You Can't Tell Lies Anymore.

The Internet will catch you out.

Here's the video i mentioned:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9chNh_baJe0

A Bad Policy.

Some observations after reading a companies IT policy.

Are they all as badly written as this one & does anyone out there really "get" social networking?

The Work Family

Another video inspired by a Twitter conversation.
How on earth did we ever manage before?

In case you didn't see it, here's a link to the video i mentioned:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO5AAkSUDjg

Census Or NonCensus?

Has the Census run it's course & do we really need it in these days of Social Networking?

A beach vlog.

Not The Only Show In Town (Social Media Journeys)

Social Media Journeys: Not The Only Show In Town.: "Talking about how we now migrate between different social media/networking sites. Those older sites are not, now, the only show in town. ..."

A video made especially for my Social Media Journeys blog:
http://socialmediajourneys.blogspot.com/

But, i thought i'd share it here, as i think it's relevant.

A sort of follow up to my recent Walking & Talking video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yJ5Wz...

AudioBoo - Startings The Process.

And i didn't even get around to mentioning my job interview on Thursday.

Putting The "Social" Back Into Social Media.

My personal history with Social Media is a fairly short one. By some peoples standards anyway.

My first experiences probably started off on MySpace and maybe the odd message board. All that was around the 2005/2006 period. It wasn't until the summer of 2006, when i discovered YouTube and started making videos, that i really started to get involved with other people online.

As i said in a recent blog post. I realise that not many people actually regard YouTube as a Social network at all. But, for me, it most certainly is and it is the site that i have used more than any other over the past four years. I have also made more friends there than on any other Internet site.
Please see that previous blog post for more information about my experiences on YouTube.

But, i don't expect i am alone in saying, that i didn't consider what i was doing ,back in those early days, to be Social Networking.
I can't honestly remember when i first heard that term. But, i suspect it was sometime after my first hesitant steps into that world.
For me back then, it was all about having fun and it still is. It was only after a while (early 2007?) that i realised that i was meeting like minded people and was enjoying their company online. That was when the more social side of my online life started to take off. But, i still didn't really think of it as networking.

I think it was around that time, although i could well be wrong, that i first started to hear about Social Networking and Social Media. But, without many exceptions, those terms were always used in a busniess context and that is where i have a problem with all of this.
Yes, we hear on the tv news. or read in our newspapers about "The Social Networking site Facebook", or similar. But, just about anything else you read about Social Media and Social Networking is all about the business aspect of it, or the money making opportunities that can be had.

I follow several Social Media blogs and websites. Mashable and TechCrunch being two of the most well known and i do find them very interesting. But, i can also find them very frustrating. Because the vast majority of their posts are all about the business and money making angle and not the social side.

As you might have guessed, this is a topic that i am very interested in and i have read several books about the whole world of Social Media.
I fully realise that there is money to be made out there and that Social Media is the new kid on the block. Therefore, many people are looking for that gap in the market to make their own dotcom fortune.
But, for me at least. The use of the word "Social" is there for a reason. This isn't just all about business and money making. It is also all about people and i do believe that that is often forgotten.

Maybe, i am being unrealistic, expecting things to be any other way?
Maybe, the vast majority of Internet and Social Media users don't care about this in the same way that i do?
Maybe, i am actually being a little hypocritical? After all, i am a YouTube partner and do allow advertising on my videos and blog posts.
Maybe, i'm just plain wrong?

Maybe, that's for somebody else to say?
I just can't help feeling though, that the "Social" side of all of this has been hijacked a little.

Whatever the truth is, i do know know that during my time using Social Networking sites and using Social Media generally, i have met, whether online, or even in real life, some of the best people i have ever had the pleasure of knowing.

Now that's the sort of Social aspect we should be concentrating on.

YouTube Is a Social Network.

Social networking has been in the news once again this week, with the news that Facebook has passed the 500 million users mark. As i mentioned in a blog post the other day, the reporting of this story is not unusual these days.

One thought i did have about this story was, that  i wondered what some people will make of the fact that a jeans and t.shirt wearing 26 year old, runs a website, that if it were a country, would be the worlds third largest? I'm sure that's pretty scary stuff in some quarters.

