Donation Round Up

I need to follow up on something—my pledge from the first post when I began this blog for my digital networking class in spring 2009.

I promised to donate to Reading is Fundamental for every comment posted through April 29. The number of comments within that parameter is 31, but I’ll count May, too, for a total of 32.

This equates to $8.  I opted to round up just a bit.  Isn’t this a nice confirmation screen by the way?

 

Dear Christine Pill,

Thank you for your thoughtful donation of $10.00.  Your support of RIF will help us build a literate nation in which every child has access to books and an opportunity to succeed. 

We hope you found your visit to the RIF site informative.  Be sure to visit us again to learn how RIF is touching the lives of millions of children and families across the country.

Sincerely,

Carol H. Rasco 
President & CEO

 

So, the next time I make promise like this, let’s go wild.  Let’s aim for the stars.  

Until then, enjoy my previous posts as I consider a brief hiatus from blogging to tackle my thesis project.  Here are my top ten favorites, in chronological order:

1. Calling all Numismatics!
2. Digital Sharing Dictionary
3. And it was all Yellow
4. Slimming Down
5. Not Kodak’s Moment
6. Selfish Sharing is Still Sharing
7. Get out your Sunglasses and SPF/Lighting up Legislation
8. Mouthing Off
9. Kudos to Erdos
10. Throwing Sand

I’m a Skype Type

Greetings again, after a brief blog vacation. Rest assured that I have been thinking of you often.

And recently I’ve taken part in one of the greatest online sharing experiences of our day: Skype.  Wow. It allowed me to stay in touch and keep up-to-date with my boyfriend while he was in Mumbai on business. It permitted me to enjoy an Indian sunrise or two. It even gave me the opportunity to meet his friend who served him breakfast every day. For free. The few times it did cut off (for like 10 sec. twice, total, in two whole weeks) it didn’t annoy be a bit, especially after seeing this video. Talk about amazing.

I remember when an older, retired-to-Florida uncle of mine once said “I won’t need a computer until it allows me to talk to my grandkids up north on my TV, just like I was with them in real life.”

Well, either I’m old, or technology is to the point where it can enliven our fantasies, or both. Maybe it’s both.  But so cool anyhow.

Special thanks to Katie for sharing showing me the above video!!

Bravo your Brand

For the first time, I saw an ad targeted to companies in regards to product placement.  Here it is to the left, snapped by my archaic phone.  Interestingly enough, it was on a subway platform.

It makes sense that the people who make these types of decisions ride on NYC subways, but it still interests me to see that it’s now a-ok to do this outright for all eyes to see—even the ones whom this type of initiative is intended to influence.  I guess it just goes to show how salient product placement has become.

Furthermore, check out the website that this ad refers to: www.affluencers.com. It’s as if Bravo is announcing:

Hello everyone! Bravo peeps in particular… Here is how we define and categorize you!  Here is how we sell you!  Come join us!

So, I have to ask.  If you were watching, say, the Food Network and Mario Batalli used a specific wine to cook with, would you prefer this or a non-brand?  I can see both sides of the picture, and may just prefer the former, assuming the celebrity chef valued his or her own brand enough not to sell out.  And this begs another question: Can we trust that they do?

When brands run together, each then has the potential for an opportunity to become stronger through associations and/or a risk of becoming downgraded or damaged.

These variables leave all of us consumers in a new place. It could be good, it could be bad, but I think the important thing is that we’re all at least aware (and, thanks to companies like Bravo, you’d be stupid not to be), if not actively prosuming.

Beginner’s Guide to Twitter

A while back a Twittering friend of mine, Elizabeth, shared with me a great cheat sheet for using the tiny tool. (She is finishing up a paper about Twitter as literature for an NYU class, so I regard her as an expert. )

Anyway, this guide has helped me as a reference when navigating Twit-Jargon. Check it out on Deanna Zandt’s blog. And enjoy the continued chirping of all the little birdies—both in the Twitter-sphere and in our own real atmosphere on this lovely day.