Quick! Tell me if you’ve heard about this recently:

• Apple put out a new version of the iPhone, and apparently people were a bit upset about a few things.
• Today (July 5th) was the day that Doc set on the Delorean to ‘25 years in the future’ (for the record, it isn’t).
• Steve Jobs wrote something about Flash to Adobe.
• A goal was scored in the World Cup.
• Someone’s giving away some shit.
• Twilight. Enough said.
• The guy from Zappos wrote an article about selling his company.
• …the list goes on…

Of course, I’m talking about twitter. It seems lately whenever something hits the ol’ Twit with a modicum of interest, the RTs begin in earnest. One or two trickle in , then the wave begins. 10 at a time. Then 10 or 20 more.

So I have to ask: Has twitter become the new email forward?

I sure as shit hope not. I like twitter. It’s amusing, I’m able to have conversations with people, and I even get some work out of it (quite a bit, actually). But between the recent outages, the reply spam, and now seeing the same article / link 30 times in a day, it’s beginning to wear thin. It’s noise. You aren’t contributing. For all the talk about community and connections, it’s one step above fucking spam. Yes, I’m all for sharing information. That’s the point. But is there any benefit to perpetuating this? Am I wrong here? By all means, correct me if that’s the case.

So it’s been about two weeks since I ditched Facebook. And surprise, my life hasn’t gone into the gutter, people are still able to get a hold of me, and things are pretty much the same as they were, albeit with a bit less noise. Since that point, a few more things have come out to further muddle the issue of what (if any) privacy exists on Facebook. To quickly outline:

• Their privacy policy is longer than the US Constitution.
• To manage your privacy on Facebook, you will need to navigate through 50 settings with more than 170 options.
• The NY Times had to do an infographic to explain the myriad of options (check it out here).
• Mark Zuckerberg has basically been accused of everything from being an amoral sociopath to not giving a shit (not that he really should).

But this isn’t about all that. I’ve said my peace on the topic, and I deleted my profile. So it’s done. HOWEVER, I’ve had a few interesting discussions with folks online as information has come out. And that’s what has troubled me. Not what Facebook is doing, rather, what people’s reactions have been. More so, people’s response to my desire to have some privacy online. Or, more importantly, the desire to control what information is made public by any of the web services I use. Some of the comments I was given were:

• No one cares what I am doing
• If you want privacy, you must have something to hide
• People will make judgments about me regardless of what info is available
• If you don’t want it public, don’t put it online (no shit)
• It’s a voluntary service (again, no shit)
• Privacy is a myth

Think of it this way: your bank has a ‘social graph’ about you that makes the one Facebook has put together look like a bathroom wall scribbling. Think about all the places you use a debit card in a given day. Your bank has records of where you shop, what you eat, how much you drive, and when you do all these things. They have years worth of data, could pinpoint things such as when you begin dating, the birth of a child, or just about anything money related (which is, to say, just about everything you do). Now, imagine if they decided to write an API to allow companies to use this information to market products and services to you. Pretty creepy, eh? Well, don’t worry about it, because they won’t. In fact, they can’t. It’s illegal.

Now I’m not saying that banking is the same as using a social network online. They aren’t. But the fact remains that my desire to have some part of my life private is not anyone’s business but my own. And this coming from someone who is pretty open online. I tweet a lot, put photos up on Picasa and twitpic, maintain a blog, and even have my phone number on my portfolio site. So I’m clearly not ‘off the grid’. But there are a few things in my life that I don’t share. The reasons for which frankly aren’t any of your business.

Over the weekend, I did what some would consider social media suicide. I deleted Facebook. You know, the place where EVERYONE is and EVERYONE needs to be. That one. Gone. Deleted. Goodbye. And not simply deactivating, but actually deleting the damn thing. It took a while to actually find how to do it, since they don’t make it obvious. So why did I commit seppuku to my online life?

It stopped serving a purpose. One could argue it never did.

