*Because of social media hype.
Yesterday, Facebook announced their IPO, much to the delight of dozens of tech bloggers who suddenly acted like a pack of wild wolves as soon as the S-1 statement was available. It’s safe to assume that many people are curious whether they should invest in Facebook once shares become available later this year, questioning if they’ll kick themselves later for not being one of the first – as many have done for not being the first to get in on Apple or Google.
Incidentally, last night I was reading Behavior Gap by Carl Richards on my Kindle and came across this sketch – one of his many famous drawings depicting financial advice on a napkin. In light of this era of blogs – and the fact that many people follow certain blogs like sheep – I thought I’d share it here. Take it with a grain of salt, but this is exactly why you shouldn’t invest in Facebook because of any social media hype.
Social media is dangerous territory. Not only can it be a source of panic for those who stumble upon status updates or photos that they shouldn’t read or see, but employers and schools are admittedly using Facebook to ensure you’re a good fit for your potential college, law school, or future job. This, of course, raises all kinds of legal red flags, as your future school or employer could discriminate against you illegally based on information they find in your profile.
Then there’s also the issue raised by the generational gap between Gen Y and older admission and/or C-level execs. Let’s face it: every generation has their own set of slang, and the truncated messages communicated via social platforms don’t make it any easier to understand just what the hell anyone says half the time. The generational gap can also create confusion when pop culture references become part of the discussion, and if misinterpreted, could easily cost you that chance at your dream job or law school.
Case in point? Last night, my 21 year old sister posted this as her Facebook update, referencing Weeds – a popular TV show.
Tonight, my dad mentioned that he saw the update and called her during his lunch break to yell at her, berating my sister for mentioning “that kind of behavior” publicly on Facebook. After she explained that “Weeds” is a TV show, my dad realized the real problem – the generational gap that can cause massive confusion when people read social media updates but don’t understand them.
How many HR execs and admission panels are guilty of the same assumptions? I think it’s safe to say several. No matter how you use social media, it’s dangerous territory and we’re walking a dangerous line. Myself included.
A running joke at LockerGnome is that I mention my ex-boyfriends in my blog posts too often. (To be honest, it’s a little true.) As a result, I’ve tried to leave them out as much as possible lately – which leaves them available to mention here. (Don’t worry – this is a relevant story. Keep reading!) Before I got my “big chance” to work with social media for a living, I dated a guy while waitressing and blogged for fun. My ex, however, worked in the finance industry, and enjoyed poking fun at my blogging, Twitter and Facebook hobbies. We still talk, and, of course, he still doesn’t get it.
But he should, because research is proving that social media isn’t a total waste of time. In fact, Jeff Bullas recently posted this insightful infographic about how people are getting quite a benefit from using Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media. Jeff highlights that:
- 18% of people 50-64 years old use it to connect with others who have similar hobbies
- 17% use it to find “love”
- 50% use it to reconnect with old friends
- It is a source of entertainment as 250 million photos are uploaded every day and there are 100 million videos to watch
- 41% of the class of 2011 used it to look for a job
What do you think? Is social media useful – or a total waste of time?
We recently posted an article on LockerGnome that “RSS Readers suck”. As a blogger who relies on RSS feeds to inspire new ideas on a daily basis, I completely disagree with the article, but it was linked to in another article to support the proclamation that RSS is Dead.
My question – if RSS is really dead, why are they so many third-party RSS apps supporting the use of RSS beyond use of the (completely ugly and totally hideous) web-based Google Reader? People obviously want to use RSS to read blogs via their desktop, mobile, and even offline.
I find it hard to believe a core function of the internet is dead when a marketplace is thriving for people who want to use that functionality.
Several years ago I started cutting coupons as a way to save money while scrounging for ramen as a broke waitress. While high density cheap carbs sufficed as food, sometimes I still needed essentials like razor blades, allergy meds and other necessities. Coupons made buying things like toilet paper less painful on my wallet, and relieved me of the guilt for not buying awful generic paper products. (Seriously – generic toilet paper is the worst.)
A few weeks ago, Groupon ran a deal for the Sunday paper here in the Seattle area. It was a decent deal, but before clicking through, I thought hmm, I can do better than that. After a little Google magic, I found a coupon code on a local mommy blog that offered the Sunday paper at just 26 cents per week. That’s right – just 26 cents! The code apparently should have expired last summer, but I tried it anyway on the Seattle Time’s website and presto! – I now had access to hundreds of dollars in coupon savings every week. (The best part? I live in rural USA and my Sunday Paper actually is delivered to in my old-fashioned mailbox. If you can imagine me in uggs, leggings, an oversized sweatshirt and a sideway ponytail walking out to the colllective mailboxes down the street around 11am, that’s my typical Sunday morning. And you wonder sometimes why I’m single….)
Anyway, so now I have all these coupons for basically free. And oh, let me tell you how worth it they are.
First, there was my shopping spree at Kohl’s a few weeks ago.
That’s right – more saved than I spent. I managed to hit “early bird” hours the day after Christmas, which meant I was already saving 50-75%. On top of that, I’m signed up for mailing list to stores like Kohl’s, and had a coupon for another 20% off for that day only. The great thing about technology is that many stores now allow you to present coupons via your smartphone, so I just pulled the coupon up on my iPhone at the register. You should have seen the look on the woman in line behind me. She literally said “how the hell did she do that?” I felt like I was on a reality TV Show. (You know….that one?)
