Raptr.com

It has taken me 16 sites to finally have one about something I absolutely love and that’s gaming. Suggested by a friend (Drew Chapman, what what!) the site Raptr.com is a nerdgasm waiting to happen. If you like gaming, you like Raptr.

After you first create your account a little, nifty box pops up and tells you four main features of Raptr.

Your personalized news feed is showcased as number one. Depending on what games you follow, your news feed will suggest related stories. For example, I put The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as one of my games and the first thing I see is an article named "Some Bugs Were Intentionally Left in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D." Then beneath that story was a Black Ops article (which I also read). I love that Raptr did this. Instead of Googling for interesting reads, I get them here and for my favorite games.

The next feature is very Digg-esque. Besides each story’s link (and Link if it’s a Zelda story) there’s a voting option that allows you to say if the article is good or not. The Raptr community can see the votes and, if the article looks like it is getting more ‘nays’ than ‘yays’ users can save their brainpower from reading it.

Also like Digg and many other social media sites, you have the option of sharing with your online community by submitting an URL link. Post game news, videos, screenshots and anything else of interest. If more people like your link, more people will see it. So don’t post a dud. 

The next point of interest is the fact that you can always search for and add more games to your profile. You can also track games automatically by downloading the Raptr client or adding gamer IDs in settings. I personally love this the most. You aren’t a dedicated gamer unless you at least check this out.

Then of course we have the usual social media functions. You can message, you can chat, you can read the blog (which I suggest you do), you can update your status and make or find friends. However, there’s a Games section that’s pretty fun to peruse that gives you more in-depth and interesting tidbits about different games.

Sure, Raptr has similar makings as other run-of-the-mill social media sites, but it specializes in getting the interest of the gaming world. From Black Ops players to CityVille fanatics, Raptr has something for any type of gamer.

Another point for Facebook

Annoying Tweets & Much Thanks

First off, I want to say a big thank you to all of my readers! In less than one month Social Spaz's blog has been viewed 5,000+ and I couldn't be happier!

Secondly, I've decided to do another round of The Most Annoying Tweets soon! Stay tuned and if you didn't catch the first round go here.

Thanks again!

AllConsuming Revisited

Have you ever been consumed by a great book, a catchy song or album, an entrancing movie, or had some food and drinks that were phenomenal? Ever find something awesome and you want to share it but your friends aren’t into the same stuff you are? AllConsuming.com is definitely a site you should join and bookmark.

How the creators describe the site: All Consuming means many things to many people. Some folks take it literally, as in “consumerism”. Others take it to mean being “consumed” by a great book, album, movie or delectable food. Think double entendre with a sprinkle of irony.

AllConsuming lets you create an account and add things that have you are consuming, things you have consumed, and things you intend to consume in the future. Basically, it gives you a fun atmosphere to share the things you love and also find things you may come to love.

For those of you who don’t know, I am obsessed with reading. I can get a great book and demolish it in one sitting. However, the problem I sometimes face is finding that amazing book. That’s probably the number one reason I love this site—the book section rocks. I’ve already gone to the Books page and perused the continuously generated page of user suggestions and found two books I’m about to purchase because of it. You better believe as soon as I’m done I’m going to review them on AllConsuming too.

A really cool feature called the “Should List” allows any user to send you a suggestion for an item for you to consume. Whether it’s a close friend or a complete stranger, a person can send you a suggestion.

Another neat feature I didn’t realize was there until after I joined is that AllConsuming is made to interact well with your 43 Things, 43 Places, 43 People or Lists of Bests account if you already have them. “One site fits all.”

AllConsuming has a plethora of diverse members that are out there sharing their tastes with their peers. As soon as you join, go and search through the Books, Music, Movie, Food & Drink, and Other categories to learn about new and exciting things you may have otherwise never heard of.

TheSixtyOne Revisited

Hold up people. You think you know a site that is awesome for finding equally awesome music? Well you don’t. Here it is, thesixtyone.com.

Thesixtyone, is an awesome site that, from the home page you are already in the loop of new artists making new music. Become a member or not, either way you can still browse through pages and pages of new artists and great music.

When you sign up (which you really should) you go in as either a listener, an artist, or a label. I can’t even pretend to be a music artist or a label so I went with what I know.

From the get-go you dive into new artists and their songs.

The neat thing about this site is how you can navigate it according to your own interests. You can go to Explore or Popular. Popular is my favorite because it has the option of Moods. I wish more sites had this option because sometimes you don’t know exactly what you want, you just know what you are in the mood for.

Another cool thing about thesixtyone, is the Quests part. By completing the Main Quests and the Daily Quests you get exposed to different kinds of music and gain reputation points.

If you have an account you can personalize your own playlists off of the songs you find and like. You can also follow other users, whether they are artists or listeners to see what’s up.

Another point of interest that thesixtyone has, is that while on each artist’s page, little tidbits of info pop up and once clicking on them you can learn more about the person or band. It’s pretty nifty if I do say so myself.

Overall thesixtyone.com is musically randomized awesomeness. Not only is the site full of great new artists but it also is an aesthetically pleasing one at that.

Don’t follow the crowd, better yet, beat the crowd to the punch. Go to thesixtyone.com and see what it’s all about.

LineforHeaven.com Revisited

“Am I going to Heaven?” ”Religion can be fun!”

Want to save your “soul” and become closer to “God?”

Too many “quotes?”

LineforHeaven.com.

LineforHeaven is a social networking site that, surprisinly (or maybe not), many people take part in. Their About page assures you that religion can be fun and any religion is welcome. The concept of this site is for you to save your “soul” and reserve your place in “Heaven” by earning karma points. You can play games, “Bless” people, and interact with your fellow members.

