Fill in the blank:
“In the next five to ten years, your ____________ will be as commonly used as your phone number.”
Here’s a few suggestions off the top of my head:
- AOL screen name
- MySpace ID
- Facebook URL
- Skype ID
- LinkedIn Profile
- Twitter ID
If you answered any of the above – or any other service like them – you’re wrong. The only thing that will be as ubiquitous in five to ten years as your phone number is your phone number.
Realism, FTW.
Every time a new social service pops up and gets moderately popular, we get a prediction about how mainstream it will get and how it will revolutionize modern communication. It hasn’t been true yet. As much as I love Twitter, and I do, the truth is that to the vast majority of humans, it’s nothing – they’ve never even heard of it. To the majority of people who have heard of it, it’s nothing more than a fad. To its active users, Twitter is anything from a nifty communication tool to the digital equivalent of the next coming of Christ. Considering we’re nearing seven billion people on this planet, having a user base of a few million isn’t very impressive in a as-common-as-a-phone-number kind of way.
The only thing that has given the telephone a run for its money in the modern age is email – a non-proprietary, open method of communication that is not under the control or regulation of any single company. It has many, many faults – not the least of which is that it’s a method of written communication.
My parents still prefer to talk to my daughter over the phone.
Realism, FTW.
The Federal Trade Commission wants to more tightly regulate what bloggers and website owners say on their sites about products and services. They even want to regulate how we link to other websites. Is this consumer protection or over-the-top government intervention where little is needed?
Look up in the title bar of your browser – see that? Apparently, I’m an affiliate marketer. Just in case you’re unfamiliar, an affiliate marketer simply links to products or services using a special link, and when someone buys that product or service, the affiliate marketer earns a commission. That’s the boil-it-down bottom line, although the billion-dollar industry surrounding this simple concept has evolved significantly over time by introducing variations of this basic premise.
Brian Clark of Copyblogger has written an excellent piece about the Federal Trade Commission’s new position regarding bloggers and how affiliates and other online marketers can roll with the new. While I agree with Brian’s thoughts regarding methods of disclosure, I have some conflicting thoughts and opinions regarding disclosure in general. Maybe you, dear reader, can help me sort through it.
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by Daniel on June 11, 2009
in My Life
It’s been just about three months since I last updated this site… technically. There were two posts that were made more recently, but after reorganizing and reconsidering the direction of my online activities, I removed them. I have also removed a few dozen older posts, from an era that I wish to put behind me.
Going forward, this is what I’m up to online:
- This site will focus on a bit of everything that interests me, with an emphasis on comics, being a stay-at-home Dad, movies, music… general life stuff.
- The Geek Dads @ Home podcast is alive and kicking, despite our missing a week here or there. We’re up to episode #19 now! The podcast is me, Scott Jangro and Joe Magennis. Sam Harrelson is gearing up for a teaching job and has bowed out, but we look forward to him joining us periodically as his schedule allows.
- The Big Book of Spam is no more. Sufficient interest in the project couldn’t be generated.
- Kids and Comics remains open, and will be updated in the near future. Kid-friendly comics were listed there as far as 5 months in advance, so I don’t have too much catching up to do. Next month, I will finally publish Comic Book Movies: Not For Kids?, a series of articles reviewing and recommending kid-friendly movies based on comic books. You won’t believe what I’ve had to go through… subjecting myself to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3? Yeah, done it. I’ll never be the same.
- Mediocre Web Comic was an interesting little project, but ultimately, not for me – not regularly, anyway. That site will stay up, but updates will be very infrequent.
- I have a few minor affiliate sites that will remain open, and I will continue to spend time learning the ins and outs of the affiliate marketing industry. Regretfully, I can’t make it to Affiliate Summit in New York this year, but I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to swing the West conference in 2010.
- I’m on Twitter and Facebook, but I will be limiting Facebook to only close friends and family in coming weeks.
Here’s what I’m not up to online:
- I am not involved in any way with AffSpot.com or it’s owner. If you hear differently, please let me know so I can take action.
- I am not involved in any way with CafePress.com or the print-on-demand industry in general. I will no longer reply to emails regarding that company, that industry or the book that I published in 2006 about them.
- Review Builders is still live, but is no longer being maintained. As far as I’m aware, all the Builders are still functional. They will likely break sometime in the very near future, though I have assurances from Debbie Carney that the Loxly Gallery-based Builders will be just fine for quite some time to come.
Thanks for stopping by!
Never is a strong word. It’s easy to say that I’ll never go to the movies again after my experience this afternoon, but I’ll feel differently the next time an event film comes out. I’ll probably get sucked in again. This is about the movie, not the graphic novel from whence it came.
Earlier today I went to see Watchmen. It started at 3pm, so I paid matinee price, not full. It was seven bucks. Once inside, I got a small popcorn and a small Coke. The total was $10.25. That’s right, it cost me $17.25 to see a movie, by myself, on a Thursday afternoon. That’s not the worst part of the afternoon, though. No, I summed up the worst part on Twitter shortly after I got home:
back from seeing Watchmen… if i had to describe it in one word… boring… if i had to describe it in two words….&$^%ING BORING.
Spoilers from this point on. You’ve been warned.
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I am aware that Jen was probably kidding when she wrote, “just make a point to at least intend to participate” in the Facebook group, but… I really did intend to write something four days ago for this week’s Tuesday’s Topic. Honest.
This counts, right?
When it comes to government and society, the idea of fairness takes on whole new meanings. What might seem unfair in a small group or between two people becomes very fair (and necessary) when applied on a national scale.
My friend Jen Goode has been putting together a project called Tuesday’s Topic for over two years. More often than not, I haven’t participated—not because I think it’s an unworthy project, but because I have no discipline and I’m the worst procrastinator you’ll ever meet (this is posting after midnight, so technically, it’s Wednesday now). Every week, Jen posts the Topic and anyone who would like to write about it can do so and get linked to from the Facebook group and from the sites of other bloggers that are participating.
This week’s Topic is Finding Fair, which lends itself to a great many angles. Annie took on interpersonal relationships and cosmic balance. Judi wrote about fairness in business. Jen came from the angle of family, sharing and compromise. Jen’s husband, Dave, wrote a political piece. It’s Dave’s take on Finding Fair that really prompted me to fight my procrastination and participate this week. You see, I don’t think what he wrote was very fair.
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