Now a bit of background: I didn’t go to a college that had email for a while. It was a junior college, so they didn’t roll out email as soon as others. So inherently, I never had access to Facebook during the run-up with the college crowd. Also, I didn’t really attend college on a regular basis. Once on my way to class I stopped off to have a beer, and didn’t go back for 3 years. So there’s that. I was on the MySpace bandwagon pretty early on, and I held on to that for longer than most. But that’s gone, too.

A friend Ruth summarized her feelings on it pretty well, and coming from a different perspective. And that’s cool, it serves a purpose for her. But it doesn’t for me.

And then there is the privacy stuff.

Now I’m not some tinfoil hat person who thinks everyone is out to get me. Nor do I think that I have any real privacy online. Yes, it’s an illusion. But at what point is it just ridiculous? I understand that when I sign up for a website service, I’m giving them something of mine. Usually my data and some personal information. And I also know that’s probably gonna be used to market something to me. Again, I get it. Although some folks may not agree, the internet doesn’t run on rainbows and hugs. But when Facebook up and decides to give away my personal information to anyone who asks? That’s just a bit too much for me. It’s one thing for me to give away my information. It’s another for someone like Facebook to whore it out like a lonely girl with daddy issues.

Will I fall off the digital map? Doubtful. I use twitter, I have email, and even a *gasp* phone number. Crazy, eh? So I’ll see you around the ‘tubes. Don’t mess up the place while I’m gone.

Put down the Kool-Aid. You’re embarrassing yourself.

Community is big right now, isn’t it. It seems everywhere you turn, there is a new ‘community’ popping up. I bet you’re in a few. Hell, you probably read this blog because you know me from one. I belong to a few. I’ve been a member of a few in the past that I no longer affiliate with, and I’m sure there are a few down the road that I’ll join.

There is nothing wrong with that. But here’s the thing about community. If you aren’t careful, you stop remembering why you are there, and just begin to listen to whatever the leader says. No more thinking, no more analysis. Just following. Blind.

There was a reason you joined in the first place. Maybe you liked the topic. Or perhaps the people involved. You read and enjoyed the content, shared it with your friends and followers on places like Twitter and Facebook. You added the RSS, were eager to press that retweet button when a new post came out. It was exciting. You were a part of something good.

Then something happened. There were a lot of new people that don’t share the views you thought the community held. What used to be a fresh perspective was becoming stale. Repetitive. Recycled. But the leader still had that ‘something’ you liked in the beginning. So you continue to read, comment, and share. You’re still participating. You’re invested. And just like a junkie wishing to get the feeling back from that first time, you keep on jamming that needle in, hoping that perhaps, this time it’ll be better.

It won’t.  

For all the talk about how Gen-Y is independent, self-willed, etc we sure as hell follow a lot. We do something because other people are doing it. You want to get on-board in the beginning. Be a thought leader amongst your online crew. Pride and ego are a sonofabitch, isn’t it?

It’s time to stop. Stop following. Quit ignoring the signs. Question your leaders. ALL of them. If it’s a shitty post, say so. If the leader is wrong, make sure you share that just as loud as you did with the good stuff. If they’re a fraud, SCREAM IT. Better to be a loud asshole who’s right than a quiet one.

Remember, some people may be following you the same way you are to others. If you don’t say something, you’re just as bad.

Note: this post is not addressed at any one person or group of people. Just an observation. But if you’re taking it personally, well, then….

Well, is it?

We all know that social media is great. It brings people together and helps businesses (and individuals) market themselves with extremely low barriers to entry. But is it making us dumb?

I’ve noticed a trend lately of folks either on twitter or other channels asking questions. No big deal. But these questions aren’t detailed or complex. No, they are ones that either could be solved with a 10 second Google search or looking at the settings page of whatever the program is. So why spend the time to ask a random group of people and wait for the answer?