Normally I wouldn’t copy/paste such a big list from their About page but who am I to stand in the way of your salvation? This is a list of a member’s benefits:

• Save your “Soul” and commemorate your passage into “Heaven” with eternal life online as an “Angel”. 
• Meet and talk with like-minded people on your spiritual journey in a fun, light-hearted, non-hostile environment. 
• Be able to bless others, while visiting a “Soul” or playing the Blessing Game, and get blessed in return. 
• Cleanse your “Soul” and be forgiven for your sins. 
• Feel good about yourself by spreading the good Karma, donating/tithing, and supporting worthy social causes. 
• Compare and track your inner worth with Karma Points. 
• Be a part of the history-making, Earth-shattering social gathering. 
• Learn more about religion and religious tolerance. 
• Promote yourself and your work, and get noticed now before LineForHeaven becomes too crowded like MySpace. 

I have to say, I do love how ballsy LineForHeaven is. They are going big and letting you know it.

However my favorite thing about the About AND the site itself is how you achieve getting into “Heaven.” I will copy/paste again because you just can’t make this stuff up.
In Heaven, the most worthy can earn a position next to God. Every Sunday (“Judgment Day”) at 7 PM PST, the first person in Line for Heaven will become an “Angel”, inducted into Heaven, and One Degree from God.
Users who have acquired the most Karma Points on a daily basis will be allowed to touch Heaven.

LineForHeaven.com’s creators are either slightly insane or have a great sense of humor. Either way the site isn’t half bad. I mean, you can play games that forgive you of sin and saving your soul has never been easier. You certainly can’t say the same for Facebook or Myspace.

43Things.com Revisited

Man have I got a crush on this new site. CouchSurfing.org may have inspired me to travel, but 43Things.com has inspired me to do everything else.



43Things is a site that allows people to share their goals, their progress on said goals, and to cheer others on with their own little warfares. This concept is simple, but muchos effective. There’s just something empowering about posting your hopeful life goals, whether big or small, on a site where others can see it and say “go for gold!”

You create your account and get started right away. Make your list of goals you want to achieve and see how many people have made the same goal. You can also make a resolution and have it remind you every month, every three months, or next year that THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO.

Man have I got a crush on this new site. CouchSurfing.org may have inspired me to travel, but 43Things.com has inspired me to do everything else.



43Things is a site that allows people to share their goals, their progress on said goals, and to cheer others on with their own little warfares. This concept is simple, but muchos effective. There’s just something empowering about posting your hopeful life goals, whether big or small, on a site where others can see it and say “go for gold!”

You create your account and get started right away. Make your list of goals you want to achieve and see how many people have made the same goal. You can also make a resolution and have it remind you every month, every three months, or next year that THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO.

43Things is inspiring. A must do.

Be a Spaz

Like us at http://www.facebook.com/SocialSpaz.

Then follow us at https://twitter.com/thesocialspaz.

While you're at it you should check out Social Spaz's list addiction at http://listgeeks.com/socialspaz. Everyday for a year straight I will make a list!

Lusting after Lists

I started Social Spaz's Tumblr as a place to review social media sites and now I'm revisiting a few of my favorites.

For: People who dig lists

Lists are things your mom makes before she goes to the grocery store. ListGeeks.com are lists that everyone else makes that put your mom’s to shame.

Let’s be real, a good majority of people who use more than the top tier social media sites are, in some form, geeks at heart. Once upon a time this may have been a description looked down upon by society, but now being geeky can be a glorification of sorts. ListGeeks.com may have said description in it, but don’t let it throw you. ListGeeks is clever and fun.

ListGeeks.com is all about creating, sharing, and comparing lists made by you and other members.

Okay, let me go ahead and stop that inner voice from saying, “Why would a website about lists be interesting?” Why would posting pictures and reading statuses of people you don’t really care about keep you enticed for hours on end? Because, with people come diversity and the people on ListGeeks come up with some pretty interesting lists.

I’m going to list you the cool features:

1. You can create any kind of list you want that can be seen by everyone on Most Recent Lists.

2. ListGeeks gives you two numbers on each list. The first number represents the people you are following (yes, you can follow people on ListGeeks) who have made their own version of the list you are looking at. The second number is the total number of people who have created a version of the list. I think this feature if pretty nifty and after browsing through most recent lists I saw the “Zombie Apocalypse To-Do List” and made my own version of it. There were four more version on the site.

3. You can browse the Most Popular Lists, these lists are usually pretty fun.

4. According to the About page, the creators (based in Berlin, Hamburg and NYC) are saying that ListGeeks.com is currently in beta. They are asking their users to let them know if anything messes up or if they have any feedback to make the site better. This is exciting for me for the fact that, since it is in beta, it can only get better. (Please note that I wanted you to read “beta” and “better” as “betta” to be funny.)

All-in-all, I really enjoy ListGeeks. It’s addictive and makes me want to make lists so awesome that people will create alternate versions of them. So if you have an affinity for being clever or if you just want to make a legitimate list about places you hope to visit one day or your favorite songs, ListGeeks is the place.

http://listgeeks.com/socialspaz

PayPal say wha?! conclusion

For those of you who read the troubles that Regresty.com were having (see this a blog) read the conclusion to the fiasco at Registry's blog post- Paypal Update.

Paypal say wha?!

If you haven't heard of Regresty.com you are missing out on cunning sarcasm and humor. I plan on doing a more in-depth article about Regresty getting the shaft by Paypal when they were trying to giving to a charity, but I'm backed up with projects at the moment.

In the meantime, you should visit http://www.regretsy.com/ and read up on the controversy. It's gotten so popular it was trending on Twitter for a while.

#regresty

Buffy: Not just a slayer, but the new Facebook phone?

Yes, you read right. For the past few weeks reports have been dancing around the Internet that Facebook is currently working on creating a phone that has been given the nickname of "Buffy" after the sassy vampire slayer on the WB.

