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Today's top ten Facebook pet peeves

Can I rant about Facebook for a minute?

Because of my workload, I have not been paying any attention recently to all the discussions about Facebook, so I have no idea what is going on on that front, except some vague notion that you can advertise on it now or something.

But I am getting really irritated by Facebook for several reasons, which I am about to list for you, in no particular order, if you can bear with me here.

1) I hate the ads. I don't need a dating service. Really I don't. And even if I did, large-breasted blonde women are not really my thing (sorry). Piss off!

2) What's with the millions of applications? Why can I not "just say no" when a friend invites me to add something? (I mean I can, but I can't). So now I have something like 30 applications, and I would love to remove all of them, but I can't bring myself to.

3) The whole Super-Poking/being bitten by zombies/getting a sheep thrown at me thing is wearing thin. Apart from my amusement at my never-ending poking game with bmart, I don't really want the rest - but then again, what if I want to send flowers or a Cosmo to someone later? Dang!

4) And what's with telling everyone everything I do? I have a ton of my association members as Friends, since I want to slowly grow a group for my association, but I don't necessarily want them to know that I added some random music application or joined the "Unlike 99.99% of the Facebook population, I was born in the 70's" group. I know you are supposedly able to turn all this off, by the way, I am just too lazy/too busy/not in the mood to go through and do it.

5) I thought you were supposed to be able to separate friends from family from professional colleagues? When is that going to happen? I got the Cliquey app from someone and put people into groups, but then it very irritatingly went and told everyone what groups I put them in. What if I had set up a couple of "cliques" called "sad losers I feel obliged to talk to", or "no idea who the F these people are"? Luckily I would never do that... : )

6) Why does everything have to be on my profile page? Why can't I move 90% of this crap that I can't seem to actually remove completely, and just put it on a page 2 so it doesn't annoy me all the time?

7) Why can I only belong to one network? What's up with that? I lived in Edinburgh and London for 15 years, why does it have to be only DC?

8) Why can I not join groups for my high school and university, just for the purposes of trying to find old classmates? Last time I tried I think they both said I had to be a current student. Am I missing some secret place where the alumni groups hide out?

9) Why do I not receive messages posted to my groups, which is really the only thing I am truly interested in? Shouldn't I be able to get them in my Facebook inbox, at least, if not in my real email? (Seriously if someone knows how to turn that feature on let me know - I am probably just being dense).

10) People keep saying to me, "Oh, I need to respond to you about the Facebook thing you sent me." ???? WTF? probably related to #4.

OK that was more like many minutes of ranting. Sorry!

Never get lost again!

I am distracted this week, for no particular reason, so I am experimenting with lots of fun stuff like Tokbox, as per my earlier post.

You may know that driving is my favorite stress-relieving activity, and the Tom Tom 910 GPS I got last year for my birthday was the best present ever, since it means I can go anywhere and enjoy the drive and the scenery because my friend "Simon" (the Aussie voice that sounds like Steve Irwin speaking to me from beyond the grave) tells me when to turn and what lane to be in.

So check it out!! Google have launched Google Maps with My Location (beta). All you have to do is text BLUEDOT to 33669 or go to www.google.com/gmm on your mobile phone to download google maps. YOU DO NOT NEED A GPS-enabled phone. (Note - this does not work on my ancient Blackberry, but I am checking it out on someone else's phone. I also have only 4 days before my T-mobile contract runs out and I can go get a new Blackberry Curve, which it will definitely work with). Then, once you're all d/l'ed, you just press "0" and you'll see a blue dot on your screen, which will show you where you are. Here's more on it all. It totally rocks!

What it means is that if I were to forget my GPS, or if I just wanted to wander around somewhere on foot (as people do, sometimes, apparently), I am still able to reach out to the god of wireless and ask him where in the blazes I am and where the closest coffee shop is. Awesome!

go on, tokbox me, I dare you!

