Sunday, March 25, 2012

The Secret to the Next Big Thing in Social Networking




I don't go on Google+ much partly because I don't really understand it. I find myself going round in circles; literally and what's with all the subgroups and circles within circles? It reminds me of a when I was forced to draw Venn diagrams in maths. I could never see the point but whoever has come up with the site Fuck Yeah Venn Diagrams on Tumblr seems to be rather keen on them.

This site has got me thinking. Not just about Venn diagrams of the most exotic and sexy kind but about Tumblr generally. I'm not really sure what it is but should I join? I'm a sucker for joining clubs I know little about. The scouts took me unawares;  it was years before I could to escape from their sinister clutches. And what about that time on a press trip in DC when I was almost persuaded to join the Hare Krishna because the girl who collared me was pretty and I rather fancied the idea of hanging out in some commune in India for a couple of years. In the end their bad taste in clothes put me off. Their singing was pretty bad too.

I suppose Hare Krishna was a prototype kind of social network but when you use the contemporary social networks you don't get to stare at people's hairy feet much. Unless you are friends with hobbits who like to post footy pics.

Still I have social networking angst. I work for people who want me to get their message out on the latest social network but I'm not sure what it is. Facebook has been with us so long it's like an ingrowing toenail. We check on it a lot but there is little pleasure particularly as it's populated by dozens of people from old jobs who we don't like anymore who are always posting mindless nonsense about Tim Tebow and other football players.

Twitter has grown on me because it's quick and doesn't involve such a lot of interaction. You quickly tweet something, often automatically, and get out of there. It's like putting your head into a room of stuffy old executives, telling them they suck and getting off the premises with no adverse consequences.

So the time is right to stumble on (I think this is the name of a social network too) the next big thing in social networking. My good friend and last link with the world of young people, Jennifer, tells me Pinterest is for girls to post girl things.

Actually blog friends are a good social network and one I don't use enough. But I try to take a few minutes on a Sunday to skim read blogs and to concur that 45 isn't old Robyn, although when I was a kid I assumed I would die a geriatric at 30.

Blog followers are great because they provide a window into other people's lives. I would really not have known Megan dressed as a pirate at school had I not checked out A Daft Scots Lass. Had I not read Pearl Why You Little I would be blissfully unaware of the practice of "butt dialing."

But this really strikes a cord because I do butt dial sometimes and unfortunately it's usually to a very bad tempered, former council member called Barry whose last scheduled conversation about three years ago contained the expression: "I'm going to sue you."

Reading Daisy's blog makes me feel unvirtuous and aware that I should do some community work, in the five seconds I have during the day when I am not searching for the next big social network.

Jayne's Suburban Soliloquy never fails to blow me away on a Friday night. "Places saturated in deep alluvial and poseidon hues, where prismatic skies swirl and lime-coated mountains plummet madly into ravines."

I have never heard of Newark, NJ described in such terms before.

Tim Riley takes me back to the world of education - The whole intrinsic vs. extrinsic thing. Emm in London  makes me think of those blue remembered hills. Happy Frog makes me think of lots of random things, but mainly Champagne and drinking. And St. Bloggie de Riviera, those exotic times in Monaco, which was so expensive the only place we could eat was outside McDonald's where the local seagulls decided to show their disdainful attitude at our cheapness by unloading on us from a great height.

Seriously there are so many good writers out there, like Rek from a Chronicle of Dreams, and Li from Flash Fiction, and I often take them for granted and fail to read them because they are parked there on the blog roll.

There are probably a lot of us out there parked on a great virtual blog roll, waiting for our next big chance or a parking ticket, dreaming idly of our names being written large in fuzzy fluorescent letters on a virtual cloud up and the very top of the blogisphere. It's probably a bit like standing on the sidewalk on a rainy November night in Newark, NJ, waiting for a big yellow taxi to take us somewhere else, although we don't know where.

In the end, as Deborah from Fashion Plate points out it's all about words. But words are contradictory little constructs that can have many meanings and I don't know for the life of me why we send so many of them spinning out there like big old irresponsible slabs of space rock that may hit or miss their targets.

Given my increasingly disjointed life that contains a myriad of different demands, I have no idea why I signed up to the A-Z challenge again - maybe a lonely impulse of delight drove to this tumult in the cyber clouds. But at least I know I have the support of Sue from Traverselife and L from Nubian, when she's not taking pictures of elephants' arses in South Africa.

So when you have such fantastic people, as well as many others I have failed to mention, in your blogisphere why do you need to find the next new thing in social networking?

The same could be said about the South Pole. Was there a reason why men had to perish to find a few feet of snow that looked the same as any other two feet of snow? Only Captain Scott has the answer and 100 years ago today he was dragging his feet back from the pole, only to perish a few days away from safety.

I'm going away from the computer now. I may be gone some time.












19 comments:

  1. Take your time away and have fun! Enjoy that sunshine.

    I'm doing the April A to Z blog challenge and it's all because of you, man.

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  2. ha - it's pouring with rain. Really?

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  3. Thank you for the nice mention - what a surprise! I'm glad I'm no the only one confused by Google+. I just joined and haven't yet found a use for it. Most of the sites I belong to serve just one purpose. FB is for keeping in touch with the son who doesn't call his Mum. Twitter gives me people to talk to at 5:00AM (EST) because the Brits are awake; Goodreads is a nice source for book info, Stumble is a fun time killer. The majority of my time is spent in the blogoverse, and I've gotten as much, if not more, than I've put into it. :-)

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  4. I left google+ for the same reasons. Not sure about all the circles.

