So Much More Than A Mom » Internet

A Profound Analysis Of Facebook Status Updates

Cyndi — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:23:17 +0000

“Religion has convinced people that there’s an invisible man … living in the sky. Who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of ten specific things he doesn’t want you to do. And if you do any of these things, he will send you to a special place, of burning and fire and smoke and torture and anguish for you to live forever, and suffer, and suffer, and burn, and scream, until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you. He loves you and he needs money.” — George Carlin

Hi. My name is Cyndi and I have a problem. Facebook. To be honest I also have problems with twitter, e-mail, texting, google reader and multiple other online distractions, not to mention multiple offline addictions. Don’t judge.

I’ve seen the following canned (Who writes these things anyway? Is there some sweatshop somewhere?) Facebook status update a few times over the past several weeks:

WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! Press 1 for English. Press 2 to disconnect until you learn to speak English. And remember— only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, JESUS CHRIST and the AMERICAN SOLIDER. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom. If you agree… copy and paste in your status

This one doesn’t make any sense to me. I don’t understand what the first *ahem* sentiment has to do with the second. So, I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when someone I know well posted this as her status. She has been my go-to person for all questions related to Christianity for years. I felt comfortable that asking her about it would not offend her as she is aware that I am a heathen and therefore prone to asking the tough questions, which I did:

I don’t understand this…would Jesus disconnect anyone who doesn’t speak English?

I admittedly do not know everything there is to know much at all about Christianity or organized religion in general. I am pretty sure I’ve got the basics of Christianity down. I know for certain that one of the more common Christian ideologies is, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” [Matthew 7:12]. (You’re impressed that I knew the book and verse aren’t you? I love The Internets.) The good old golden rule.

Is it really that offensive to be offered the option of pressing “2″? And if so, why? If I were in a foreign country and I had to contact some wretched call center for any reason I would be delighted to have the option (even if it was #7 or #212) to reach someone who speaks English. Do unto others, right? Isn’t the truly offensive action in this scenario the fact that you have to contact a call center at all? I’m fairly certain that the concept of the call center originated in hell and that Jesus does not like them anymore than we do. We all know as soon as we dial the number that we will be placed into that dreaded loop of options, excessive hold times and finally will be transferred to someone in another country who will tell us in English that whatever we are asking for is not going to happen and we are just screwed, thankyouverymuch.

My personal favorite canned Facebook update makes much more sense to me. In fact I think whoever came up with it should win some sort of online Facebook-status-writing award or something. It’s as if whoever penned this sentiment somehow knows me and was able to express, much better than I ever could, what I truly feel in my heart and soul:

Please put this on your status if you know someone (or are related to someone) who is an idiot. Idiots affect the lives of everyone. There is still no known cure for stupidity, but we can raise awareness …… 93% wont Copy and Paste this, many because they’re too stupid to know how to copy and paste. Will YOU make this your status for at least one hour?

Thanks for stopping by!

I’m Not Tired

Cyndi — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:22:48 +0000

“Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you’re in diapers; the next day you’re gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul.” – The Wonder Years

You know how all kids always deny being tired despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary? Well, that’s what this adorable little story on Nick Jr. is about. I don’t know what made me remember this story but I thought of it the other day. It was both of my boys’ first experience with the internet. Back before Steve abandoned Blue for a fabulous movie career (?!), and they were each around 2-3 years old they would sit on our laps and make us play this story over and over again. Both of them loved it.

I’m so happy I found it still up on their website so many years later! Whenever one of them claims to not be tired and they clearly are tired, we still say, “I’m not tired” in this little bird’s voice to this day.

Thanks for stopping by!

One Year Ago Today

Cyndi — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:01:22 +0000

“Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.” — Madeleine L’Engle

November 2, 2008 was the date I sat down, wrote this post and hit the oft-dreaded publish button for the first time, claiming my own little spot here on the interwebs. I didn’t have much of a clue about why I was doing it or where I was going with it. I now have a pretty firm grasp on why I do it but still not the slightest idea of where it’s going.

I have learned quite a bit over the past year through blogging.

I’ve learned that pretty much no matter what I write about there is at least one person, and usually many more than just one, who reads it and comments or e-mails me to say they’ve been in the same situation or feel the exact same way. I’ve learned that I’m not alone.

I’ve learned that it is possible to develop relationships with people who follow my blog and whose blogs I follow. We have gotten to know each other. Admittedly, we never really know exactly how well we know each other since our primary interactions are through what each of us chooses to expose on our blogs and in our comments. Much can be hidden. The same can be said for people we know in life though. Some of the friends I’ve met through blogging have become facebook friends too, some I communicate with regularly via e-mail, one I have met in person. Some turned out not to be friends at all and/or not who they want people to believe they are. Some lost interest in my blog or I lost interest in theirs. Some stopped blogging and have disappeared. They have all touched me in some way and all taught me something about life or about myself.

I’ve learned a ton about social media. When I started out I had a MySpace account and one e-mail address. Today, I’m on virtually every social networking site there is. I can’t even remember all that I’ve signed up for. MySpace has been completely abandoned. Facebook is private and used primarily for people who I actually know, except my public Facebook Page for this blog. I have an endless number of e-mail addresses. I even know a little about search engine optimization, especially that anyone claiming to be a SEO guru, is in fact, NOT.

