Chris Brogan and then I saw Spence Smith started posting Follow Fridays to their blog rather than Twitter. Well now, how is that for a WELL DUH!
What is Follow Friday?
Not a Tweeter? Wonder what Follow Friday is? The idea is to think of interesting people you already follow and recommend them to others. Check out the history of Follow Friday on Mashable.
Mary, so kind. Big huge heart. No longer addicted to Starbucks
Tweet Suggestion: Send her a Happy Birthday wish, today is her special day!
@Laura_Elizabeth
This is the one and only Laura. I’m lucky enough to work with her and to call her friend. She is crafty, a blogger and an all around swell kindof gal that everyone should know.
Tweet Suggestion:Tweet her a meh. Yes, just the word meh. (do it! please?)
Nicole is another co-worker of mine and my partner in crime. She is a n00b to the twitter world, a blog lurke and is NOT a fan of chocolate cake (but makes a mean one, go figure!)
Tweet Suggestion: Tweet her a line from the movie Step Brothers. Then tell her that her step brother told you to do it.
Date night last weekend, we pull up to 7-11, becuase we are classy folks who have no expendible income right now due to 3 children in childcare. So no fancy date here.
Anywhoo, after walking into 7-11, I noticed the place had been attacked by ZYNGA. Zynga is the maker of Farm ville, Yo Ville and Mafia Wars.
Farm ville exclusive cups, waters, ice cream – silly silly silly – and the same thing with Mafia Wars.this and that. Purchase a Farmville or Mafia Wars promo item and get a code to redeem online.
As silly of a promotion as this seems, at the end of the day – I think Zynga knows what they are doing – and so does 7-11. They are expanding their reach in unconventional ways. Who would of ever thunk, you can raise a farm on Facebook? OR that you can run a mafia on Facebook?
On a HAPPY note… Zynga is said to be worth over $3.3 BILLION dollars *putting pinky near face and laughing Dr. Evil style*. It’s one thing for a company to make money. BUT when the company finds creative ways to raise money and uses it for the greater good of the world, my heart smiles. Continue building your farm people, and that mafia to – just make sure when purchasing virtual products that will benefit a greater causer. Check out Zynga.org for details.
Zynga is committed to transforming the world through virtual social goods. Zynga players have made real change by raising millions for several international nonprofits since Zynga.org launched in October 2009.
Players have purchased virtual social goods within Zynga games that have benefitted earthquake victims, families without clean water, and children in Haiti through school lunch programs. Zynga.org is also building a new school, focusing on education and futures for the children of Mirebalais, Haiti.
Here are some more papparazzi shots from the inside of 7-11. I know the 7-11 clerk totally thought I was either a freak, a secret shopper, or both. And yes, that is totally ice cream AND water with Yo Ville & Farm Ville.
Let your users Tweet right from your website. Just 1-line of code and you’ll give your users a Twitter update box.
Check out the TWEET HERE widget on my sidebar —>
(that’s Twoxit)
The TwoxitTwitter Widget / Twitter Tool allows anyone to place a twitter update box on their website / blog for their visitors to update twitter from. This could be a great benefit to you as you will be encouraging your website / blog visitors to update their twitter profile, possibly about your website / blog! Simply copy the code for a form below and paste into your blog / website source code – Done!
David Letterman dishes on the top 10 signs you spend TOO much time on Twitter:
10. You miss son’s soccer game waiting for Lady Gaga to post what she had for lunch
9. You answer the phone: "Twello?"
8. You’ve spent millions developing iPhone waterproofing technology so you can tweet in the shower.
7. You haven’t touched your CB radio in months.
6. You ask yourself, "What would Jesus tweet?"
5. You sleep-tweet.
4. No number 4 — Writer on Twitter.
3. You stopped paying attention to this list after the first 140 characters.
2. Even Ashton Kutcher thinks you Tweet too much.
1. Walking in on the Landscaper "retweeting" your wife.
PS: In Twitter news – Twitter acquired the iPhone app Tweetie (I HEART TWEETIE!). Tweeie will be renamed to Twitter for iPhone and the price will be dropped from $2.99 to FREE!
You are apart of my every day. Some days, more so than email! While for the most part I LOVE YOU, there area few things I wish you would change. I think of you as a virtual friend, and after reading this from Seth Godin, I thought I’d egg you on and demand the best from you:
Real world friends are hard to find and hard to change.
But virtual friends?
If your online friends aren’t egging you on…
If your online friends don’t spread the word about the work you’re doing…
If your online friends aren’t respectfully challenging your deeply held beliefs…
If your online friends don’t demand the best from you…
While typically I use Tweetie or Hootsuite – some improvements to the Twitter.com interface would not frustrate me when I come to visit.