In the light of the Facebook story, the BBC reported on a recent survey, which compared all of the main social networking sites. It was called "The ups and downs of social networks". All of the usual suspects and major players were there. Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, Twitter, Bebo, etc etc. Some faring well and others not so.
But, in my opinion at least, there was one major website missing from that survey. YouTube.

For most people, YouTube is perceived as a video sharing website and this it undoubtably is. It has become the number one site for online video viewing. The place where the vast majority of Internet users will go to first if they want to find a silly viral video,  a clip from their favourite tv show, or the latest music video by their favourite artist.
But, for many other people, YouTube is also a social networking site. So, why isn't it ever viewed as such?
Maybe, it is because of YouTube's perceived association with the sillier and less serious side of the Internet?

Whatever the reason, for me at least, YouTube was my first foray into what i would now call social networking.
It was on YouTube that i first started to interact with fellow Internet users, from across the world, in a meaningful way.
It was on YouTube that i first "met" other like minded Internet users, of all ages & backgrounds.
It was because of YouTube that i first met, in real life, fellow Internet users and felt confident in doing so.
It was because of YouTube that i have travelled to the USA on two occasions, exclusively to meet and travel with fellow video makers and have a great holiday into the bargain.
It was on YouTube that i first discovered a shared sense of there being an online Community.
Now, that's what i call social networking.

Maybe, i feel this way because YouTube was the first site of this kind that i stumbled onto?
Although i knew of and visited sites like MySpace when i first started to explore the social side of the Internet. It was YouTube that drew me in and made me dig beneath the surface and explore that little bit more than before.
For me, it was the way that i could see, through their videos, the people that i was interacting with. I could see their faces and look into their eyes. Something that you just don't get on many other, so called, social networking sites. Surely, it is far safer if you can actually see who you are intereacting with? Yes, i'm sure that this can be falsified. But, not nearly as easily as on a mainly text based site.

Since i created my YouTube channel in August 2006 and started making videos there, i have made some great friends. Some i have met in real life and this have often led to real and genuine friendships. Some i have yet to meet. Some, i may well never meet. But, i would still consider them to be friends.

I do wonder that if i was now a newcomer to the world of social networking, whether i might feel differently? After all, sites such as Facebook and Twitter, both of which i now use, were not really on the Internet radar back in 2006.
That question, of course, can never be answered.
All i do know, is that i am more than happy that my first experiences in the world of social networking were through YouTube.
I consider YouTube to be as real a social networking site as any of the others mentioned in this blog post.
I just wish that the rest of the world would view it in the same way. Maybe some day they will?

Social Media & Me.

One of the new things that has happened to many of us, over the past few years, is the rise of social media. Whether we know what that really means, or not. Most of us have been affected by it in some way or other.

If you are reading this blog post, you are involved. If you are on Facebook, post videos on YouTube, photos on Flickr, or tweets on Twitter, you are involved. And that's just naming some of those sites that have become household names. There are plenty more where they came from & more are appearing all the time, as people try & get in on the act & attempt to plug any unfilled gaps in the social media market.

If i had written this blog post even two years ago, there is a very good chance that far fewer people would either, read it, or know what i was talking about. The past couple of years, especially, has seen a huge rise in the take up amongst social media sites. I think that Facebook can take most of the "credit" for that. Although Twitter isn't that far behind.
I read a statistic recently saying that, if Facebook were a country, it would now be the worlds third largest! So, you can't argue that social media isn't getting people involved.

Hardly a week goes by without the old fashioned media of TV & newspapers covering a "news" story about Facebook, or YouTube. Social media has become big news. But, i suspect that many people don't really understand the term "social media", or have no idea what it really means.

I can't pretend to understand it all myself. But, i have had an active YouTube channel for very nearly four years now & have had accounts on many other social networking sites for almost as long.
It is a topic that interests me a great deal & something i have become quite passionate about, over those years. I have  recorded many YouTube videos & written several blog posts about it too. Just search my blog tags for words such as, "youtube", "Facebook" & "Twitter" and you will see what i mean!
Somebody actually commented on a recent YouTube video of mine saying, "Seriously, your children must be well impressed to have a Father who's well known on YouTube and maybe knows more about social networking and the Internet than they do, or most parents"

So, i thought that i might try and start to write a bit more about this subject. Especially as my life circumstances have changed recently and in such a way that may enable me to write a bit more freely about my social media adventures and history.