As far as the rumor goes, Facebook has hired HTC, the cell phone manufacturer, to create a smartphone that specifically will revolve around the social networking power house. The article that appeared on AllThingsD.com on Nov. 21, claimed that this will be a modified version of the Android phone and should be coming out in the next 12 to 18 months.

The phone, once again still rumored, will run HTML5--the latest languages for structuring and showing internet content. This will greatly integrate different FB features into the basic platform of the phone. Buffy will sync messages, photos and contacts between your phone and the site.

Facebook has decline to comment directly or even acknowledge that said phone does exist or will exist soon.

“Our mobile strategy is simple: We think every mobile device is better if it is deeply social,”  a spokesperson told AllThingsD.” We’re working across the entire mobile industry; with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers and application developers to bring powerful social experiences to more people around the world.”

So...Facebook is making a phone (we'll pretend we know for sure) but will you get it?

I'll tell you what, I don't think I will. I am a hardcore Facebook user and fan but I don't need to purchase a new phone just for Facebook. I can just use my smartphone now and get on to check my notifications and browse my newsfeed.

I'm all for investing in a phone for convenience and efficiency, just not for one or two less clicks to get to my wall or blog.

Mini Post!

Happy belated Thanksgiving and happy Black Friday!

I decided that I would give myself Thanksgiving--Monday off as a mini vacation, because I am about to go into overtime with Social Spaz! So this mini post is just a way to let everyone know I haven't forgotten about the blog!

What to expect in the future:

• Social Spaz is moving! (New office, so excited!)
• The website & blog are getting a makeover!
• Specials and great deals will be offered!
• An event party is in the makings!
• Theme Blog Month is coming!

More information will come shortly! (So many exclamation marks!!!)

Blimey Cow's 'The Truth about Youth Group'

Make sure to read part one here, part two here and part three here!

Check out The Truth about Youth Group!

Here is the finished product! We hope you enjoy it, and had fun reading about the days of work that go into a video that doesn't even clock in at three minutes in length. It's crazy, hectic, and stressful... but it's a ton of fun.

Our thanks go out to Tyler Snell for allowing us to take over her blog for the weekend. We've had a ton of fun and hope to hang around Social Spaz again sometime. God bless you all!

Guest Blog Weekend: Blimey Cow Part 3!

Make sure to read part one here and then part two here!

POST-PRODUCTION

Whew! I just hit "render," and this week's Messy Monday video is DONE!

Editing all the footage is honestly probably the toughest part of the whole process. It's definitely the most time consuming. I think a lot of people would be surprised to learn that for just a short two and a half minute video (Like this week's episode), it normally takes somewhere between 4-6 hours to edit.

Culling through all the footage, picking out the best takes, and placing them in order in the timeline takes a good couple of hours at the least. When that is finished, I have a workable "first cut" that will never see the light of day. It exists for maybe 30 minutes while I give my mind a break, so that I can return and objectively look at what I have so far, and what additional cuts I need to make or alternate takes I need to insert. Once I've made those new changes, the second cut is starting to look more like the final product that you see on YouTube. Still not quite there, but we're getting close.

At this point, I usually let my wife look at it and ask her if there are any flow or mood problems that she sees. I ask her questions like, "Does Jordan's vocal inflection or tone shift too dramatically between these two lines? Does anything look to abrupt? Are there any jokes that just aren't landing like we wanted them to?"

Honestly probably the hardest part is parting with jokes that just didn't work. I'd say on average, from first cut to final product, I've shaved off about 45 seconds to a minute of video. A lot of times it's just because the good take we got just doesn't work with the rest of the video, or is too abrupt, or just doesn't sound right with the rest of his thought. The biggest lesson I'm learning about editing while doing this every single week is to cut mercilessly. The shorter and more concise the video is, the better. Never let more than about 8 seconds go by without another laugh line.

Once all of that is done, I watch the video a few times all the way through just to make sure all the cuts are tight, so that the video flows seamlessly. And then I'm finally done. It feels good to have this done on a Sunday night! Usually we shoot the video tonight, and I wake up early in the morning on Monday to start editing. Usually by about 2-3PM the video is finally done and about ready to be posted.

Tomorrow, I'll link you guys to the finished product, entitled "Messy Mondays: The Truth about Youth Groups". We really hope you like it!

Guest Blog Weekend: Blimey Cow Part 2!

Make sure to read part one here.

PRODUCTION

Today we shot the yet-to-be-titled video. Before we got started, I printed out the script as I had it, and Jordan and I and the few others that came to watch and help with the video, brainstormed more ideas to help flesh out the whole video. By the time we were done, we'd cut some stuff I'd written yesterday, and then doubled the size of the final product. Honestly, I think it was the most fruitful writing session we've ever conducted that immediately preceded shooting.

So then we began shooting. And the thing about it is- it's hard to understand the pacing and mood until we're actually shooting. It's probably just a product of my own inadequacy, but I just have to be in the middle of actually making the video happen before I can fully understand what it needs to look like. This leads to even more changes to the script (i.e. scraping entire bits that just don't fit once we're actually shooting).

Stressful as it is to find the right mood and pacing, shooting is probably the most fun I have all week. It's just always a really good time. We do it so often now that we've gotten a really nice rhythm. And Jordan and I are able to track with each other- he knows what I'm looking for from a specific line usually without my even having to say anything.

Plus, letting Jordan loose is great too. A lot of times, we have specific lines that need to be said specific ways to set up for the next joke, but other times, I like to just let Jordan know what the basic idea for the next section is, and then hit record. Some of my favorite stuff that we get is the stuff Jordan improvises on the spot. In fact, a lot of stuff for Monday's video was my just letting Jordan run loose with an idea. The balance, I think, is key, and we're getting more comfortable with it with each passing week.