So Twitter, here are my recommended updates:
Show Me How Many People Mention Me Since My Last Login
On my right nav in Twitter – show me how many people have mentioned me since my last login. This will help so that I make sure to respond to all those who mention me.
Mass Deleting of Direct Messages
Okay, so yes I know that if I had just started deleting these when I receive a direct message – this problem wouldn’t exist. But it does, so help me fix it. There is not a way thru your interface to delete direct messages in bulk. This annoys me.
On a happy note – I did find a work around by using a Firefox Bookmarklet called DM Wacker. This will delete your Twitter direct messages in bulk.
Listing All My Friends to Send a Direct Message
I only see a short list of those I follow (and that follow me back) listed on the direct message screen. While yes, I know I can type d <twitter handle> in the prompt, I have a HUGE fear of sending something private to the world.
Tweet Archive by Dates
There really isn’t an effective way to search tweets by a particular date. Often I’ll read a tweet and then remember it days later. Trying to fish for it is a joke. By organizing tweets in a way to search archival posts, you would greatly simplify the process of searching and eliminate my frustrations of "now where is that link."
Notification at Login
Each time I login, if there was mention of new direct messages or mentions at the top – it would allow another way to keep on top of the latest from people who are tweeting you directly.
While I know Twitter emails you your direct messages – my emails always seem to land in spam.
So Twitter, I still love you. I say these things with a caring heart. You are doing a great job so far, but there is more to improve on.
Your Virtual Friend,
Digital Mom
P.S. What updates to Twitter would you like to see improved?
Zynga – creator of popular Facebook games: Farmville, Mafia Wars and Yoville, will be selling pre-paid game cards at more than 12,800 7-eleven, Best Buy, Target and Gamestore stores.
So if you are tired of those annoying updates on Facebook… be prepared for them not to stop anytime soon.
My mother-in-law is obsessed with Farmville. I informed her kiddingly that she was getting a virtual gift for Mother’s Day. Looks like now I can just buy her a Farmville game card.
Random Fact: Zynga claims some 67 million daily active users across its games and is thought to be worth between $1.5-$3 billion. In addition to Farmville, Mafia Wars and Yonville – Zanga is also the creators of BlackJack, Cafe World, Dragon Wars, Fashion Wars, Fishville, Path Words, Pirates, Poker Blitz, Roller Coaster Kingdom, Scramble 2, Scramble, Special Forces, Street Racing, Challenge Sudoku, Zynga Poker, Vampires Bloodlust, Vampires and Word Twist. Their games can be found on Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, Friendster, Tagged, My Yahoo, and as iPhone apps.
A new Twitter friend @sara417 posed the following question to me tonight:
What can kidless friends of new moms do to be most helpful?
Good question!
My knee jerk reaction is: don’t judge your friends parenting skills until you have kids of your own. Poor Sara probebly thinks – wow she is rude, but I totally hope it didn’t come off that way!
I say this because honestly I was SO guilty of this pre-kids. My husband and I knew we wanted kids and went thru many infertile years yearning for kids, watching our friends have them and then JUDGING our friend’s and family’s parenting skills. And then we had kids.
I can now say that I have a 20 second (5 seconds went out with the first one) when a binky drops to the ground.
The idea of some germs strengthening the immune system – now sounds like a good idea!
Breast feeding, as much as I was an advocate for it with the first kid. When I couldn’t produce milk – and was working I suddenly realized formula wasn’t evil.
Pre-washing baby clothes isn’t as easy as just pulling off tags.
In all seriousness though – here are a few things that kidless friends can do to help new moms (because, let’s face it – new moms need all the help they can get – whether it’s their first or their fifth!)
A phone call or even a simple email to say "I’M THINKING OF YOU!"
As busy as people are now adays, just the outreach to a new mom, who is dealing with an on-slaught of newness can make her day.
A meal is nice – a gift certificate can be NICER!
While a home cooked meal is always great, immediately after a baby – it also means having to schedule times to meet people and the feeling of needing to be prepped for friends coming over just adds an extra rain cloud to the storm. So if you aren’t extremely close to the friend, an idea to purchase a gift certificate to a fast food place or restaurant that does take out would help tremendously. With #2, we lived on take-out and fast food for the first month as we adjusted.
Nothing says SURPRISE! like a random gift on the doorstep
Again I have to stress the stress of a new mommy. Your schedule is off. You have a new little thing living in your house, who, how or what is going on. Sleep is something you don’t remember. Life just is a bit crazy for those first few weeks. A little surprise, nothing expensive but something thoughtful on the doorstep will always bring a smile to someone’s face. Think simple, even toilet paper (don’t wrap the house!), a card on the door, a box of cookies, a cupcake, flowers – it’s really the thought that counts not how much you spend.
