Yesterday I was checking into the Express-News comment boards on some of the articles I commented on recently. I’ve been noticing a funny thing about them. No thumbs up or down, the later being pretty common for me because some people in there just don’t like me and would thumbs down my comment if it were about ponies and puppies. But I was also noticing that some people were commenting about not being able to see my comment in a thread, complaining about blocked comments. Strange, because I could see the comments. That led me to see what was happening. Logging in anonymously I discovered the following text where my comment should have been – “This comment was left by a user who has been blocked by our staff.” AH HA! I’d been blocked. Looking deeper I found a number of people in the same predicament as me. So what’s up, E-N?
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Last night was a busy night on the technology front. After years of planning and public outreach the nation’s television airwaves went all digital. Hundreds of analog transmitters were turned off across the nation and thousands of TV sets went dark. As a result of this transition stations are able to save thousands of dollars in energy costs since the new transmitters use substantially less power. It also marks the beginning of a new model in mobile communication but more on that in a bit. Last night also was when Facebook allowed users to pick their own identity on the popular social media platform. I went with my social media ID of RBearSAT while others who were up at the magical moment got more recognizable names like their real name. Read more…
Beginning June 13th at 12:01 a.m. EDT Facebook users will be asked to pick a name to identify themselves in the Facebook world. Just like you have a name in the Twitter space (mine’s @RBearSAT) you’ll get to have a name in Facebook land that will identify you more personally. Yes, it’s the 2009 Facebook name rush, very similar to the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889. I can just see people around the world setting their alarm clocks for that crucial moment to make sure they get their special user name. Remember, there are over 200 million Facebook users in the world so how many chances do you have to get that perfect name? Will the Facebook platform slowly melt down around 12:01 a.m. EDT that day? Read more…
I’ve been adding more and more to my social media toolkits lately. I’m now on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and I’m blogging on three different blogs. I’ve also made Facebook my home page on both my laptop and my cell phone. I text and I e-mail. I’d say I’m pretty connected. These days I may be too connected as I’ve found that as others join these channels I’m starting to drop into information overload of a trivial nature. Now I have friends on Twitter and Facebook telling me if they are feeling good, bad, or just feeling. Note to them: Too much information! Read more…
Sunday Randall Stross wrote in the New York Times about the changing view of privacy in the age of Facebook. In the article Stross talks about how comfortable the younger generation is with sharing details about their life with others. “It’s the older members — those who could join only after it opened membership in 2006 to workplace networks, then to anyone — who are adjusting to a new value system that prizes self-expression over reticence,” writes Stross. As I’ve watched more and more of my over-40 friends joining Facebook I’m seeing a general shift in that attitude. The question becomes how far that shift in transparency will extend into society. Read more…
Yesterday in my review of blogs at work I ran across an item at Inside Facebook, the blog following the developments of the widely popular social networking site, regarding the recent change in Facebook’s terms of service. Facebook’s recent change in terms basically granted the site an “irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense)” to do just about anything they wanted with anything you posted or linked to in your Facebook account. The change set off a backlash in public commentary and news coverage. In true form of the new world, Facebook has since backed down. Read more…
Yesterday I was checking into the Express-News comment boards on some of the articles I commented on recently. I’ve been noticing a funny thing about them. No thumbs up or down, the later being pretty common for me because some people in there just don’t like me and would thumbs down my comment if it were about ponies and puppies. But I was also noticing that some people were commenting about not being able to see my comment in a thread, complaining about blocked comments. Strange, because I could see the comments. That led me to see what was happening. Logging in anonymously I discovered the following text where my comment should have been – “This comment was left by a user who has been blocked by our staff.” AH HA! I’d been blocked. Looking deeper I found a number of people in the same predicament as me. So what’s up, E-N?
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