tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13857305563789703332024-03-29T04:03:25.391-07:00The Big Social PictureThis blog is a place to share my experiences using social media sites and learning to fit them all together into my life.The Big Social Picturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17067450765224670237noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1385730556378970333.post-86590447297348965842020-02-05T15:30:00.002-08:002020-02-06T09:24:41.897-08:00Investing in Money LiteracyOur society doesn't talk much about money. The only way to know someone's wealth is by looking at their spending habits - their <i>house</i>, their <i>car</i>, their <i>lifestyle</i> - basically all the money they <u>don't</u> have. To see the big picture, you would need to see their debt tolerance, their savings habits, and their overall net worth.<br />
<br />
So why is this important? Simply put, most people are not properly saving for retirement. 95% of Americans are not financially independent at age 65 (according to <i>The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing</i>). Life expectancy is going up and the future of social security is uncertain. This means your current income doesn't just need to support your lifestyle now, but also in retirement!<br />
<br />
The earlier you start saving for retirement, the sooner you start building good habits, living within your means, and letting your money grow through compounding interest. Personal finance can be complicated to understand, but even the simplest information can set you up on a path to wealth.<br />
<br />
Here's some basic information that can start you on that path:<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Budgeting</u></b><br />
<i>"You have to tell money what to do or it leaves" -Dave Ramsey</i><br />
<i><br /></i>A general guideline for how to spend your paycheck is known as the <b>50/30/20 rule</b>. 50% of your takehome pay should go to <u>needs</u> (house, food, car), 30% can go to <u>wants</u> (hobbies, dining, vacation), and 20% should go to <u>savings</u>. It also helps to be mindful of small repeating habits that can add up over time. This is known as the "latte factor" (buying a daily $5 coffee can cost $1,800 a year!).<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><b>Recommended First Step: </b>Create a monthly budget for your household, and check in regularly to watch your spending and adjust your goals. You can use free budgeting tools like Mint or YNAB, but a spreadsheet works great too. Write down personal long-term goals (like the age you'd like to become a millionaire, or how much money you want when you retire) and check in on your progress quarterly or at least once a year.</span><br />
<u><b><br /></b></u><u><b><br /></b></u><u><b>Debt</b></u><br />
<i>"[Money] is a good servant but a bad master" -Alexander Dumas</i><br />
<br />
Borrowing money can be useful, but it's risky and can end up costing more than the original purchase. If you want to buy something because "you've earned it", wait until you've actually earned it first!<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;"><b>Recommended First Step:</b> Aim to be debt-free. If you need structured guidance, follow</span> <a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/dave-ramsey-7-baby-steps" target="_blank">Dave Ramsey's baby steps</a><span style="color: #999999;">. Once you're out of debt, stay there by making sure you have money before you spend it. Always pay your credit card balance within the 21-day grace period to avoid fees.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><br /></span><b><u>Emergency Funds</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>Many people recommend having <b>3-6 months</b> worth of expenses set aside in case you lose your source of income. If you can't work or need to pay for an expensive repair, this money will buffer you from going into debt while you focus on fixing the problem. This money should be easily accessible and not tied up in risky investments (like the stock market).<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><b>Recommended First Step: </b>Open a high-yield savings account for your emergency savings. But remember, even a generous account earning 2% won't actually earn money, it will just stay on pace with inflation (2019 inflation was 1.76%).</span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><br /></span><b><u><br /></u></b><br />
<b><u>Retirement Accounts</u></b><br />
<i>"The best time to plant a tree was before. The second best time is now." (loose interpretation of Chinese Proverb)</i><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>Retirement accounts can be complicated and overwhelming, but choosing to start an account is the most important decision you'll make.<br />
<br />
When you start contributing <b>15%</b> of your paycheck for retirement, your money will earn interest, and your interest will earn interest too. This is called <b>compound interest</b>, which Albert Einstein supposedly called "the eighth wonder of the world".<br />
<br />
Here's how a one-time investment of $1,000 would grow over 40 years (assuming a 7% annual return):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAfQn1mL9GYDtfYB43csrL6jWvBuY4r_WkFYap-exjXyrIIbh56L2jEZpdaoRP-5xpxhNfOKxOZ6GioXNpKEzGm0L3Ob9o75zgWE779yfQA7lxLlpgIpuwKrvyd7LxOt-laZiqF05vovs/s1600/One_Time_Contribution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="612" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAfQn1mL9GYDtfYB43csrL6jWvBuY4r_WkFYap-exjXyrIIbh56L2jEZpdaoRP-5xpxhNfOKxOZ6GioXNpKEzGm0L3Ob9o75zgWE779yfQA7lxLlpgIpuwKrvyd7LxOt-laZiqF05vovs/s1600/One_Time_Contribution.jpg" /></a></div>
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After 40 years, your $1,000 investment would be almost $15,000! (excluding unknown factors like inflation, taxes, unpredictable markets, etc). But the bottom line is, time is your best ingredient for growing money.</div>
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There are many types of retirement accounts, and it can be confusing to choose one. But again, making the decision to open any account will set you on the right path, and you can always change your account as you learn more and get more comfortable with the terminology.</div>
<br />
There are 2 main types of retirement accounts:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>401k </b>- This is a company-sponsored plan where employees contribute and the company offers a match (which you should always take!). When you leave your job, you can roll it over to an IRA so it remains tax-free and gives you more control for how to allocate it. The name "401(k)" comes from the IRS code section 401(k) which allows pre-tax contributions.</li>
<li><b>IRA</b> - This is a personal account that you can open through a brokerage firm (like Vanguard), and isn't tied to your place of employment. IRAs generally give you more options for how to allocate your money.</li>
</ul>
There are several differences between these types of accounts like who is eligible, how much you can contribute, and how you can withdraw.<br />
<br />
<div>
<div>
When funding your retirement accounts, you can choose 2 different types of contributions:</div>
<ul>
<li><b>Traditional</b> - This money is taken out of your paycheck before it is taxed, and will be taxed later in life when you withdraw the money (plus any earnings). Since you'll likely be in a lower tax bracket in retirement, this could save you a lot of money in taxes. Other names include: pre-tax, tax-advantaged, tax-sheltered, tax-deferred, tax-favored...you get the idea.</li>
<li><b>Roth</b> - This money gets taxed before it is contributed, and doesn't receive any tax-sheltering benefit. However, you won't owe any taxes when you take the money out, and all earnings are tax-free as well. The benefits are you're effectively "locking in" your current tax rate, which is good if you're in a lower tax bracket or if you worry the tax policy is going to change. </li>
</ul>
Whether you contribute Traditional or Roth, your employer matches are Traditional (since the tax break is what appeals to companies in the first place). Again, there are benefits and drawbacks to both of these options, so there usually isn't one right (or wrong!) answer. Some people recommend using both types of contributions so you have diversity.<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;"><b>Recommended First Step: </b>If you're able, open a 401k through your employer and an IRA through any brokerage firm (I recommend Vanguard) and contribute as much as you're able. The 2020 annual limits are $19.5k and $6k respectfully. If this is intimidating, start small and contribute minimum amounts just to build good habits. Remember, anything is better than nothing.</span><br />
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<b>Note: </b>Anyone who earns income can open an IRA. Which means a teenager with a part-time job could get a 5-10 year head start on their compounding interest by putting a small amount aside (and in this case, a Roth IRA would be better since they're in such a low tax bracket).<br />
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<b><u>Retirement Goal</u></b><br />
<i>"It's your job to put the <u>gold</u> into your golden years." -The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing (loosely interpreted)</i><br />
<i><br /></i>So how much money do you need in order to retire? The simplest formula is known as the <b>4% rule</b>. This says you can withdraw 4% of your total savings each year, and it should last about 30 years in an average market. Here are some examples following this rule:<br />
<ul>
<li>If you have <b>$315,000</b> at the start of retirement, you can withdraw <b>$12,600</b> a year (the US poverty line)</li>
<li>If you have <b>$1 million</b> at the start of retirement, you can withdraw <b>$40,000</b> a year</li>
<li>If you have <b>$2.5 million</b> at the start of retirement, you can withdraw <b>$100,000</b> a year</li>
</ul>
This likely won't be your only source of income, since social security should add another <b>$10,000-20,000</b> per year, but it's safer not to count on that money during this planning stage. According to the <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v70n3/v70n3p111.html">Social Security Administration</a>, social security will likely be reduced to 75% of its value within the next 15 years, and will need other adjustments to correct its funds (like raising the retirement age). You can still expect to get *some* social security in retirement, but it's safer to consider it a bonus.<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;"><b>Recommended First Step:</b> Determine your retirement goal (</span><a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/investing/retirement-calculator" target="_blank">Nerdwallet has a good calculator here</a><span style="color: #999999;">) and put it in writing, then check in on your progress each year to make sure you're still on track.</span><br />
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<b><u>Additional Investments</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>After you've funded your retirement accounts, you may have additional money you want to invest. This is when you should consider buying appreciating assets (like real estate) or investing in the stock market.<br />
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Individual company stocks are risky, and should only be purchased with money you are willing to lose. Index funds and ETFs are a safer option, since these are collections of diversified stocks, which have a lower risk of losing all your money. As long as the overall stock market is trending upward (known as a "bull market"), your fund will rise as well. A good index fund can earn anywhere from 7% to 15% in a given year. Please note, you should never invest money in the stock market unless you understand the risk.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><b>Recommended First Step: </b>Open a brokerage account with Vanguard and buy shares of a Total Stock Market fund (I recommend VTSAX or VTI - one is an index fund and the other is an ETF, but both track the same funds and both have very low fees). Track your progress, but don't be afraid of a market down-turn. Remember that in historical 15-year periods, stock markets have always made money. Several stockbrokers have recently stopped charging transaction fees, so it's easier to experiment with buying and selling stocks. I recommend Robinhood since it's user-friendly and simple.</span><br />
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<br />
<b><u>Summary</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>I hope this information has motivated you to set goals for your money. Even a small amount of savings can make a big difference. Remember that the goal isn't to deprive yourself of what brings you joy - after all, life has no guarantees and it's important to live in the present. Instead, the goal is to create healthy behaviors that drive you toward success, and give you perspective on where your money can be most useful. If you still decide to make a big purchase, at least it is an informed decision.<br />
<br />
By setting up the right behaviors, you can control your retirement. While there's no way to predict the future, you can at least remove financial obstacles and gift yourself independence. And I have no doubt your future self will thank you for it!<br />
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<b><u>Additional Resources</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>These guidelines are from my own experience and research, meant to inspire you to gain control of your finances. I encourage you to research, form your own opinions, and consult a financial expert before making any significant changes. Financial data changes often, so any numbers provided here should be checked for accuracy.<br />
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I'm still learning on this journey, so please comment if you have a different viewpoint or different information you would like to share.<br />
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If you're inspired to continue learning, here are some resources that I've found valuable:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics" target="_blank">Personal Finance wiki</a> on Reddit - <i>Has great step-by-step instructions for how to allocate your income</i></li>
<li><a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/show" target="_blank">The Dave Ramsey Show</a> podcast - <i>This is a great resource if you're struggling to get out of debt and need a behavioral change</i></li>
<li><a href="http://vanguard.com/" target="_blank">Vanguard</a> - <i>This is a good place to open</i> <i>an IRA or brokerage account. The company is known for its low fees and good philosophies and leadership by founder Jack Bogle (the namesake of the "Bogleheads" movement).</i></li>
<li><a href="http://mint.com/" target="_blank">Mint</a> - <i>This is a free tool to create a budget and link your accounts to track progress (another case where you're likely the product, also has a lot of connection issues)</i></li>
<li><a href="http://ally.com/" target="_blank">Ally</a> (online bank) - <i>Offers high-yield savings accounts with strong rates, good place to put your emergency fund</i></li>
<li><a href="https://www.investopedia.com/university/beginner/" target="_blank">Investing for Beginners</a> site on Investopedia</li>
<li><a href="https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free" target="_blank">IRS.gov Free File</a> - <i>I think everyone should do their own taxes at least once in their life, to understand how it works. It is a freeing and free experience!</i></li>
<li>Other website resources such as: <a href="https://www.fool.com/" target="_blank">Motley Fool</a>, <a href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/" target="_blank">NerdWallet</a>, <a href="https://www.bankrate.com/" target="_blank">Bankrate</a>, <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/" target="_blank">Yahoo Finance</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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<br />
Assuming we spend an average 40-60% of time in our home (including sleeping), whatever place we decide to call home should be looked at from all angles of safety. This is especially true in the Bay Area, where there's a 63% probability of a major earthquake in the next 30 years (from the <a href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/nca/ucerf/" target="_blank">USGS earthquake probability</a> site).<br />
<br />
This is not meant to scare anyone, but rather to make everyone aware of the real risks that exist when living in San Francisco. This education should help you make an informed decision on you and your family's safety. I created the maps shown below to highlight the various safety concerns by location, and used data compiled mostly from government websites. These maps are a high-level summary, and aren't intended to provide a thorough or comprehensive look at the data. For deeper research, please follow the captioned links which bring you to the source data.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Landfill</b><br />
The first consideration is whether the home is built over a landfill. Because landfill contents are more likely to shift and compact during an earthquake, they aren't as structurally safe as homes built on bedrock. When this soft soil starts moving during an earthquake, it becomes like quicksand (known as liquefaction), and can shift the structural integrity of the building. Besides damaging the building, it can also lead to water/gas pipes bursting.<br />
<br />
Here's a map I created using data from the USGS site, showing areas at liquefaction risk in the event of a major earthquake:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AOid82TNQs3mbaI9LwMHZv6K3v_KRpTqvGci1GGcoJ_R9RtLBxDKNZCGb-8r8ABcWFA6HqLTlZPVrftyP_xeGNQTCgfjD-UXSy_v9yS5Y6LKBTh-xBo-grcT2_R33iYawaPsfVCiBbE/s1600/SF_liquefaction2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AOid82TNQs3mbaI9LwMHZv6K3v_KRpTqvGci1GGcoJ_R9RtLBxDKNZCGb-8r8ABcWFA6HqLTlZPVrftyP_xeGNQTCgfjD-UXSy_v9yS5Y6LKBTh-xBo-grcT2_R33iYawaPsfVCiBbE/s640/SF_liquefaction2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Data compiled from <a href="http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/sfgeo/liquefaction/susceptibility.html" target="_blank">USGS Liquefaction</a> site</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Non-retrofitted buildings</b><br />
Several years ago, San Francisco's Department of Building Inspection made a preliminary list of buildings that might be structurally unsound in the event of an earthquake. This was done with a basic street-view inspection, so the numbers are not confirmed. But the investigation flagged a potential 2,929 houses that are possibly unfit to survive a disaster (see listings by address <a href="http://sfpublicpress.org/news/2013-1/potentially-earthquake-unsafe-residential-buildings-a-very-rough-list" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.iassociates.pro/photos/soft-story2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="134" src="http://www.iassociates.pro/photos/soft-story2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from <a href="http://www.iassociates.pro/" target="_blank">Bay Area Structural Engineers</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
One
risk in particular are what's known as "soft-story buildings". This is
when the building has a garage on the ground level. Even though it is built to withstand the building's weight, these levels are still not as
structurally sound in an earthquake.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Here's a map of data from the SF Public Press site, where they showed all addresses listed from the inspection:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3Nvxum71T6XkYIvM1wMsnUPBVfXz3qhbeyAA4cAjrQjveJBL-nLrbCJXoDeVHHTAygtNgYqWfcc5aRpmEUkEn1QrJc_IDgn6bynZwtkh8FTvefDf4yglZbRstwwe6qP2PVAznyq6SjY/s1600/SF_retrofit2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3Nvxum71T6XkYIvM1wMsnUPBVfXz3qhbeyAA4cAjrQjveJBL-nLrbCJXoDeVHHTAygtNgYqWfcc5aRpmEUkEn1QrJc_IDgn6bynZwtkh8FTvefDf4yglZbRstwwe6qP2PVAznyq6SjY/s640/SF_retrofit2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Data compiled from the <a href="http://sfpublicpress.org/news/2013-1/potentially-earthquake-unsafe-residential-buildings-a-very-rough-list" target="_blank">SF Public Press</a> website</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Tsunami</b><br />