Just a wee post this evening, to let you know I have set up Tokbox here on my blog, after reading all about it on Sabol's blog. (And speaking of which, Dave, honey, it's good to have you back!! We missed you!) Anyway, I do not, of course, need anything else to distract me from the ton of work I always have, so of course, what do I do but add more fun things I can use to procrastinate. And this is SUPER FUN. So if anyone wants to talk to me by webcam, feel free to "tokbox me", or send me a videomail. I may not respond immediately (having to do SOME real work and all), but I will respond! : )

Happy Turkey Day

So I'm sitting here at my desk, enjoying some "me" time for the first time in a really long while - it's super quiet, Mike left a short while ago, David is already in California with his family; the phone stopped ringing around 11 am (except for calls from jnott - I promised to help him stay awake on his long drive through the diagonally endless state of Virginia, to Tennessee... I'm good at that, and will be here for a while, if anyone needs me - ha - I've got an endless supply of bad jokes and stupid stories...) and anyway I have now finally had some time to just stop and think about things.

I am not a particularly sentimental person, but I did want to just say a really heartfelt thank you to all of you, who have helped me get this blog going, and who have commented, and tracked back, and encouraged me, and subscribed, and just listened (or read, I guess) while I ramble on about stuff, and have put up with my moments of self-doubt, frustration, and/or exhaustion, and debated with me, and quoted me, and allowed me to quote you, and appreciated my comments on your blogs, and come up to me and said hello, and looked out for my car (!), and Friended me on Facebook, and Linked me In, and followed me on Twitter, and Stumbled me or Digged me or all those other social media tags, and valued my newbie opinions, and invited me to sit at the top table, and invited me out for a drink, or lunch, or dinner, or all three, and became my friends.

My life has really changed a lot this past year; I see a whole new horizon ahead of me and I know this is only the beginning.

Thank you, again. Have a really great Thanksgiving.

More on Associations as the Gatekeepers of Information

Just thought I would continue on this topic of the association as gatekeeper of information. Scott Briscoe asked, in his comment to my last post,

"When you think of Web 2.0 in the context of decentralized association content, that's where the Keen article becomes less of a rah, rah to association expertise, and could question the experience of some web 2.0 apps. For example, associations are traditionally a gatekeeper of info -- stuff that comes from the association is implicitly stamped with "this is good information."

When it gets decentralized, and the association is more of a hub or connector that enables others -- any members or groups or whoever -- to create content, then where's the expertise?"

I personally believe that this is not the purpose of associations at all. Bear in mind that my point of view is from a very small association, which is also technically a local chapter of a national association. Our own role as providers of WRITTEN information is very minimal - we have no wiki (yet), no library, no resources. What we do have, is intellectual capital, by which I mean a VERY educated membership, and collegiality. I feel like the "raison d'etre" of my association is really to provide a venue where like-minded people can come together to hear the best speakers of the field, to further their education and training, to get CE credits which they need to stay licensed, to mingle with others in the field, and most importantly, to expand their professional business networks, grow their practices or have access to a pool of people to which they can send referrals. And yes, technically, they could do all these things independently, using social media among other things, but there is a very important sense of history to our association which our members seem to want to be a part of. And, of course, it's also about the good of the order, and my association (being of mental health professionals) has been buffeted pretty harshly by societal influences over the last few decades. One of the things I'd like to see us grow is an advocacy program, since we're DC-based, but that's a ways away.

So I guess my answer to your question is that I don't think the association as connector or hub negates the association as source of expertise at all - just maybe that such expertise comes in different forms. To us social media fans, "content" is mostly about user-generated electronic writing - but content can be a lot of other things.

On Keen (reply to Acronym)

OK, Scott my dear, you've thrown down the gauntlet. So I, sat down this afternoon and read the Andrew Keen article in Associations Now.

And it turns out, I can call everybody's bluff.