I’ve always prided myself on having some pretty good critical thinking and problem solving skills. My parents told me it was important, that I needed to be able to solve whatever problems were thrown my way. It has translated well into my work, both corporate and freelance. That ability has enamored me to employers and co-workers when my somewhat surly attitude otherwise wouldn’t. Basically, I’m the ‘fix it’ person when it otherwise fails.

So why the crowdsourcing hate? What’s the difference between asking twitter and asking the person next to you in class? Simple: you don’t learn. Having the answers given to you at any sign of confusion does absolutely nothing to solve the problem. It’s easy to pass it off as something you ‘don’t need to know’, but the skills are just the same. Either you can figure things out or you can’t. Which kind of person do you want to be?

Not a day goes by where I don’t see some mention of how companies are blocking access to sites like twitter and facebook. THE HORROR! Social media evangelists will cry out how this is backwards thinking, how these sites are crutial for career management, that it’s a lack of trust, or just downright unfair. But they’re wrong. It’s the fault of both the employees and management themselves. Not some damn website.

In addition to the various web development / WordPress ninja freelance work I do, I’ve also developed somewhat of a niche of doing IT consulting for attorneys. And lately, it’s been the same story. Employees are spending too much time on-line, can I block their access? The answer is yes, and I’m happy to do it. Because it’s not a matter of these companies standing in the way of employee development. They’re attempting to fix a problem. The employees aren’t working. Think about it: if the work was getting done, there’d be no issue. But there’s a breakdown somewhere.

Here’s the dirty secret: the same employees who are on facebook and twitter all day are the ones who used to be on other sites all day, and before that were emailing people all day, and before that chatting on the phone. You see, the employee hasn’t changed at all, just the methods and technologies they use. And for every 1 employee who is using these tools in a productive manner, there are 100 who are filling out useless surveys about their survival chances in a zombie attack or playing Scrabble.

Here’s the other dirty secret: managers are ill-equipped to deal with this. It used to be that they’d just fire the person. But now that’s not all that easy. And many of them now manage people who act the same way they did when they were regular employees. So how do you discipline someone? I certainly don’t have the answer for that. There’s a reason I don’t manage more than 1 person other than myself.

The bottom line? It’s not a technology problem. It’s a human resources problem.

If you’re somewhat active on Twitter, I’m sure you’ve seen the constant updates regarding the issue in Iran (for those that aren’t aware…well…look it up. It’s kinda big). You also may have noticed that many of the user avatars having a nice green overlay to them. It’s to support democracy in Iran, or so I’ve heard. While the gesture is nice, I think people are missing the point. Whether it’s green icons, a ribbon sticker on your car, or any other adoption of a cause, the simple acts people take do not give it any more credence.

I love sarcastic comedy, that’s not a secret. And when I say this twitter update from Michael Ian Black regarding Iran, I couldn’t help but laugh.

The point is this: if you want to make a difference, then do it. I highly doubt that any of the current leaders in Iran noticed the sea of green avatars and decided to change their views on democracy. I also didn’t see the issue (as of yet) get resolved in the way many folks were clammoring for. Greg Graffin put it well back in December 1998 in an essay titled “Web-Surdites” (original link not available, fan page listed here). In short,

The internet is so anonymous, and such a poor gauge of the emotional status of its users, that it is hard to verify if the words and pictures you are seeing were even generated by a human being at all.

Let us not blunder and assume that behaviors such as protest marches, sit-ins, benefit concerts, lectures, and other social gatherings can be reduced to electronic media that effectively filter out all human emotional connections. How do we measure the seriousness of a cause? We see it and experience it with our senses.

It was correct in 1998, and it’s still correct now. There are many people out there that are actively involved in a cause that they believe in, both foreign and domestic. But to do some small gesture electronically, then go about your day, seems to be a bit empty.

