Choosing Your Plane Seat Through A Social Network?

Something at work is wrong and I can't log on to Facebook and Twitter therefore rendering me useless for the time being. 

But, I could still log on to TechCrunch and found this AWESOME little article called "Choosing Your Airline Seat Based On Your Social Network." (http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/15/choosing-your-airline-seat-based-on-your-social-network/) 

Intrigued I clicked on the story. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will be launching a service next year where customers can select their seatmates based on their friends or common interests. HOW COOL. Well at least for during the day flights. I think it doesn't really matter for red-eye's or early morning flights since every passes out anyway. I guess it also depends on the person - not everyone wants to necessarily converse with the people they're sitting next to but from my experience people are pretty friendly and intrigued in getting to know someone if they want to be. Doing this might be a positive - you might either not hate the person you're sitting next to or have an awful experience haha. (Odds being 50/50? wait, aren't the odds that already?!)

So apparently this "Meet & Seat" service will only be available through Facebook and LinkedIn but not Twitter.  Seeing as I'm HUGE on Twitter, it took a lot for me not to get upset at first. But I guess it makes sense. Facebook because of the brand/company/interest pages that you can like can match up. For LinkedIn, well - making connections, networking and making getting an interview just because you sit next to someone would be sweet. Though conversely, if you're the CEO of a company and someone sits down next to you who wants a job and keeps badgering you to talk to them could be really bad for this service. 

The article poses a question at the end that says if there is any part of human existence that won't have a social media component. Though at first thought, the only thing I could think of was going to brick and mortar stores and meeting people there - I can't say that social media hasn't taken over everything. It kind of has. People complain and vow to resist it, but social media and its pervasiveness in society has happened and will continue to happen in the future. But it's a stretch to ask that question sarcastically or make it seem like this fact is a bad thing. 

Yes, it might be a little depressing to think about, but honestly social media can only help if you want it to. As for this 'Meet & Seat,' I'm interested in what innovators think about the program and if it does actually work or not. Til then, cheers!

 

 

 

Social Media and Its Effect On Me

First of all, hello out there! I'm going to try to make a conscious effort to keep up with blogging and revamping this blog. They have me doing blog posts at work so I figured it would be helpful if I kept up with my own blogging as well...you know, besides managing my Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Instagram, Tumblr, Google+, and LinkedIn accounts (did I get them all? lol). 


So the infographic to my left (to take a bigger look at it click here: Infographic link). There are definitely some surprising statistics. I try not to take infographics too seriously but this one definitely spooked me a little considering my job title includes the words, SOCIAL MEDIA. I can believe when it says that attention spans are now 5 seconds. Even for me, I need to have my TweetDeck set to the right hand side of my screen, updating me on all news pertinent to advertising, digital, media, etc. I've often told people that I now live my life in real-time, which truth be told is actually kind of scary and robotic of me. I love knowing things as soon as they break and being one of the first to retweet about it. Come to think of it, social media has made me more competitive than ever.


A lot of people have told me that they use Facebook to reconnect with old friends and catch up, and though part of what I do on the site pertains to that, my function on Facebook is that of an information gateway. I try to find interesting articles that friends of mine will be interested in and will receive likes and comments. Very rarely do I actually update about myself on Facebook anymore unless the news is epic. Probably because the saying of 'No one actually cares how you're doing' thing got to me. 


One thing I have noticed though is that as much as social media is connecting us to the people we care about and want to get to know, it is also making us isolated islands of information. Another side effect of this might make us more introverted than extroverted. Your online life can be a whole other life if you want it to be. I even feel like that's had an effect on me. I'm very naturally outgoing etc. But sometimes I get more satisfaction in getting replied to, retweeted, and having my Twitter count go up. It almost feels like a contest for attention via social media. Which is insane. Every so often I have to remind myself that although I want to continue raising my Klout score, there are other more important aspects in my life as well...you know, like me, the actual human being behind the body typing away at my computer. It's a hard thing to come to terms with and recognize but I think as long as I keep that mindset of knowing limits with social media and its usage that I can continue to grow as an online presence while also working on myself as a person.


This might have been the only thing in the infographic that gave me some kind of solace:

So maybe it is doing some good besides giving me a crash course in interacting with consumers and marketing myself better to employers.


Here's to more innovations within social media and getting my attention span to 2 seconds!


Cheers!