Guest Blog Weekend: Blimey Cow!

**For all of you Blimey Cow lovers, here's a recent interview with Josh (April 30, 2013 to be exact!) over at Almost There! Check it out! Go here!**

Hello, everyone! My name is Josh Taylor. My brother, Jordan, and I started an online comedic video series in the fall of 2005, which we dubbed "Blimey Cow."

We produced about a hundred videos in the first couple of years, before taking a break as I got busy with college, and Jordan got busy finishing high school- slowly coming to a halt as the years past. This last year, however, we slowly began creating new videos, and by the time September rolled around, we were back uploading a new video every Monday.

Though we do skits on occasion, our main focus is on our "Messy Monday" video series which started back in August. Every Monday, we upload a new video wherein Jordan speaks directly to the camera, while he talks about a variety of topics. Facebook , going to the movies, church... you name it.

We have had a ton of fun creating new content each week, but have found it also incredibly challenging to keep the content fresh, fun, and engaging when we are never more than a week from your next deadline.

Social Spaz has asked that that we keep a sort of journal this weekend concerning the creative process surrounding the creation of a Messy Monday video. We don't have a budget. We have a few lights, a camera, and a bedroom. It's definitely not a "professional" production, but it's a creative process we complete every single week now. Tonight, we write. Tomorrow, we shoot. Sunday, we edit.

PRE-PRODUCTION

Prep for the next Monday's video usually starts on the preceding Tuesday. My wife, Kelli, and I begin brainstorming different topics that could be covered. Throughout the week, as I have conversations with other people, ideas, one liners, or anecdotes may come to mind. I keep a big file of various punch lines on a variety of topics to be used when the week, topic, and joke are right. Lord willing, by Thursday we have decided on a topic, and at least a couple of the big laugh lines for the episode- the lines that we hope people will remember long after watching the video, and about which they will hopefully tell their friends. Usually we come up with those laugh lines first before coming to a conclusion about whether or not a topic or idea is viable. Sometimes we come up with one joke, and then make an entire video to work around that joke. I hate wasting a good joke.

The topic this week, as decided yesterday, is going to be church youth groups. I was informed then that a youth group in Clarksville, Tennessee had used one of our recent videos as part of the lesson for the evening. I posted this fun news to Blimey Cow's Facebook fan page, and then quipped, "I guess next week's video is going to be about boys and girls sitting too close to each other..."

It was meant as a joke, but the idea took flight in my head. In short order, I was writing out the beginning of this tentative script. I visited my brother at the college he is attending that afternoon and related what I had written thus far, and he and I came up with more material, which I came home and wrote up. Sharing what was done of the script with my wife later garnered even more ideas.

As it stands, the script stands at about 35% done. Depending on the week, mood, and topic, sometimes it actually helps to have some leeway concerning the content, when it comes to actually shooting the video tomorrow. Sometimes having the entire thing completely done, and then merely tweaked as we shoot, works best. And sometimes having only certain jokes and just a basic idea of the direction, content, and pacing works just as well. It really just depends. And 10+ weeks into this, I can't say that I have entirely figured out exactly how to know which is best, and when. All I know is that Monday's come really, really quickly these days... and most weeks, it feels like we escape with a solid video by the skin of our teeth.

Back to writing for now. I'll let you know how shooting went, tomorrow.

Promotional Things!

Hey guys,

Here are a few designs that Social Spaz has spit out! I hope you enjoy!

Stay tuned for a weekend blog event!

Guest Blog: Social Media: A Force for Good

I'm happy to present guest blog number four!

Guest Blogger: Sean Sporman

Social Media: A Force for Good

The Internet is truly a marvelous invention. The World Wide Web is perhaps one of the best, most life-changing inventions of the past half-century. It brings a seemingly infinite amount of information on a seemingly infinite amount of topics to one's fingertips with a few clicks. Worldwide communication with very little to no delay is possible in many forms. Fans of practically anything that can have fans can gather together online to share and express their interests.

Of course, one major part of the Internet, especially in the past few years, is social media. Almost all TV commercials and even some billboards now have “Find us on Facebook and Twitter.” Literally hundreds of millions of people are on both of those aforementioned social networks. And, despite criticism in some circles, I would argue that social media can truly be used for many good purposes and is much more than the waste of time that some on the outside perceive it to be.

I have been in a long-distance relationship for nearly four-and-a-half years. I met my lady through one of the more “retro” forms of Internet social media, the chat room. We became the best of friends and eventually, a couple. She lives thousands of miles away, and thus, we must fly out our respective states to visit each other. In the interim, we use the Internet to keep in touch.

Aside from the cell phone, the two of us use Facebook to communicate, especially during times such as when I am on my lunch break at work or when she has some spare time at her college. Facebook's chat engine may have gone through several changes over the past couple of years, but its a great (and free!) way for us to keep in touch when we can't call each other. We have also just recently begun to use the wonderful Skype for video chatting.

In addition, Facebook is a wonderful tool for keeping up with classmates. No longer does one need to wait for the high school reunion to know what your former fellow students are up to—you can reconnect with them easily through Facebook—from former best friends to those you only knew briefly. I can say that I have become even better friends with some people from my high school that I only had one class with one year thanks to Facebook. I am also happy to keep in touch with many college friends as well, no matter where they may have moved to.

I also use social media for something a little different than most on a daily basis—daily weather status updates. I've long dreamed of becoming a TV weatherman—and hope to become one soon. I follow the weather every day, and a couple of years ago, began the idea of weather updates for my friends and family through Facebook (and Twitter). I started off with special watches and warnings during severe and winter weather, but eventually began doing daily forecasts.