If you listen to some people, you’d think that social media is the elixir that’ll save the world, or at least corporate America. It’s also the A-#1 place to “brand” yourself and network, haven’t you heard? Forget the old ideas like “meeting people” and “talking to work associates”, just hop on-line, throw a few interests up, connect with the Chris Brogans of the world, get a nice head shot, and viola! your brand is complete!

Companies that “get it” allow and encourage things like Facebook at the office. Twitter is replacing email and other mediums as the go-to source for news and information. Sure it is. It’s also some of the dumbest, intellectually devoid garbage you’ll see in your life.

Facebook has become the place to find out how your friend from college grades out in the “What Jellybean Flavor Am I"?” quiz, their top 5 alcoholic beverages, and that they’re a fan of “Sleeping In”. And twitter? Some recent trending topics were such gems as  “#3wordsaftersex”, “#liesboystell”, and the ever important “#jonaswebcast”. Very critical information. Things I certainly want to share with my ‘network’. And let’s not forget about the also-rans such as Friendster, MySpace (still alive, but certainly not ‘cool’ anymore), Orkut, and a bunch of others you only hear about on TechCrunch and the like.

There are a lot of different social media sites on the web. Each have their own niche (or at least make the attempt), and some do it better than others. Facebook IS a good place to keep up with a wide scope of friends and family across the globe. Twitter is fantastic for getting quick answers, and helping out others. I’ll be the first to admit that twitter has been great for me, having been able to develop some pretty awesome relationships, lined up some freelance tech work, and given me an outlet for the random things that come out of my mind. And Facebook has been a godsend since my son was born, given that my available time has been greatly diminished. And yes, I still have (and use) MySpace, as it’s a great place to find new music. (I also met my wife there in 2004, but that’s another story altogether).

So what’s the point of all this? Whenever a new tool or medium comes out, people are quick to anoint it the new “[insert currently popular service here]” or “[widely used service]” – killer. Well, phones aren’t dead, email is still alive, and nothing replaces the real-deal human contact. So the next time someone tries to convince you that you’re screwed without the next latest and greatest thing, show them a LOLcat.

I was recently interviewed by the very Jun Loayza as part of the Awesome Bloggers series he’s doing over at Viralogy. I definitely have a face for radio, that’s for sure.

You can check out the original here.

Last weekend, I went to the Harvest of Hope Fest in St. Augustine, Florida. While I am still physically in pain, mentally I returned refreshed, recharged, and in an overall better mood. (I also came back having picked up smoking again, but that’s not important here).

Now, as a good geek and internet junkie, I brought both my smartphone and my netbook, along with all the chords and chargers to make sure I stayed connected. Did I? No. But not for the reasons you think. I got a good signal, was able to connect, and do whatever I needed to. But, unbeknownst to me, I went “off the grid”. And it was fantastic.

I kept my phone off and in my truck, only to turn it on when I called my wife. I fired up the netbook and uploaded each day’s pictures before I went to sleep, but that was mainly to keep the space free on my SD card. I barely checked Twitter, and I never once loaded Facebook or my Google reader. I had no desire to, really. Why? I was there with both old friends and new faces, enjoying what was going on around me. There was music, laughter, debauchery, and a little bit of insanity. And I loved every minute of it.

Don’t get me wrong, I think social media is great. I’ve made some great connections, and met a few people I truly consider friends that I otherwise would have never known. And it’s been a great way to keep up with people, esp. given my rather hectic life. I love using Twitter to both keep a quick check on what’s going on, and also to help people with computer issues (which is something I truly enjoy). Hell, I met my wife on MySpace, so I don’t have an ill word towards any of it. But I’ve noticed that more and more, social media and networking is replacing actual human interaction. If your first thought to any interaction or thought is to blog, facebook, or tweet about it, maybe you should look around and see if there is something missing. Why not have that conversation with someone else? So that person that you keep saying you’re going to get together with? Don’t send them a message on MySpace or write on their Facebook wall. Call them. On the phone. And go out and have lunch, or a cup of coffee. You’ll be surprised to see what a difference the real human interaction will make.