Congratulations Miss604 on your 4 years!

Rebecca Bollwitt (aka Miss604) is celebrating four years of blogging and I'm taking this opportunity to congratulate her on my own blog. You'll see... even though we live in the same city, and technically only a short commute from each other (I understand John and Rebecca live in the West End, while I live in Mount Pleasant), we have never met in person.

However, it was Rebecca who encouraged me to Blogathon (I chose the charity, A Loving Spoonful, but basically she gave me the gentle push to join in Blogathoning). She has also provided some really useful, techie, geeky advice and even invited me to be a guest blogger on her own blog, which was a great honour (and a lot of fun, I might add).

Rebecca has also challenged me to think about relevant issues, including the ethics of blogging (and photo credits), the divide between mainstream media and bloggers, and at times, about fun stuff such as "do we need Starbucks at Skytrain stations?". Here is a toast to her four years of blogging, and to many more to come.

This is why I feel creeped by MySpace and Facebook

With all due respect to both MySpace and Facebook, I am a bit creeped out by these news. One of the best friends (Keira-Anne) of a local Vancouver blogger (Rebecca) found a MySpace created by someone who used her (Keira-Anne's) photos to pose as her, in a different country (USA) and city (Austin, TX). Both Rebecca and Keira-Anne have discussed the issue at length, so I will suggest that you mosey over to their blogs (here and here) to read the whole story.

I am sorry that this happened to Keira-Anne, and I think that this is incredibly creepy! But this is perhaps one of the many reasons why I like staying away from MySpace and Facebook (at least in my real life!). That's why people call it sometimes 'Facebook-stalking"!

I think that there is value to social networking sites. There is so much value that there are people like Fred Stutzman and danah boyd studying them (these are just two of the main students of the MySpace/Facebook sites, but I am sure other people out there are researching these topics).

The risk that I think we face with this type of SNS is that our privacy is undermined. Heck, even blogging can be non-private. I was just chatting with a friend a few days ago about the fact that anybody who wanted to find out who I am could easily do so with a few smart Google search strategies.

Some bloggers have managed to transform their blogging activities into profitable ventures. Some others use their blog as a platform to help them network with potential clientes. More and more, academics are writing blogs and finding ways to reach out to different audiences. The truth is that the Internet can be a very valuable resource. But it can also be a very creepy place.

I have thought about this over and over, and that's why I sometimes have devoted countless hours to read and think about SNS. But coming across these news that local blogger Keira-Anne's identity had been supplanted (even if only online, and probably spurred out of some bizarre adoration), I am thoroughly creeped out.

Now, will this event stop me from blogging or even - heaven forbid - cave in finally and create my online profile on these sites? Hardly. I think that there is value to blogging, there is value to Facebook and MySpace and there is value to using these tools to reach out to broader audiences. Now, if my blog could just get a few thousand hits! (I am saying this tongue-in-cheek, as I recently read an entry by Darren Barefoot where he was sort of -jokingly- complaining that only 760 readers had been redirected from the NY Times site) - as I told Darren in my comment, I am lucky if I get 30 readers a day, let alone 760! -- although to be quite honest, I am sure danah boyd gets thousands of them. Perhaps it's time to Digg or de.licious my entries, hehehe ;)

To increase Vancouver's friendliness, say "Ok!"

So a few weeks back, I was reading an article by Agasel on Beyond Robson that promoted the use of a cute little button (see picture on BR's link or Ok! Social website) that is intended to promote friendly behavior on our part. That is, if you see me wearing my Ok button, you should feel free to approach me and strike a conversation.

I am the kind of guy who would actually need to be looking for the Ok buttons, because I have a tendency to strike up conversations with strangers like there's no tomorrow. And I tend to be a bit of a social butterfly, but the truth is, I enjoy the idea of the Ok button because I think Vancouver's shell sometimes can be hard to crack (I have a post that I am preparing on Vancouver's effect on people but I am not ready to post it yet).