Amazingly, what I thought was a little thing that perhaps a few friends would read turned into much more! I've been told by many people that they check my status updates on weather instead of more conventional means! I have had parents of old high school friends add me for my weather updates. Even the creator of The Social Spaz herself has told me she reads my weather updates daily. While she was chatting with me about writing a guest column for this site, Tyler told me that her step-sister wanted her to go to my page to see if it was going to rain that evening! If I may say so, I think that's pretty awesome right there.

I even provide daily weather forecasts for a friend in Canada, and have had a friend from Wales ask me about the weather on occasion. I especially hope that my severe weather updates during events with possible tornadoes, hail, and strong winds help to keep people safe and provide them with important information.

Aside from providing friends and family with weather information, I really enjoy the chance to cheer friends up on Facebook when I can. I make an effort to tell a sick friend that I hope they feel better soon. And, I always enjoy wishing a friend a Happy Birthday on Facebook.

I've mentioned previously in this column that I've wanted to be a TV weatherman. I was thrilled to be a part of one of the best college TV stations, TrojanVision at Troy University, for nearly four years while a student there. At first, I would use Youtube and post through Facebook some of my broadcasts so I could share them with friends and family outside of the TV market area. I later began to upload broadcasts for other friends of mine so that their friends and family could see them. Even after graduating and having people I had never met do broadcasts, I continued to upload for others—adding them as friends on Facebook and then sharing the videos on their “walls.”

I received some wonderful comments of thanks for this, including ones from their parents and siblings. But, I was happy to do it, since I knew how cool it was to be able to share my TV broadcasts with those unable to watch them live. I recently uploaded parts of a university pageant for two friends of mine as well, including one friend I made through Facebook and later met in person to give her a bag of Halloween candy.

Of course, I am just one person in a huge social world. I haven't even used Google Plus yet, and am still growing a small following on Twitter. I have no doubt that there are others out there that have equally pleasant and positive experiences with social media, which allow people all across the world to connect in increasingly advanced and unique ways.

I want to thank Tyler for allowing me to share this column with all of you, and I want to thank all of you for reading!

Guest Blog: Darfur? I Hardly Know Her!

A wonderful blog written by a fellow blogger here.

Guest Blogger: Will Francis

(A Social Commentary on
Peer Pressure, Apathy, and Mustaches
in the 21st Century)

Every couple of months I find it necessary to clean my Facebook. This process is a sometimes enjoyable one that includes: getting rid of outdated applications, picking a new profile picture, updating my basic info page, and leaving groups that just don’t matter to me anymore. Completing this list is essential if I want to feel like a productive member of this website, and really society as well. This being said I always run into the same obstacle. Darfur. Yes, the small African nation, which so happens to be plagued by genocide and other naughty things, is ruining my online experience. “Why?” you ask. It’s because I’m a coward.

I don’t exactly remember why I joined “For Every 1,000 that join this group I will donate $1 for Darfur”, but I have a theory that it was during a time when my membership was in its infancy and I was floating in a sea of “unparticipation” in virtual activist organizations. Every so often I would read in the news feed that friends of mine had joined this same group and not only that, but had left it too. During these first instances I passed temporary judgments on these heathens which would last for the greater part of a second. This was always followed by instant forgiveness. Then I came to realize that they too had a ritual of tidying up their online domain, and had found it necessary to distance themselves from Darfur for the sake of having less obligations. That, or because it was no longer in style. 

I want to interject that, as I was once a Political Science major, you would think I might know a thing or two about global incidents. Seeing as the Olympics aren’t happening this year, I feel like that just shouldn’t be a concern of mine. I do however have a thing or two to say about genocide. Surprisingly, I kind of respect it. I’m not one for confrontation so when I see that some mustached leader in a far off land has gotten rid of a ton of people, I have to applaud human effort. I find there is no better way to burn bridges between two groups of people than to burn one of groups alive. On the flip side Americans subject themselves to genocide every day. We are successfully phasing out the “Valley Girl” due to tanning bed radiation. From what I understand this has been in the works for years. Not only that, but fast food restaurants are bringing up new victims every day to replace the ones who are dead. Taco Bell has changed our dining agenda forever by adding a “Fourth Meal”, and Wendy’s Baconater is projected to cause more heart attacks than the Publisher’s Clearing House check deliverers. Unlike Darfur we have developed a killing method that is not only socially acceptable but looks good in a swimsuit and/or tastes delicious. 

Recently I was given the opportunity to be intellectually mortified by an aforementioned mustached leader. Dr. Jeremy Lewis, head of the Political Science department at my college and it’s only teacher, teachs the World Politics I am currently taking. It dawned on me during one of the lectures that not only did I not know what he was talking about half the time without the use of Wikipedia, but I never even wanted to come near to having an educated opinion on the matter. It would just take too much time, heart, and money to get to where I might be a guest of Real Time with Bill Maher, and I don't usually persue something unless I know I will be the best at it. All of Lewis’s lecturing on people thousands of miles away or half a century ago in gas chambers I will never tour, being fire squaded against walls I will never touch, or burned alive in their own huts that I will never smell made me void of all caring. It was as if he were talking about every puppy in ever pound in this world and how bad they needed a home. I wanted to help, but I just couldn’t. The task before me was too large, so large that it became useless to even care anymore. This is the kinda crap I think about when I clean my profile.
Marek Grodzicki, the creator of Save Darfur, promises this to be a real cause and that he has in fact followed through with his pledge. This group is different in many ways from other charity websites: It doesn’t ask you to donate. It’s in the title. The only thing you have to do is join and Grodzicki will have one more notch in his belt. If you read the reasons given for this group’s creation Marek makes a point to tell you that it is not for his “self gratification”. Oh. How very nice of him. Not only does he give to charity, but he doesn’t feel better about himself for doing so. Forgive me for being a sociopath, but I find it hard to believe that. Most things I do in my spare time are wholly for self gratification, and if they aren’t I find a way to incorporate that into my activity. Yes, by all means I’m selfish, but don’t ever tell me I didn’t warn you. Why do I put change into the Salvation Army bucket during Christmas time? It’s so that damned lady will stop ringing the bell for a few seconds to say “Thank you, sugar.” Plus, sometimes I’ve done something real naughty, but not as naughty as genocide, and think the sound of a few nickels clanging together will counter that. Fat chance, but it’s a thought, and it’s the thought that counts.