#finalsprocrastinating

It's Finals time and you know what that means: increased usage of social media!!! (if you thought studying was the answer, shame on you. Who actually studies on study days?)In my great usage of time, I wanted to take some time to talk about something near and dear to my heart, gay social media. Yes, that's right. Gay.Social.Media. What does this entail? Well for starters, most college students know about Sassy Gay Friend (or at least I overhear A LOT of people saying "WHAT? *snap* WHAT? *snap* WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"). They know him by as this flamboyant gay man running around "saving" doomed Shakespearean characters. Best example:

Ah when Sassy Gay Friend used to be funny. With over 4 million views on YouTube, his comedic videos have [had] earned a following. I myself remember the times when I used to dream that Sassy Gay Friend keep making more videos. Now, I really wish I hadn't asked for that. Not only is Sassy Gay Friend back. But Sassy Gay Friend SOLD.OUT. Being one who is fascinated with advertising, product placement has had it's ups and downs. When it's subtle, it's fine. You notice it, you move on. But when it's shoved in your face like in the case of the "Hold It Against Me" Britney Spears video or the following Sassy Gay Friend, revamped...well it's just plain irritating.

I think that the most irritating thing about it, is that every video after this has a spot about the new Mio flavor for water. I can respect Sassy Gay Friend for wanting to make money off of his character. It's what he does best. But ever since he started earning money, his videos have gotten increasingly horrendous. Not to mention, viewings of his videos have dropped from the initial more than 4 million to less than 500,000. He's lost everything that made him unique. Even his acting has gotten far worse. You can visibly tell that he is trying too hard to be himself, a gay man.

Anyways, enough about Sassy Gay Friend. I want to introduce Ryan James Yezak, a brilliant director, producer, editor, etc. He is on my rising gay star list (if I had one, he'd be at the top). Not only are his parodies of Pop songs by famous female artists hilarious, they are also artistic in the sense that every small detail, from the choreography to the placement of the actors, is so uniquely planned. His videos keep getting infinitely better and I hope that in time, he becomes more well-known for his brilliant videos. (did I mention his Peacock video has over 6 million views?!)

***warning...lots of gay boys prancing around half naked. if that makes you uncomfortable, well this is your heads up***

I leave you with one thought...Girls, bisexuals and lesbians alike. Where you at? We really need to step it up!!!

That's all for now!

Signing off,

-T

Celebrating Death

So as we all know by now, Osama Bin Laden has been declared dead and the United States has taken custody of his body. The speech given by President Obama will forever be ingrained in my memory; a man I help put into office and a small victory for the United States.

Why do I say small? For two reasons. One, because this is only the beginning. Osama served as a figurehead. Although I agree that his plotting against the United States was awful and the damage he caused is irreparable, in the last few years, he only served as the head of al Qaeda but, correct me if I'm wrong, functionally had dropped out of the picture. In killing him, we've opened a huge can of worms. I'm not saying that we shouldn't have done it, my opinion in regards to that is irrelevant, but I think retaliatory acts that will come of this might turn out worse than 9/11. There are obviously people second, third, fourth, etc in command. Just because one is gone, doesn't mean the others will disappear, especially not with the network that al Qaeda has established. It scares me that within a month I will be moving to New York City and I can't seem to shake the feeling that something else will happen while I'm there. God willing, everything will be okay.

The second reason is because of the response that I saw not only on TV, but at Our Lady's University as well. On TV, I saw hoardes of people gathering outside the White House and others at the World Trade Center site in NYC chanting "USA, USA" loudly and proudly. Is this how you celebrate someone being killed? Yes, I know the man has killed many people but chanting patriotically because he is now dead goes against human decency. What kind of country are we that this is our reaction? If anything, people around the world will see these reactions, especially al Qaeda, and look at us with disdain and disgust. We are already disliked as a nation around the world, do we really need to fuel the fire? I remember even when Saddam Hussein was killed, everyone was watching the leaked video that came from someone's mobile phone. Everyone was talking about it and laughing. LAUGHING. How can you laugh when you see someone being hanged? I'm sure the same thing would have happened if Osama's death had been taped. Are we that desensitized as a culture that our citizens find human suffering and death entertaining? Can we truly justify that just because these men were undeniably cruel and evil that we must do the same to them?

So bros of Notre Dame, please take a second to actually educate yourselves at our fine university before you go running around campus screaming "USA, USA." It bothered me last night and will continue to bother me for years to come. It was appalling to see (apart from the more bro types who were celebrating by running around chugging beer and screaming). I can understand your sense of patriotism and that's great. Good for you that in killing someone, you finally take a moment to say "Yes, I am an American." But for the sake of our university, please do that in the comforts of your own dorm room rather than running around like buffoons in LaFortune. Oh and as for those of you having parties tonight in honor of his death, all I have to say to you is: Really?