Give Mommy a BREAK!
One of the best gifts I received last time was a pedicure gift certificate. I recall enjoying the 30 minutes to myself a week or so after my last kid arrived. Call up the husband to see if you can schedule an hour out with the new mom and take her to get pampered. If the husband can’t be left alone – give mommy a break by watching the baby for an hour.
FRIENDS till the end.
I know it’s hard when friends start having kids and you are kidless. I remember when my friends started having kids and we were still kidless – feelling as if my friends and I had nothing in common. They had their child to talk about – and well, me talking about my beloved puppies just didn’t compare. Try to find connections with other things beyond the kiddos. Believe me – she will appreciate you as a friend without kids. Friends with kids, we tend to play silly games – whether it’s keeping up with the latest development of what my kid vs. what your kid does, or who has the latest and greatest baby gear (ugh, I hated this, hope I don’t sink to that level again!). Friends without kids are worth their weight in gold. My kidless friends give me that reality check of the world minus my new appendages.
Thanks for asking Sara! Hope these help!
MOMS: What advice do you have on how your kidless friends can do to be most helpful?
It’s that time of year for us digital geeks – where we all embark on the great city of Austin, Texas to enjoy the festivities of SXSW Interactive (SXSWi). While I have to pass this year (wah!), I know the Twitter world we keep me a-buzzed to all of the happenings. One of the MANY things I heart about SXSWi, is the “first to know feeling” as you learn the latest and greatest before it hits the mainstream.
A few years ago, I recall the rage of this thing called Twitter. It was all the buzz. This year, rumors are circulating about the new-new thing being the location-based apps.
"What are these location-based apps you speak of?" you ask…
Whrrl (which isn’t mentioned but has recently added this element into their circle)
Three years ago, Twitter famously was the talk of the conference (it won the web award that year). While sure, it didn’t explode into mainstream popularity until sometime later, the writing was on the wall for the early-adopters who started using it there or shortly thereafter. Two years ago, it was arguably Twitter again that was the must-use service throughout the conference as it continued to mature. But last year saw some new entries rise. Both Foursquare and Gowalla launched at the conference, with Foursquare gaining much of the momentum coming out of the conference (as some of us predicted). And this year, I suspect it will be largely an extension of that, with location services in general being the talk of the show.
Obsessed? Maybe a little. Have an iPhone or iTouch? Download the Words with Friends app! Think Scrabble with a chat and multi-game option and you have this game!
This game has been spreading like wild fire. Not only because, who doesn’t love a game of Scrabble (I mean, Words with Friends) – but you can play whenever with whoever. The real viralness has come out of the invite friends from Facebook and Twitter function. With a simple click, you can share your username with your Twitter or Facebook world. This spreads the word of the game, and is the whole reason I downloaded it to begin with.
Just a warning, this game is VERY addictive. Want to see? Play me, search for my username: DigitalMom
Goodbye business cards -- hello Poken! Poken is your ‘social business card.’
I received this nifty device in my welcome box from Blissdom(thanks @alliworthington, @barbarajones & ConAgra Foods!) (And the Blissdom welcome box is a while other post waiting to happen -- too fun!)
While this little thing appears to be a thumb drive ( it works as a thumb drive as well -a 2 gigger!) -- it has this cute little white hand on it with 4 fingers. The idea is that you can exchange information, like you would on a business card, but via this device.
Here’s how it works.
Pop the Poken into your USB drive
Click on Start_Poken.html
Create your social media card on the site you are redirected to
Now when you meet someone with a Poken, tap your Poken hand with their Poken hand (high4!) and your data is sync’d
Rather than lugging around business cards and what have you -- you’ll have the digital profile of the people you meet! It also timestamps when you met them. The social media cards (profiles) that you exchange can include a wide variety of information on the person (whatever they load), including a photo. Here’s a snapshot of mine:
The Good:
This device is priced right. You can pick one up for around $19.95! Not too shabby -- definately greener, cheaper and easier to manage then business cards!
The Bad:
In order to exchange information -- the other person has to have a Poken.
BUT when a nifty event (like BLISSDOM -- shout out!) gives these out (courtesy of Conagra Foods -- another shout out!) -- everyone will be able to connect! I can think of multiple instances this device would come in handy, especially in the event business in which I work.
Long story short -- looking forward to trying this puppy out next week at the Blissdom event. Will recap after I "high4" with other digital girlys!
poken is your ‘social business card.’ it’s an easy way to share your contact details and online social networks in the real world. just hold two poken palms together -- high4! -- and you’re connected.