I must admit, that i have been partly inspired to do this by a felow social media adventurer, Rich.
Rich is a releatively new convert to the world of social nedia & i have mentioned him in YouTube vlogs before. He has started vlogging & blogging about his experiences & this has, in some ways, re-awakened my own enthusiasm. Thanks Rich.
You can find Rich here:
His YouTube channel - World According to Rich
His blog - worldaccordingtorich

I did think about starting up a separate blog for these posts. But, then i thought that as i've written & vlogged so much about this in the past & posted them here. That i might just as well contiue to do so. Apart from that, it does make it easier for me. I have plenty of other sites that i post to, without adding yet another one!

So, there you go. When you see, hopefully, an increased amount of blog posts about the world of social media & social networking, at least you'll now know why.

All i need now are some topics to discuss.

A Digital Memory Bank

I recently watched a video by one of my favourite video makers. The basic idea behind the video was that, if something isn't documented, then it never really happened. I guess the argument being, that you have no real proof, if the documentation doesn't exist?
Now, i don't want to go into any big philosophical arguments about this topic & whether this idea is correct, or not. But, it certainly got me thinking. As Margarets videos usually do.
My initital thoughts, which i included in a comment on the video, were that sometimes we do need that documentation & for various reasons.
Our memories can often be selective & that's just the memories that we can recall. We often put things out of our mind, because we want to forget them. How many times have you been reminded of something you'd rather forget, or had put out of your mind? Quite a few i'd guess. We have all cringed at the sight of an old photograph, video clip, or even the verbal memory of a friend, or relative.
But, this can of course work in a positive way as well. Documentation, in whatever form, can help us to remember things that we'd like to remember, but had forgotten. Basically the opposite of what i mentioned above. That cringe could well be a smile, under different circumstances.
Documentation can also be used to correct a persons memory of an event.
Our memories can often play tricks on us, for many reasons. Causing us to remember things differently to how they actually happened. There is also a criminal, or deceitful angle to this as well, of course.

But, my main thought was about whether this worry about documentation will shortly become a thing of the past.
I have been, intentionally or not, documenting aspects of my life for the past 3+ years. Whether that be on YouTube, via blog posts, or just generally on the many Internet & social networking sites that i use.
I have made several YouTube videos about just this topic. We are creating a Digital Memory Bank. Everything that we do online, is stored somewhere. That is something that many people fail to realise. Until, that is, their boss finds that inappropriate photo of them on Facebook & decides that that isn't the sort of behaviour we expect & then sacks the unsuspecting person.
That is the negative side to this online documentation. But, there are many positive sides to this as well. Especially, if you control what you put "out there", as i try to do with my videos & blogs.
I am also leaving behind a record of my recent past for anyone to see, myself included.
I am very pleased that i started making my YouTube video over 3 years ago. It's great to be able to look back on them, just as it is an old photograph. For as many times as i might think, "did i really look like that, actually say that, or think that way", there are many more times when i'm just so pleased that i took the time & trouble to record it all in the first place.
Samual Pepys had his diary. I have my computer, video camera & an Internet connection. My own personal diary might not include the Great Fire Of London, as Pepys' did. But, it's still history.
We are all making history & now we all have a way to record it for the future. I, for one, intend to make full use of that opportunity.
All of this will help to prove that i did indeed exist & i now have the documentation to prove it.

Radio, Radio.

There has been much speculation over here in the UK about the BBC trying to reduce it's costs & how it might go about doing that.
One of the most predicted ways for this to be achieved, is for the BBC to pull the plug on two of it's digital radio stations, 6Music & Asian Network.
Both of these radio stations are considered to be "niche" stations & therefore not for the masses. But, does this mean that they should be culled?

Personally, i think the fact that they are "niche" radio stations, is a very good reason for them to stay broadcasting. Far too often these days, there appears to be very little choice when it comes to listening to music on the radio. Well, here in the UK anyway.
Most radio stations all sound the same & that problem has only got worse over the past few years.

What makes stations like "6Music" & "Asian Network" stand apart from the competition, is that the DJs are often knowledgeable music fans & not "personalities" trying to sell themselves. They love their music & it shows. They are also often allowed a lot of free choice in the music that they play. This is something that rarely happens elsewhere. This helps to give these particular radio stations more variety & originality than others.
Specialist does not have to mean boring. It won't appeal to everybody. But, it's not really meant to.

