Tag Archives: Facebook

Hanging with Yahoo Motherboard and Yahoo Shine

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Years ago when I realized I could not use my work email for personal use – I set up a Yahoo email address. I still use Yahoo Mail and view my RSS feeds via myYahoo page.  So when Yahoo created a Mother Board program for outreach to mom bloggers, and I excited to participate.

The first Mother Board Summit was mid-July, I was excited to see the fellow Motherboard members, meet the engaging Yahoo team and connect with a brand that I am already a power user of – to learn more about their applications and properties.

As I de-brief from my trip to BlogHer10 in NYC August 6-7, I can’t help but think of the fun I also had connecting with my fellow Motherboard members at conference and spending time at the Yahoo Shine booth.

The theme of the Yahoo Shine booth at BlogHer was “re-invention” – with videos discussing how women re-invented themselves displayed on screens as well as live video interviews being filmed at the booth to share more re-invention stories. I decided to share my own re-invention story with a video interview. Lucky for me, they had a makeup section and artist to help touch up my makeup before I went on. I had been in a hurry that morning at BlogHer10 and did not put my contacts in – so I needed some makeup “re-invention”!.

After I recieved the make-up “intervention” I was ready to discuss my career intervention. Jumping off the “Partner” career track as a Senior Manager at Deloitte to have my twins (I already had an older son) was a hard choice. I always felt that becoming a mom was the right choice – I just could not find the right work/life balance after I went back to work with my first child. I began blogging as a career 2.0 and online social networking to build a new professional network, which I could do on a flexible schedule (and the second shift – which is after the kids go to sleep). Then I did lots of hard work to build an new online brand (TechMama) – all of which helped me re-invent myself professionally.  Here is my Yahoo Shine reinvention video:

Back to the Yahoo Motherboard Summit details:

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CNET Report: Teen gets 15 years for Facebook BlackMail

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**I took out the second part of this post – which I explain in a new post “A Disturbing New Term: CyberBlackmail“. Click HERE to read that post.***

Today I read in Techmeme then on the CNET site a report: “Teen gets 15 years for Facebook blackmail“.  Here are some details from that CNET post:

“Anthony Stancl, 19, plead no contest in December to two felonies, including repeated sexual assault of a child, according to the report. Stancle had been accused of creating a Facebook profile belonging to a nonexistent teenage girl and then, between approximately the spring 2007 and fall 2008, using it to convince more than 30 of his male classmates to send in nude photos or videos of themselves.”

This situation is a solemn reminder that kids not only need education on appropriate use of social networks, but also on personal privacy including not sharing personal pictures of themselves online for any reason.

 

Shopping Tech? Here Are Some Black Friday & Cyber Monday Tips

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I shared many times over Twitter that although I am a “TechMama” my laptop needs replacing. I am a heavy computer user and my computer is over 2 years old. So this weekend I will be looking online for Black Friday Sales 2009 and Black Friday ads like many others. One of mom friend’s computer died but she is waiting for this weekend to buy a new one. Other moms I know are looking for technology as holiday gifts for their families. Holiday time is the best time to buy technology as the new “gift” (my slogan). So for those getting their sneakers on to shop for Black Friday Sales ads, here is where to go for online Black Friday Sales 2009 and some things to think about before you go. Some sites even offer printable coupons to bring along to the store. I will be posting throughout the weekend with hot technology and toy gift ideas.

NOTE: Gizmodo posted with a good point – there are some items that can be found online at the same or better prices then BlackFriday prices, so best to do some comparison shopping online. At the same time, many manufacturers are having big sales this time of year, so finding deals will not be a problem. PC World posted that Black Friday doorbusters are for suckers.

