islamist chatrooms while he was at school in Togo and at university show a lonely youth struggling between extreme Islamic views and liberalism, according to the Washington Post.

Unfortunately it wasn’t until AFTER the incident on Flight 253 his writings were analyzed.

But, this isn’t uncommon.

Remember the shooting at Ft. Hood? The alleged suspect in that case had also allegedly published writings online.

Undoubtedly there have been many other cases of published warnings others ignored only to have some say, “If only….”

With blogs, chatrooms, forums, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace plus other social networking sites being so easy to access and publish on, many individuals who have “issues” are sharing warning signs. However, those warning signs are being missed.

Today’s Lesson

As bloggers we’re all over the internet. We have cyber friends all over the world, we follow links from comments and read dozens of articles as we’re researching. In fact, we never know what we may find or where our next click will take us.

But what happens if we land on a site that gives us a reason to question what’s written?

Should we quickly click off? Or, dig deeper?

If we feel the author of the words needs help or might harm someone, what responsibility do we have?

Or, do we have a responsibility?

Many of us will choose to mind our own business and not get involved, but by doing so, are we allowing others to harm themselves? Or, to hurt others?

Thus far I haven’t landed on a site where I questioned what was written, but I know it could happen.

What to do?

Today’s Assignment

If we land on a site or see a conversation in a chat room or on a forum that’s upsetting or suspicious, should we report it?

Or, is it best to turn a blind eye and just mosey on?

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Mind Your Own Business, Or Not?
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11
Dec
Sexy Bookmarks, Toolbars & Time Savers
Barbara Swafford

61006514 eff5ecbcd5 Sexy Bookmarks, Toolbars & Time SaversSince I call this “your blogging classroom on the web”, I decided it was time we talk about homework; or that behind the scenes stuff we often put off.

Today’s Lesson

As many of you have noticed, I decorated my blog for the holidays.

Since I use a theme which has the “custom header feature”, adding the photo was simple. For the RSS widgets I searched for “holiday icons” and then recoded my widgets.

Listed below are a few new (to me) plugins I am testing.

  1. First is Sexy Bookmarks by Josh Jones and Norman Yung which is visible at the bottom of each post.

    The Sexy Bookmarks plugin is easily customizable, looks good, doesn’t take up too much space and is positioned so readers will be reminded to Tweet, Digg, or use StumbleUpon, etc. to share a post.

  2. The “Follow Me” plugin by WP Burn.com can be seen on the right of the page.

    This plugin is to remind our readers they can follow us on Twitter. The customization includes using different colors as well as different Twitter birds images.

  3. The Wibiya toolbar can be seen at the bottom of the page.

    What I like about this toolbar is if you don’t want to clutter up your sidebars with an RSS feed, recent posts, etc., you can include them in the toolbar.This isn’t a plugin, but more of an add-on which requires an invitation. Just go to the Wibiya site and follow the instructions. In a matter of days you should receive an email from them and at that time you can set up an account and customize your toolbar.

  4. Thanks to the suggestions from both Internet Strategist @ GrowMap and Betsy at Passing Thru I added Zemanta and Apture.

    In a nutshell, these two applications which work for all blogging platforms* make blogging easier and faster by suggesting photos, links, related articles, etc. for our posts. (Disclaimer: I’ve only tested them on WordPress.)

    Zemanta adds a interface to your dashboard from which you can drag and drop photos and/or links into your post as you’re writing it.

    Image representing Zemanta as depicted in Crun...
    Image via CrunchBase

    Apture adds icons which when clicked on, does the same.

    Zemanta also adds a “reblog” feature at the bottom of the post which makes cutting and pasting quotes much easier, plus and an option to add links to other posts which may be beneficial to our readers.

Thus far, the only downside I see to using some of the above applications is they do slow down the page load time.

Today’s Assignment

What are your favorite plugins or applications?

Care to share?

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Footnote: When using Zemanta on a self hosted blog, the Zemanta plugin must be used. For WordPress, the plugin can be downloaded here.

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Category: Archives, Blog Maintenance, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, Linking, Plugins and Widgets, Save Time  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  59 Comments
24
Nov
Twitter – Do You REALLY Care What I’m Doing
Barbara Swafford

2159020334 b54bbb0025 300x211 Twitter Do You REALLY Care What Im Doing

A lot of good things have been written about Twitter. It helps to get your blog found, aids in social networking, expands your branding power, etc.

It’s also written that Twitter is another time consuming social networking tool.

Today’s Lesson

I haven’t joined Twitter yet. In fact, I’m rather hesitant about joining.

Here’s my thoughts. I join Twitter and start following a few bloggers and they follow me. Soon, my Twitter community starts to expand. My followers are going to be tweeting me (forgive me if I get the language wrong), maybe asking questions, etc.

If I didn’t answer a person’s question in a timely fashion, would they stop following me?

Would a lack of participation on Twitter affect my reputation in blogosphere?

Although my online presence might increase, would the time spent on Twitter be better spent on my blog, or visiting other blogs?

What if I were to get addicted to Twitter?

What do you think?

Today’s Assignment

If you’re on Twitter, what are its advantages and disadvantages?

When you sign onto to Twitter, it asks “What are you doing?” Do you really care what other bloggers are doing? Or is Twitter another numbers game?

Do you find you’re becoming addicted to Twitter?

If you haven’t joined Twitter yet, what’s stopping you?

I’m looking forward to your answers on this one. They’ll determine whether I join Twitter, or not.

6d61b32587b54553fb32d6e3f55d87d6 Twitter Do You REALLY Care What Im Doing

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Photo Credit: Geek&Poke’s photostream

Category: Archives, Blogging Lessons, Branding, Networking  Tags: , , , , ,  57 Comments
12
Sep
Mini Meme – Open Mic – Free Ebook
Barbara Swafford

states ive lived 300x151 Mini Meme Open Mic Free Ebook

Today I have something for everyone.

First, to recap the week,

1) On Monday we talked about our online presence. That is, how do others “see” us. As witnessed in the comment section, our words hold more power than even a picture could.

2) Sunil, and his blog “Blogger’s Lab” was introduced on Tuesday.

3) On Wednesday I shared a sampling of favorite posts which are currently buried in the archives of some of the BWAB bloggers.

4) Yesterday we banned together to help Chase March who is struggling to build his blog. The ideas and suggestions shared in the comment section prove to be great ways for anyone to build their readership.

Joanna Young of Confident Writing showcased a free ebook written by Chris Brogan. It’s titled: “Personal Branding for the Business Professional”. Having read it (it’s 15 pages), I found it’s not only helpful to business people, but for bloggers as well. It’s a great read and would certainly add value to your library of blogging books.

Now for the Monthly Mini Meme (MMM). Remember this one? I share one random thing about myself and you’re invited to do the same. It’s my way of sharing a little more about me, and us learning more about you, too.

My random fact is: I’ve lived in six states. Of those, I lived in two, twice. They are: Michigan, Illinois, California (x2), Alaska (x2), Washington, and Oregon.

Today’s Assignment

1) Share a random fact about yourself

and/or

2) Share your answer to my question:

Do you use Twitter? If so, what are the pros and cons?

The floor is yours. You know the rules.

Questions, comments and concerns are welcome.

Have Fun!

Keep it Clean!

And don’t forget to either check the “subscribe to comments on this post” box, or subscribe to my comments RSS feed (upper right sidebar), so you can follow along.

Photo Credit: Visited State Map (interactive)
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Category: Archives, Monthly Mini Meme, Open Mic  Tags: , , ,  49 Comments