Most UK radio stations are now owned by a few big media companies. This means that their "output" is often shared by many stations. The same song, being played at the same time, across many different regional stations. Unfortunately, not many people are aware of this.
This is the reason that radio in the UK can often be so bland & boring.

One of the main criticisms about the BBC, is often the fact that it is publically funded & therefore has an unfair advantage over its commercial rivals. Some people see the licence fee as a tax & a tax for something they might not use, or even want to use. This is a very valid point & one that does need to be looked into.
But, the BBC is also supposed to be a public service broadcaster & in my opinion that is exactly what the BBC is doing by having radio stations such as "6Music" & "Asian Network".
Without this public funding, we could lose these "niche" stations forever.

It wasn't long ago that the UK very nearly lost it's only national classic rock radio station Planet Rock.
Thankfully, due to public pressure, some new Rock Music loving investors came along & saved the station. This is what can easily happen in the cut throat world of commercial radio.
Is that what we want to happen to all of the original music stations out there? I certainly hope not.

There has already been a public outcry about the possible loss of these BBC stations, especially, "6Music". A Save 6Music Facebook page has already been set up & now has over 75,000 fans.

One of the criticisms of "6Music" is the fact that it has "only" 700,000 regular listeners. Ironically though. i suspect that all of this extra publicity about the potential loss of the station has helped to increase those listening figures by quite a lot. That can only be a good thing. I must admit that i've started to listen to "6Music" again, after a fairly long gap & i've enjoyed what i've heard too.

Whilst some people are crying out for "6Music" to be axed, i haven't heard any of those same people saying that we should shut down newspapers that have a circulation of under 700,000. There are even other BBC radio stations with less listeners. But, possibly because they are Classical Music stations, they are never threatened. Strange that....

One other aspect of this whole situation is the fact that both of these threatened BBC radio stations are Digital Radio Stations. Apparently, only 20% of the UK population was even aware that "6Music" existed & thereby hangs a tale!

Digital radio has been promoted & sold as a great new future for radio listening. But, the truth is that it has just not taken off in the way that was expected.
Part of the problem for that is that parts of the UK still cannot actually receive digital radio, due to the patchy signal coverage. If people can't even hear these new radio stations, it's hardly surprising that they either haven't heard of them, or don't listen to them.
Also, potential listeners have to buy a new & often more expensive, radio to listen to these new stations. Many people just can't afford to do that & many others simply refuse to do so. And who can really blame them?

Digital radio & even digital TV for that matter, really needs a radical rethink, before it's too late.
Let's hope that this whole situation provokes a debate about the general state of radio in the UK & also a, much needed, discussion about digital radio.

There are already dates for the switch off of the analogue TV signals in the UK & no doubt, dates for the switch off of the analogue radio signals will not be too far behind.
Once those analogue signals are turned off, there is no turning back.
If & when the analogue radio signals are turned off, many excellent radio stations will cease to exist, forever.
Are we really prepared to let that happen?

Ask The Audience.

One of the highlights of my week, is listening to the latest podcast from The Word Magazine A magazine which i can heartedly recommend to any serious music lover & a publication that i have probably mentioned before & will, quite possibly mention again at some time.
Podcasts, generally, are one of those things that the Internet was just made for. Especially when they are done well. Which is precisely the case here

But, this week the Word Podcast was even more special than usual, for me anyway. Because, in it they actually gave me a name check & answered a question which had i sent into them.
The podcast was mainly about recording studios & my question was along the lines of, "Does the use of Autotune mean the end of "real" vocalists". (By the way, my question is about 10 minutes before the end)

I actually intend to write another blog post around aspects of the podcast discussion about recording studios & the question that i asked.

But, the other aspect i wanted to mention, was the way that everybody these days seems to be after our opinion. Whether it be a radio show, a tv programme, or in this case, a monthly magazine. They all want input from their readers, viewers & listeners.

In the case of The Word, they use their Twitter feed to ask for questions, as do many others. Usually just before they are about to record the podcast.
But, i've lost count of the amount of times i've been asked, as a viewer or listener, to contact somebody to give my opinion about something they are discussing, or to vote on a hot topic.
I suppose this is just a natural progression from the old fashioned way of contacting a studio, by telephone?