Where to go: This Wall Street Journal article confirmed my list of what sites list Black Friday Sales 2009: “Where to Find Black Friday Deals“. I have already been following Black Friday Ads, BlackFriday.info and the BlackFriday Twitter account. Mashable posted about how social media is used to find Black Friday deals (including Facebook). The New York Times byte blog posted with more online Black Friday 2009 sites to follow such as CheapTweets on Twitter. I did go into an Apple store to ask about around Thanksgiving and they said there will be a sale. By going on the Apple website I saw that the Apple sale day is November 26.  I also follow many computer manufacturers on Twitter and have seen lots of deals through Twitter: SonyElectronics, HP News, HP_IPG , Dell, Dell Outlet, Toshiba Laptops. The big retailers like Staples, Radio Shack, Best Buy and online retailers like Amazon Twitter Deals and NewEgg also share deals.  I also go to their websites and signup for newsletter updates which sends deals to my email inbox.

What to consider: My recommendation is to sleep in and shop online. The New York Times reported that retailers will extend Black Friday. Other articles said that the high end items are not the main items on sale. So my suggestion is to decide on your needs and what alternatives fit with those needs.

How to choose the right technology gifts: I have been looking at all sorts of technology and I can honestly say that in many situations there are more then one “perfect” fit. The first step is to identify what your needs are then start to look for overall technology solutions. Then review online buying guides to understand what features you should be looking for. My favorite online buying guides are on CNET, Laptop Magazine buying guides, DPreview and reviews on gadget blogs like Ubergizmo, Engadget, Gizmodo, TechieDiva, Gear Diary, Boy Genius Report, Gear Live and of course TechMamas. My favorite shopping site is Cool Mom Picks. Bing.com also has links to guides such as “Laptop buying guides“.

NEED A NEW HOME COMPUTER? Do you need another computer for your kids to do their homework? Then consider desktops if the computer does not need to be mobile or laptops for mobile use. I was just quoted recently in an article by Laptop Magazine on Netbooks for Kids. Netbooks are a great alternative for mobile use – but I suggest having a docking station with a bigger screen for home use. Older kids may be responsible enough to have their own laptop, especially if their homework requires computer use. Tablet PC’s may also be the right fit because of their flexible screens. Desktops are the most budget friendly and will have bigger screens that not only are easy on the eyes for homework, but if the Deskop has the right features can be used to watch videos, movies or even TV shows. There are also lots of accessories that compliment home computer users such as backup drives, media smart servers, home wireless servers, wireless keyboards & mouses, webcams and more. There are many printer options these days including the HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web.

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It Was a TwitPic July 4th: Moms Using Social Media

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Many of my mom friends comment how overwhelming social media is and I suggest taking things slow until you find your social media "mojo". For moms, I suggest a great place to start is Facebook for social and LinkedIn if you want to make business contacts. Start off setting privacy levels as high as possible, then open things as you see fit. 

Guy Kawasaki (a.k.a How to Change the World blog and Alltop) wrote a good post about using LinkedIn. Some good links to find information about using Facebook is on the Facebook website, Mahalo – How to use Facebook article and Mashable's article on privacy settings.

Next I suggest Twitter for those that want to have a "public" online community to share information with. David Pogue just wrote a book about Twitter and Mashable has a post about using Twitter on the go. Twitter can be compared to texting – but onto a "public" website where your "followers" can read and respond to what you are doing at that moment (only 140 characters allowed). You can either open your updates to the public or restrict to only those you approve. Some start out with protected updates but then switch to public to be more open. I always tell my friends that ask my advice about social media privacy – to NOT put any private information online, especially on Twitter. Twitter should only be a place to share information about yourself that is public.

I enjoy sharing what I am doing, reading, posting, struggling with and most of all reading my followers Twitters and replying to them. I will be posting more about Twitter, but for now I want to share my latest social media test: using TwitPic.  Twitpic is a way to share pictures on Twitter (many celebrities use it) by taking a picture with your smartphone and sending it to the TwitPic application – which then posts it on Twitter. I don't like posting pictures of my kids in public forums, so I will probably use it to post pictures with my blogging friends (who are already public) and pictures of events.