In the aftermath of an earthquake, there's some risk of a tsunami coming in from the Pacific Ocean. This risk is mostly for perimeter areas of San Francisco, as you can see in this map of data from the State of California's Department of Conservation: <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB58NUg8ZpouVHOBcTzzP3fVboqfUsbszM5OFDp2e2IvPhIm41sBRDYML8kkJt3rWasghVZAZz62Zhyp2BNAidjuKQq_Kcj6B3Wls9P_W5mu04YHA4FcT2NiqWO5Q-wkA6YCNMy0S4iYs/s1600/SF_tsunami2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB58NUg8ZpouVHOBcTzzP3fVboqfUsbszM5OFDp2e2IvPhIm41sBRDYML8kkJt3rWasghVZAZz62Zhyp2BNAidjuKQq_Kcj6B3Wls9P_W5mu04YHA4FcT2NiqWO5Q-wkA6YCNMy0S4iYs/s640/SF_tsunami2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Data compiled from the <a href="http://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/geologic_hazards/Tsunami/Inundation_Maps/SanFrancisco/Pages/SanFrancisco.aspx" target="_blank">Department of Conservation</a> website</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Crime</b><br />
Besides the risks associated with a natural disaster, there's also the day-to-day risks associated with living in a high crime area. The website <a href="http://www.trulia.com/crime/#!san-francisco-ca/12/37.72151,-122.46484/San_Francisco,CA/" target="_blank">Trulia</a> has created an interactive map of high crime areas, and I've compiled that data into this map:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuSWCFEr8axpk3hmIyZkckjgobzzBR-T9BuYb7LZMcc0AvB27Ot73tMzIsMvRujNFFbzmGtoa-ZF6P36UZba2MzBMgRHtx7kIEN3TSvp9LULlAM9HCBvb2eSE5e6ZR-tz0ydOIK478sNg/s1600/SF_crime2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuSWCFEr8axpk3hmIyZkckjgobzzBR-T9BuYb7LZMcc0AvB27Ot73tMzIsMvRujNFFbzmGtoa-ZF6P36UZba2MzBMgRHtx7kIEN3TSvp9LULlAM9HCBvb2eSE5e6ZR-tz0ydOIK478sNg/s640/SF_crime2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Data compiled from <a href="http://www.trulia.com/crime/#!san-francisco-ca/12/37.72151,-122.46484/San_Francisco,CA/" target="_blank">www.trulia.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Or, you can always check the crime safety of your neighborhood by seeing if Amici's Pizza delivers there.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu6yltN3xFy71h-cKWmPH0KqeFjxj0uLJkuTfOU5v1COxXz3HudMYYmXObUNvS8AHJ3b9cRYAHLNzMvi2Mx31uhyphenhyphenAerwkXUyO6sbPC6KnTCgjBy0YSazzvzOp7sK3cf6s8b9EDW6Zlr6I/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-28+at+8.52.08+PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu6yltN3xFy71h-cKWmPH0KqeFjxj0uLJkuTfOU5v1COxXz3HudMYYmXObUNvS8AHJ3b9cRYAHLNzMvi2Mx31uhyphenhyphenAerwkXUyO6sbPC6KnTCgjBy0YSazzvzOp7sK3cf6s8b9EDW6Zlr6I/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-28+at+8.52.08+PM.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Map available at <a href="http://www.amicis.com/images/sf_deliverymap.gif" target="_blank">www.amicis.com</a><b> </b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Destruction in Films</b><br />
And since art imitates life, we can also analyze the San Francisco hazard areas that have been destroyed in various Hollywood films (most famously of course is the Golden Gate Bridge, which for some reason filmmakers love destroying in movies). This map is just for fun:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwIebB2LaFZIBnGbEA85y_aWe1kdTT1omkmET0v5mlXTl0jGKSk1qQ1gnV9p-7LMDk70EBNQARGXK8PzimOj-iXBWtxB77fMFWkNZj1Cx5R2aSZ60PPBzFpxWCxOh1qc5NhZAW-jmtKA/s1600/SF_movies2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwIebB2LaFZIBnGbEA85y_aWe1kdTT1omkmET0v5mlXTl0jGKSk1qQ1gnV9p-7LMDk70EBNQARGXK8PzimOj-iXBWtxB77fMFWkNZj1Cx5R2aSZ60PPBzFpxWCxOh1qc5NhZAW-jmtKA/s640/SF_movies2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Data compiled from <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Kablooey-There-goes-San-Francisco-again-2621277.php#page-1" target="_blank">SF Gate</a> article</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Summary</b> <br />
When all is said and done, we can combine these maps together and get a hideously ugly map of bright colors. Based on the criteria we've outlined, anything you see in yellow below would be considered a lower risk area. Initial analysis would show the safest areas seem to be the Presidio, Cole Valley, and Inner Sunset neighborhoods.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPacka6etPx-nmediiC27DBptuk7uKAGD25AAt4EJAf3m4e7EuCdIIscCrVlLBBY8ijLAonnDBsTytVRmyUa8rNy9mOC55p2QB-bZ2HRh7O7A-UfbWKl2oM-onWjoJ_pTyCNM2yzQPaTg/s1600/SF_lowerrisk2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPacka6etPx-nmediiC27DBptuk7uKAGD25AAt4EJAf3m4e7EuCdIIscCrVlLBBY8ijLAonnDBsTytVRmyUa8rNy9mOC55p2QB-bZ2HRh7O7A-UfbWKl2oM-onWjoJ_pTyCNM2yzQPaTg/s640/SF_lowerrisk2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Compilation map of all data shown in this site (created by The Big Social Picture)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Additional Resources</b><br />
<ul>
<li>The most useful thing you can do for you and your family is get educated. Did you know there's a <u>free</u> San Francisco training course taught by the fire department? It's all about being prepared in an earthquake, and it will give you the choice to help others as well. Find out more at the <a href="http://www.sf-fire.org/index.aspx?page=859" target="_blank">NERT website</a>.</li>
<li>I wrote a post about what I learned from NERT training. <a href="http://www.thebigsocialpicture.com/2013/04/using-social-media-in-emergency.html" target="_blank">Check it out here</a> for tips on what to do before, during, and after an emergency. </li>
<li>San Francisco also offers an alert-based text service called <a href="https://alertsf.org/" target="_blank">AlertSF</a>. You can sign up for text message notifications which can help you avoid certain areas of the city. </li>
<li>Follow @<a href="https://twitter.com/Emergency_In_SF" target="_blank">Emergency_In_SF</a> on Twitter for updates as well.</li>
<li>Want to see a more thorough breakdown of your location? Check out this <a href="http://myhazards.calema.ca.gov/" target="_blank">interactive search page</a> (thanks Redditor brendapie!) </li>
</ul>
<br />
And again, I hope this is the most helpful information you never have to use. <br />
<br />
<br />
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If you've been paying attention to the stock market lately, you've likely heard mention of <a href="http://bitcoin.org/en/" target="_blank">Bitcoin</a>, a new digital currency (also known as crypto-currency). Bitcoin was Internet-born, has no centralized government backing, and has no people claiming ownership behind its creation. In the last month it has seen huge gains and losses, with the value of one Bitcoin (BTC) rising as high as $266 (USD) and falling as low as $105.<br />
<br />
The number of Bitcoins in existence is somewhere around 10.5 million, with 25 new Bitcoins being introduced every 10 minutes. According to the <a href="http://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf" target="_blank">business plan</a> written by pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, that number will grow until it reaches 21 million Bitcoins in the year 2140 and then no new currency will be made.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Um63OQz3bjo?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Check out this helpful video from <a href="http://www.weusecoins.com/en/" target="_blank">WeUseCoins </a></div>
<br />
<b>So What's the Appeal?</b><br />
The main appeal of Bitcoin is that it allows you to quickly and directly transfer money among peers, with a minimal transaction fee and without the need for a middle-man bank. It is also pseudo-anonymous, which makes it popular among less-than-legal Internet activities (it is an accepted form of currency for the <a href="http://www.marketplace.org/topics/tech/stealthy-silk-road-website-flying-high" target="_blank">black market drugdealing site, Silk Road</a>). It allows the Internet to have one global form of currency regardless of location, and is popular among freedom enthusiasts who advocate against the banking industry.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>And What's the Downfall?</b><br />
The biggest concern with Bitcoin is its volatility and market instability. Since its inception in 2009, the perceived value of 1 Bitcoin has fluctuated between $0 and $266 USD. Bitcoin is highly referred to as a pyramid or Ponzi scheme, because of its risky and uncertain status. Like any currency it only works if people have faith in it, but because it's so new and unpredictable, its stakeholders are less likely to trust it entirely.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The only thing that gives Bitcoins their value is people believing they have value."<br />
-<a href="http://live.wsj.com/video/what-a-bitcoin/D79FF38C-7816-435B-B3B0-F9B177BCA0A8.html#%21D79FF38C-7816-435B-B3B0-F9B177BCA0A8" target="_blank">Jason Bellini, Wall Street Journal</a> (@jasonbellini)</blockquote>
Another concern is the moral and ethical dilemma of anonymous currency. Like Pirate Bay, it sits outside of any government regulation and is mostly untraceable, which makes it ideal for illegal transactions and money laundering. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>How do you earn Bitcoins?</b> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://media02.hongkiat.com/bitcoin-questions/bitcoin-miner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="138" src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/bitcoin-questions/bitcoin-miner.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
To natively earn Bitcoins, you would need a sophisticated computer that can scan the Internet all day searching for Bitcoins. As they are released, your computer "mines" for them using complex algorithms within dedicated software. In reality, Bitcoin could have picked any way to distribute new Bitcoins so they chose to make it a mathematical puzzle for elite computer programmers to solve.<br />
<br />
Because not everyone has the resources to mine for Bitcoins, you can use real cash to purchase them from miners. There are Bitcoin exchange sites that handle these transactions, the most popular of which is <a href="https://mtgox.com/" target="_blank">Mt. Gox</a>. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Where are Bitcoins Accepted?</b><br />
So far the early adopters for Bitcoin are online sites, startups and small businesses. There are an estimated 180,000 users, so businesses accepting the currency are likely to see a rise in customers who are looking to spend their Bitcoins, like this<a href="http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/08/investing/bitcoin-bar-new-york-city/index.html" target="_blank"> New York bar</a> hoping to capitalize on the trend.<br />
<br />
There are also a few well-known companies that have started accepting Bitcoin:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJDb-nq8XrkUpuQuNbq0VwNAePMbJOol1gzV18D_VyFvPTmoSIkQy4MzpDYc-4i2DFS8o44MZi4qBMTd8rbyYvKzSvEwj7P7Ygeb5yVwEwYeNQVNxVjxpcM4ULqqq1oIhlOJ-FyLNR2Ks/s1600/tries2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJDb-nq8XrkUpuQuNbq0VwNAePMbJOol1gzV18D_VyFvPTmoSIkQy4MzpDYc-4i2DFS8o44MZi4qBMTd8rbyYvKzSvEwj7P7Ygeb5yVwEwYeNQVNxVjxpcM4ULqqq1oIhlOJ-FyLNR2Ks/s1600/tries2.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>The Crash </b><br />
On April 10th, 2013 Bitcoin had its
biggest surge to date, going as high as $266 per Bitcoin (a 300% increase). Within hours, it crashed down to
$105. The crash started on Reddit when someone known as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-bitcoinbillionaire-2013-4" target="_blank">bitcoinbillionaire</a> started giving away money to users, totaling over $13,000. It was a throwaway account and there are theories that this user knew it was going to cause mayhem and was trying to crash Bitcoin intentionally. Luckily though, it bounced back fairly quickly and closed the day around $160.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9-HDoFxU0RtwEiBWbsbxiLExA4eYmaqeYedzL4-pGt-On5pVAZWSEHoj5se0vASwPRZcWe_OGEuqqUYOo18S57NX2ZrWBK5Bgww7WJihW-iWX5dtU5FNNfKIza_cLtStFIU-8bIT58dg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-22+at+11.34.39+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9-HDoFxU0RtwEiBWbsbxiLExA4eYmaqeYedzL4-pGt-On5pVAZWSEHoj5se0vASwPRZcWe_OGEuqqUYOo18S57NX2ZrWBK5Bgww7WJihW-iWX5dtU5FNNfKIza_cLtStFIU-8bIT58dg/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-04-22+at+11.34.39+PM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fluctuation chart from <a href="https://coinbase.com/charts" target="_blank">Coinbase</a> (wallet site)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In conclusion, Bitcoin presents a unique opportunity and challenge to the future of currency. As the Internet continues to push the boundaries of social behavior, it will be interesting to see if Bitcoin becomes a widely adopted currency. With the right companies backing it, it could become more stable and relevant in the real world. And if that is the direction it's heading, some of us might kick ourselves for not buying in sooner.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Additional Resources</b><br />
If you're interested in learning more about Bitcoin, here are some resources:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bitcoin.org/">Bitcoin.org</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://mtgox.com/" target="_blank">Mt. Gox</a> - the largest Bitcoin exchange site</li>
<li><a href="http://coinbase.com/" target="_blank">Coinbase</a> - an online wallet site that helps you track and store your Bitcoins </li>
<li><a href="http://blockchain.info/" target="_blank">Blockchain </a>- a searchable database of all Bitcoin transaction </li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin" target="_blank">Bitcoin's Wikipedia page</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mashable.com/2012/11/05/bitcoin-currency/" target="_blank">Mashable's 2012 write-up on Bitcoin</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://media-social.s-msn.com/images/blogs/00120065-0000-0000-0000-000000000000_469b5687-f4ab-4992-a2ac-46c322b7a161_20130416182803_BostonSocialMedia_041613_RM_300.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo from <a href="http://money.msn.com/now/post.aspx?post=7a8387c1-da10-4b32-8bc3-fdf28882e784" target="_blank">MSN</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As we saw this week, social media can be a quick "call to action" in an emergency. It can help gather quick information and provide a snapshot of the incident from several vantage points. But conversely it can also lead to misinformation, false reporting, and harmful snap judgments.<br />
<br />
When using social media during an emergency, here are some suggestions to consider:<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Share only information that is confirmed to be true.</b> Misinformation is a huge problem with the Internet, and catchy news stories can become sensationalized quickly. Confirm stories with two sources before sharing, and only retweet posts from verified Twitter accounts (recognizable by the blue checkmark).<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY7kI16dwNaMFd2kpgkrYG9tI8IbaShUriOkbnMi0vNTVc0sljJyjYNL1ApwPvC-imKQfpj6BqNFjjpTiwdv7x3lZF869-ZebxGdUm6wUjT55j_XRSOyaGphYL5l337IYZeMbsYDqwbIk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-20+at+11.21.06+PM.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY7kI16dwNaMFd2kpgkrYG9tI8IbaShUriOkbnMi0vNTVc0sljJyjYNL1ApwPvC-imKQfpj6BqNFjjpTiwdv7x3lZF869-ZebxGdUm6wUjT55j_XRSOyaGphYL5l337IYZeMbsYDqwbIk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-20+at+11.21.06+PM.png" /></a><br /><br /><i>After the Boston attacks, a fake Twitter account named @HopeForBoston started spreading <a href="http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/accidentsmishaps/ss/8-year-old-Girl-Killed-In-Boston-Marathon-Bombings.htm" target="_blank">this rumor </a>that a young girl from Sandy Hook was killed in the explosion, and was retweeted 50,000 times before the account was suspended. In <a href="http://mashable.com/2013/04/16/denise-richards-boston-bombings/" target="_blank">another rumor</a>, people thought celebrity Denise Richards was the mother of the 8-year-old boy who was killed (the mother is named Denise Richard). People spreading rumors may be doing it to achieve quick fame and attention, and often can do a lot of harm. These small bursts of information are known as micro-reporting, and are likely to continue as we get more intertwined with social media and technology.</i><br /><br /></li>
<li>Aim to<b> be respectful of the victims and their right to privacy</b>. Follow the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Rule" target="_blank">Golden Rule</a> and remember that anything you post on a public account can be picked up by a news source and shared around the world.<br /><br /> </li>
<li><b>Never compromise your safety for the sake of micro-reporting. </b>
As a spectator in any incident, you should be far enough away that you
can hold up your thumb and block your view of the entire incident.<br /><br /></li>
<li><b>Connect with loved ones via Facebook to keep phone lines open. </b> Phone lines can become overwhelmed quickly. Every phone call you make might prevent an urgent 911 call from getting through, so seek alternatives when possible. You can also change your outgoing voicemail to tell loved ones you’re okay.<br /> </li>
<li><b>Share websites designed to help connect people in the tragedy. </b> Sites like <a href="http://google.org/personfinder" target="_blank">Google Person Finder</a> and the <a href="http://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php" target="_blank">Red Cross' Safe and Well</a> pop up in response to a disaster and are made to help people communicate with loved ones and make sure they're ok.</li>
</ol>
<a href="http://imgur.com/xg9rHvC" target="_blank"></a><br />
If you want to pass along these guidelines, <a href="http://imgur.com/xg9rHvC" target="_blank">here is a shareable image.</a><br />
<br />
In response to last Monday's incident, there was a great quote written by <a href="https://twitter.com/rolldiggity" target="_blank">@rolldiggity</a>:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLgZHWLHTM5CMsk-8iYPRYRn555aQ9uk51AdjMxEuhR5iyYlL9Xuoazj4ImgkIMI2wZrorqhMZJCjUvsZwI-f6yy_nfmcWJkQBWUMwGQ4s-AuGSmnfkCBCpdrqxG2xJU5h0My_MRqx3sA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-21+at+2.00.17+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLgZHWLHTM5CMsk-8iYPRYRn555aQ9uk51AdjMxEuhR5iyYlL9Xuoazj4ImgkIMI2wZrorqhMZJCjUvsZwI-f6yy_nfmcWJkQBWUMwGQ4s-AuGSmnfkCBCpdrqxG2xJU5h0My_MRqx3sA/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-21+at+2.00.17+AM.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
It is a great summation of Twitter's greatest strength and weakness. <br />
<br />
Also, in the wake of this week's incidents I want to share some tips and advice to help you and your family be prepared in an emergency situation. I was lucky enough to take free emergency preparedness training in my community, and it offered a lot of useful information. The training is a nationwide program called <a href="http://www.citizencorps.gov/cc/CertIndex.do?submitByState=" target="_blank">CERT/NERT</a>, and is often free to anyone interested in becoming certified as an emergency responder. Also feel free to check out my <a href="http://imgur.com/a/hmtc0" target="_blank">image gallery</a> of things I learned from the NERT course in San Francisco.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u>Planning Ahead</u><br />
In your home and car, always keep food and
water supplies to last 72 hours for your family. After natural
disasters, utilities are often shut off and food options become
limited. Having 3 days worth of essentials can keep your family safe
and together until help comes. You also should have a battery-powered
or hand-crank radio, a flashlight in close range to your bedroom, and a
first aid kit. Try to always keep half a tank of gas in your car along
with cash, in case you need to get out of town fast. Arrange a meeting
point with your family in case you can't get in touch with each other.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.redcross.org/prepare/location/home-family/get-kit" target="_blank">Red Cross website</a>
has a full list of essentials, as well as several phone apps to
download for emergency preparedness (First Aid,
Tornado/Hurricane/Earthquake/Wildfires, and Shelter Locations).<br />
<br />
Always
be aware of your surroundings, and report any suspicious activity or
unattended bags to 911.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u>During an Emergency (sorry, these tips are mostly for earthquakes)</u><br />
The
most important thing during an emergency is to keep yourself safe and
try to remain calm. This depends on the incident, but if you're
indoors, stay away from windows in case of shattering glass, and try and
find a sturdy table or desk to hide under in case of falling debris.
If you're outdoors, stay away from overhead wires and transformers, and
get close to building walls so you're not in the fall zone for
shattering glass. If possible, wait until the risk is minimized before moving.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u>After an Emergency</u><br />
After
an emergency it is very important to stay calm. Check yourself and
those around you for injuries, and then assess your household/building.