But I also want to take a minute to address something that bothered me last night. A friend of mine posted a Facebook status (who has since removed said status) that mentioned that two of his friends had walked away from him when he expressed his views on Osama Bin Laden's death. He did not understand why it was such a monumental moment for the American people and found it to be unimportant. I am under the impression that I was one of these two. I briefly tried to explain that it was important because of what he did that shook the American people to the core. And as the head of al Qaeda, even if he had no direct functional benefit at the end, I think his death was symbolic but important nonetheless. His death brings about a sense of closure for those affected by 9/11. So while it might not be historic for you, it's historic for me. The reason i walked away? Not because I disagreed with you, I was in no mental state at the time to make a practical argument, but merely because in hearing the news, I left all of my personal belongings in the library and wanted to get back to them as quickly as possible in fear of having anything stolen. So please, don't use me as one of your examples of someone who doesn't understand what's going on. Because on one level, I do understand your point. I merely just see it in a different way.

Anyways, that's just my opinion. Feel free to disagree with me if you wish. But I think opening the dialogue lends itself to learning more about the issue and what we can improve as a society to see that reactions such as last night really aren't okay for the human race.

One Nation. Under God. Indivisible. With Liberty and Justice For All.


Signing out,

-T


p.s. Here's an article from the huffington post that really got me writing this post, definitely an interesting read:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pamela-gerloff/the-psychology-of-revenge_b_856184.html?ref=fb&src=sp#sb=1655083,b=facebook

The Royal Wedding

I'm sure that thousands if not millions of people have written or blogged about this subject pre- and now post- wedding. But I feel like it is something that I should at least address. I've found that people are on either spectrum when asked how they feel about the Royal Wedding. Most women have told me that they love the wedding bliss, are fascinated and want to be Kate Middleton and idolize her road to becoming a princess, and find Prince William (now of course the Duke of Cambridge) smashingly handsome.

Tweets such as:
MissSchweg: You can get a replica of her ring and engagement dress. Why can't you get hair like hers too?? #katemiddleton #royalwedding #obsessed
and
cgalleg1: AHHHH official royal wedding program is available for download. Guess what I'll be doing in my 300-person lecture today?
(love you Chels and Lizzie!!)

What is with the British fascination? Is it because this royal couple is unlike previous couples? Is it because Kate has been frequently mentioned to be a 'commoner' though her family has become incredibly wealthy? Or is it women's fascination with becoming princesses themselves, and in seeing Kate's life, they swoon at her luck?
 There are also the views of some [college] men who were only concerned with watching Kate Middleton and her attractiveness.

Then there is the other side, mostly college men, that give either the patriotic view or the 'I can care less' view. The patriotic view involves their proud jeers--for example:

Taken from Facebook: "You know what would have made this royal wedding kinda cool? If they were Americans. USA"

Joking aside, I honestly don't think that the royal wedding couldn't have been 'as cool' if it weren't British. Even living in the US, there's a fascination with the British culture that is unprecedented. Even for me, before my time in London, I still loved British culture and their opportunities to start trends that would not hit the US until months later. 

For the 'not caring less' point of view, I found their opinions entertaining. Though a couple of my male friends stated that they could care less about the Royal Wedding, they still tweeted about it or Facebook-ed about it. So yes, you who told me you had no interest in watching the Royal Wedding are still contributing to it being a Trending Topic by mentioning in your tweet. Don't you find that counter-productive to your cause? If you could honestly care less about it...maybe don't talk about it? Of course I kid, do what you want but thank you for providing me with entertainment.

Either way, I cannot remove myself from the view of these women who were so pro-Royal Wedding. Of course, I did not tweet about it or Facebook about it, nor did I actually get up at 5 in the morning to watch the broadcast of the wedding. BUT, I would be lying to myself if I did not say that since I got up at 7:30 am until around 12:30 pm, I was constantly searching online for highlights of the wedding, wanting to catch glimpses of the royal wedding dress and the ceremony itself. Plus, it was in my own guilty pleasure that I wanted to watch glimpses of the ceremony since I failed to pay the entrance fee into Westminster Abbey, something I regretfully did not have time to do during my semester abroad in London (note to self: don't skip out on a 13 pound opportunity).

 All that aside, the royal wedding photos have been released and I wanted to share the link to see them (don't want to post them since I don't have the rights to them, sorry!!):
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2011/04/official-royal-wedding-photos-prince-william-kate-middleton-pictures.html


Signing out,
-T