Here is my first real TwitPic – I took a picture with my BlackBerry and sent it to Twitpic. It was a picture taken at our family and friends trip to the beach on July 4th. I took the picture of my foot (with my strawberry colored toes) and one of my 6 year old twins (with sandy covered toes). He is constantly growing, just looking at the picture makes me realize his foot is growing as well!

Twitpic1

My test picture was of a grenade water ballon – but I had to take that quick and get out of the way!

 

Liveblogging Pillow Fight With My3Boys – Part One

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IMG_2318
As I was frantically trying to sneak some blog posts in before bathtime tonight – about the tech conference I just came back from – I heard the dreaded words "P I L L O W  F I G H T"  coming from the other room where my 3 boys were playing. My husband is at a business meeting tonight, so there was no one else to "break it up". So what does a modern TechMama do in response to an impending pillow fight?

LIVE-TWITTER IT!

I decided to cover the pillow fighting activities live over Twitter. And in the theme of David Pogue's comment about the benefits of crowdsourcing, I decided to ask my Twitter followers to vote 1) keep blogging or 2) break up a massive pillow
fight between my 3 boys.

So here is my – first ever – one and only LIVE TWITTER FEED from a PILLOW FIGHT. Displayed on the top left is a picture of what the scene looked like after I finished the Twitter feed, evidence that the pillow fight did happen…

First to set the stage, here are my Twitters from tonight:

  1. Am finally
    breaking up pillow fight between my3boys… Sorry folks, tune in for
    more live blogging pillow fights tomorrow night..
  2. Appreciate all of the votes, but keep on blogging wins. @sweatpantsmom seemed to sum it up ""Live blog the pillow fight. Duhr."
  3. @xiaolinmama @danaknisely Two more votes to keep blogging and let the pillow fight go (no "thuds" so far).
  4. @JenniferPerillo agree that it is just a pillow fight, but @douglaskarr brought up a good point that "thuds" and "crying" usually follows
  5. @CandiceStone @ToThink I think I will take both of yours advice: Let my boys wear themselves out THEN join in the pillow fight.
  6. Wondering
    if I should either 1) keep blogging or 2) break up a massive pillow
    fight between my 3 boys? Maybe I should get a community vote.

Then – here are the responses from my wonderful Twitter followers (whom I appreciate very much):

  1. green_colleen@techmama ah no fair! (in response to end of liveblogging)
  2. NathanRichie@techmama pillowfight: Ustream it…UFC-Ultimate Pillow Fight
  3. JenniferPerillo@techmama very true. My girls are only 5yrs and 9mos, so we haven't gotten there yet.
  4. (protected updates)  @techmama I'm just gonna go against the grain and say break it up. But don't ask me what to do after that.
  5. CandiceStone@techmama Yeah … good idea. Wait 'til they're running out of steam first.
  6. green_colleen@techmama just keep right on blogging. If they are hitting each other with hard objects then intervene.
  7. canape@techmama No "thuds," no "bloods." It's all good.
  8. danaknisely@techmama keep blogging! lol
  9. xiaolinmama@techmama keep blogging :) I am sure they won't draw blood!
  10. douglaskarr@techmama let the pillow fight go… until you hear the thud and the usual crying that will follow.
  11. JenniferPerillo@techmama blog, definitely—it's just pillows.
  12. ToThink@techmama the pillow fight will wear them out for bedtime, no?:-)
  13. CandiceStone@techmama or 3) Joing in the massive pillow fight!

Oh Wait – I can't forget the "Facebook" responses I got because my Twitter updates are feed to Facebook as updates (since Facebook is friends only, I did not put their names):

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Stanford & Common Sense Media on Safe Social Networking

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I am thrilled to see organizations like Common Sense Media and  Dr BJ Fogg of the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab provide valuable information on safe social networking for teens including IMPORTANT information on privacy controls. So here are the links, parents take a look and learn:

I hope to go to the Facebook class for Parents at Stanford and will print out the Common Sense Family Media agreements for my kids.  It is important for all parents to be proactive and help themselves and their families learn about/implement proper online safety.