Locate and turn off any utilities if you're concerned about leaks or
explosions (only do this if needed, because you won't be able to turn it back on afterward).<br />
<br />
To
help someone who's injured, clear any airway obstructions, minimize any
bleeding, and calm them down if they're in shock. If you're concerned
they're losing too much blood, find their brachial (arm) or femoral
(leg) arteries and apply pressure to reduce blood flow. Try to elevate
the injured part above the level of the heart. This isn't going to save
their life, but might buy them time until emergency personnel are able to see them. You can also download the Red Cross phone app for step-by-step instructions.<br />
<br />
In a crime scene, observe conditions around you and note anything worth reporting to the authorities. <br />
<br />
Remember not to use your phone unless it's an emergency.
As we saw this week, phone lines can become overwhelmed quickly and
stop service for everyone. Imagine that the phone call you're making is
preventing a 911 call from getting through, and decide if it's really
necessary in that moment. It's a good idea to change your outgoing
voicemail to say you're ok, and designate one out-of-town family member
that you will contact to give updates.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u>Ways you can get involved</u> <br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.redcrossblood.org/" target="_blank">Donate blood </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/program-highlights/cpr-first-aid" target="_blank">Take a first aid/CPR class</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.citizencorps.gov/cc/CertIndex.do?submitByState=" target="_blank">Become a CERT/NERT volunteer to be trained for disaster response</a></li>
</ul>
<br />
<u>In Summary</u><br />
<br />
Hopefully these tips will help you start your journey to education. There are plenty of ways to learn more and get involved in your community. A little education can go a long way in helping you deal with and respond to emergencies.<br />
<br />
I hope this is the most helpful information you never have to use.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul> </ul>
<br />
<br />
<ul> </ul>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b></b></span><span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjExaJD01o_FgT9tl0f15fJ6RUalK2OPO1jOeVEZjkETS4ZiHqVW7ENrw6rIuhvEulKqyafksPN2MP7OpvSqa8T-UHzCiqxr02FyE7fz1r6JLxXIJYE0T20GhIzvDmaBqlferoSOafi2Ls/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-12+at+1.22.27+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjExaJD01o_FgT9tl0f15fJ6RUalK2OPO1jOeVEZjkETS4ZiHqVW7ENrw6rIuhvEulKqyafksPN2MP7OpvSqa8T-UHzCiqxr02FyE7fz1r6JLxXIJYE0T20GhIzvDmaBqlferoSOafi2Ls/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-12+at+1.22.27+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b> Daily image from <a href="http://www.martymclie.com/">www.MartyMcLIE.com</a></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The real date is October 21st, 2015</span></b></span> and anything that says otherwise is Photoshopped. Here's the clip from the movie to prove it:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/6Tf8mPsvcOs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>So how did this widespread Internet hoax start?</b><br />
On July 3rd, 2010, Back to the Future was celebrating its 25th anniversary of its original release from 1985. This true fact was acknowledged by Twitter user @<a href="https://twitter.com/lateandsoon/status/17688776362" target="_blank">lateandsoon</a>: <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9lHD1Bc2dn6tj1fT5pjNIK4Gmusr1WFIyqW8T-4_QpVx4UAGRnB3n7r6_1iH58fmPxo6VtpfiL07hMx_9U0_akbEEmjN_QmiUcklViNNFt-_Mr-LI5IS1WK1iE9tAwL8BSb8n-X6EN0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-12+at+12.43.25+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9lHD1Bc2dn6tj1fT5pjNIK4Gmusr1WFIyqW8T-4_QpVx4UAGRnB3n7r6_1iH58fmPxo6VtpfiL07hMx_9U0_akbEEmjN_QmiUcklViNNFt-_Mr-LI5IS1WK1iE9tAwL8BSb8n-X6EN0/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-12+at+12.43.25+AM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The line he's referring to is in the first movie, when Doc is trying to flee to 25 years into the future before he's shot down by the Libyans.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6DpdEQJVir3HQR2qAJVHi8kKpMwQySMv34pn6_24bHhXLa2TQm-loVE2Dlza6jdf0aIlbAB1N6t0G0s7JSDw4ImnEkxx-IzC6m0okWCEepYQYVcVPD-gdc4eMrcs0nZpM6aNKmbk_J_8/s1600/thefuture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6DpdEQJVir3HQR2qAJVHi8kKpMwQySMv34pn6_24bHhXLa2TQm-loVE2Dlza6jdf0aIlbAB1N6t0G0s7JSDw4ImnEkxx-IzC6m0okWCEepYQYVcVPD-gdc4eMrcs0nZpM6aNKmbk_J_8/s640/thefuture.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excerpt from <a href="http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/bttf4th.pdf" target="_blank">Back to the Future script</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As this tweet was repeated around the Internet, it got misconstrued and 2 days later resulted in a slightly less true tweet from the magazine Total Film:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi22e3dSShu6iGJyT7Z_NwVl4nUwlAvcIokwX0NDIkRDPus4bcOuZp8wa2EHy7zG2HX99gsKp9PGG21S9f9D5o1L-YoPkNGxo407Z76virTl9nilOqNY4xNT_88HGOHvNLn-JDtJ3bWT8I/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-12+at+1.01.36+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi22e3dSShu6iGJyT7Z_NwVl4nUwlAvcIokwX0NDIkRDPus4bcOuZp8wa2EHy7zG2HX99gsKp9PGG21S9f9D5o1L-YoPkNGxo407Z76virTl9nilOqNY4xNT_88HGOHvNLn-JDtJ3bWT8I/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-12+at+1.01.36+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original <a href="https://twitter.com/totalfilm/status/17780595740" target="_blank">tweet</a> from Total Film</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The Total Film followers knew enough to call foul play, and Total Film realized they had shared some bad information. To acknowledge their mistake, they Photoshopped this image and posting it along with a description:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmXSDwZT6efZCzrLh3I-w-54yrapdbU3T4SzFt8G_yYSHcwYyJdo6hGwF3W9at1dz1AXHMZQhC2GOy_Q1fn1S6NrRxzZDSspTFwOuj9vVuBLqNLF0azmKK5OANhnkg2dWemRnysHRLTc4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-12+at+1.14.00+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmXSDwZT6efZCzrLh3I-w-54yrapdbU3T4SzFt8G_yYSHcwYyJdo6hGwF3W9at1dz1AXHMZQhC2GOy_Q1fn1S6NrRxzZDSspTFwOuj9vVuBLqNLF0azmKK5OANhnkg2dWemRnysHRLTc4/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-12+at+1.14.00+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photoshopped image created and <a href="http://twitpic.com/22o4xk" target="_blank">posted</a> by Total Film</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"We got it wrong. Apparently 5th July 2010 isn't mentioned in Back to the Future. So we went back and changed it."</blockquote>
<br />
This was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek joke to admit they were wrong, but the photo got taken out of context and went viral within 24 hours, with lots of people foolishly thinking it was real. The next day Total Film wrote <a href="http://www.totalfilm.com/news/back-to-the-future-hoax-we-confess/" target="_blank">a follow-up</a> explaining what happened, but the damage was already done.<br />
<br />
Since then this has happened several other times, including another on June 27th, 2012, started as a marketing ploy by Simply Tap.<br />
<br />
I'm hoping this won't happen again because, I mean, come ON:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr_sz9ZI1pNWZdw8eVa-pkpOr5PhkOFiu24afDRG0RBT-PWzQuFbvh0vjaHjPWWSwCWXjFB8V2ruCPixnjC0kKY-CVQTkEORJiHIHs0Hm7fe61SXNvVDLOl3DO8gpuFPuMwXlIyV-r_cs/s1600/doctored4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr_sz9ZI1pNWZdw8eVa-pkpOr5PhkOFiu24afDRG0RBT-PWzQuFbvh0vjaHjPWWSwCWXjFB8V2ruCPixnjC0kKY-CVQTkEORJiHIHs0Hm7fe61SXNvVDLOl3DO8gpuFPuMwXlIyV-r_cs/s640/doctored4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
But in case it does happen again, you can always check out <a href="http://www.martymclie.com/">www.MartyMcLIE.com</a> for a daily updated image to see if it's legit.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi43gKEd7opoPa_58d15l-Pc-gsXj16aI9wv29GHWPPf4__hJ1OrnVfUxN7dNiztPj3dSyuHwYIE2t0Y_aGzUVxJ-sms9w0qFqXsveTPVGvRC_LKyhFBomcG54mQWVOCcg5jfZKVJpZpdM/s1600/130412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi43gKEd7opoPa_58d15l-Pc-gsXj16aI9wv29GHWPPf4__hJ1OrnVfUxN7dNiztPj3dSyuHwYIE2t0Y_aGzUVxJ-sms9w0qFqXsveTPVGvRC_LKyhFBomcG54mQWVOCcg5jfZKVJpZpdM/s640/130412.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Here's another site with a live clock countdown:</div>
<a href="http://www.october212015.com/">http://www.october212015.com/</a><br />
<br />
I really hope people learn to fact check and be accountable for the furthering of information. The Internet is a powerful tool when used right, but an equally dangerous tool when misused. So just for that, I'm also including a link to <a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/eae26bb96d/bill-murray-in-fcu-fact-checkers-unit-from-peteandbrian-and-bill-murray" target="_blank">this Bill Murray video</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
And a special thanks to these sites:<br />
<a href="http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/bttf.asp">http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/hoaxes/bttf.asp</a><br />
<a href="http://mashable.com/2012/06/27/back-to-the-future-hoax/">http://mashable.com/2012/06/27/back-to-the-future-hoax/</a><br />
<a href="http://posterous.richardcunningham.co.uk/clearing-up-the-back-to-the-future-mis-inform">http://posterous.richardcunningham.co.uk/clearing-up-the-back-to-the-future-mis-inform</a><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Ignore this:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">January 1, January 2, January 3, January 4, January 5, January 6, January 7, January 8, January 9, January 10, January 11, January 12, January 13, January 14, January 15, January 16, January 17, January 18, January 19, January 20, January 21, January 22, January 23, January 24, January 25, January 26, January 27, January 28, January 29, January 30, January 31, February 1, February 2, February 3, February 4, February 5, February 6, February 7, February 8, February 9, February 10, February 11, February 12, February 13, February 14, February 15, February 16, February 17, February 18, February 19, February 20, February 21, February 22, February 23, February 24, February 25, February 26, February 27, February 28, March 1, March 2, March 3, March 4, March 5, March 6, March 7, March 8, March 9, March 10, March 11, March 12, March 13, March 14, March 15, March 16, March 17, March 18, March 19, March 20, March 21, March 22, March 23, March 24, March 25, March 26, March 27, March 28, March 29, March 30, March 31, April 1, April 2, April 3, April 4, April 5, April 6, April 7, April 8, April 9, April 10, April 11, April 12, April 13, April 14, April 15, April 16, April 17, April 18, April 19, April 20, April 21, April 22, April 23, April 24, April 25, April 26, April 27, April 28, April 29, April 30, May 1, May 2, May 3, May 4, May 5, May 6, May 7, May 8, May 9, May 10, May 11, May 12, May 13, May 14, May 15, May 16, May 17, May 18, May 19, May 20, May 21, May 22, May 23, May 24, May 25, May 26, May 27, May 28, May 29, May 30, May 31, June 1, June 2, June 3, June 4, June 5, June 6, June 7, June 8, June 9, June 10, June 11, June 12, June 13, June 14, June 15, June 16, June 17, June 18, June 19, June 20, June 21, June 22, June 23, June 24, June 25, June 26, June 27, June 28, June 29, June 30, July 1, July 2, July 3, July 4, July 5, July 6, July 7, July 8, July 9, July 10, July 11, July 12, July 13, July 14, July 15, July 16, July 17, July 18, July 19, July 20, July 21, July 22, July 23, July 24, July 25, July 26, July 27, July 28, July 29, July 30, July 31, August 1, August 2, August 3, August 4, August 5, August 6, August 7, August 8, August 9, August 10, August 11, August 12, August 13, August 14, August 15, August 16, August 17, August 18, August 19, August 20, August 21, August 22, August 23, August 24, August 25, August 26, August 27, August 28, August 29, August 30, August 31, September 1, September 2, September 3, September 4, September 5, September 6, September 7, September 8, September 9, September 10, September 11, September 12, September 13, September 14, September 15, September 16, September 17, September 18, September 19, September 20, September 21, September 22, September 23, September 24, September 25, September 26, September 27, September 28, September 29, September 30, October 1, October 2, October 3, October 4, October 5, October 6, October 7, October 8, October 9, October 10, October 11, October 12, October 13, October 14, October 15, October 16, October 17, October 18, October 19, October 20, October 21, October 22, October 23, October 24, October 25, October 26, October 27, October 28, October 29, October 30, October 31, November 1, November 2, November 3, November 4, November 5, November 6, November 7, November 8, November 9, November 10, November 11, November 12, November 13, November 14, November 15, November 16, November 17, November 18, November 19, November 20, November 21, November 22, November 23, November 24, November 25, November 26, November 27, November 28, November 29, November 30, December 1, December 2, December 3, December 4, December 5, December 6, December 7, December 8, December 9, December 10, December 11, December 12, December 13, December 14, December 15, December 16, December 17, December 18, December 19, December 20, December 21, December 22, December 23, December 24, December 25, December 26, December 27, December 28, December 29, December 30, December 31,.</span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir9QDwlRMZivZ5z-yv5KJKzvMeHFFKeO9Nqjdk3wTarg_AmtaOJbJRfGuFBwNPIoTZXqYTnDsE_sA4tze6WD4LqDIM2Z2vCflN7vzrND85rYgW-HZG4J4UOE39Iv7WDfjcUJYFs92NoPw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-08+at+10.27.47+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir9QDwlRMZivZ5z-yv5KJKzvMeHFFKeO9Nqjdk3wTarg_AmtaOJbJRfGuFBwNPIoTZXqYTnDsE_sA4tze6WD4LqDIM2Z2vCflN7vzrND85rYgW-HZG4J4UOE39Iv7WDfjcUJYFs92NoPw/s200/Screen+Shot+2013-04-08+at+10.27.47+PM.png" width="197" /></a></div>
Last year, a friend told me about an event in the Bay Area called <a href="http://walkthecommute.com/" target="_blank">The Commute</a>. It is a 24-hour fitness challenge where you walk from San Jose to San Francisco, for a total 52 miles. It's not a competition and it's not for a charity - it's just a well organized event to bring people together and help them walk a ridiculously long distance. It seemed random and crazy and right up my alley, so I happily signed up!<br />
<br />
During the walk, I posted a few Facebook status updates of my progress and people wrote comments wishing me luck and telling me I could do it! I started re-reading the messages as the walk got more difficult, and they became a big source of motivation for me. I ultimately walked 46 miles before I had to stop, just 6 miles shy of the finish line. <br />
<br />
The Commute was important because it taught me that limitations can be
self-imposed and, more importantly, can be broken. I walked further than I ever thought
possible and suddenly it felt like everything in my life was within reach. In the months that followed I went skydiving, ran a half marathon, and raced in my first Tough Mudder. The Commute motivated me to do all of that, and changed my perspective on what I thought was possible. And I have to wonder, if my life changed that positively from failing to finish the course last year, what would happen this year if I succeed?<br />
<br />
This year, along with aiming to cross the finish line, I also have set a goal to use social media to keep my friends and family up-to-date on my progress. Leading up to the event, I will be researching different apps and websites that can help me post real-time location and health stats along the way. I think this could be a fun experiment for using the Internet "in the field", and I'm hoping I'll learn a thing or two along the way (besides how to treat blisters).<br />
<br />
If you have any suggestions for web tracking apps or solar powered USB chargers, I welcome any messages! Also if you're in the Bay Area and want to learn more information about the event, check out <a href="http://www.walkthecommute.com/">www.walkthecommute.com</a>. It is a great personal challenge and a wonderful eye-opener, and is definitely worth asking yourself the question, "Could I walk 50 miles in 24 hours?".<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeZqiHtzkSRsrtJOh8A1DLhmlu7Phi9kojfnkR_Rq7G_oxwwC1EoNkk6cXmf_vqy3Sb-RJbqS7bu9biXfOtempw1w4nG4P2PkKSNu2vVDyS1pxwibqst-mU_Hsqs0UJNkM2NPO6Ckwnz0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-08+at+9.55.06+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeZqiHtzkSRsrtJOh8A1DLhmlu7Phi9kojfnkR_Rq7G_oxwwC1EoNkk6cXmf_vqy3Sb-RJbqS7bu9biXfOtempw1w4nG4P2PkKSNu2vVDyS1pxwibqst-mU_Hsqs0UJNkM2NPO6Ckwnz0/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-08+at+9.55.06+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The route from San Jose to San Francisco</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibyKWiFVBQvnXMrOhWD-HQk8IrRneaPMcjrOyehq3gXsjc5ZFSiVJsXr4fDKK54gyLJ5obZMP_mWMkhmp5_a7n7XAMXx4cE36Zsh3IfJ2fVGysvSLygoaUCwEmtN2CtOwX0O0kp2yP3s/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-08+at+10.18.31+PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My personal finish line </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK0nGixP5c_SG3xU7LIK9Bpw4nJVt-rtjRfHVBeS4F9P4gco_0nslLwBBHayoSa8VY93oxJ2-HRk6gwU9JSUyvq7WQkK_DeOLWL40NVweTyaLz4m-USTiy_sUaNqLsQUrwYxDm1Uft2IE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-08+at+10.29.29+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK0nGixP5c_SG3xU7LIK9Bpw4nJVt-rtjRfHVBeS4F9P4gco_0nslLwBBHayoSa8VY93oxJ2-HRk6gwU9JSUyvq7WQkK_DeOLWL40NVweTyaLz4m-USTiy_sUaNqLsQUrwYxDm1Uft2IE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-08+at+10.29.29+PM.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My feet after walking for 24 hours</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijFKA-xeU2kJlGY1SR1JSGPqOHVva9nU7ilOzuWPM2hK-CmiyJMmTOEPMehGWV6w0rP9mKu-DPIWdlLvPFRPizrIF-qPOcUw9JyGxfqZH6HEqSq0x1qpNBiYh-YMdy9TwW_R9lHqHmES4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-08+at+10.07.00+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijFKA-xeU2kJlGY1SR1JSGPqOHVva9nU7ilOzuWPM2hK-CmiyJMmTOEPMehGWV6w0rP9mKu-DPIWdlLvPFRPizrIF-qPOcUw9JyGxfqZH6HEqSq0x1qpNBiYh-YMdy9TwW_R9lHqHmES4/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-04-08+at+10.07.00+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My view of the sunrise as I made my way into San Francisco's Mission district</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
Every year you can usually count on Google, YouTube, ThinkGeek, and various other sites to launch advertisements for fake devices and products that are so close to real that sometimes you can't tell the difference.<br />
<br />
Without these pranks, we never would have been introduced to the term <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickrolling#April_Fools.27_Day.2C_2008" target="_blank">rickrolling</a>, which became a hit when YouTube set all their homepage videos to link to the now-famous Rick Astley song. And ThinkGeek never would have created this fake Star Wars tauntaun sleeping bag that was asked for in such high demand that <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/tauntaun/index.html" target="_blank">it ended up becoming a real product</a>!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5XudbJzj8uzQvMevVtnkrKxunpwMrJCPLgn-igqyghSnZAleJ5EUkxZ2Uiibk4HSCUzzZrLvLg7cg-gzX8_Sj6RKZWPhujNMMdQuULrPcp1CGrU9hpaYqN3-MofquCkBI97FyaRIJ_s/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-30+at+12.48.06+AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5XudbJzj8uzQvMevVtnkrKxunpwMrJCPLgn-igqyghSnZAleJ5EUkxZ2Uiibk4HSCUzzZrLvLg7cg-gzX8_Sj6RKZWPhujNMMdQuULrPcp1CGrU9hpaYqN3-MofquCkBI97FyaRIJ_s/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-03-30+at+12.48.06+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This sleeping bag can be yours now, just click <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/bb2e/?pfm=Search&t=star%20wars%20tauntaun%20sleeping%20bag#tabs" target="_blank">here</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Here are some of the best pranks released so far for 2013:<br />