I consider myself a rather proficient Facebooker compared to other college students. I have successfully utilized the privacy settings so that no Sunday School teacher, professor, or future employer may see anything that would otherwise mar my reputation as an All-American-Church-Goin’-Tax-Payin’- Law-Regarding-Boy-Scout. It also helps that I blocked my own mother. It has crossed my mind several times that I could just quit the group and hide it from the newsfeed. As ingenious as that is, it’s also sneaky. And the only thing I hate more than Darfur is conniving and sneaky sons of bitches. I wouldn’t necessarily lose sleep over doing it the easy way. That sort of privilege is given to people who commit genocide. But I do feel that I would be looked at as an insensitive person if I left the group, because as we all know, Facebook is the apart of the real world now and the things we do on it matter in the grand scheme of things. So, I had to choose what I valued more to me: either try to offend the least amount of people possible, or march down the streets with my own pants on. I chose the latter.

Today I have closed a chapter in my life, because when I made the final click I became my own man. I have severed all ties in my relationship to a dying country. Did I feel any different when I went through with it? No, I didn’t feel anything at all. These first couple of months I am going to take it slow. Maybe one day in a lonely Comparative Government lecture I will think about all the good times we had. I might see Darfur on the newsfeed and I will cordially stop and maybe see what has been going on. I will say, “Remember when we broke our first 1,000 members?” There was excitement, sure. But there always is at first. I am going to keep that in mind when I see other charity organizations pop up. As much as I want to “Save the Manatees”, am I really ready to commit? It takes a lot out of me when I teeter on the fence and only care enough to show my concern and nothing deeper than that. It’s going to take some time for me to get over Darfur. For now I am just going to donate to bell ringers, because it is fast, cheap, I feel good afterwards, and right now it’s the only thing I can handle.

Guest Blog: Everyone's a Reality Star

Second guest blog! Going strong!

Guest Blogger: Katy Williams

As I’m watching The Maury Show on this chilly winter morning, I’m asking myself,

“Who are these people that deem it appropriate to air their exceptionally dirty laundry on public television like this?”

Well, it might not be as uncommon as I thought.

Facebook statuses have evolved into an outlet for enraged, depressed and attention-seeking people. Out of my 900 friends, I’m sure my newsfeed has at least four statuses about someone’s personal problems as I’m writing this. Most of the time, it’s passive aggressive and to an ambiguous person, but every so often it’s very specific and juicy.

Jackpot!!

Breaking up with significant others, feuds between friends, and family issues galore! It blows my mind when people do this. What planet do these people live on where they think that it’s not only acceptable to do this, but that people genuinely care?

The few times I have paid any attention to it was because my friends and I were discussing it in a private message like it was a VH1 Reality Show. It’s like we’re the audience on Maury who scream and antagonize unsympathetically the entire time. (To all of you who write statuses like this, just know, we screenshot the most hilarious ones; therefore, your dirty laundry will live in infamy until the long awaited day each of our computers crash and we forgot to back-up our files.)

At first, I was embarrassed for people like this, but it seems like whenever I say anything, I’m the one who gets attacked. I’ve decided that I’m no longer going to try to intervene with this circus of emotions on a public forum. I’m just going to pop some popcorn and let myself be entertained. The best things in life really are free!

(except the popcorn)

The Woes of a Jobless Graduate

The abyss. That deep darkness that begs for nothing but takes everything. That creeping thought that slinks into your brain and fills you with doubt, fear and anticipation of future regret.

Graduating from college with a degree you spent four years of your life on and not getting what you think you deserve in return.

These are the woes of a jobless graduate.

Frustration. It is a royal bitch. I think above every other consequence of not getting hired after graduation, the feeling of growing frustration is the worst.

You can plan and plan and plan until there’s not a coherent thought left and still at the end of the day, all your hopes are still in the gutter and no one has called you back.

A friend of mine once used a wonderful analogy for the abyss that comes after graduation. We go to the same restaurant everyday and are told where to sit. Then, one day, when we go there the hostess is gone. Suddenly, the options of where to sit are endless. Sounds good right? A plethora of opportunities and no one to tell us otherwise.

That’s when the fear and doubt slide in. Should I sit near the window? But, if I chose the window I’ll be passing up on the bar seats. If I sit at the bar, I can’t sit in a booth.

Something great turns into something terrifying.

The bottom line is, too many options are more intimidating than too few. What if we mess up and take the wrong seat? We might be damning ourselves to a future we never really wanted and were too young and naïve to realize that at the time.

Not landing a job one month after graduation isn’t that bad. In fact, it’s pretty normal. However, five months later and you’re craving some Paxil to calm your nerves. So many seats available to you and yet, you’re frozen.

Well, I’m here to say to just sit on the damn floor for a while because this blog isn’t going to tell you how to get your dream job or, for that matter, the first job out of college. All I can tell you about is my own experiences and right now I want to share a few things that have and still do frustrate me to no end.

Things I’ve heard countless times concerning my job search:

Ask yourself—would you hire you? 
This has always annoyed me. Of course I’d hire me. I know me. I like me. I grew up with me. I’ve always been there for me and I’m a wonderful listener to me. I work hard at what I want and I’m a wonderful worker with myself.

Ask yourself—if you were them would you hire you? 
Why would I ask myself? I’m applying for a job…so I’m literally asking them “Will you hire me?”

