Um, What's All This?
So anyway, there I am trying to set up a website, because -
allegedly - that's what writers must do, and I'm using good
old Mr Site (recommended) who in his kindness offers me all sorts
of widgets to use on my pages - a clock, a latest blog posts
section, a user poll, a visitor counter, a latest tweets
section...
And a social networks section.
This, gentle reader, is the subject of my enquiry. Mr Site's list of social networks goes like this:
Share on Facebook
Share on Bebo
Share on Twitter
Share on Digg
Share on Stumbleupon
Share on del.icio.us
Share on Reddit
Now, it must be admitted I have not conveyed the full majesty of this cornucopia because each of these items is preceded by a little square icon, but I think you get the idea. They are many, and only some of them have we heard of.
By 'we' I mean the average simpleton like myself. However, I do suspect there are Masters And Mistresses Of The Mysterious who have just been waiting for this moment so they can impress us with their erudition. Step forward please and enlighten the ignorant.
What is Bebo? Digg? Stumbleupon? del.icio.us? Reddit?
I imagine we might have heard of Twitter and Facebook - but these other items, maybe not. Are they any use? Are they indispensible? Are they all that stand between each of us and tax exile? Will mastery of them lead to mastery of the universe? The looniverse?
Humbly I approach you, my fellow Cloudies, supplicating information, grateful for any scraps you may throw my way.
And a social networks section.
This, gentle reader, is the subject of my enquiry. Mr Site's list of social networks goes like this:
Share on Facebook
Share on Bebo
Share on Twitter
Share on Digg
Share on Stumbleupon
Share on del.icio.us
Share on Reddit
Now, it must be admitted I have not conveyed the full majesty of this cornucopia because each of these items is preceded by a little square icon, but I think you get the idea. They are many, and only some of them have we heard of.
By 'we' I mean the average simpleton like myself. However, I do suspect there are Masters And Mistresses Of The Mysterious who have just been waiting for this moment so they can impress us with their erudition. Step forward please and enlighten the ignorant.
What is Bebo? Digg? Stumbleupon? del.icio.us? Reddit?
I imagine we might have heard of Twitter and Facebook - but these other items, maybe not. Are they any use? Are they indispensible? Are they all that stand between each of us and tax exile? Will mastery of them lead to mastery of the universe? The looniverse?
Humbly I approach you, my fellow Cloudies, supplicating information, grateful for any scraps you may throw my way.
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23 Comments
Ooo and I hope you shall direct us all to your website as soon as it is all finished and lovely. x
Right then:
Bebo: Social networking site. Like Facebook for younger folk. Basically a place to post comments (like our wall) and a collection of friends. Names comes from Blog Early Blog often.
Digg: A site to share news and pages that you "dig". You and others can vote them up or down. Other people can get a feed of the top ones.
Stumbleupon: Similar to the above but also applies what it knows of the users preferences to select pages for them to look at.
del.icio.us: this one works on tags collected from all users that have added them to the page. A bit like our blogs here. If you went for the tag gumdrop, it would bring up all blogs that had this as a tag. The more tags for a certain search word, the higher in the results the page is.
Reddit: Like Digg, but also includes user created articles that can also be voted up or down.
I have a facebook page... which helps me to keep up with friends that have emigrated. It's easier then having to physically ring them up to ask 'How's tricks?'. (Because I am lazy). However I've had to recently change all my passwrds because someone hacked into my profile and sent vulgar messages to some of my friends (really it wasn't me). I'm becoming more and more wary of it due to the amount of kids that are on their- my cousins for instance who are 11 and 12.
The Cloud is my fave place to be.
Hmm, which shall I choose, thought I. Nutters sounded promising - and guess where it took me - to Barb - yup there's a Barb theme here folks - there's only one blog under the tag of nutters and it's from last January and it features odd comments by train passengers. Thought you'd like to know.
Does anyone else ever browse by tag?
A good man for this sort of thing is AlanP - he knows all the nuts and bolts, I just find out about these things when I have to.
As Toyah sang 'ithssth a miysteriee"
I did click once and got a walk on part in Tron.
Are there also handy counters for:
The number of times I've been banjaxed by Microsoft
The cumulative hours of waiting whilst computer whirs but nothing happens before being asked to send an error report
Operator error: Yesterday I mis-pressed and rotated my screen by 90 degrees - not good whist working on a large spreadsheet!!
Wow, Barb! yes bebo is the same as facebook, only more awful I think, also it's very much a U.K thang where facebook is more international.