<ul>
<li>Google has launched a new search feature called <a href="https://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/nose/" target="_blank">Google Nose</a>. By using photons and infrasound waves, they've claimed to have created a web-searchable version of "Smellavision". <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig4i01YRk_wiH4e3NtBks6-WVzRrpyY0o3l1fDOULEHrM_Ho63-HosDERQJhYaAo8lpm6nplKg2qn5YAUvAqV2wCDnrnPK-0O2YCln_nsN8Hc-MUcfGialqtjljxwcpC0I-ki2wjw8114/s1600/smells.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig4i01YRk_wiH4e3NtBks6-WVzRrpyY0o3l1fDOULEHrM_Ho63-HosDERQJhYaAo8lpm6nplKg2qn5YAUvAqV2wCDnrnPK-0O2YCln_nsN8Hc-MUcfGialqtjljxwcpC0I-ki2wjw8114/s1600/smells.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNGgK33y5rFLrDO25Z1c0Bj6ukR0EzdqHAZHSn01ojFdR68qyY92FVItOdsJGZ8qXPXbU9FLD9LUQUJg-bkTmVcLfJ7Pk_lGt2qxTl4kv6p3PB2zNbH0pW6Yhad6PN_6JyLg5o1PS1Q-M/s1600/aprilfoolsgoogle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNGgK33y5rFLrDO25Z1c0Bj6ukR0EzdqHAZHSn01ojFdR68qyY92FVItOdsJGZ8qXPXbU9FLD9LUQUJg-bkTmVcLfJ7Pk_lGt2qxTl4kv6p3PB2zNbH0pW6Yhad6PN_6JyLg5o1PS1Q-M/s400/aprilfoolsgoogle.jpg" width="400" /></a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>YouTube has released a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H542nLTTbu0" target="_blank">video</a> confessing that their company's mission for the last 8 years was to find the best video in the world. At midnight tonight, they will close down YouTube, delete all of its content, and start jurying which video is the winner. The results will be announced in 2023. The best part of this video are the interviews with YouTube "celebrities" from videos like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg" target="_blank">Evolution of Dance</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPDYj3IMkRI" target="_blank">Charlie Bit Me</a>, saying why they need to win this competition.</li>
</ul>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/H542nLTTbu0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<ul>
<li>Google Maps has released an interactive "Treasure Maps" mode of map viewing. Besides changing the standard view, they also changed the street view to appear as if looking through a telescope.</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQnRlZzWzR4d2ZnXr1ZISsyUw9g2QfmCnCrENwm9w_hE9MExvZ9LY1exzrmAE-v56q5Jw2LPUPkEuf7X3GhxsxDaZoa681PKxruGygtTw4UDYRzijnbTMjNiCivOABIKtVH6PrcDApx5I/s1600/map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQnRlZzWzR4d2ZnXr1ZISsyUw9g2QfmCnCrENwm9w_hE9MExvZ9LY1exzrmAE-v56q5Jw2LPUPkEuf7X3GhxsxDaZoa681PKxruGygtTw4UDYRzijnbTMjNiCivOABIKtVH6PrcDApx5I/s1600/map.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkoiwr-w0qbjGVwKwQvDRtCBzI3zZGg4y1bwIeWuZMNsQK7Ry1RTdrLMJsihdU1IqkOHEF6jt3lsBQ1apAR0iCO0m-mjkxHNgH0ZKXubJTHr_mN5gpR7e89UZD57kw-2DdJn3KfdATHG0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-31+at+9.24.31+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkoiwr-w0qbjGVwKwQvDRtCBzI3zZGg4y1bwIeWuZMNsQK7Ry1RTdrLMJsihdU1IqkOHEF6jt3lsBQ1apAR0iCO0m-mjkxHNgH0ZKXubJTHr_mN5gpR7e89UZD57kw-2DdJn3KfdATHG0/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-03-31+at+9.24.31+PM.png" width="400" /> </a></div>
<ul>
<li>Virgin Airlines has announced <a href="http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/blog/virgin-atlantic-launches-worlds-first-ever-glass-bottomed-plane" target="_blank">the launch of a new "glass bottomed plane"</a> in a blog post written by Richard Branson. </li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqao2KGto2vL1XoQN16HT2SBUua_qPwcDSNpPv_qQhk9KFOfm4PffYU70SeBAy8uw8fDIG1_5k7gNoddAuM1GcgAcu2mYpM7YDeEE3_PIfG5U0Gta3Q00QhCCzewJNubKVXpGo3TsRw4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-31+at+9.21.17+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqao2KGto2vL1XoQN16HT2SBUua_qPwcDSNpPv_qQhk9KFOfm4PffYU70SeBAy8uw8fDIG1_5k7gNoddAuM1GcgAcu2mYpM7YDeEE3_PIfG5U0Gta3Q00QhCCzewJNubKVXpGo3TsRw4/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-03-31+at+9.21.17+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<ul>
<li>On his Facebook page, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/GeorgeTakei" target="_blank">George Takei</a> got fans in an uproar when he faked an announcement that he will be appearing in the upcoming Star Wars film.</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiomKiy0wLJpo7k5NtKCqNzavD7TrW57gTL8llQlzTaltk1T9y8s5rEuxsp_3o0M1dJMnxPHU_b1K46nSnbGGGskpXIEIlAw2MRLzmLZsN1pUI-n6QPRJdB8s2YwIPpFQgA6SG2qstWZwc/s1600/Takei.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiomKiy0wLJpo7k5NtKCqNzavD7TrW57gTL8llQlzTaltk1T9y8s5rEuxsp_3o0M1dJMnxPHU_b1K46nSnbGGGskpXIEIlAw2MRLzmLZsN1pUI-n6QPRJdB8s2YwIPpFQgA6SG2qstWZwc/s640/Takei.jpg" width="376" /> </a></div>
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<ul>
<li>Twitter <a href="http://blog.twitter.com/2013/03/annncng-twttr.html" target="_blank">announced</a> that their site is now becoming a vowel-free zone, and anyone wanting to use vowels has to pay for their new premium service for $5 a month. They even made a handy site to remove the vowels for you: <a href="https://discover.twitter.com/twttr/">https://discover.twitter.com/twttr/</a></li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi06PEDrfw2EOFF0QN9McEUN9Wa0Vubhyrtq2YVuy6Uy4ez4KGItPSqPXJi1Tljmfyqm2cwA2NXyiGmHWrlAsTR0Isuv37YWqueGGyAt9-E6XsSSqXaraDezhDOBciAJC3m665TnxWhw74/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-31+at+10.23.55+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi06PEDrfw2EOFF0QN9McEUN9Wa0Vubhyrtq2YVuy6Uy4ez4KGItPSqPXJi1Tljmfyqm2cwA2NXyiGmHWrlAsTR0Isuv37YWqueGGyAt9-E6XsSSqXaraDezhDOBciAJC3m665TnxWhw74/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-03-31+at+10.23.55+PM.png" width="400" /> </a></div>
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<ul>
<li>Hulu is featuring shows on their homepage like "Itchy & Scratchy" and "The Rural Juror", all of which are fake shows that exist within real shows.</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWHrFZK6MippLBlQiItXxPCW8n1IRdyHw-IHleST5hPTdf8yH440_sw274njD-YZVovmbiuKgPe5qhnbE3M5uMXuNSkp9YhcWaW-v7W0PEIzFB4_fJdfOtTNBZd7nlxeG4tvW_KBTHwfk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-31+at+11.31.39+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWHrFZK6MippLBlQiItXxPCW8n1IRdyHw-IHleST5hPTdf8yH440_sw274njD-YZVovmbiuKgPe5qhnbE3M5uMXuNSkp9YhcWaW-v7W0PEIzFB4_fJdfOtTNBZd7nlxeG4tvW_KBTHwfk/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-03-31+at+11.31.39+PM.png" width="400" /> </a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4ho0-DjQVqieOpqyMdp5OeyZ2giX2KPcyIDr0NSe7NGFP9FetvJTLtVhCVfZ7rBY4Q12IocHCWMoM4qAehA7LnJSyuKkGHvwwg_c9THL4q6Of6F31ggMTwMPVG3_Xc7IfHKSVDps_-U/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-31+at+11.36.48+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4ho0-DjQVqieOpqyMdp5OeyZ2giX2KPcyIDr0NSe7NGFP9FetvJTLtVhCVfZ7rBY4Q12IocHCWMoM4qAehA7LnJSyuKkGHvwwg_c9THL4q6Of6F31ggMTwMPVG3_Xc7IfHKSVDps_-U/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-31+at+11.36.48+PM.png" /> </a></div>
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<ul>
<li>Reddit posted an <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/1berav/when_this_post_is_1hr_old_reddit_will_go_down_for/" target="_blank">announcement</a> that they will be down for maintenance starting at midnight tonight. Sadly for Reddit users, this is more of a heart-stopping worst-fear-realized than a lighthearted prank. Stay strong, Redditors! <br /><i>(UPDATE: The site actually did go offline for less than 5 minutes, with a note to "Go outside, Redditors". And the admin posted an update that he really did have to do maintenance because a database master died today. Meeps, maybe not an AF joke after all...)</i></li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLJmpx7ZMNRlF-o3RtmN8Qw7rv3rr2XMLG3U1Y7vHfyatmWEvhHVk95xpr9qNkZdOl579-1Nu-T988V4rC6yBko0p5ib8Qye2H02kMPY4ZxXOp0txnia_bVZU8XG2lM5DwAQTAAxSVzsM/s1600/reddit2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLJmpx7ZMNRlF-o3RtmN8Qw7rv3rr2XMLG3U1Y7vHfyatmWEvhHVk95xpr9qNkZdOl579-1Nu-T988V4rC6yBko0p5ib8Qye2H02kMPY4ZxXOp0txnia_bVZU8XG2lM5DwAQTAAxSVzsM/s640/reddit2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<ul>
<li>Imgur (an image sharing site) <a href="http://imgur.com/blog/2013/04/01/upload-via-snail-mail/" target="_blank">announced today</a> that users can now upload photos by sending them in the mail. A reply will be sent within 2-3 weeks with their URL, which they can call their friends and family to inform them of.</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_2flwaUsJDowgbfEyir-7jO8bus0y4tvPIrT8A03v8uAiK7u-ALDFTLBAPUMKfgAQMKWegzSz7OHPfV0KWgVIQH5ej65fx7KpaJTdDaJCWrOxtBMYvH4lF9ASTDQaRkIsiI_GFCfT3qM/s1600/imgur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_2flwaUsJDowgbfEyir-7jO8bus0y4tvPIrT8A03v8uAiK7u-ALDFTLBAPUMKfgAQMKWegzSz7OHPfV0KWgVIQH5ej65fx7KpaJTdDaJCWrOxtBMYvH4lF9ASTDQaRkIsiI_GFCfT3qM/s1600/imgur.jpg" /></a></div>
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<ul>
<li>Google Analytics (a reporting tool for Internet traffic) <a href="http://analytics.blogspot.com/2013/04/updating-export-and-send-features-to.html" target="_blank">claims</a> to be rolling out new legacy tools to help share content using older technology, like CD-ROMs and telegraphs.</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRE7qxAaxHLIe1N1kYGq2txUN6YJmg301BZwmPwK0qU9n9N9JEOm1GNPONyXn6BsOA0lXgEZzYyekcVvPTq2WWeKoseDd_DxmEkdkKxr1QS2rM-5HBcWvlxR5_t8llkrsqsKmukCAqX64/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-01+at+8.53.26+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRE7qxAaxHLIe1N1kYGq2txUN6YJmg301BZwmPwK0qU9n9N9JEOm1GNPONyXn6BsOA0lXgEZzYyekcVvPTq2WWeKoseDd_DxmEkdkKxr1QS2rM-5HBcWvlxR5_t8llkrsqsKmukCAqX64/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-04-01+at+8.53.26+AM.png" /></a></div>
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<ul>
<li>ThinkGeek has continued its tradition of <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/" target="_blank">posting</a> bogus items for sale. Sorry Batman :(</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimfd3GwfWczcx9qHjrbbFAK5cOdZTdhotR_a-9HpeTXLGzhpoXkTAMT4jK78MnpvY134e43u8tMQ7vJrmp2msqpuYfxFLcp-_RbgJ2w1bXwZGpJq_v_ycKYY_YGULmEfHz0u3oyVa_-sY/s1600/batman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimfd3GwfWczcx9qHjrbbFAK5cOdZTdhotR_a-9HpeTXLGzhpoXkTAMT4jK78MnpvY134e43u8tMQ7vJrmp2msqpuYfxFLcp-_RbgJ2w1bXwZGpJq_v_ycKYY_YGULmEfHz0u3oyVa_-sY/s400/batman.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
To see more jokes as the day goes on, check out the site <a href="http://aprilfoolsdayontheweb.com/2013.html" target="_blank">April Fools' Day on the Web</a>, or their Facebook group <a href="http://www.facebook.com/AprFoolsDay" target="_blank">April Fools Day</a>. Also check out <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/1185?playlist_id=1618#i0,p0" target="_blank">this Simpsons clip</a> which explains the origin of the holiday.<br />
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Happy April Fools' Day, y'all!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
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<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZUi1sLiT9QFEmt0cs81jlP45xi2P2PoW2pHZZGIZlDSHiNranXLDikyVh-D5B4ZKtEVMI6BZi3Hhyphenhyphen65owb68j72-wECykadegaAFKO4a5Vpk3zfnz6dViq4L1JLAi0jv7obo-db7orpM/s1600/Page_Views_one_month+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZUi1sLiT9QFEmt0cs81jlP45xi2P2PoW2pHZZGIZlDSHiNranXLDikyVh-D5B4ZKtEVMI6BZi3Hhyphenhyphen65owb68j72-wECykadegaAFKO4a5Vpk3zfnz6dViq4L1JLAi0jv7obo-db7orpM/s320/Page_Views_one_month+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a>Last month I experienced my first surge of viewers because of <a href="http://thebigsocialpicture.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-oscar-protest-that-you-didnt-know.html" target="_blank">this blog post</a>. Afterward I was able to write an analysis of my blog's design and content, in terms of what lent itself to the success versus what didn't really work (check out the above link for this post).<br />
<br />
This Tuesday I had a small but noticeable surge of viewers from <a href="http://thebigsocialpicture.blogspot.com/2013/03/equal-signs-for-equal-rights.html" target="_blank">a new blog post</a>, and again have found myself analyzing my blog and making changes to enhance functionality. Here are my 6 new suggestions after this week's experience:<br />
<br />
1. <b>Create a Facebook page for your blog</b> - Since most people already have Facebook accounts, it seems logical to create a page that people can "like" to receive updates about your blog. You can post links every time a new post is written, and share fun tidbits along the way (on my page I'm planning to share metrics and interesting stats that I come across). You also can write comments and post on other people's walls under that account name, so you can have legitimacy and continue getting your name out there (for example, when I share a blog link on someone else's wall/page I can post as "The Big Social Picture").<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMFtPYngwtYMMH30DaDcP0Ic75pf8eei6aB57T845pRXWIo72NPgvAgLEFWkYU7eO_VDUmu42DkD5DB9P_AgJEJg7XaA3rprI5R9cPvyjBLCorM26mqjTLaK8XiJO-1JV39qU5CJAWSEk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-29+at+12.59.14+AM+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMFtPYngwtYMMH30DaDcP0Ic75pf8eei6aB57T845pRXWIo72NPgvAgLEFWkYU7eO_VDUmu42DkD5DB9P_AgJEJg7XaA3rprI5R9cPvyjBLCorM26mqjTLaK8XiJO-1JV39qU5CJAWSEk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-29+at+12.59.14+AM+copy.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Check out the new Facebook page here:</i> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/TheBigSocialPicture">www.facebook.com/TheBigSocialPicture</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
2. <b>Add a Facebook "Like" button directly onto your blog</b> - While it's easy to understand why this should appear on a page, it was much harder to understand how to add it. This is a social plugin from Facebook, which you can see more types of <a href="http://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/" target="_blank">here</a>. Unfortunately the instructions don't explain how to add it to various blog platforms, and I got in way over my head in HTML formatting and languages I'm not familiar with. Luckily a Google search brought up a <a href="http://thatsblogging.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-to-add-facebook-like-box-to-blogger.html" target="_blank">blog post from ThatsBlogging</a>, which gave step-by-step instructions for adding the link to a Blogger account, and I was able to add this beauty:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp8ytcgCk01WBGVkUY2sdBhz555R1huxi3UeyYVj3YoL2Ey3DRv2uk_Rufelx_97bi2hskBjZzPtk8c2nB7DBPhmQgUwcOQzUMk8agEmNQ-DSwfLXNeb_j-NrZozeJVTSaruOQodKWkaU/s1600/NotAButton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp8ytcgCk01WBGVkUY2sdBhz555R1huxi3UeyYVj3YoL2Ey3DRv2uk_Rufelx_97bi2hskBjZzPtk8c2nB7DBPhmQgUwcOQzUMk8agEmNQ-DSwfLXNeb_j-NrZozeJVTSaruOQodKWkaU/s1600/NotAButton.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Actual button appears on the right sidebar along the top :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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3. <b>Google a phrase from your blog to see if it shows up </b>- This isn't really something to do as much as just something interesting to try out. My Google Analytics data told me that over 1,000 people came to my page this week through a search engine. I didn't even know my page was showing up in searches, so it was fun to Google "equal signs on Facebook" and see where my page came up. At first it came up on the first page (which explains the traffic), but as the movement picked up more attention my site got pushed further down. <br />
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4. <b>Add buttons to make social media sharing easy</b> - This is another step that is easy to understand why to add it, but harder to understand how. Luckily, <a href="http://thatsblogging.blogspot.com/2013/03/add-floating-vertical-bar-with-share-buttons-to-blogger.html" target="_blank">ThatsBlogging </a>came to the rescue again with a how-to guide to add this widget to Blogger:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQy1Eh8XSkyB0VfTPIDWgQoKUCpMIhdnCxtVZpr0WyRMY6ErCp4ICgc8kvYyyPTzgG1Bh9vverY7eitmpDzCCOuylMDkS4WC02_dq4zher3LKv2eAjzhwOy72ke9Yk8yPV-mpOKGMWEg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-28+at+11.53.44+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQy1Eh8XSkyB0VfTPIDWgQoKUCpMIhdnCxtVZpr0WyRMY6ErCp4ICgc8kvYyyPTzgG1Bh9vverY7eitmpDzCCOuylMDkS4WC02_dq4zher3LKv2eAjzhwOy72ke9Yk8yPV-mpOKGMWEg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-28+at+11.53.44+PM.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Actual button appears on the left sidebar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
5. <b>Add a page counter that tallies each blog post individually</b> - I don't know how to do this yet on Blogger, but I'm hoping it's not impossible. I think individual pageview counts would be useful to share with viewers, because it gives each post validity and can be fun to track when a site is getting a lot of traffic. I know this data exists in Blogger because it appears in my Admin view, but I haven't found a way to share that number on my blog. Stay tuned, I am hoping to figure something out soon!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSNtPkaZ9Z9iwKjf5H2gMzeRAVZXU86uPGRvaJpJBc9jFfBXR_OloksmzNlJ7gU9T_dnZiG3Cr2G11WRfPM37Cth04-ovUDczmuvYsuCFtt8qgq2EYwOT7FH2I_T5W4jMJlz1zX2wn4QE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-29+at+12.10.06+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSNtPkaZ9Z9iwKjf5H2gMzeRAVZXU86uPGRvaJpJBc9jFfBXR_OloksmzNlJ7gU9T_dnZiG3Cr2G11WRfPM37Cth04-ovUDczmuvYsuCFtt8qgq2EYwOT7FH2I_T5W4jMJlz1zX2wn4QE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-29+at+12.10.06+AM.png" /></a></div>
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<br />
And last but not least...<br />
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6. <b>Add UTM parameters to track your links </b>- This is only relevant if you are using Google Analytics to measure your traffic, and if you plan to share your link on a few different sites. If you are about to share your link to a new location, you can append some text to the URL that will track how many people click on that specific link. This is known as Campaigning and it is helpful in telling you what locations were the most successful. <br />
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To add text to your URL, copy and paste this exact text to the end of your link (or use <a href="http://support.google.com/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1033867&rd=1" target="_blank">this Google URL Builder</a> link):<br />
<ul></ul>
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id=".reactRoot[82].[1][2][1]{comment344968685619840_1678150}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2]"><span class="UFICommentBody" id=".reactRoot[82].[1][2][1]{comment344968685619840_1678150}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2].0">?utm_source=<span style="color: red;">facebook</span>&utm_medium=<span style="color: red;">dunno</span>&utm_campaign=<span style="color: red;">insert-cool-note-to-self-here</span></span></span><br />
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The red text is variable, and can be swapped out for anything you want to say, as long as you don't use capital letters or spaces. When all is said and done, you should have a painfully long link like this one:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://thebigsocialpicture.blogspot.com/2013/03/preparing-your-blog-for-increased.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=dunno&utm_campaign=insert-cool-note-to-self-here"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id=".reactRoot[82].[1][2][1]{comment344968685619840_1678150}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2]"><span class="UFICommentBody" id=".reactRoot[82].[1][2][1]{comment344968685619840_1678150}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2].0">http://thebigsocialpicture.blogspot.com/2013/03/preparing-your-blog-for-increased.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=dunno&utm_campaign=</span></span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id=".reactRoot[82].[1][2][1]{comment344968685619840_1678150}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2]"><span class="UFICommentBody" id=".reactRoot[82].[1][2][1]{comment344968685619840_1678150}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2].0">insert-cool-note-to-self-here</span></span></a><br />