Today was another successful day of super savings. I managed to catch the last day of this weeks’ sales at Rite Aid, which is known to be a GREAT source for savings – even without coupons. This week’s Sunday inserts were especially good, and I also managed to find a few printable coupons to stack with the other coupons. I only needed a few things (read: NEEDED) but managed to save nearly 50% on essentials that will last several months!
I don’t use coupons for things I don’t need, or use them to hoard dozens of boxes of cereal in the garage. I also try to match coupons with ongoing sales – sometimes I’ll buy duplicates of things I always need (like eyedrops) if it means saving money and doesn’t hurt my bank account too much. I definitely don’t use coupons to buy something just because it’s a great deal – unless of course, I know at some point I will need it and it may cost more in the future when I will need it. And if I know I need something that I don’t have a coupon for, I try to find a coupon for it online. Manufacturers often offer coupons for their products on their websites and Facebook pages – that was actually one component of today’s massive savings, as Clean and Clear had a $5 printable coupon on Facebook.
Do you cut coupons? What’s your strategy? I’d love to hear them in the comments!
2011 was a big year for me. I secured a contract gig that I love, freeing me from the chains of a corporate lifestyle. In that process I learned what kind of luxury life as a freelancer can bring – and the disaster that a financial dry spell can cause. I learned how to “hustle” – and in the process, learned that I can make as much money as I want. Somewhere in there I made a few poor decisions, which led me back to my parents’ house.
This, though, is not a bad thing.
I’m now living rent free and pay for very little of my own food. My expenses are greatly reduced. My lifestyle has also finally stabilized, enabling me to seek out more contract work. See where I’m going here? Less expenses than before and even more work.
I initially wanted to be able to move out of the house by early summer. This would, however, still leave me paying minimums on credit cards and with enormous student debt. After setting a few goals and making a few lifestyle changes (which will all be future blog posts) I realized I could set a bigger goal: be Debt Free by December 2012. That means no consumer loans, no credit card balances, and no student loans. The total amount is a pretty big, scary number (I won’t lie) – but the benefit of walking away from this in a year without those bills will leave me the ability to afford a better quality of life at this point in time next year.
Will I be able to do it? Stay tuned to this series for how I’m protecting my credit, paying down each credit card, saving money and still enjoying life. And as always, I’d love to hear your stories. Have you paid off all of your debt? Feel free to share in the comments!
Like to win things? ME TOO! If you’re ready to rock social media in 2012, I’m giving away a copy of Eric Harr’s new book, “The REAL TRUTH About Social Media: Confessions of a Social Media CEO”. The book is an inside look about social media from the CEO’s perspective, designed to help you understand the basics of social media in plain language: what it is, how it works, how we got here–and how you can benefit from it. Harr addresses key social media mistakes, discusses tools and resources to help you get the most of social media, and highlights real-life success stories that you can apply to your own business – regardless of its size.
Want to win a copy of this awesome book? (And I know you do!) Entering is super easy – just leave a comment below and tell me why you want the book! If you want an extra chance to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below! The giveaway is open now and will end on Tuesday, January 17 at 11:59pm Pacific Time.
Update: Congratulations to Afdzal Aamirus for winning this giveaway, and stay tuned for more contests and prizes in the future!
Can you believe 2011 is almost over? I hope you have enjoyed this year as much as I have. My last Friday Favorite is oh-so-appropriate: a very cute YouTube video by two of my favorite people (at least, whom I’ve never met) – Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt:
So…What Are You Doing New Years Eve?
There is been some debate about whether the era of tech blogs is dead. Of course, there is always some debate about whether things are dead or dying, such as the mouse, the keyboard, Starbucks, photography, even Justin Bieber. (This happens on Twitter at least twice per day.)
I won’t re-hash what the original blog post argues, other than that essentially Jeremiah Owyang thinks there’s been too much turnover and too many acquisitions, which will lead to the golden era of tech blog dying.
Instead, I’ll just point you to an exceptionally eloquent response from Sarah Lacy, who recently left TechCrunch. Her most poignant statement reflects the essence of my thoughts, too:
But there are still plenty of people who love to write– not just share, Tweet and comment– for a living, and blogs are still the best platform for that. In many ways, professional blogging is just getting started. It’s a time when new entrants are jumping into the field with bold, fresh ideas, standing on the shoulders of the blogging giants that came before, taking a second stab at reinventing the new media landscape.”
This is what I do. I am still just getting started, with fresh ideas and vision. I’m wrapping up the end of the most exciting year of my life which has been filled with amazing people. I’m not the type to name-drop, but I can’t express my gratitude for each person I have met and spoken with, from the C-level execs of Time-Warner who held my water bottle as I nearly had a meltdown at CES to tweeting with Jason Calacanis during SXSW about the skanky promotional girls outside the conference hall. I’ve met rockstars, actors, and celebrity bloggers, amongst other tech bloggers and YouTube stars.
Yes, these people ar giants. But they are also people – people who have bigger dreams than me.
I can only hope that these giants allow me to stand on their shoulders, as Sarah said, and reinvent what they have only started.
I’ve been working from home for a year now. I’m planning on doing a much more elaborate recap of this past year later this week, but I was reminded of what working “from home” is like upon seeing a retweet of Oatmeal’s classic post, “Why working from home is both awesome and horrible.” Here’s a quick summary (which was actually contributed by my other favorite, Allie Brosh from Hyperbole and a Half).
For more insight into what it’s really like working from home, visit Oatmeal. I demand it from you.
Kelly is a 20something blogger and social media and marketing type based in Seattle. She loves good products that solve real problems, good design...and a good cup of coffee, too.