You, Sir Briscoe, are stirring the pot. Those quotes you pulled out of Mr Keen's article? Totally designed to get a rise out of me/us bloggers/us techies/whoever. But, funnily enough, while they do appear in his article, they are not actually his point at all. And, I was amazed to discover, he's not anti Web 2.0 either! Despite appearances. And while, before I read the article, I thought it was genius to include a seemingly anti-Web 2.0 cover article in the "social media" issue, I have now come to realize you are pretty damn smart. You made us all THINK there was this big debate to be had. And we're all going to grab our issues of the magazine and read the article, all prepared to be pissed off (like I said I thought I would be). Smart move!

Because in actual fact, I would argue Mr Keen is not only NOT anti Web 2.0, he's actually one step ahead of some of us in terms of seeing where the future lies.

Let me explain. Here's Keen's REAL point: "Ironically, the answer is not to defend one's fort but to use Web 2.0's digital tools to rebuild that fort in order to make ourselves more secure against the ill informed and opinionated." And, "There remains a strong public preference for credible expertise over flatulent option. The wisdom of the crowd is that the crowd isn't particularly wise." I totally agree, hence my previous comment about "better stuff rising to the top". And the clincher:

"Rather than amateurs and amateurism, the digital future may actually belong to experts and expertise."

What is he talking about? He's talking about Web 3.0. Yes, already, and he's not the only one. Just one recent example: this Washington Post article I read recently about a magazine abstract website, brijit.com, ends with this:

"The Web is moving toward the combination of human reviewers with Internet search. WebMD founder Jeff Arnold has said that if the latest evolution of the Internet, Web 2.0, was about the consumer -- meaning user-generated sites such as MySpace, Facebook and YouTube -- then Web 3.0 will be about the editor."

So - what to make of that. As we all know, associations tend to be behind the business world in embracing new technologies. So what we need to do, then, is hurry the [bleep] up, so we can get to Web 3.0, which is where we actually want to be. And in that pursuit, well, Mr Keen and I are absolutely on the same train. : )

Associations Now

So I read my first ever issue of Associations Now last night. I know, I know, I should have started sooner - I have about a year's worth of back copies, in order, on my shelf, but just have not had time until now. I promised several people I would actually find the time to read this one, though, and read them all from now on.

There's a great article by the babelicious jnott on "Who's in Charge?" - I won't review it, specifically, (with a staff of three, you pretty much know who's in charge in my office - whoever's buying lunch on any given day. Hahaha....) but it's a really good read. There's a fabulous insert on social media, with some great quotes by our very own bmart; there's lots of other good stuff.

I will admit I could not bring myself to read the anti-Web 2.0 article by Andrew Keen. I like to tell people that I don't want to be a critic - critics criticise. That's not my job - I'm the anti-critic, the enthusiast, the evangelist. If I don't really think much of something, I prefer to say nothing about it. And usually, others will also say nothing about it, and better stuff will rise to the top. But regardless, I'm not in a place where I can read the negativity in Keen's article and pull anything meaningful out of it. Instead, it will just piss me off. So I'll wait to read that later. However, I remembered an important lesson from Jackie Huba - people who complain (who take the time and effort to do that) are those who can be turned into evangelists and we need to pay attention to them. So, Mr Keen, you just hold tight. We'll change your mind, eventually.

Now - having just said that I'm not a critic, I did have one comment about Associations Now (given, remember, that this is my first issue). I found the imagery extremely aggressive, particularly compared to a "quiet" kind of font, and it made it difficult to read, for me. Of course, the other reason it might have been difficult to read is that I was trying to read propped up in my bed, and my two kids were playing a weird game of "under the covers Marco Polo", which was just slightly distracting. But in all seriousness, I wanted to mention something about the look of the magazine, only because I am currently thinking about this sort of thing at work. We're about to produce our bi-annual newsletter IN COLOR for the first time since 1930. (I think they had a newsletter from day one). Ooh - we're pushing the envelope there! It sounds silly, but it's a big deal. Just think when black and white TV went to color, how weird that must have been to people. : ) Anyway. I am, with the newsletter, trying to be sensitive to history and "the way it was" while moving a step closer to the 21st century. Next step, e-newsletter (obviously). But I have to not rush the process. So anyway, that's my comment.