<br />
Once you post this link somewhere, Google Analytics tracks who clicks on it, and breaks it down in your GA view:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HCdl01sMu3pOndLL6Pv1Z6reIO4bqDT9e_2iBm9lcq5zw7pkxrNGBJb_HSL4NQaewAXrtS8gyMDxeiTcX3fqHs6glfBJM-v3bHrares_bu7arog7BAVL1iBGdttitWm5RWPOVv1_BSE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-29+at+12.35.02+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HCdl01sMu3pOndLL6Pv1Z6reIO4bqDT9e_2iBm9lcq5zw7pkxrNGBJb_HSL4NQaewAXrtS8gyMDxeiTcX3fqHs6glfBJM-v3bHrares_bu7arog7BAVL1iBGdttitWm5RWPOVv1_BSE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-29+at+12.35.02+AM.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
<br />
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I don't have a lot of experience tagging links, but I'm excited to give this a try. For more information, check out this blog on <a href="http://blog.kissmetrics.com/how-to-use-utm-parameters/" target="_blank">how to add UTM parameters</a>. Or watch <a href="http://www.seomoz.org/blog/why-google-analytics-tagging-matters-whiteboard-friday#jtc214812?utm_source=thebigsocialpicture.blogspot.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=rachaels+sisters+blog" target="_blank">this SEOmoz video</a> on the importance of tagging your content, which my sister made after my first post went viral.<br />
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I hope these tips are helpful for you, please let me know if you have anything to add.<br />
Happy blogging!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_NQ2TncXuWtBZVBSD-98q9i56KZAICDhfocMkiUk63oJ7RemljiSy-w6cBybJt-4Am_lYvqdsL-6SnyIsIL9HcdalE_DSLNvX8r5ybZQUAeqtpjPhGHU2Ry4ZPa2Ny1bAi59AqS8mV0/s1600/392877_10151537774028281_1640657595_n.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_NQ2TncXuWtBZVBSD-98q9i56KZAICDhfocMkiUk63oJ7RemljiSy-w6cBybJt-4Am_lYvqdsL-6SnyIsIL9HcdalE_DSLNvX8r5ybZQUAeqtpjPhGHU2Ry4ZPa2Ny1bAi59AqS8mV0/s1600/392877_10151537774028281_1640657595_n.png" /></a></div>
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This profile pic is to show support of marriage equality for same-sex couples, while the US Supreme Court hears arguments this week for and against DOMA and California's Prop 8. <br />
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As we've seen <a href="http://thebigsocialpicture.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-oscar-protest-that-you-didnt-know.html" target="_blank">before</a>, changing your profile picture can be an effective way to raise awareness and get people talking about an issue. This movement was started by the Human Rights Campaign on their <a href="http://www.facebook.com/humanrightscampaign" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>, and already has been shared over 30,000 times in 10 hours.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgguOV8yTgRpTa6EHX82P6rWZ3GsXEWqJn7IVNYiw7qN3IZj9-951VWG_M-xHdzQ4G8Ufh9jCsfqYE0suwrPcQq6KnBqdDxvban7QH0zNr033K9zVnpPo7yvO-Azwz4iU4bruuoD301HDI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-26+at+12.50.00+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgguOV8yTgRpTa6EHX82P6rWZ3GsXEWqJn7IVNYiw7qN3IZj9-951VWG_M-xHdzQ4G8Ufh9jCsfqYE0suwrPcQq6KnBqdDxvban7QH0zNr033K9zVnpPo7yvO-Azwz4iU4bruuoD301HDI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-26+at+12.50.00+AM.png" /></a></div>
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George Takei also posted about this movement on his <a href="http://www.facebook.com/georgehtakei" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>. With over 4 million followers, he has an influential voice on the Internet which is certainly helping to spread awareness.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8rLMiyMYgyu9TfJDVPYZi3FLossD1gxZlLGXilvlfJpbGi8G3uGud0b6D7CSkD1yNRIRAQ5QH83pJ6302i-KxcviWYgieWXoCAajkORxMFTVugDbfMLIa6rdlgVoQpyezEjTlfpN5odY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-26+at+1.38.43+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8rLMiyMYgyu9TfJDVPYZi3FLossD1gxZlLGXilvlfJpbGi8G3uGud0b6D7CSkD1yNRIRAQ5QH83pJ6302i-KxcviWYgieWXoCAajkORxMFTVugDbfMLIa6rdlgVoQpyezEjTlfpN5odY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-26+at+1.38.43+AM.png" /></a></div>
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<b>What is Prop 8?</b><br />
Prop 8, which passed in California in 2008, is meant to restrict a marriage to be between a man and a woman. It won by a small margin and took away rights for same-sex couples to marry under California law. Even though it passed, opponents have not stopped advocating against it, and it is now being evaluated by the US Supreme Court. Arguments for and against the act will be heard on Tuesday, March 26th, and a ruling will likely be made sometime in June.<br />
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<b>What is DOMA?</b><br />
The Defense of Marriage Act was a federal law enacted in 1996 which, like Prop 8, defines a legal marriage as between a man and a woman. Under this law, a state is not required to recognize a same-sex marriage from another state. Because it's a federal law, it affects large issues like tax, financial, and welfare benefits for same-sex couples. Although it was signed into effect by President Clinton, he is now a supporter of its repealing act, RFMA (Respect For Marriage Act).<br />
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<b>What can you do to help?</b><br />
Change your profile picture to raise awareness, and check out the <a href="http://www.hrc.org/StandForMarriage" target="_blank">HRC's website</a> to learn about local events and other ways to help. If you're not willing to help, you might enjoy <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8JsRx2lois" target="_blank">this video</a>.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrb7bJCVU1JamtWWQtQpkeKkEYDYRVaYViqt65PxvymHhc-1DxOdfo1OEoLZDD-Wl-s76QhF8mQWNlw6Kx528vP5DqfWxZCSdBsSppqq_t61aCMAFUuhSBWRPYQs3AHKRy_o9EeNrK60s/s1600/484210_10151331862996545_818974232_n.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrb7bJCVU1JamtWWQtQpkeKkEYDYRVaYViqt65PxvymHhc-1DxOdfo1OEoLZDD-Wl-s76QhF8mQWNlw6Kx528vP5DqfWxZCSdBsSppqq_t61aCMAFUuhSBWRPYQs3AHKRy_o9EeNrK60s/s320/484210_10151331862996545_818974232_n.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ariel and Joey Owens-Barham celebrating their nuptials</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Other links to learn more:<br />
<a href="http://www.hrc.org/StandForMarriage" target="_blank">The Human Rights Campaign website</a><br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/humanrightscampaign" target="_blank">The HRC's Facebook page which started the profile pic change </a><br />
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/26/politics/same-sex-marriage-court/index.html?hpt=hp_t1" target="_blank">CNN article about the complexity of the issue</a><br />
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/mar/25/supreme-court-gay-marriage-hearings" target="_blank">Guardian UK's comprehensive write-up, including possible outcomes </a><br />
Wikipedia pages: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8" target="_blank">Prop 8</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Marriage_Act" target="_blank">DOMA</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respect_for_Marriage_Act" target="_blank">RFMA</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
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<br />
The show has quickly gained a big social media presence, which is how I was first introduced to it. I saw a friend post about it on Facebook, and then saw a <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/17ts0m/no_fixed_episode_length_no_artificial/" target="_blank">Reddit</a></span> thread a few days later. I went from never having heard of it to thinking it was all around me and that I must watch it.<br />
<br />
So imagine my surprise when I learned that the show has only been out since February 1st (5 weeks ago)! From the buzz on the Internet, I had assumed it was out for a few months already, since usually that's how long it takes to build up that kind of momentum. So how did they do it so quickly?<br />
<br />
To answer that question, I did some "online research" (yes, that includes watching the show, but I also did some real research too). I discovered that this show's success is anything but luck. Netflix mined data from their own website metrics to create a formula for a successful show that would be geared towards their subscribers. With a combination of actors and director, and the moderate success of the originl British version of the show, <i>House of Cards</i> seemed to fit the formula, and so Netflix set their sights on it.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Ngh4izHvnwHgv2UQN5Y_WuBXVEpD_1MhdTxyVxMNliMczJPbhxVS6mxbdRXPb-iTXgr5ZU6V93pFvt0fNHmDZ-lqWM5BOB3elLhGjLPOvbFbBA9mXstON0_2QL1NUOTfVak_RDJ3wVU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-08+at+1.53.07+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Ngh4izHvnwHgv2UQN5Y_WuBXVEpD_1MhdTxyVxMNliMczJPbhxVS6mxbdRXPb-iTXgr5ZU6V93pFvt0fNHmDZ-lqWM5BOB3elLhGjLPOvbFbBA9mXstON0_2QL1NUOTfVak_RDJ3wVU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-08+at+1.53.07+AM.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The appealing criteria that motivated Netflix to outbid the other networks for <i>House of Cards</i>.<br />
Image from the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/business/media/for-house-of-cards-using-big-data-to-guarantee-its-popularity.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0" target="_blank">New York Times</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
They also made an unprecedented choice to release the entire first season all at once - all 13 episodes. By giving people the ability to "binge view" the entire season (don't pretend you don't know what that is), they condensed 3 months of content down to a possible 13 hours. This created what <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/02/what-netflix-can-teach-us-about-content-marketing/" target="_blank">Techcrunch</a> and <a href="http://www.outbrain.com/blog/2013/03/the-netflix-effect-on-content-marketing.html" target="_blank">Outbrain</a> call a hyper-engaged audience, and led to stronger advocates speaking on behalf of the show and ultimately an explosion of social media engagement. A pretty great viral marketing strategy, in my opinion.<br />
<br />
While Netflix had enough information to make an informed decision, it was still a risky move. They signed a 2-season contract for $100 million, and then released half of their content all at once, all without knowing how any of it would be received. The jury is still out on how successful the show actually is, since Netflix doesn't have to release its numbers to the public. But they have mentioned that it's the #1 watched show on Netflix, and their stock shows a promising spike in the last 2 months, presumably as a result:<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_HlhlItUvJUApGY1cZZHCzvaefkugWzYhBVkzL2L6ZaYOoVj5cGdie16zQ-H7toCWRIn5mYBiFYtSv42eE4JNBazJHd5oJbpFmsmFDfc1RsIlBClQ28t-khNGymcWeEAq_hxLVylxaks/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-08+at+2.07.31+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_HlhlItUvJUApGY1cZZHCzvaefkugWzYhBVkzL2L6ZaYOoVj5cGdie16zQ-H7toCWRIn5mYBiFYtSv42eE4JNBazJHd5oJbpFmsmFDfc1RsIlBClQ28t-khNGymcWeEAq_hxLVylxaks/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-08+at+2.07.31+AM.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Netflix NASDAQ (NFLX) stock chart shows gains over last 6 months.<br />
Image from Google Finance</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
All in all, Netflix saw favorable odds and bet their hand on <i>House of Cards</i>. And I'd say they won, not just by creating a successful show, but by rebelling against industry standards and introducing a fresh, new way to view content. In doing this, I wouldn't be surprised if they've changed the scope of television as we know it.<br />
<br />
<br />
Read more here:<br />
<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/02/what-netflix-can-teach-us-about-content-marketing/" target="_blank">What Netflix Can Teach Us About Online Marketing (Techcrunch)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/business/media/for-house-of-cards-using-big-data-to-guarantee-its-popularity.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0" target="_blank">Giving Viewers What They Want (New York Times)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/netflixs-house-cards-seeks-redefine-television" target="_blank">Netflix's House of Cards Seeks to Redefine Television (Marketplace) </a><br />
<a href="http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/sorting-through-house-of-cards-post-binge-817601/" target="_blank">Sorting Through 'House of Cards', post-binge (Variety) </a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT0wyjCWphw" target="_blank">And just for fun, the parody trailer for 'House of Cardinals'</a><br />
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<br />
My strategy didn't really consider sharing content on Facebook. I imagined that if I shared the link it would be widely ignored (which probably would have been true with any of my other posts). With so many people writing their own blogs nowadays, I thought it would just seem like spam and dilute the readability of my other Facebook posts, without actually driving that many people to read it.<br />
<br />
Last Sunday night, I found myself finishing up <a href="http://thebigsocialpicture.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-oscar-protest-that-you-didnt-know.html" target="_blank">a post about the Oscars</a> that I felt really proud of. It was topical, relevant, and something that I thought might actually interest a few of my friends. So for the first time since the inception of this blog, I posted a link to Facebook.<br />
<br />
Imagine my shock when the post escalated quickly through my friends, and on to their friends, ultimately driving over a QUARTER OF A MILLION views to my site (sorry, that had to be shouted). Once it picked up momentum there were other sites responsible, but I know I couldn't have done it without my Facebook network. For proof, here's a chart of the top 10 sites that referred people to my blog:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh3rDyEFc4K42S9WMy1Di0ZadmXsIiX37A_mx_ThdbXSvBXXDkSUJ9LcdG_JY1aRidwk129y1fdsTVW7TlYNz-9iAR8Oi8cPbXqVZtCSr-tYQkvbxc73-KhgoAEMDBdq9nP9zvKginu6Y/s1600/pi_chart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh3rDyEFc4K42S9WMy1Di0ZadmXsIiX37A_mx_ThdbXSvBXXDkSUJ9LcdG_JY1aRidwk129y1fdsTVW7TlYNz-9iAR8Oi8cPbXqVZtCSr-tYQkvbxc73-KhgoAEMDBdq9nP9zvKginu6Y/s1600/pi_chart.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All-time referral stats of Monday's Oscar post from Google Analytics<br />
(Facebook logo isn't actually displayed on GA's chart, I added that for clarity)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">It is HUGE that Facebook accounted for 67% of the total traffic to my blog. My post was the opposite of ignored. Theory, meet window.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJq2fZyjuqcroK8joxEjij0EQHsr49IIdezpxXDdWp0UMJ1_kph6ECl441n6AwAYTzglIZp9k2NB1F7G-BwzCoHSizvduxhvfB7QBbPNWf1P1g9GJzU41eP9LSuYSywouLp273C5tnWc/s1600/graphic2b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJq2fZyjuqcroK8joxEjij0EQHsr49IIdezpxXDdWp0UMJ1_kph6ECl441n6AwAYTzglIZp9k2NB1F7G-BwzCoHSizvduxhvfB7QBbPNWf1P1g9GJzU41eP9LSuYSywouLp273C5tnWc/s1600/graphic2b.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This past Monday was an unbelievable day for me, when I watched my newly written <a href="http://thebigsocialpicture.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-oscar-protest-that-you-didnt-know.html" target="_blank">blog post</a> reach 150,000 views in 24 hours. If there's one thing I learned, it's that at any given time your blog is just one good post away from reaching the masses.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I didn't expect it to ever explode so quickly, so there were some setup options that I overlooked when creating my blog. Looking back on it, I realize how lucky I was that I had at least the navigation and site structure figured out, because once it exploded it would have been too late to make any structural changes.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">In analyzing this, I also realized there are several factors that led to the success of the post. I thought I'd write a summary of them, in case anyone wants to benefit from my experience. I'm not claiming to be an expert on the subject, but I can say what did work for me. Best of luck!</span></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The 8 reasons why my blog post succeeded</span></u></div>
<ol>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Simple page design</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
– It was very important to me to create a layout design that was clean and easy to navigate. In fact, Blogspot is the third site that I tried hosting the blog on. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Previously I </span>tried Tumblr and then Wordpress, but neither one allowed me to customize it to the way I wanted. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I liked the aesthetic of Blogspot</span></span>, so last week I happily moved all my
content over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I hadn't switched over to this site, I
don't think I would have been prepared for the traffic I was about to get. If you want to see the failed designs, check out my inactive pages on <a href="http://partytricks2013.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Tumblr</a> or <a href="http://thebigsocialpicture.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Wordpress</a>.</span></li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Non-personalized blog name</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
– When I made the first version of my blog through Tumblr, I didn’t spend enough time
thinking of a good account name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
the first thing you do when creating a blog, but probably the last thing on
your mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that point I hadn’t
decided what my blog was going to focus on, and gave it a name that ultimately
didn’t work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I moved over to
Blogspot I was able to rename it to “The Big Social Picture”, and I am so glad
I did because I think it gave it legitimacy to have a succinct and non-personalized name. </span></li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Topic relevant to my social network</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> – When I shared my blog post on Facebook, it got re-posted and shared more times than I ever could have imagined. Several of my friends are in the VFX/film industry so my article appealed to them, and they
ended up being the platform that drove the link out to the Internet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I had written this about a topic that wasn’t
relevant to my network, I’m not sure it would have picked up the same
momentum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t aim for this kind of chain reaction when I
shared my post, but I am incredibly grateful for it.</span></li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Standalone content</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">– </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I made the realization a few days ago that every blog post should be inclusive to new readers. Between your author bio and your first paragraph of your blog, the reader should be up-to-speed enough for the post to make sense. When I wrote the post, I toned down the references to my social media project, and kept it related to the topic I was writing about. I think it helps the post come across as more genuine and direct.</span></li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Interesting title of post </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">–