Beef up your resume. 
Unless you want me to lie, I can’t make legit experience appear out of thin air. Hire me and I’ll put that experience on it.

You have to have connections to get a good job. You give me a well-connected person’s address and I will go there with my best business outfit and talk their ear off until they feel like recommending me. Otherwise, the people I already know apparently aren’t too connected considering I still am without a job.

There are more little sayings that I’m sure everyone’s heard, but these are the freshest in my mind. Feel free to leave a comment with your own frustrating tidbit of advice that you were given or leave a wall post or comment on Social Spaz’s Facebook.

Guest Blog: Facing Facebook at 50

I am happy to announce the first guest blog! It is a wonderfully written article!

Guest Blogger: BA Spears

I’m 50. For my generation, social media started with the junior high “Slam Book,” where we wrote supposedly anonymous but always identifiable comments about our peers, ranging from genuine compliments to cruel attacks. We then graduated to phone conversations in which a group of giggling girls on extensions throughout the home of some accommodating parent chatted with a group of pimpled pubescent boys gathered around one phone in some young man’s basement for the five minutes that the boys feigned interest in the conversation. Eventually, media became the excuse for social: a gathering in someone’s den to watch a Movie of the Week on Saturday night, where the evening’s theme was chatting, flirting and sneaking kisses between the host mom’s infrequent trips to the room to refill sodas or popcorn bowls.

In the ’70s and ‘80s, the life of parents and the lives of their children were almost completely separate, even when they lived under the same roof: parents were not part of their children’s social circle until long after the children grew up, married, and began attending some of the same social events as parents. Family life and social lives were strangely divided, and I would not have dreamed of sharing even mundane details of my life and my friends’ lives with my parents.

My generation, rejecting the decision of our parents to remain distant, and perhaps feeling a wistful desire for greater generational interaction within the family, changed that formula when becoming parents. We attended our children’s events, we stayed in the room during their parties, we eagerly volunteered to chaperone events so that we could be on site, in the midst, part of the fun. We did not want to miss our children’s lives! And in doing so, we earned the name “helicopter parents,” because we hover around our children, watching them, protecting them, and perhaps not giving them the space required to grow up.

Because we are so deeply engaged in our children’s lives, their departure from home to attend college, enter the military, or take a job in another area, brings a grief so deep it is akin to death. Our relationship to our children has become defined by our presence in their day-to-day affairs. Enter Facebook! Texting! Twitter! YouTube! Social media now fills the gap created by their physical absence and gives us a new type of relationship with our children that we never dreamed existed.

My daughter left for college and soon afterward said to me (apparently feeling no guilt or concern about this comment at all!): “Mom, I don’t always have time to answer your calls. Just text me, and when I have time, I’ll text you back.” After learning to text – a challenge for middle-aged eyes and fingers – I began to text, and soon, we had developed a pattern of communication that at least assured me she was alive and well. When I began to lament that the texts were nice but that I’d really like to see her face, she responded (again, with no trace of guilt or concern!), “You need to get on Facebook. I post pics and comments there almost every day, and you’ll know what I’m doing, where I am, who I’m with, and you’ll be able to see me in my pictures.” Really? That’s how she wanted to communicate with her mother? But in desperation, I struggled through what is, I’m sure, a simple process to set up a Facebook page.

True to her word, my daughter was my first Facebook friend. And that’s when it truly happened: we became friends in a way we’d never been friends before. We still retained our warm mother-daughter bond; we still had occasional late-night phone chats; we still wrote old-fashioned snail mail letters (she knows her mom is old school, after all!). I remained a helicopter parent, but Facebook was my helicopter, allowing me to hover on the fringe of her life at most times but make an appearance when needed, satisfying her need for space to grow while satisfying my need to be informed. I began to meet her friends, experience aspects of her social life, see her friends’ comments and jokes, watch YouTube videos of my daughter and her friends. I felt engaged in her life again but she felt free to live that life as the young adult she had become.

Eventually, as I grew more comfortable with forming relationships through social media and having access to her friends’ comments, thoughts and pictures, I became brave enough to actually respond to their comments, thinking to myself that I might be making a huge mistake. These cool young college coeds might be offended by a gray-haired mom’s intrusion on their lives.

Their response? They sent me Facebook friend requests, too! And as they embraced me, I embraced them, getting to know a whole new group of bright young minds who are excited about politics, the economy, the environment! Of course, I remain cautious. I comment only when I believe I can add humor, insight, or an encouraging word. When I see things of which I disapprove (and that does happen!), I remain largely silent or I send a private message of encouragement. I am not the Facebook police, and I am not there to judge their lives. But I am so grateful to be a part of this tremendous social media phenomenon that has enriched my life so much!

Facing Facebook and other forms of social media as a means of maintaining a relationship with my child seemed strange, foreign, and scary to a little old lady who still found email to be somewhat challenging. I have parked my hovering helicopter and walked right through the door, becoming fully engaged in my adult daughter’s social media life. I begin and end each day logging in. Her posts appear on my page, and I see quickly that she is happy. Then I can go on about my business of Facebooking with my own middle-aged friends, some of whom wrote in my Slam Books, giggled on the phone with me at slumber parties, and gathered at my house to not watch movies. Facebook has reconnected me with those friends, introduced me to new friends, and reinvented my family relationships. And my life would be much bleaker without it.

iMenstruate

For the people that know me, know that I have a very thin filter between my brain and my mouth when it comes to my period. Sure, it isn't the best topic to bring up at the dinner table but when I'm around people I'm comfortable with, I won't extend the courtesy to pretend I'm not in pain from cramping or my patience level is at normal. But, to my friends, I'm the young woman that has a fascination with periods.

After watching the f8 keynote about the new Facebook soon to come and how it would get users more connected (like Spotify lets your friends know what you're listening to WHEN you're listening to it) I started thinking how funny it would be to have an app for women that tracked their menstrual cycle.