Blogger relations?

Found this interesting post from Brian Solis, who was at BlogWorld last week. (I'm totally going, by the way, next time...!!!)

Anyway I won't quote it, it's easier to read the whole post, but I found it fascinating to read about "Building Relationships with Bloggers" from the PR/marketers perspective. Scroll down past the photos to the meat of it.

I'm obviously a relatively new blogger, but have found myself to already have the power to have some influence just in the mere mentioning of something. So it's like a guilty pleasure (and we all need those, right?) to look at how others might see us from that external perspective.

how perfect is this

From Euan Semple's blog "the Obvious":

"Management is becoming about noticing and enabling rather than driving and controlling.

Get yourselves a big melting pot of different social tools that engender different conversations and expressions of intent from your staff, watch like a hawk, spot the cool stuff, fan the flames and then protect the baby shoots..."

I love it. he's talking about business, but that's how Associations 2.0 has to work too.

Strategic Planning Kills Creativity; Strategic Thinking Enables It

I am actually happy that my board is going to take about 100 years to complete their strategic plan.

Is that bad?

I'm not saying they shouldn't do it. We've been in operation since 1930 and I believe there's never been a strategic plan, ever. So it's probably a good thing they are going through the process.

But for me, being totally selfish here, I can't wait for it to continue to take forever. Because as long as it does, I can "just do it", which is how I do what I do. Luckily I'm fairly smart, always keep our mission in mind, and have a great team on my side, too, so it's not like I'm running around in concentric circles (or figures of eight, or any other weird circular patterns, or any other non-circular patterns, for that matter...) doing stupid things, without oversight. But I fear that the minute a strategic plan is in place, that will be the death of my being able to think and act strategically.

Shameless Plug ; )

Just wanted to wish good luck to my hubby, Andy, who runs a team for SMB:Live which is rolling out a HUGE "communities" module for BT Tradespace today. (BT Tradespace is what it sounds like, a Myspace for small business, in the UK). They have been working really damn hard - haven't seen him for days!

This is how BT describes it: "This is a business social networking tool that will enable you to network with other Tradespacers, make new business contacts, create and join communities relevant to professional or personal interests and ask questions into those communities. The blog has more details. We believe this is going to be a powerful extension to Tradespace as business is all about conversations with customers and partners and Communities provide a place for those conversations to take place online. "

As with any Web 2.0 stuff, the content is only as good as the users, so we'll see what happens, but I think it is really great that a huge behemoth like British Telecom is responding to what its customers want and implementing social networking ideas, and not only that, but using a small, innovative, creative, US company like SMB:Live to do it.

Rock on, honey, knock 'em dead!

Just back from ASAE

Just a quick post to say I had a great two day conference with ASAE, on "The Hats You Wear - Membership, Finance and Law". I was finally able to meet one of my favorite bloggers, Matt Baehr, who co-presented the membership sessions with the very fun Steve Rauchenecker, from the CCIM Institute in Chicago.

One thing to note was that TONS of people wanted to know more about social networking, social media tools, blogging, and other Web 2.0 issues - how to get started, how to know if our associations' members will get involved, how will it really affect them. Which was not surprising, but great to hear at the same time. We've been calling for a really properly intensive conference, or series of webinars, or whatever, on this for ages! Inquiring minds want to know!! Hopefully we'll see more concerted offerings soon.