I changed the title about 4 times before settling on “The Oscar protest that
you didn’t know happened”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought it
was too long (I don’t like that it takes up two lines on the Blog Archive sidebar), but
over the last day I’ve realized it actually is catchy and is something that could appeal to
anyone, not just people in the VFX industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Unbiased article </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">–
A few friends have mentioned to me that they appreciate the unbiased perspective
in the article.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it helped in
this case but doesn’t mean it’s necessary for a successful blog. Usually the
whole point of a blog is giving your own biased, subjective opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this case though, I wanted to look at all
sides and consider that it could be a blameless situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The article is more about presenting the
facts and documenting the social reaction to the issue.</span></li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Research and thoroughness</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> – The post took me about 4 hours to research, write, and
clean up images in Photoshop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few
times I told myself to stop working on it and go to bed, but luckily I tend to ignore that voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once the site started gaining viewers, I proofread
it with a fresh perspective and edited anything that wasn’t smooth (since I didn’t
want to show up on <a href="http://foraquarter.com/">foraquarter.com</a>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><b>Access to previous posts</b> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">–</span> I am really glad that I already had 12 other posts written before this one. If this had happened earlier in my blog's life, I would have missed out on engaging all those people to my other content. Once the site started peaking, I saw more hits go to my other posts, which they never could have gotten to on their own. It's cool to see how all of my posts benefited from the surge in viewers:</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhppKr7pbGWG79vni27_btQt9qFj9anlGFxkimW31_nkEq8TqDOKZCCHpVTUFRLMQ1emKJ_YBLqJOmpeO_H-SDUgQm4D5WzBQ2UChZpOkzxeF3XpifT_zFqWwmu9ytbuigHhfssBlWqSHo/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-02-27+at+4.18.47+AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhppKr7pbGWG79vni27_btQt9qFj9anlGFxkimW31_nkEq8TqDOKZCCHpVTUFRLMQ1emKJ_YBLqJOmpeO_H-SDUgQm4D5WzBQ2UChZpOkzxeF3XpifT_zFqWwmu9ytbuigHhfssBlWqSHo/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-02-27+at+4.18.47+AM.png" /></a></span></li>
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<br />
<u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The 4 things I wish I had done ahead of time</span></u></div>
<ol>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Added Page counter</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
– BP (before post), I didn’t have a page counter on the site, because it seemed
like a way of flaunting my failure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With
less than 50 views, I thought it would detract people from reading my posts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when the post took off, I was at work and
didn’t have time to study the page for what could be improved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I added the counter about halfway
through the day, but I wish I had it sooner because it gives a certain validity to the post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus, I think my friends
enjoyed being able to refresh it and watch t<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">he counter update</span>.</span></li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Set up Google Analytics (GA) to track statistics</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> – Blogspot comes with pretty handy built-in stat tracking,
but as the viewership grew my sister and I realized we wanted to see the realtime data, the
comprehensive list of referring websites, and the customizable charts/graphs that
GA provides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time we got it set up, the blog was
already a few hours into its climb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> Since GA can’t gather data retroactively, we missed out on the chance to track statistics on the first 3 hours when the post took off. It still caught the major spikes, but the rest would have been interesting to see too.<br /><i>Note: Want to set up GA on your blog but don't know how? Leave a message in the comments and we can discuss!</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Added "Follow me" button</b> - Again, I should have known to do this ahead of time, but it just seemed unnecessary when my post was being so quiet. I finally set this up midway through the day on Monday, but again I probably lost a good amount of potential followers in the first hours.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Considered monetizing blog with ads</b> - Google offers a program called AdSense, which puts relevant ads into your blog and pays profits for each click you bring them. You have to apply for approval with them, which took about 4 hours for me. In those hours, I imagined I was losing out on the rare opportunity to actually make money from a blog (although I was adding it with the intention of donating the proceeds towards the VFX cause). I ended up being declined anyway (not sure why), but it would have been nice to have that established ahead of time. </span></li>
</ol>
<ol>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That's everything, please let me know if you agree/disagree with anything. I'd love to hear other experiences or feedback!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>UPDATE: Check out the follow-up post called <a href="http://thebigsocialpicture.blogspot.com/2013/03/preparing-your-blog-for-increased.html" target="_blank">Preparing your blog for increased traffic (Part 2) </a></i></span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
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</script></div>The Big Social Picturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17067450765224670237noreply@blogger.com57tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1385730556378970333.post-36343520433108399302013-02-25T23:25:00.002-08:002013-03-29T21:56:12.429-07:00I reached 150,000 people in one day<br />
Wow. I never thought I'd get to write a blog post with that title! I started this blog so I could learn how to have a voice on the Internet, but I never imagined I'd be learning how to do it through my own success story. 24 hours ago, I had less than 50 total views on this site, which is fair because I only created it last month. And now less than a day later, I have a blog post that's been viewed over 148,000 times (and still counting).<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH6QBPngwLhrUKC_4WgsObg3fZA9btPbIn5V6gv2uxJjgZVn0w-4_D12qhDTr4iHmkwXCvFg61GtDOLnPXJXG_0_KMmBeEW6GHaN0KvFAzl2_PTbgGwVaTZvX0fFnXNalGrtj83mAWElE/s1600/GA_pageviews_yup2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH6QBPngwLhrUKC_4WgsObg3fZA9btPbIn5V6gv2uxJjgZVn0w-4_D12qhDTr4iHmkwXCvFg61GtDOLnPXJXG_0_KMmBeEW6GHaN0KvFAzl2_PTbgGwVaTZvX0fFnXNalGrtj83mAWElE/s1600/GA_pageviews_yup2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My site's metrics from today on Google Analytics<br />
(I didn't start tracking until 1 pm, which explains the spike)</td></tr>
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One great upside about this visibility is, this means I get to write a blog post about my blog post...how it started spreading, how I charted the progress on Google Analytics, and how fun little tidbits came up as the day unfolded (I even was asked to be interviewed for an article!). That post will come tomorrow, and is more related to my original project of <a href="http://thebigsocialpicture.blogspot.com/2013/01/my-introduction-to-social-media.html" target="_blank">learning how social media works</a>.<br />
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For now, I just want to make it clear that I did not write the article to capitalize on the misfortune of the VFX industry. I was heartbroken by the bankruptcy news, and wished I could be in LA to help rally during the protest. After the Oscars, I was trying to find more information about what happened, and was shocked at how little coverage there was online. As I accumulated more articles and started putting the pieces together, I decided to put it together into a post on my blog. I wanted to raise awareness, but I never thought it was going to take off the way it did.<br />
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In any case, here are some reasons why today's visibility was amazing:<br />
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1. <a href="http://www.facebook.com/VfxSolidarityIntl" target="_blank">VFX Solidarity's Facebook page</a> has gone up to 29,000 likes (from
7,000). And all of the fans look like this: <br />
<ol></ol>
<ol><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSlgfXxi8So4UeQmbJUvoUxjL9u3lkYg8aVK117q8bwDp2mLpT3lRUnZzy_gGFyIIwBtZdhxC67hlFKhJzb-bc5FGSGUw3Pw83Jw2LlSGPVM1hisxk7-8yqEJ1EajAIY44rIeMB4k89s/s1600/GA_friends_green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSlgfXxi8So4UeQmbJUvoUxjL9u3lkYg8aVK117q8bwDp2mLpT3lRUnZzy_gGFyIIwBtZdhxC67hlFKhJzb-bc5FGSGUw3Pw83Jw2LlSGPVM1hisxk7-8yqEJ1EajAIY44rIeMB4k89s/s1600/GA_friends_green.jpg" /></a></ol>
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2. Dialogues were started on several forums about the issue:<br />
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<li>Variety: <a href="http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118066500/" target="_blank">"Visual effects artists protest near Oscars"</a></li>
<li>SFGate: <a href="http://blog.sfgate.com/thebigevent/2013/02/25/biggest-oscars-snub-a-shark-attack-on-the-vfx-industry/?plckItemsPerPage=50&plckSort=TimeStampDescending" target="_blank">"Biggest Oscars snub: A shark attack on the VFX industry"</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CKtVKBmOR9w" target="_blank">This news highlight from NBC4</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.kcrw.com/media-player/mediaPlayer2.html?type=audio&id=tb130225vfx_industry_in_trou" target="_blank">This radio segment from NPR</a> (skip ahead to 10:17. Also can I call this an NPRticle?) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/1969o6/more_than_400_vfx_artists_protest_at_the_oscars/" target="_blank">This thread on Reddit</a> (A threadit?) </li>
<li><a href="http://beforevfx.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">This blog of famous movies without effects</a> (thanks <cite class="user"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/07488343746141380704" rel="nofollow">Hoenheim</a>)</cite></li>
<li>My own blog's 37 comments! </li>
</ul>
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3. This reason is more selfish. I got to text my family this morning to let them know about the post's popularity. To which one sister started tracking my website metrics, another sister started proofreading my older posts for typos, and my brother sent this witty response:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNAmfcklpKFo5dk2zXurtRIfrGh-yv2mQekMLawgDVb0hjhqxOVZn6zhImC5WTFauFfYwzYTZRl2Gd4uhDqrNrxNx0XDs5kJ9thlgJBllElo3JPEMKUEzIWfkC1oMp2weyC2qjpa76fFo/s1600/brother_text.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNAmfcklpKFo5dk2zXurtRIfrGh-yv2mQekMLawgDVb0hjhqxOVZn6zhImC5WTFauFfYwzYTZRl2Gd4uhDqrNrxNx0XDs5kJ9thlgJBllElo3JPEMKUEzIWfkC1oMp2weyC2qjpa76fFo/s320/brother_text.jpg" width="310" /></a></div>
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All in all, it's been a pretty incredible day, definitely one I'll never forget. Thank you Internet for letting me participate in your world. I hope to see you again soon. :)<br />
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Most viewers were unaware of this incident and most media outlets failed to report on it, but outside the Dolby Theater, there were over 400 picketers protesting the poor state of the visual effects industry. Although it was being ignored on the televised broadcast, it started gaining momentum online during the ceremony, and is finally getting the media attention it was lacking.<br />
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<b>So what is the protest about?</b><br />
The film Life of Pi was nominated for Visual Effects (and won!), but sadly the studio that did the effects for the movie (Rhythm & Hues) had to file for bankruptcy a few weeks ago, and laid off close to 250 employees. The protest was named "A Piece of the Pi" to show that the VFX studio behind the film wasn't getting their share of its success.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BDl8Up_CUAMht4a.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BDl8Up_CUAMht4a.jpg:large" width="498" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: @tvaziri (<a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-pre-embedded="true" dir="ltr" href="http://t.co/JjGOJ8zsQg">pic.twitter.com/JjGOJ8zsQg</a>)</td></tr>
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This tragic story is just one example of the poor state of the VFX industry. With overseas competition, domestic VFX houses have been surviving on less than 5% profit margins, and other studios have gone bankrupt as well (see: <a href="http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_st_lucie_county/port_st_lucie/digital-domain-layoffs-employees-still-picking-up-the-pieces-of-their-own-shattered-dreams" target="_blank">Digital Domain</a>). Supporters decided it was time to raise awareness to figure out how to stop this from continuing, so they set up a protest outside the Oscars.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMD2bd8Ei9aYQtXFFF87xFWKts3uczNkc2CBCbTaxHOSF0HpVjeI0062dcO_NLMo-bIC1K1tsBsSP-gmxWXsznLLO560rJpGNz3BSgNmmd_1s-HLTne-N1GNZkJkmSCTzXbw1_VNy_hQ/s1600/Protest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMD2bd8Ei9aYQtXFFF87xFWKts3uczNkc2CBCbTaxHOSF0HpVjeI0062dcO_NLMo-bIC1K1tsBsSP-gmxWXsznLLO560rJpGNz3BSgNmmd_1s-HLTne-N1GNZkJkmSCTzXbw1_VNy_hQ/s1600/Protest.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: <br />Left - http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/feb/25/oscars-protest-life-of-pi<br />Right - http://www.fxguide.com/quicktakes/visualeffectsprotestatoscars (thank you Mike)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Sadly, the media did not report on the protest at all, and there was no mention of it on the televised broadcast. But the Internet can always be counted on in cases like these, to get the truth out there.<br />
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When Life of Pi won for Visual Effects, everyone was listening intently to hear any mention of the protest happening outside. But when Bill Westenhofer was done giving his thank yous and tried turning the subject to Rhythm & Hues, the orchestra music obnoxiously drowned him out until his mic was turned off (watch the video <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/24/jaws-oscars-life-of-pi-_n_2756380.html?utm_hp_ref=tw" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
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When this happened, the #VFXProtest hashtag on Twitter went nuts calling foul play:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdY4G5BiO2r8-sovvKIPPgzcdbLIsRWlhsQJKGlgYCcB7MDOYLsV_F9dFmsiJx0zO02pvZoQRXfBj1Cf2CTBEzuDUZkgSMdPeBWoCpONfrCoTc6qgjdEdb9jymBovB1z1npRlUaRLRIkc/s1600/First_Tweets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdY4G5BiO2r8-sovvKIPPgzcdbLIsRWlhsQJKGlgYCcB7MDOYLsV_F9dFmsiJx0zO02pvZoQRXfBj1Cf2CTBEzuDUZkgSMdPeBWoCpONfrCoTc6qgjdEdb9jymBovB1z1npRlUaRLRIkc/s1600/First_Tweets.jpg" /></a></div>
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The next opportunity for visibility came when Ang Lee gave his speech for winning Best Director for Life of Pi. While he did thank "all 3,000 people" who worked on the movie, he didn't mention Rhythm & Hues by name (possibly just an oversight), and that enraged the protestors and fueled the fire even further:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsfT6maqsld5x9hfp9ohz00OYmed3XOwIRWRBL9TCiRqycXx047a2tcYmZrCD4z5yP9yZcFxw_FkYeA3JCNBakpx3WCmBxjvxxBOCNoADPjEUxOOjQxS34DCjFH6hznp-g6aMZjfIELrM/s1600/Second_Tweets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsfT6maqsld5x9hfp9ohz00OYmed3XOwIRWRBL9TCiRqycXx047a2tcYmZrCD4z5yP9yZcFxw_FkYeA3JCNBakpx3WCmBxjvxxBOCNoADPjEUxOOjQxS34DCjFH6hznp-g6aMZjfIELrM/s1600/Second_Tweets.jpg" /></a></div>
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So let's view the reality of the situation. Even if these 2 incidents were unrelated to the protest, it still seems like the Academy handled this situation poorly. The speech being cut off could have been purely about Westenhofer going over his time limit. And Ang Lee may have honestly just forgotten to mention them in all his excitement. But the damage has been done. People are angry, and the events from tonight are only fueling that anger further.<br />
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In the hours since the Oscars ended, throngs of people are changing their profile picture to a solid green square. This represents a green screen, which temporarily substitutes for effects during a film shoot so they can be added later. It looks like it started from the Facebook group <a href="http://www.facebook.com/VfxSolidarityIntl" target="_blank">VFX Solidarity</a>, which has been "liked" more than 7,000 times since last night.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGvdLeN50wxESyuRzMFUZ2b4cZOKOrwIPsFjUxERq51R2aoiFuY7-NlcM_i4c619vEFiKo2X4tdxbaOexHHkAlau25GcJX3Rj0sTfYsay2NtJQgbpprMgepN8THeGvs3JxpgVZR4OTYBI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-02-25+at+12.03.11+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGvdLeN50wxESyuRzMFUZ2b4cZOKOrwIPsFjUxERq51R2aoiFuY7-NlcM_i4c619vEFiKo2X4tdxbaOexHHkAlau25GcJX3Rj0sTfYsay2NtJQgbpprMgepN8THeGvs3JxpgVZR4OTYBI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-02-25+at+12.03.11+AM.png" /></a></div>
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This movement seems to be just getting started. It will be interesting to see how big it gets, despite being ignored by the Oscars. To me, it represents the Internet's ability to reach beyond corporations and businesses, and get the truth out there.<br />
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My hope is that it really does raise awareness to these issues, and make it possible for real discussions to be had. They will need to start thinking about tangible solutions, but as we've seen before, the first step to solving any problem is to raise awareness. The success of the film industry depends on it.<br />
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Read more here:<br />
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/24/jaws-oscars-life-of-pi-_n_2756380.html?utm_hp_ref=tw" target="_blank">Watch the Visual Effects speech cutoff </a><br />
<a href="http://ca.movies.yahoo.com/video/life-pi-best-visual-effects-065944445.html" target="_blank">Hear the backstage post-interview after the speech cutoff</a><br />
<a href="http://vfxsoldier.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/an-open-letter-to-ang-lee/" target="_blank">An open letter to Ang Lee from a VFX artist </a> <br />
<a href="http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118066500/" target="_blank">Variety article about plans to protest the Oscars </a><br />
<a href="http://vfxsoldier.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/vfx-demonstration-talking-points-on-subsidies/" target="_blank">An explanation of VFX subsidies and what needs to be fixed</a><br />