From the OkSocial website, I quote:

Vancouver

It's pretty hard to randomly speak to someone you do not know on the streets of Vancouver. Even in public spaces, without a personal reference or formal introduction, it just isn't commonly done. Making small talk in the course of our daily lives contributes to a sense of community and well being. In addition, a chance conversation can lead to new friendships, adventures, and experiences.

The OK button

An OK button is handsome and functional. You wear it as you navigate your day. It tells people that you're not only great to talk to, but you like the idea of a warmer and more open city. It's an icon to let people know that it's OK if they actually try and speak with you. That's all there is to it.

At any rate, Steve from OkSocial.org was kind enough to send me my Ok buttons for free, which I really really appreciated (I live in Vancouver). But I just recently found out that he and his team are shipping them all over the world, so I'd recommend you to go and get your Ok button and start striking conversations! Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any weirdos that approach you whether you're wearing your Ok button or not.

Blogging, social networking and other thoughts

I have been really sick for the past three weeks, but as soon as my health improved I wanted to get online and publish a few things that I had been mulling over while I was out. One of them was a (hopefully) short self-reflection on blogging and the responsibility that it brings with it.

As a researcher, I am naturally inclined to ask questions and to inquire about things. I have an investigative nature and thus it is only natural that I do what I do for a living. I have always been fascinated by the use of new technologies, particularly when younger generations adopt them. Recently, the broad themes of social networking and social software became part of an interesting conversation I had with H on blogs and social networking spaces. We were commenting on how different people use them as data (researchers), as a forum to express emotions/feelings and thoughts (the general public), and as places and spaces to meet.

All these discussions arose from much earlier discussions on how people adopt new practices for socializing and creating networks. I, for example, have been invited to join Facebook just about a hundred times. Friends, students, colleagues, everybody wants me to get on Facebook. The story is the same for MySpace ('why don't you have a MySpace?'). So people keep asking me "don't you want to re-connect with old friends, keep in touch with your students and former students, colleagues and former colleagues?". Truth is, I do. But I am not 100% sure I want to join these sites just yet. I am happy to have a blog, and I am happy if my blog's readership increases. Sometimes, I even think about putting up some witty title that people will be Googling so that they come to my website. But I don't think I want to increase my presence in the online sphere much further than blogging.

Do I want to read about the research that is being conducted on MySpace, Friendster, Facebook? For sure. Do I want to do the research myself? No, most definitely not. Do I want to be part of their dataset? Not really. Am I excited that people are learning the patterns of adoption of Facebook, MySpace, blogging, etc.? For sure! If there is something I'm naturally inclined to is research. I know of the work of danah boyd at University of California Berkeley who has studied MySpace, Facebook and Friendster for some time now, and I also know of the work of Fred Stutzman at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and his study of adoption patterns of Facebook. Since I do have a fairly solid understanding of ethnographic research, and have learned some statistical analysis, I can understand pretty well what danah and Fred are doing (I am sure there are other researchers studying social software, but these two stuck on my head). Their findings are important particularly for an increased understanding of the impact of technology on society. But then again, I don't want to be part of a dataset just yet (although I am sure I am part of a dataset in kind of a warped way).

Lastly, I have a blog for several reasons. The first is that a friend of mine got me hooked up on it. I read her blog (she has closed it since long time ago) and her writing was passionate, exciting, mature. So I thought "heck, why not". I started blogging about my random thoughts (hence the title of my blog). Then it evolved to become more of a repository of restaurant/music/bar/coffee shop reviews. I have lived in Vancouver long enough that I think I have some understanding of the comings and goings in this city. So that's why I kept blogging. Lately, I also blog to keep my writing skills sharp. And, since my readership has increased thanks to some good friends who link my restaurant reviews or my blog URL, I keep writing because I like to provide commentary on what I enjoy the most (music, restaurants, coffee shops, environmental issues).

I have seriously considered to ask to be linked to some local Vancouver blogs to increase the readership and try and reach more people. But truth be told, I don't blog often enough to warrant this type of linking. I am grateful to my friends who've linked me to their blogs, but I will not make much of an effort to increase my readership other than say "hey have you checked my blog lately?". So, to those of you who grace my blog with your online presence, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.