Megan just started her period!
Rachel has three more days until she's home free!
Tammy is currently cramping, bloated and fatigued.
Hilary suggests Tampax Pearls over Playtex Sport.

Yes, I understand this would be a tad bit excessive, but I decided to Google to see if any phone apps out there catered to tracking women's "time of the month."

Geeksugar.com did an article on the Period Tracker App for iPhones. This App tracks when you start, when you stop, when you're ovulating and fertile and when you get and can get intimate.

"The Period Tracker App costs $2 and is the ultimate menstrual mentor. You enter in your info, and it tracks your cycles, letting you keep notes about your activities and well being, all the while using twee 'lil hearts and flowers to denote important days (to be fair, "ovulation" would be too long to fit in those boxes)."

This is actually one of many apps out there that allow you to get in the know about your relative Aunt Flo. (That kind of rhymed.) My Pregnancy Baby (don't let the name scare you) posted a blog about the best of the best apps out there if you are serious about downloading a nifty tracker. Most are free and have passwords so not just anyone can pick up your phone and know if you're bleeding or not (was that too much?).

Things like this make me very excited and a bit nervous about the future of technology and social networking. What other little tricks like this will be used in a few years?

Guest Bloggers Wanted!

I would love to have some guest bloggers write for Social Spaz!

Flowchart: Poor Google+, Yay Twitter

My friend sent me a picture of a flow chart that begged the question, "Where should you post your status?" It did the whole ask a question then follow the answer yes or no to different paths. Usually I dislike things like this. I'm used to the zombie "Would you survive a zombie apocalypse?" types where you are inevitably screwed by the end regardless of your answers.

However, this flow chart is pretty accurate in my opinion. When something happens that I deem status worthy (which is a lot) I pretty much go through the same thought process.

Take a look:

How accurate is this?

Poor Google+ doesn't make it far. But I have to admit I hardly ever update my status there because only two people really ever comment or +1 it. 

I don't use Foursquare but when I think of updating AT certain public places, I think of it.

I hardly ever decide against something being too risky to post on some social media site. Whereas my Facebook might feature less perverse or outrageous updates, I let my Twitter bird fly free with my thoughts. Plus, I usually don't think most awkward situations are awkward. The same goes for statements.

I understand LinkedIn is a professional site. But that doesn't help the case I've made against it as being boring. My LinkedIn gets Social Spaz's Tweets updated atomically, but that's it for fun or flair. When I update a status there (which I hardly EVER do) it's a thought-out inspiring or self-satisfying claim of intelligence. 

If you have read my previous posts you should know that I have an addiction/obsession/deep love for Facebook. I may not be honed in on Likes as a separate love, but I do update Facebook the most and the most regularly.

Twitter is something in the past year I've gotten pretty sweet on. Its Fail Whale charmed me as well as the amount of people (famous or not) that you can follow no problem and read their Tweets. If any famous person was to do a shout out to a non-famous person it would be on Twitter. Also, people just seem to be a lot funnier on Twitter. These facts make me tweet almost everyday, however, unlike the chart above, at the end of the day Facebook is my number one choice for updating my status.

YouTube: Introducing Channels

Madonna, Jay-Z, Amy Poehler, Rainn Wilson, Shaquille O’Neal, Sofia Vergara, Tony Hawk and Ashton Kutcher. What do they have in common? Fame, wealth, good looks and now, YouTube content creators.

YouTube announced about 100 original content channels will be coming to YouTube soon. This new programming will be available globally, which is a big deal considering the plethora of licensing limitations geographically that hinder digital content and distribution deals currently. Viewers can subscribe to the channels that they are interested in such as topics like sports, music, pop culture, health/fitness, animals and other popular categories. They can also be organized by age and ethnicity. 

Why is YouTube doing this? Not just for kicks. Surely advertisers will be biting and the bit for the opportunity to be apart of the channels.

Robert Kyncl, global head of Content Partnerships, wrote his thoughts on the company blog.

“Our goal with this channels expansion … is to bring an even broader range of entertainment to YouTube, giving you more reasons to keep coming back again and again,” Kyncl wrote. “And for advertisers, these channels will represent a new way to engage and reach their global consumers.”

So, stepping back from the facts, do you think YouTube is kind of selling out? Do you think channels will work out? Are you going to go to YouTube channels more than your TV ones?

For a sneak peak at the future channels: http://www.youtube.com/creators/original-channels.html

DIY Project: Paint Samples (The Beginning)

I went to Lowes today and was very creepy. I ended up getting about 50 paint samples.

Then, after hurrying out, I made a stop at Hobby Lobby to look for a frame for my paint samples wall art. Now, you could purchase almost any frame for this project, but at the moment I am on somewhat of a budget and stuck with an 11x14 wooden wall frame that was about $6. When I do another paint sample project I will buy a larger frame for an intense masterpiece.

This is my update! So far this project has only cost $6!

DIY Projects: What to expect

For those who don't know me, I have an utter addiction to HGTV and in consequence DIY projects. Young House Love is a site I visit frequently (and you should too!) and they inspired me, along with Pinterest, to start up on some projects that I've been wanting to try.

For this next month expect my own version of these:

These are paint samples! You can make awesome wall art for practically free (buy the pins or glue depending on where you put them) and you can let them free stand or have them framed!

So pretty and so easy! Used or new you can make these decorations no problem! 

Don't throw away those bags of unused color pencils! Make a design out of them! Frame them!

Easy to make, easy to decorate yet beautiful!

Don't throw away your used crayons either! This is an awesome idea for a canvas with a big splash of color. New or used crayons would work!

So those are the things I will be doing while business is still keeping me really busy. Once everything settles down I will go bigger! I'll keep you updated on my hopefully successful attempts!