<a href="http://www.rhythm.com/" target="_blank">Rhythm & Hues website (which ironically isn't loading for me)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/195pwe/vfx_protest_at_oscars_hundreds_of_visual_effects/" target="_blank">Reddit thread about the incident </a><br />
<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/vfxportest/" target="_blank">An Anonymous offering to crash the Oscars site. I don't approve but still say, go Internet!</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhILymD_yMGuvQ1o3M6K5tfMU9PotShJPb7JLdO-DELM_IkK6jStXGEGjSAyGdFjqW_sKp8vAoXa7KYC2KmzvJa8U5eEtn3fatZwVxinuIUcW_cbRWN3E9WDEuxflUbqGx83kq6JwiCpzk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-02-22+at+12.15.37+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhILymD_yMGuvQ1o3M6K5tfMU9PotShJPb7JLdO-DELM_IkK6jStXGEGjSAyGdFjqW_sKp8vAoXa7KYC2KmzvJa8U5eEtn3fatZwVxinuIUcW_cbRWN3E9WDEuxflUbqGx83kq6JwiCpzk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-02-22+at+12.15.37+AM.png" /></a></div>
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That explains what I did wrong the first time! My second post actually following the rules, and was rewarded Reddit style:<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQl2dS_p3WIL1h355da9xXB7rbP9GWSisOrlxlOxjxDGddLpUslqFivyM-popLRTeho_tsXlAAuzPemDZSbqVP-84Ic7N-4Jf9an8uASTA5dRzQI08_2Oqms-csIDO-bARRN9BLTWefo/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-02-22+at+12.15.52+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTQl2dS_p3WIL1h355da9xXB7rbP9GWSisOrlxlOxjxDGddLpUslqFivyM-popLRTeho_tsXlAAuzPemDZSbqVP-84Ic7N-4Jf9an8uASTA5dRzQI08_2Oqms-csIDO-bARRN9BLTWefo/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-02-22+at+12.15.52+AM.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://redd.it/18y2y4">http://redd.it/18y2y4</a></td></tr>
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I got 43 up votes! And 79% of the world thinks I'm funny. At least, that's what I've decided that's telling me.<br />
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Reddit gave me some karma points (21) for getting upvotes. I don't think karma points get me anything, the points are just a medal to wear for bragging rights. Kinda like the Purple Heart. But in our video game world, we love measurements of our accomplishments, so of course I'm giddy to be on the map.<br />
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The bottom line is, I posted something to the internet and 54 <u>strangers</u> received it. And they didn't hate it, which is already a leg up from my first post! In doing this, I saw the spark of the Internet ignite briefly. If my post was more witty/unique/honest/insightful, there were 54 people that it could have reached. And if even one of them like it enough to share it, that's the next step to reaching <strike>Internirvana</strike> <strike>Netvana</strike> Internet Nirvana (#portmanteauFail).<br />
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If I had to chart out the path to Internet Nirvana, here are the steps I'd imagine:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfTs_ikga8LnyYXmYa-6TcqPuQnBOmLEZ2XBeBNGcFfGe3bPCHmxWD_yurxG4XaPJzEfY4iqQ0Qafj-vfeSitk2D_YokvH2fdB7iw1NoXRE5QCYMs05jSG3DIqr1cFQP5Yy-rRtvB0ZjU/s1600/Internet_Nirvana.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfTs_ikga8LnyYXmYa-6TcqPuQnBOmLEZ2XBeBNGcFfGe3bPCHmxWD_yurxG4XaPJzEfY4iqQ0Qafj-vfeSitk2D_YokvH2fdB7iw1NoXRE5QCYMs05jSG3DIqr1cFQP5Yy-rRtvB0ZjU/s1600/Internet_Nirvana.jpg" /> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I believe that my 2nd Reddit post made it to step 2 before sputtering and dying. But that means it was on its way. The good posts stand on the backs of the bad posts to rise to greatness. A tad dramatic? Sorry.</div>
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On this silly educational journey that I'm taking, it seems like my goal should be to at least reach the 3rd step on the Nirvana pyramid. Obviously, to study the full effects of social media and modern day communication, I should aspire to Internet Nirvana, but I think we all know you can't just "decide" what goes viral. Most of the videos that succeeded would have been shamed into submission if anyone suggested such absurdity. My goal is to know the process, and anything that gets me closer will be a win in my book. </div>
<br />
On that note, maybe I should post my Nirvana chart on Reddit for someone to appreciate. And...if they reward me with more karma points, I could move closer to Internet Nirvana. Geez Reddit, it's like they planned it this way.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
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<br />
Here's the meme I posted. But first, if you don't know about "<a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/good-guy-greg" target="_blank">Good Guy Greg</a>" memes, just know that this photo is often used to say what makes this guy such a good human being.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i.imgur.com/d28AK2r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="http://i.imgur.com/d28AK2r.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Please hold your disparaging comments. With 5 upvotes and 8 downvotes, Reddit has already humbled me into realizing it wasn't that great. Sigh. I get it, memes don't just write themselves.<br />
<br />
The crazy thing is, I should be embarrassed and thinking about taking it down right now. But instead, I keep refreshing the page and watching the vote numbers change anyway because it's still fun. Even though there are so many bad votes. Great, another reason why I like Reddit. Dammit. <br />
<br />
On <b>Twitter</b>, I've posted over 100 homemade jokes, but I rarely hear a response to them. Occasionally I'll get a retweet, or a new follower, but mostly I just feel like I'm hurling words into a dark chasm and never hearing from them again. Which begs the question, if a tweet posts on an unfollowed Twitter account, does it ever make a sound?<br />
<br />
On <b>Facebook</b>, I'll post things that I think are cool, and either be rewarded with lots of likes/comments from within my social network, or I'll hear nothing and assume nobody read that post. I don't know how I'd feel if people were able to "dislike" my comments, but from my surprising response to the negative Reddit votes, I think I might appreciate it. It's the same principle as asking if you would want to be told if your significant other had cheated on you. My answer is always yes I would want to know, because I don't want to be sheltered from knowledge that can help me make better decisions tomorrow. If people out there dislike my post, they'll dislike it whether I know it or not. So why not let me grow from it, and realize that the internet isn't a one-way street, and that my words are influencing other people whether in a good way or a bad way. I think we could also use a little humility when it comes to our websonality. My internet self is getting something of an ego, and could use a healthy dose of criticism.<br />
<br />
My <b>Reddit</b> post has already humbled me to want to be better. I don't want to keep churning out every bad joke I've ever thought of. I want something that will please these 8 nay-sayers that don't think I'm good enough for them. Those 8 people were willing to hear me out, they clicked on my meme and cared enough to vote it down. But if my content was better, maybe they would have liked it. And with a readership of 8 people, I already feel like those are better odds than my Twitter account. And it's way better than asking my mom what she thinks of my meme. So thanks Reddit, for your unwavering honesty. I'll try to be better next time.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEp9A_FmJTuEOSs9ZCdcyDV_P0kTPFLTxetLw14rDMbbLIMwyr7j8PfDwawvNksYkpVNRuUxeK80AizUGbu-FwVlJf5PaUiA8onOChFRjph2EiZROFikb8ybtrL1nfAC53kZCGcGJ9VSQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-02-21+at+12.51.04+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEp9A_FmJTuEOSs9ZCdcyDV_P0kTPFLTxetLw14rDMbbLIMwyr7j8PfDwawvNksYkpVNRuUxeK80AizUGbu-FwVlJf5PaUiA8onOChFRjph2EiZROFikb8ybtrL1nfAC53kZCGcGJ9VSQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-02-21+at+12.51.04+AM.png" /></a></div>
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<br />
The Streamys are the first ever, envelope-opening live streamed award show. They hand out awards for things like "Best First Person Series", "Best Online Musician", and "Best DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Series". Basically, it gives online personalities a chance to be recognized in their industry by their peers.<br />
<br />
The show doesn't have a super high budget, but it's shot well and streamed online (duh). This year's was hosted by Chris Hardwick, who is an actor I'm not really familiar with but he was pretty funny. Vanilla Ice also performed, and there were random minor celebrities that I don't think have anything to do with the internet, but probably were offered a chance to present an award and figured why not (pretty sure I saw Ian Ziering presenting?). David Hasselhoff had a pretty entertaining elevator video that featured some YouTube personalities (check it out <a href="http://youtu.be/r8BfhWuQuvI?t=31s" target="_blank">here</a>).<br />
<br />
The cool thing is, watching the awards show really does prove that our culture is going through a major shift in how we receive content. Most everyone at this awards show started out shooting videos in their living room, and are at the forefront of a new way of reaching people. When 4 YouTube personalities were introduced on stage, it said that "between them, they have 179 million views". I'm sure Brad Pitt has more than that, but it's not measurable in quite the same way. Those numbers are like gold in that world, because it's what makes corporate America's ears perk up. Corporations are still figuring out how exactly to capitalize on that market, but they're definitely intrigued and this industry is shaping up to be something legitimate. Even Hannah Hart (who won award for Best Female Performer, go Hannah!) has been able to capitalize on her success, raising over $200,000 for an international tour that she'll be doing later this year. This industry is "anything goes" at this point, and the award show proves that it may not know what it is yet, but it's definitely a force to be reckoned with.<br />
<br />
Chris Hardwick (the host) had a pretty interesting quote in his opening monologue:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The confluence of creativity and inexpensive technology, coupled with the ubiquity of broadband, have literally empowered everyone in the most significant pardigm shift since the Industrial Revolution."</blockquote>
He had some pretty cool other insights, like how much harder it is to create internet content than TV content, because theirs has to be shareable. Like how unbelievably hard it is to create something that actually goes viral. And as he explains that on the Internet, "content is king", he dropped the phrase "artistic meritocracy", which I really like (I think it helps define what is so great about Reddit). Check out his monologue about this all <a href="http://youtu.be/XLm8hW0uOkE?t=6m13s" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
<br />
I love the legitimacy that these awards give to the <strike><strike>Interndustry</strike></strike>, <strike>Industnet</strike>, Internet industry (dang #portmanteauFail). I think it seems a little self-proclaiming but what awards show doesn't? It is small now, but as these personalities get older and more successful and invite new ones into the fold, it seems like this will only grow and become more publicly viewed. <br />
<br />
This awards show could be proof that artistic meritocracy works, and the people in that room could be leading a new revolution that shapes our future to come. Or it could prove that a group of Internet sensations might not amount to anything, especially if they're being rewarded for insolence. In 2010, the Streamys lost their funding because of "technical problems and lewd jokes". Either way, the fact that this field is getting recognition means that it is here to stay. The question becomes, how is it going to impact our world? Should we embrace it, or should we be afraid of it?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
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<br />
Today I was reading about the original Harlem Shake video, and a comment said it reached #1 on r/videos. I had no idea what this meant so I typed it into Google, and had a "small world" moment when realizing it is a Reddit site. Apparently all those categories along the top of the Reddit homepage are called sub-reddits, and the weblink for those are all prefaced with a r/. I also saw 2 postings on Facebook today of things I had already seen on Reddit. Which confirms what I thought, that Reddit is definitely without a doubt ahead of the Facebook curve of information. And leads me to think Reddit might actually own the Internet.<br />
<br />
But this post isn't about that. I was talking tonight with a friend, and I was saying that as much as I'm starting to appreciate Reddit, I <u>still</u> can't get past the hideous interface. I don't want to click on every link, I want to be able to expand the page and view it more like a feed. I don't like the colors and the page layout, and I really want something that's more visually appealing.<br />
<br />
To which my friend brought up a great point, that yes, Reddit is a little more work for the user. But maybe they're weeding out their fan base. Maybe they don't <u>want</u> the next level of viewership they could get by adding an aesthetic appeal to their site. Their site is built on a voting system, and for it to work they have to trust the opinions of their viewers. If the average Internet user becomes a Reddit voter, it could be like watching the Kids Choice Awards and seeing Justin Bieber win all of the awards. In order for Reddit to succeed, its voters need to represent the goals of their audience. What if they changed their site to appeal to the masses, and then the masses changed the direction of information?<br />
<br />
I think there is a grain of truth to this idea. People on Reddit are early adopters and self-proclaimed geeks. They have a strong voice on the internet, and are driving the public's shifting image of the internet. I've seen plenty of Facebook shares that are just painfully weak and unthought-out, and those tend to be from people less familiar with computers and the internet. Who's to say they wouldn't dilute the Reddit voice? But then again, if they make up the masses, then who's to say it's not the right thing to do? Would a more comprehensive voting pool dumb down Reddit?<br />
<br />
I would love to open up a discussion about this. Internet, what do YOU think?<br />
<br />
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<br />
If you’ve been online this week, you’ve seen the explosion of Harlem
Shake videos. When viral trends like this come up, I normally like to
track down the origins and figure out how these videos went viral. As I
was digging into the Harlem Shake, I realized this is relevant to my
social media project, and thought it would be fun to share what I
learned!<br />
<br />
UPDATE: I've also decided to do origin stories from a few of my other favorite viral posts. For now, I've decided to backdate those posts so they sort to the date they actually went viral. Check them out under the label Origin Story!<br />
<br />
<b>What it is:<br />
</b>The Harlem Shake is a video featuring people dancing to the
“Harlem Shake” song by Baauer. It also was the name of a dance move from 1981, but the dancing styles are nothing alike. You can see for yourself by watching the dance moves the kids are doing in this music video: <a href="http://youtu.be/HyWLaDGvvWI?t=3m6s">http://youtu.be/HyWLaDGvvWI?t=3m6s</a><br />
<br />
Back to the 2013 viral trend, it started with just a few versions of homemade videos, but then thousands followed suit. A video following this theme is usually about 30 seconds long, and the first half is one
person (usually in a helmet or mask) dancing to the song, while other
people around them appear unfazed by the dancing. Then when the beat
drops midway through, the video cuts and suddenly everyone in the room
is dancing, usually wearing weird/random costumes and doing strange
dances.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/0IJoKuTlvuM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<b>How it started:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>January 30th – Someone named Filthy Frank created a compilation
video of his friends dancing to the song, and uploaded it to his YouTube
channel. It had the song and the dancing, but wasn’t the exact format
that went viral. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vJiSSAMNWw&list=UUqSHAXN5sqtyE93A-w-8Ddw&index=2">View here</a></li>
<li>February 2nd – TheSunnyCoastSkate made a copycat version of Filthy
Frank’s video and uploaded it to YouTube. Their version included the
helmet and the “solo dancer” start, which became the format that
everyone replicated in their videos. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=384IUU43bfQ">View here</a></li>
<li>February 6th – @vernonshaw came across the skater version, and
decided to make his own version at his work, Maker Studios. Their
office version posted on Reddit, and made it to #1 within a day. This is the one I embedded above. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IJoKuTlvuM">Also, view here</a></li>
<li>From there, the Maker Studios version became the most viewed version to date. According to <a href="http://youtube-trends.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/the-harlem-shake-has-exploded.html">YouTube Trends</a>, there have now been over 12,000 uploaded versions of Harlem Shake. Move over, Gangnam Style.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Why it’s gone viral:<br />
</b>Depending on which video you see first, this craze might seem
stupid (it did to me). But if you watch some of the better videos,
you’ll see that it can be funny and entertaining, depending on the
randomness of the location, the costumes, and the dance styles. Also
it’s only 30 seconds to shoot and watch, and the song is surprisingly
catchy. Most of the reproductions are better than the original video, this one is my favorite:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/4hpEnLtqUDg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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engaged in several conversations with people about why they chose the
medium they use. Mostly it comes down to where your friends and
colleagues are. One friend said that in his social circle, nobody uses
Facebook to communicate, but they are constantly commenting on each
other's Instagram photos. I checked out his account and sure enough,
every picture has upwards of 20 likes and 5+ comments. I'm usually
pretty thrilled when I get one like.<br />
<img alt="image" data-mce-src="http://media.tumblr.com/38bdcb717d80ec0aaef4d9c785d57f4c/tumblr_inline_mi8snqFCkO1qz4rgp.jpg" src="http://media.tumblr.com/38bdcb717d80ec0aaef4d9c785d57f4c/tumblr_inline_mi8snqFCkO1qz4rgp.jpg" /><br />
<br />
Another
friend told me he is addicted to Reddit (I think he even had a name for
that?). I've gone to Reddit before, but I have a very short limit when
it comes to clunky, visually unappealing sites. This one takes the
cake. There's text everywhere, and it looks like it should be hosted on
Geocities circa 1998.<br />
<br />
<img alt="image" data-mce-src="http://media.tumblr.com/3feb677d62bf95a6f2a2b530a808abef/tumblr_inline_mi8tdaztK51qz4rgp.jpg" src="http://media.tumblr.com/3feb677d62bf95a6f2a2b530a808abef/tumblr_inline_mi8tdaztK51qz4rgp.jpg" /><br />
<br />
I never could get past that, and never thought to ask what was so great about it.<br />
Well at least, not until my "Learn Social Media" NY Resolution, when I asked my friend to explain his interest in it.<br />
<br />
It
turns out Reddit is driven by the up and down arrows on the left of
each post. As users read posts, they "upvote" or "downvote" the post to
move it higher or lower on the feed. So naturally, the best content
rises to the top. It's very democratic, and actually pretty ingenious.