Another thing to keep an eye out for - a bunch of us participated in (beta -tested, if you will - heheheh) a new Non-Profit Finance board game. Literally. You roll dice, move money chips around the board between expenses, revenue and investments, read cards which might have unexpected positive or negative events which you have to make decisions on which may affect your bottom line but which could also grow your membership... anyway. I don't want to say too much because it's still being developed, but it was a TRULY AWESOME, super fun learning tool for any non-finance association professional, which could be used particularly for boards or any staff development too. You get this amazing picture of how decisions involve many factors and can have different results over the short term vs the long term. I love this kind of creativity! Way to go ASAE!

Associations 2.0 (beta)

I thought of another concept I really love about web 2.0, which I don't know if anyone has really talked about much in the context of associations. That is the beta test, or "second phase" of testing a product or service, where it's rolled out to a small sampling of the intended audience.

Everyone (or I should say all "techies", anyway) loves being part of betas - as a "tester" of a new or upgraded product, you feel like your opinion matters, especially when further upgrades are made which reflect suggestions and improvements which you might have thought about and which were made by you or other users like you. It also implies that the creators of the software/web program/whatever consider YOUR input to be an INTEGRAL part of the process of creating something new and better. They make you feel special, by requesting your participation and input. That special feeling is like being part of a members-only club, or VIP room...and people will happily pay for that, although not too much - being invited is better!

I wonder if the model of the innovative association (Associations 2.0, I like to call it) is actually something like that - a special club where our members' participation as beta-testers could drive any number of new projects.

This still necessitates a certain structure, a staff, an implementation/marketing/promotional structure, a communications plan, a Board with fiduciary responsibility, but the strategic thinking is done by the members and is enabled through every level of the association, not limited to the top tier.

Just a thought!

Associations 2.0

Lee White is quickly becoming my favorite Social Media Today blogger because he summarizes so easily and clearly the big conversations going on in tech land. In this post, he refers back to a post by Dion Hinchcliffe about "Enterprise 2.0, the increasingly popular discussion of using Web 2.0 platforms in the workplace".

"Dion Hinchcliffe has just posted State of the Enterprise 2.0. Absolutely worth reading. He reviews the lessons learned in the Enterprise 2.0 world in the past 12 months since Andrew McAfee proposed this definition. Hinchcliffe provides 7 specific lessons learned:

• Lesson #1: Enterprise 2.0 is going to happen in your organization with you or without you.
• Lesson #2: Effective Enterprise 2.0 seems to involve more than just blogs and wikis.
• Lesson #3: Enterprise 2.0 is more a state of mind than a product you can purchase.
• Lesson #4: Most businesses still need to educate their workers on the techniques and best practices of Enterprise 2.0 and social media.
• Lesson #5: The benefits of Enterprise 2.0 can be dramatic, but only builds steadily over time.
• Lesson #6: Enterprise 2.0 doesn’t seem to put older IT systems out of business.
• Lesson #7: Your organization will begin to change in new ways because of Enterprise 2.0. Be ready."

Andrew Lang jokingly said at an ASAE presentation I was at last week that associations are always ten years behind. I think he meant basically that non-profits are ten years behind for-profits in taking advantage of - and finding in the first place - innovative ways of doing business and making money. Which I am sure is true, since the mission-driven purpose of every association is to further the profession and benefit our members, or vice versa, or both equally, first, and while everyone worries about revenues, we also like to think we have a higher purpose.

But clearly, as all of us association bloggers are saying, the new ways of doing business through Enterprise 2.0 are not ones we can ignore, because it's all happening with or without us.

Associations are the oldest social networks, are they not?

We need to get to Associations 2.0.

...Not just a pretty face ; )

Ha! I am not normally one to toot my own horn, but I felt that I wanted to share my bemusement and excitement at being named a "2007 Young and Aspiring Association Professional" by Association Trends. (That's my cheesy mug, top right below). I'm just happy about the "young" part - I feel, and am, older than I look.... hahahaha.

But I am 100% sure that this blog helped me get this, so wanted to say thank you to everyone for reading and commenting and sharing and participating in it with me! : )

	Nov. 2, 2007 - #1622
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