Maybe it's just a case of the media, in its many forms, getting to grips with social media & the Internet generally? After all, it must be a great deal easier getting an email, or a text message, than having to actually answer a phone call. And the ways that people can contact, or get involved these days are growing in number all the time.

I know that many tv programmes, radio shows, magazines, newspapers & even the presenters themselves, have their own Facebook pages, Twitter feeds etc.

So, i guess the question is, does this really matter?

Some might see this as lazy journalism, or cheap programming. After all, these people are getting the general public to provide some of their content for them & at no real cost.
But, there again, it can also be seen as true public service broadcasting. Getting the public involved is exactly what some people like to see.
Also, getting your audience involved in the show, or programme, will probably make that audience more loyal. It almost becomes "their programme. They are far more likely to watch, listen, or read & be enthusiastic about your product, if they feel involved in some way.

Personally, i see no real problem with this & i can actually envisage this public involvement becoming more widespread. In fact i've already seen examples & ideas for this.
Maybe that's the topic for another day?

There is nothing quite like having your name & question being used on your favourite podcast.
As long as that potential thrill remains, people will always want to get involved.

The Noughties - How Was It For You?

Some thoughts.

Stephen Fry & Twitter.

Being one of Stephen Fry's 900,000+ followers on Twitter, i was very surprised to see the following Tweet, from the man hinself, appear on my Twitter feed this afternoon:

"Think I may have to give up on Twitter. Too much aggression and unkindness around. Pity. Well, it's been fun"

I'm sure that, like many of his other followers who read this, my initial thoughts were "what on earth has brought this on & why so suddenly?"

Thankfully, that Tweet was followed by another not long afterwards:

"Well maybe I'll see how I feel in a few days. Very low and depressed at the moment and any drop of meanness makes it so much worse. Sorry"

Now this might not mean a lot to many people & a lot of others may think "so what". But, this threat, if ultimately carried out, could have a big effect on Twitter & it's Internet standing.

One of the main selling points about Twitter & one of the reasons for it's huge success, is that anyone can follow anyone. Unlike some other social networking sites, no invitations, or friend requests are needed to follow a person. No matter who they are. Whether that be me, Stephen Fry, or even Barack Obama.
Now, i have only 300+ followers on Twitter & not the hundreds of thousands that some celebrities have. But, my Tweets are as visible as anyone elses.

This, of course, brings it's own problems. As with any Internet site, users have to invent a username to join the site. Now, this might be your real name. Or, you could make one up & be completely anonymous & herein lies the big problem with all such sites. Anonymity quite often breeds abuse & allows those who have such tendencies, to spread hatred.

I have no idea what has made Stephen Fry think about leaving Twitter. But, i would be a very surprised if that wasn't at the heart of it.
I'm sure that anyone with any history on the Internet has seen examples of such behaviour somewhere or other.

An Internet friend of mine did suggest that, if you join & participate in social networking sites, you can expect at least some sort of abuse at times, as it pretty much goes with the territory. Whilst i tend to agree with him & have suffered some of this abuse & hatred myself at times, that doesn't make it alright.

So, will anything come out of this?

I have a feeling that Twitter will be doing all that they can, behind the scenes at least, to persuade Stephen fry to stay on Twitter. After all, in the UK anyway, he has been a huge champion of the site & has created a lot of free publicity for Twitter, throughout his time there.

Maybe this will also create a debate about anonymity on the Internet & the issues that are raised by it? In some ways i hope that it does. It is a debate that is long overdue.
But.... we need to be very careful.
Not everybody, including myself, is happy for the whole world to know my true identity & for very good reasons too.
Our Internet anonynmity allows us to say certain things & give certain opinions that we might not be able to give, if we were forced to divulge our real names.
I totally accept that abuse & hatred, under the cloak of that anonymity, should be rooted out & stopped. But, who is to say what is abuse & what is hatred? We all have varying opinions on that, i'm sure.
After all, all social networking sites, including Twitter, have a facility for you to block anyone you wish to & to stop them following you. So, is that the answer?

As with all situations like this. Often more questions are rasied, than answered.

Personally, i hope that Stephen Fry stays on Twitter, as i enjoy his thoughts & humour.
I have a feeling that the owners of Twitter will be hoping the same thing.