And is probably the fastest way that viral content travels online
today.<br />
<br />
In a world governed by Reddit, any post has a fair chance
at happiness. With the right content, it can rise from obscurity and
climb to the top of the social media ladder. It is in touch with its
voters, and gets where it's going because it deserves it, not because
it's backed by money or status. </cheesymetaphor>.<br />
<br />
Imagine
if our Facebook news feeds worked that way. I know they try to put Top
Stories higher on the feed, but we all know that Facebook drops posts
from our feed and isn't that reliable. But if I could just read the
first 5 posts on my feed, and they've already been weighted based on my
friends' opinions of them, then I could get a lot more relevant
information a lot faster. Unfortunately (or fortunately), Facebook
isn't into negative reinforcement, and I can't see them allowing people
to downgrade posts to less importance. Because every post everyone
makes on Facebook is important, right? People have been asking for a
Dislike button for years now. But they are training us to feel "Liked"
and important. If I post something and it doesn't get any likes, my
first thought is that people must not have read it, not that people
disliked it. Facebook is giving us Pavlovian rewards in hopes that it
will stroke our ego and make us crave that acceptance. If I started
logging into Facebook and seeing Dislikes, I might not want to log in
anymore.<br />
<br />
So here's my problem with Reddit still. The interface is
ugly. Like fugly-ugly. It's really taking work for me to ignore it
and get straight to the source. I also don't like clicking on every
single link to read something. That extra 5 seconds of load time always
makes me question if I am wasting my time. I wish there was an
"expanded" view where you could see everything already loaded.<br />
<br />
I
DO like that the link turns a different color once you look at it, and
I'm pretty enamored with their voting system enough that I may be able
to overlook the aesthetic shortcomings.<br />
<br />
My friend has proven his
loyalty to Reddit, and has convinced me of its value. If I really want
to understand social connectivity, Reddit is a main player that I need
to start to understand. I am going to sign up for an account and start
contributing upvotes/downvotes when I can. I am convinced that I'll
start seeing content on Reddit long before it makes its way to Facebook.<br />
<br />
I haven't Reddit, but I sure am going to start.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
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<ul>
<li>Facebook (Dunno yet can't see on the app, but hopefully hasn’t changed since I’m not looking for more FB friends, was 836)</li>
<li>Twitter (41 followers, was 36)</li>
<li>Instagram (17 followers, was 8)</li>
<li>Pinterest (25 followers, was 20)</li>
</ul>
I’ve also started cross-posting across different site accounts, with
mixed results. Originally I assumed all those accounts would be able to
talk to each other, so I was surprised that you can’t post to Facebook
from Twitter. But I did find a Facebook app that allows it, if you use a
#fb hash tag on the end of your post.<br />
<br />
I’ve also downloaded a few new apps:<br />
<ul>
<li>
Vine (like Instagram but for video…pretty cool because the videos play
right from your feed and you don’t have to load anything)</li>
<li>Flipboard (a visually pleasing app that combines your various social
media accounts into one flippable news feed. Cool idea but haven’t used
it very much)</li>
</ul>
I’ve been enjoying Instagram more, and decided to use it for more
artistic photos that I tend to let sit on my phone without doing
anything. It’s been the most fun for me lately.<br />
<br />
Twitter has become a little more back burner, but I tend to write
down jokes I come up with and post them when I get a chance. I’m trying
to keep the joke quality high, but its tough since the Twitterverse
moves so fast and I want to keep moving with it. But bad jokes are
just…bad. <br />
Pinterest sits unused a lot, but I do like knowing its there. I still
think the niche is very clean cut, and I will know when the time is
right to use it. :-)<br />
<br />
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it, since I’m currently sitting on a megabus. I wanted to keep track of
the game, so I tried my best attempts to follow online, with
interesting results.<br />
<br />
First I caught up on my Facebook feed, where I got to see pictures of
my friends’ Superbowl parties and see all the food/companionship I was
missing out on. I also was able to start hearing which commercials were
the best and how amazing Beyonce was during the half time show.<br />
<br />
During this time, I switched occasionally to NFL.com to see the score update.<br />
When I got bored with that, I went to Hulu.com where they were
featuring the Superbowl commercials, and watched the ones my friends
recommended.<br />
<br />
Then I went back to Facebook, and saw some buzz about the power being
out at the Superdome. I switched to CNN.com to confirm the “breaking
news” since I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on.<br />
This is when the fun started. I switched to Twitter and saw that
#LightsOut and #BlackOut were trending. I read those feeds and got a
healthy dose of entertainment from strangers all over the country (maybe
even the world?). My favorite post was by @heathermarter when she said
“I never expected to black out in New Orleans…said no one ever.” I
retweeted it and went along through the rest of the feed. I also really
liked the jokes about Bane and Batman. I tried to come up with my own
jokes, but felt too much pressure and couldn’t do it. <img alt=":-)" class="wp-smiley" src="http://s0.wp.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif?m=1129645325g" /><br />
<br />
After 30 minutes of laughing and wondering what on earth was going
on, CNN reported that the power was restored and the game was resuming.<br />
<br />
From here I went back to Facebook to see how my friends in SF were
faring with the bad score. Through this, I was happy to learn that the
blackout actually helped the Niners and they were catching up!<br />
<br />
For the last quarter, I watched more Hulu commercials and refreshed
nfl.com to see the score. With 2 minutes left, I switched to NFL’s play
by play and caught updates through the end of the game.<br />
Then I switched back to Facebook to see if any riots were breaking out in SF (only small ones that I saw).<br />
<br />
And that’s how I watched the Superbowl without so much as seeing a coin toss.<br />
<br />
<b>What I learned: </b><br />
When I’m disadvantaged with a lack of technology, but
my friends are not, they are a fine source of information. My newsfeed
was catered to my interests already, and proved useful. However, when I
became hungry for more info and my friends weren’t posting
minute-to-minute updates, switching to Twitter was a great option for
crowd-sourcing information and reading some of the wittiest comments.<br />
<br />
I also decided that the NFL needs to learn that providing feeds of games
is good for them and only increases their viewership/advertising value,
and not make me feel so disadvantaged when I actually have a tiny
computer at my fingertips. But maybe first they should focus on paying
their electricity bills.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
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then 6 months later see somebody else post it like it just happened?
That’s what I’m starting to think is the biggest difference between
Facebook and Twitter.<br />
Because Facebook is limited to your own social network, content
travels in smaller circles and goes in roundabout ways to make it around
the Internet. Sure, things definitely can still go viral, and you could
even argue it’s better because it gives things a longer shelf life. But
in terms of being at the forefront of information, I think Twitter is
more immediate fresh news, and less recycled information.<br />
The best analogy I can picture is standing at a luggage carousel at
the airport, waiting for your bags to come out. Some people stand right
at the mouth to the carousel so they can see the bags coming out and get
to theirs first. They are the Twitter users. They’re getting new
information from all over the world and are ready to jump on it.<br />
Then you know that sad looking duffel bag that you keep seeing go
past and just wish someone would claim? That’s Facebook content, only
the people around you don’t know how many times you’ve watched it go
past.<br />
I am working on other analogies (chain letters versus Fed Ex) to help
me understand the comparison. Nothing has resonated yet and I don’t
want to make one sound better than the other since they service
different needs. I just hafta figure out what those needs are.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
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with all the big social media sites. For starters, I want to just get
my feet wet and understand how to navigate around. So I’ve focused on
searching for people I know and getting familiar with how to add posts
and how to find people with my common interests. Here are my results so
far:<br />
<ul>
<li>Facebook (836 friends) – <i>I already had this account obviously</i></li>
<li>Twitter (36 followers) <i>- I created this account a while ago but never knew what to do with it</i></li>
<li>Instagram (8 followers)</li>
<li>Pinterest (20 followers)</li>
<li>Vine (0 followers)</li>
</ul>
My main goal is to figure out how to use these in synchronicity.
When would I post a tweet instead of a Facebook post, and why post a
photo to Instagram? I want to understand how each of these sites work
independently, and from there understand how they all fit together to
work in my life. After these first two weeks, I’ve come up with my own
descriptions of these sites, in hopes to better understand them. Here’s
my first crack at it:<br />
<br />
<b>Facebook:</b><br />
With over 800 million users, Facebook is the lowest common denominator
of social media. Most everyone in my world has a digital
representation of themselves on Facebook. By searching for your
real-life friends and becoming “friends” with them on FB, you can write
updates and upload pictures that are viewable by your friends. It’s the
common day “newsletter update” about the goings ons in your life. In
order to become friends with someone, it is a two-way connection,
meaning both people have to accept the friendship in order for it to
become official. This is a way of keeping your information somewhat
private, and making sure that you are only sharing your data with your
own circle of friends. People are less likely to accept your friend
request if you don’t know them in real life. So if your goal is to
connect with friends/family online and keep them posted about your life,
this is a great way to go!<br />
<br />
<b>Twitter:</b><br />
Here’s what makes Twitter different from Facebook:<br />
<ul>
<li>Your tweets are viewable to the public by default, and are searchable
by content. You are more likely to go viral or start a trend on
Twitter because of that. It also means news sources can pick up what
you post and call it reporting.</li>
<li>Your links to other people are not a two-way “friendship” street.
By default, you can “follow” someone without their approval. If they
see that and decide they want to follow you back, they can but they
don’t have to. This means you can follow people you don’t know and vice
versa.</li>
<li>Your tweets are text-driven and have a maximum letter count. By
limiting each post to 140 characters, Twitter is keeping comments
succinct and to the point. It makes it easier to scan through your
newsfeed since it’s only texts and links. It also makes load time
faster, which is good if you have a slow internet connection. This
keeps the information footprint much smaller but it does make reading
your newsfeed a little more work.</li>
</ul>
Twitter is a much more public forum. The great thing is it makes
your network much bigger and much more specialized by interest. If I’m
really into puns, I can follow people like @omgthatspunny and write
posts with the word “pun” in them so they’re more publicly searchable.
Maybe I can even write good enough puns that one of them gets retweeted
by someone with a lot of followers, which could lead people to follow
me too.<br />
<br />
Crowdsourcing is a really powerful tool, and is inherently what’s so
amazing about the internet. A few years ago, I was in SF watching the
Blue Angels fly for Fleet Week. They flew a couple passes and then
stopped, and we were sitting there wondering what happened. There was
no public announcement for anything, so I went onto Twitter and searched
“Blue Angels”. The result was a slew of tweets saying the show was
just cancelled spontaneously because of fog. This info was spoken on TV
but there was no way to broadcast it to the people watching outside.
This is one of the cool uses of Twitter.<br />
<br />
Your number of followers is a big status symbol on Twitter. The more
people you have following you, the more audible your posts are and the
more longevity they could have. The average successful twitter’er posts
5-10 times per day so it’s easy for your posts to get buried. That’s
why it’s good to get a following where people will retweet your posts
and keep them floating at the surface.<br />
I’m still figuring out what voice I want to have on Twitter, so far it’s
jokes and funny things but it’s really hard to do more than a few a
week (let’s face it, I could but the jokes would be pretty awful!). I
like having a voice as a customer, since you can post directly to
businesses, and I want to make use of that too. But if I start
gathering a comedy fanbase, I don’t want to lose them by posting too
many unrelated things. This is something I will figure out over time, I
think.<br />
<br />
Another thing I have to figure out is, I think if you put @(name) at the
beginning of your tweet, it doesn’t get posted onto that person’s
account page because it goes to their messages instead. But if you put
@(name) in the middle or end of your tweet, it does go on their public
page. Is that true?<br />
<br />
<b>Instagram:</b><br />
This is another public forum, but while Twitter is text based, Instagram
is the opposite…all pictures! You are posting photos as your main
focus, with captions and hashtags to make them searchable.<br />
<br />
Searching by
hashtags gives you an instant photo album of other people’s pictures.
For example searching #catsofinstagram shows thousands of pictures of
cats that people are uploading every second. Searchable photo albums
are fun, and a photo news feed is much more appealing. Because it’s
public, if you happen to be in the right place at the right time to
capture the perfect moment, your photo could go viral or be used on the
news or in another medium.<br />
<br />
Instagram was recently in hot water for claiming ownership on all photos
on their program. They lost a lot of users and have since reverted
back. Your photos are your own. At least that’s what they say now.<br />
<br />
The thing I like about Instagram is, you can post to Instagram and
immediately share it with your Facebook account. And in your Facebook
newsfeed, the photo looks identical to if you uploaded it directly to
Facebook. This way your photo can get twice the viewership and all the
magic is happening under the hood. You will get 2 different sets of
“likes and comments” though, since those aren’t connected.<br />
<br />
<b>Pinterest:</b><br />
This is DIY-(do-it-yourself)-ness to the extreme! Pinterest is an
inspiration site where you can search and view other people's photos.
They could be of food, of clothing, of home designs, really of
anything! A lot of times the photos provide captions of what they’re
doing, and usually link to a full article giving more information. When
you make an account, you make a “bulletin board” that you name by what
you’re searching for, and then each photo can be pinned to that board
for later viewing.<br />
I think the biggest challenge for me was deciding what bulletin boards
to make. These are the boards that I’ve created on my own Pinterest
account:<br />
<ul>
<li>Party Food Ideas</li>
<li>Dinner Ideas</li>
<li>Inspiration/Quotes</li>
<li>Life Hap-pin-nings of Me (these are my own photos to show my successes and failures from trying out what I’ve seen on the site)</li>
</ul>
At first, pinning ideas to boards seemed a little complicated, so I
started out by just “liking” things that I wanted to remember for
later. Anytime I heard myself say “I should remember that for _______”,
I liked it, because I know I’m not going to remember it. It’s a way of
communicating with my future self. After all, who knows what my future
self will enjoy seeing better than ME?<br />
Later, I was going through the list of pins that I “liked”, and I
started seeing my own patterns emerge about what I was focusing on.
That’s when I buckled down and created categories, and started moving my
likes around to fit my boards.<br />
<br />
I’ve noticed that even one hour of Pinterest time will give me
inspiration for the next month or two. I have a place to go when I
don’t know what to make for dinner, or when I wanna bring the perfect
food to a party. I don’t need to go on often, but when I do I always
walk away inspired!<br />
<br />
<b>Vine:</b><br />
I don’t know much about Vine yet (hence my 0 followers, 0 posts
stats). I just know that it’s Twitter meets Instagram meets video.
Users upload 6-second videos, and they play back on an endless loop in
your feed. Again they are public source, and are a way to get short
succinct videos out to your adoring fans. So far it’s fun to just
scroll through the home feed and watch these short, quirky videos.
People are so creative!<br />
<br />
So far these are all the social networks I have been focusing on. I
am hoping that time will give clarity to some of the things I don’t yet
understand. And I’d love to hear ideas for other sites to try! Also to
be fair, I should mention that I started writing this blog on Tumblr and WordPress,
and was going to include either of those in my summary of social media sites, but I just recently switched to Blogspot. Maybe one day I’ll add it to the
list, but for now I’ll keep figuring it out first.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
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by the other social mediums (is that the right use of the word?) that I
know other people use. Words like Twitter and HootSuite and Instagram
always come up and I am aware they exist, but I don’t know what place
those things have in my life. Everyone I know is on Facebook, and so
far it’s treated me pretty well. But I don’t really understand the
choices people make to decide between using Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, etc. I know those sites exist, and I understand they all
must have some unique value, but I don’t yet understand what those
values are, or how they all fit together to be relevant in my life.<br />
When I was coming up with my New Years resolutions for this year, it
seemed like a cool idea to focus some attention on the parts of the
Internet I know less about, and maybe try and see where I might be able
to draw inspiration in my life. So I decided to create accounts with
all the major social media sites, and try to start posting to them and
using them on a regular basis. My goal is to decide where the value
lies in each site, and figure out how they all fit together in the
bigger picture of social media.<br />
<br />
To start, I created accounts on these sites:<br />
<ul>
<li>Twitter</li>
<li>Instagram</li>
<li>Pinterest</li>
<li>Vine (from Twitter, a site for 6-second video clips)</li>
</ul>
Creating the accounts was just the first step, next I have to figure
out what voice I want to have on each. I am hoping that time will give
clarity to some of the things I don’t yet understand. And I’d love to
hear ideas for other sites to try! I should really include Blogspot in
my posts, but I’m really just getting started with this blog and I
don’t think anybody is reading it yet, so I don’t think I’ve quite
grasped the concept yet.<br />
<br />
Are there any other sites I should focus on?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
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