 

ReadWriteWeb: How to Use Social Media for Social Change

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I found this post from ReadWriteWeb that discusses how social media can be used for social change, including Jeremiah Owyang’s post about how to support the China Earthquate relief organizations and Facebook Causes (among others). That post highlights some great examples of how the forces of social media can be used for charity as well as networking with friends.

UPDATE: Here are a few other posts demonstrating how blogging can be used to as resources for the community:

Earthquake preparedness at the Silicon Valley Moms Blog (Sarah Granger) Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst and Emergency Preparedness Kit – What’s In Yours?

Breast Cancer support like the topics covered by Why Mommy of Toddler Planet

Do you have any other links to share?

 

Facebook In Reality: The Video – With Added Mom Thoughts

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My friends all know that I am a Facebook evangelist, but some of my tech savviest friends still don’t get why. I tell them that I can keep track of what my personal and business friends are doing, get invited to events and keep my network up to date on my blog posts and favorite links…. How joining Facebook groups has helped me do some amazing business networking at night while the kids are asleep….How Facebook has helped me deepen the connection between my blogging network by adding them as friends… Or how about one of my mom friends who credits Facebook with giving her the ability to keep up to date with her friends around the world?  Or another Facebook savvy friend who uses it to help build her business network.

I am working on getting as many mom friends on Facebook to see it for themselves. Many think I am some crazy techie when I tell them I want to create a Facebook group for the moms from my kids schools’ to socialize, which will be easier then trying to run after them in my sweats during the craziness of school dropoff, pickup or class parties.

I mean, come on – do moms really have the chance to meet other moms from their kids’ schools unless they happen to have a playdate or carpool to sports events? Isn’t that process inefficient?

Maybe developing some Facebook manners will help my mom friends jump on the bandwagon….I already tell those bothered by all the applications not to add applications they won’t use. I warn my friends in advance that I am thrilled to read their updates, links and feeds but please don’t send me something that I tell my kids are bad manners in real life (i.e. POKING). I also say just ignore the sophomoric humor that exists on all social networks..

Talk about sophomoric humor, a UK comedy troup idiotofants.com did a great job of explaining how NOT to use Facebook (warning – as they would say in the UK – don’t get your knickers in a twist that some of the following humor has some raunchy bits):

All I can say is that parodies of social networking applications that get millions of YouTube hits means that it is already part of the modern lexicon – and here to stay.  

 

Controlling Social Media Noise Levels

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One of the biggest complaints I hear from parents using social media (for themselves) is the "noise". Noise comes from some social media applications not interacting with each other or getting more functionality then you need.  I just posted about Facebook Connect and Yahoo Open to connect between social media sites, which is a step in the right direction. I don’t hear that complaint from the tweens/teens who seem to thrive on social media noise. When parents join one social platform to make business or social connections, they also are exposed to other applications of no interest (i.e. stop poking me…). ReadWriteWeb just posted this morning that filtering will be the next step for social media:

"How does this affect noise levels? If you’re using a service to promote
content, you may be considered noisy to those that are looking for
conversations. If you’re using a platform to keep in touch, then those
looking for content and in depth conversation surrounding particular
content would need a way to block out idle chatter."

I was just talking to one social media savvy mom who explained that even using Twitter is confusing – some moms use Twitter just to converse while some use it to share links or publicize posts. Both are valid uses of Twitter but the social tweets may not like the publicity tweets (and visa versa). I use Facebook and Twitter for both reasons, especially now that I installed Tiny Twitter and Facebook Mobile to my BlackBerry Curve. I also happy when my friends share their thoughts or links with me.

But I do feel overwhelmed with trying to decide how to use the different social media platforms in a way that controls the noise. I try to only "friend" people I know or that have associations with me and stay away from adding applications that have the word "poke", lead to dizzy graphics appearing on my profile or are not useful to me even if my friends are using them. Any other ideas?

Related: ReadWriteWeb – Six Ways To Filter Your RSS Feeds