    Regular life is so precious to me right now.

    Yeah, it all gets old, the online thing. And we all need a break from it all at times. It will still all be there when you get back. It's spring break here in Florida, and the feel good energies are flowing my way to have some time out.

    Enjoy life David, for its fleeting!

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  5. Oh heavens, no need to feel unvirtuous around me. I'm in that class I've been writing about on my blog mostly because the director at the library expected me to take it and is footing the bill for it. I am learning a lot, but that doesn't make me virtuous. :D Thanks for the link, though.

    As for social networks, I don't understand Google plus either. Facebook can be good at times and not so good other times. I used to be on stumble upon, but that was years ago (literally!). Twitter annoys me to no end, and although I have heard of Tumblr, I've not been there and don't know what it is all about either. I've recently joined Pinterest just out of curiosity, but I don't plan on spending any time there now that I've seen it. I have no extra time to spend there even if I wanted to!

    Good luck with the A-Z challenge. You're a brave man to attempt it. See, now I'm the one thinking you are virtuous. :-)

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  6. I need to remember not to read your blog when I'm drinking my evening tea. (Seriously). Me laughing with hot liquid in my mouth is not glamorous or cute. It is painful. lol

    I have decided that Google + is not fun for the masses, but only fun for tech nerds. I have a friend, Andrew, who is a computer engineer. He LOVES Google + because it has weird features, that normal people do not use, such as this circle feature that allows you to talk to other people through the webcam and somehow see their computer screen at the same time. So, it's like creepily being in the same room as them, seeing what they're peering at on their computer, whether its porn or their e-mail. I have no idea how to use this feature, but computer geeks do. :S

    I feel bad that I told you to stay away from Pinterest. Am I a brat? I suppose you could join. But it's mostly fashion and recipes and cute animals and girly quotes. I just can't picture you there...

    And as for tumblr...it's just photos, as far as I'm concerned. I don't see any other point.

    If you come across any other social network site where I can stalk you, please let me know. :)

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  7. You know, I am really good at maths. Really good but I never got Venn diagrams either and I also never got three-dimensional vectors which lead to me crashing out of maths at university. Bygones.

    I got a Tumblr recently to act as a home for all my Instagram photos. The username is mandiloop. I like Facebook but keep it for close friends and family but I really don't like Pinterest.

    I love your little shout out to all the blogs (thanks for shouting out to me!) I guess I have a lot of visiting to do.

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  8. David, this diagram might help you decide which social network to use:
    https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=322770997736932&set=a.156106337736733.33706.150221854991848&type=1&theater

    Thanks for the mention. :)

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  9. I agree David, there's enough going on in the blogosphere. It's all the social media I need, although I do like twitter for the quick hits.

    Thanks for the mention-right back at ya.

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  10. Ha! Yes, poor Admiral Bird on the Barrier--couldn't find his way back to the ice hole he'd dug. When he did, he nearly killed himself from CO2 poisoning at the hand of his own jiffy stove. Eventually, he had to be rescued. I think there's a parallel, or metaphor?, there that can be drawn directly to social networking. Heh.

    I get sucked in, too. It's hard to resist. A new toy! It's always fun to find you out there, though, David, in cyberspace's hinterlands. But I, too agree, getting to know others through blogging is much more rewarding. ;)

    Sneaky, sneaky post, David. And fun! More links to check out--thanks!

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  11. G+ is kind of G-facebook, as far as i'm concerned, but i don't go on G+ much -for the same reasons. i joined pinterest though. oh well, there's enough going on in the blog world...so much to do so little tiem.

    and david, thank you so much for your get well wishes. just wanted you to know how much i appreciate them.

    enjoy your day!

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  12. Google+ is kind of confusing, it just being to repost to an audience who didn't pay attention the first time, Pinterest and tumblr pictures can be addicting as is deviantART. Goodreads is to show off the books I have read, FB for jokes and missed u messages, twitter for some ego boosting. Blogging keeps me grounded with the talent and support around.
    There are people in my blogroll I bypass every now and then. I 'll spent all my waking hours at blogger then. Am I a good writer? Thank you, thank you for the rise in dipping morale.
    I dropped out of the A-Z trail, health is wealth, then comes alphabets right?
    Take care.
    I read the excerpt of your novel... a bit noir, like those French and Italian movies of old. You have a way with words, keep writing.

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  13. I have a google plus account but don't really understand it either. I guess I'm stuck with the old fb dinosaur.

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  14. Interesting to know re stumble Li - mind you I would not allow my mother on Facebook, lol. Fortunately she's a technophobe. Thanks Jaqueline, am trying my best to

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  15. I know Daisy - am beginning to regret that now. Sorry re the tea Jennifer. No worries - I don't feel my life is incomplete due to not having Pinterest, when I find that network I'll let you know so as you can stalk. I don't shout enought Emm - I mean Venn diagrams - WTF?

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  16. Thanx Sarah - will check out the link. For sure Jayne - yes always good to find you on obscure networks. On any time Betty, hope she's OK - I know - so little time

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  17. thanks so much Rek but it feels kind of like a rough outline, the novel that is - yes you ARE a good writer. I know Alyson - it does feel like an old gramophone record tho

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  18. Thanks Tim - sorry almost missed you then

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On Blog PTSD

Now then. What the heck. It seems I had forgotten about my blog completely rather than just neglecting it this time. To return after so long...