I am on facebook, good to keep up to date with friends and fam. Didn't recognise any of the other ones though.
Good luck...:)
Geri - I hope your young cousins are on a protected profile. Tho even that is open to abuse as friends of friends see it.
So, using my considerable brain power (I have an IQ of "Google") I researched.
I then had information that brought me on a par with my 8 year old nephew! Yay me!
Sadly, on pressing my new found knowledge into the mould of usage he promptly informed me that "yes, that's what they are for BUT..." prepare yourself "... it's the quickest way to super-stardom and millionaire status. If you added those tags to one of your blogs Uncle JB (short for (Shelley)-Jelly-Belly... don't ask... please, just don't), and someone clicks on it, it could go viral and you'll be famous all around the world. In about two weeks."
Really? Two weeks? Worth a try.
Back into my blogspot account.
Add an icon...
f*** it, add them all.
It's been six months.
Nothing.
Sigh.
Anyway... those icons; they're not for the likes of us.
They're for the kids.
So, I'd be glad to hear Gerilyn's reservations. Forewarned is forearmed. For instance, I'll choose a really obscure password after hearing her earlier tale.
Ez - super stardom - hmm, can't reject the idea...
Recently Mac pointed out "wherethehellismatt.com". Matt went viral a few years ago and now employs his girlfriend full time dealing with the workload. With respect I suspect he is more on the button for places like Bebo, than, say, Mr Tudor-Pole and his interesting worlds. I await my copy btw. You don't need twitface for me. However, I have to say that the title is so splendid that there is a possibility of lift off. I wonder if you would live to regret it though.
Incidentally, Matt makes more money as a games designer than he does out of his dancing. I think he does it for the joy of it, which is a reason - at least.
Couple of things; you are doing the right thing Gerry by doing this, trust me. I'll explain why in a blog later.
secondly, I will not use facebook after being stalked and having my id stolen, twice!
Twitter is fabulous. I've made so many useful contacts, friends, had great advice, received free offer of help anytime etc etc etc
It's great chatting with like-minded peeps, ask maryluv :)
Good luck with it all & if you need any help, let me know matey
Sorry im rushing as off to hospital! Long story :(
For a while there was Twitter icon in the left column of this page. Did Harry give up on it? Or has he ascended to a higher level of competence?
This is a thing of pure beauty.
However after threatening to delete my profile I couldn't bring myself to do it. I have altered my passwords and stuff.. gone into the security settings and registered my home computer so that I can't log in using an unregistered pooter. I discovered today this works as I tried to access FB from my phone and it kept kicking me out. The I got an email saying a Nokia phone tried to access my profile!!- Ok yeah my Nokia phone.. but how clever is that?
I've also stopped uploading pics of my kids. In the albums I do have up I've changed the settings so that only the people tagged in them can see them. However, that doesn't stop other pics of me getting onto the site. Everytime someone uploads a pic they have of me and then 'tags' it with my name- it appears on my profile for all to see. (I can de-tag myself from the awful ones which I've only done once.)
I don't think any internet site is safe for kids, however I struggled to delete my facebook profile because it really is a very easy and lazy way of keeping up to date with people. I chat to long lost friends who went to my primary school, guys I met at senior school, college and uni. It's great for that and for that reason I'm probably too addicted to leave the site. Last night someone uploaded a whole heap of pics from when we did the coast to coast walk summer of 91. About 30 teenagers and a handful of teachers spent 2 weeks hiking 192 miles. Ahhh. ...and most of the people on those pics have been able to chat to each other because we've all been tagged by someon ewho's tagged someone else. (This is why it's not a good idea to upload pics you don't want the world to see) Anyway I digress. What was I saying? Oh yes.. um websites are great when you use them sensibly (but don't let your kids use them).
Fortunately there aren't any (I hope) dodgy pics of me out there just waiting to be uploaded onto my news feed! The one I de-tagged myself in was a random pic of some toddler having a hissy fit that my family decided would be hilarious if they tagged it as me. Ohh how I larffed as I de-tagged myself! Pffft ( I DO NOT have hissy fits ;D )
Facebook I limit strictly to contact with family and personally known-to-me friends; so far I have been able to bar the odd nutters targetting me on that site and refused to get involved with a variety of silly apps.
WordCloud is the only social networking site I have felt entirely comfortable with and as a babe-in-the-woods so far as the 'net is concerned I'm happy to stop here.
Click here to sign up now.