I’ve learned that there are multiple cliques within the blogging community. There is always some controversy or other brewing. These always seem to bring out the worst in people, the catty in-fighting hurts us all. This is especially true amongst “mommy-bloggers” which is, unfortunately, the category under which my blog most likely falls. I try to ignore the nonsense. It usually blows over pretty quickly and isn’t nearly as important as anyone involved thought it was.

I’ve learned that blogging is extremely time consuming and much easier to keep up with when not employed than when working full time. I’ve learned that doesn’t bother me and that I somehow find the time because I love it so much.

My most popular blog post by far is Narcissistic Mothers. My least popular post is Are Credit Scores Obsolete. I guess there a lot more people trying to understand their parents and narcissists than there are interested in credit scores or the mortgage industry. Or maybe there are just a lot more professional bloggers out there talking about credit scores and the mortgage industry so my little post didn’t cover any new ground.

That about sums up what I’ve learned this year and I hope to learn even more over the next year. Thank you to everyone who’s reading!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Follow Friday Mister Linky

Cyndi — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:48:08 +0000

“Blogging is best learned by blogging…and by reading other bloggers.” – George Siemens

If you’re on Twitter you understand how #followfriday works.

If not, the idea is to share your favorite people with others. In this case, I am looking for the name and link to one of your favorite blogs. It’s a way to pay it forward. Hopefully, we’ll end up with a nice long list of some great blogs that we would otherwise miss out on.

Keep it clean please! All spam, marketing and porn will be deleted (sorry!). I’m looking for some good blogs with actual written articles.

If you’d like to leave a comment on why you added the blog(s) you submitted, feel free!

I’ll get it started. Since it would be impossible to choose which of my favorite blogging friends to include, I’m going to kick it off with a new blog I’ve been following lately.

Thanks for stopping by!

Taking The High Road (sort of) On Twitter

Cyndi — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:06:25 +0000

“Old lady judges watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn’t talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony.”
- Bob Dylan / It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)

This morning someone I follow on Twitter but have never actually spoken to sent me a direct message saying the following….

i am going to unfollow for now – check what your twitterfeed is sending out in tweets – NOT positive

I couldn’t even begin to imagine how I could have offended someone I had never even spoken to so I asked….

I got your DM but don’t understand what you’re talking about?

This was her response….

- your twitterfeed that u automatically set up has sad & depressing stories feeding to your twitter account

I have no idea why we were following each other, except that we are both moms. I will sometimes follow other moms just to see if they have anything of interest to stay. In this woman’s case, we had never crossed paths before. I don’t recall ever even reading anything she had posted on Twitter.

This little exchange bothered me way more than it should have. I was prepared to write back several different versions of expletive filled responses with the overall theme that I thought she was incredibly rude for criticizing what I had to say when we had never even spoken. She could have just stopped following me without the little instruction to “check what your twitterfeed is sending out in tweets” and there was no reason for her to announce her new status as an un-follower. I didn’t even know her and she didn’t know me. I don’t automate my posts on twitter, although I do post from other online applications. Maybe she doesn’t quite know how all those whoozy-whatsits work.

It bothered me because I have been feeling pretty dark lately and thought maybe I’ve become one of those humorless depressing people who sucks the life out of everyone around them. Oh yeah, that’s where my mind goes. Yep, one comment from one stranger and I considered the possibility that I am defective in some way.

Strangely enough, being completely neurotic, I’m also vindictive. There were many nasty comments that I considered slinging back at her (I ended up simply saying only; my tweets aren’t automatic & thanks for the feedback.). I consider this taking the high road. It’s as high of a road as I was capable of taking. You’ll notice that I didn’t take such a high road that I am refraining from devoting an entire blog post to this ridiculous conversation. But, I didn’t indulge my inner bitch by getting into a cat fight on twitter with this judgmental stranger either. I guess I took the middle road, as any good Buddhist would do.

I finally decided there must be some common ground and proceeded to over-analyze what articles/posts she could be referring to. In the time-frame in which she decided to unfollow me, I posted links to an article I wrote on my other blog defining physical abuse, an article I read about Merrill Lynch bonuses, a link to my blog post Karma Really Is A Bitch, an article from a psychology site about marital problems and focusing on yourself and the relationship instead of blaming your partner and playing the victim, an article about a proposal for U.S. public health care to pay for abortions and an article about a conversation George W. Bush had in 2003 with the president of France.

From there I concluded that she either didn’t read any of the actual articles or is a soulless, heartless woman. The only two articles that could even remotely be labeled as “sad and depressing” are my two blog posts. One is from my other blog, on which I am trying to raise awareness or do something about child abuse. The other is from this blog and is about karma, abused children and my friend who has breast cancer. If she read either of these two articles, and considers herself to be a “nice” person, then she is fooling herself. I’m not going to deny that either of these could be considered sad and depressing. It’s possible. But guess what, I’m trying to do something about things that are sad and depressing in my life and writing about them helps me do that.

How dare this self-righteous bitch judge me for that?

Guess what honey, life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Not even your life. No matter how hard you try to make everyone think you and your family are perfect, I’m not buying it, and neither is anyone else. I may have a dark side but at least I’m real you stepford wife.

I also checked her stream of comments and her blog. To say that they were nauseating would be an insult to nausea. They weren’t interesting enough to elicit any physical reaction besides a yawn. She likes to talk about naptime, playdates, housecleaning and reading a kids’ book about crochet. No, I’m not making this stuff up. Besides that, her blog isn’t even open for comments. She simply wants to blather on about whatever boring-ass crap is going on in her perfect little home and couldn’t care less about any other insights or opinions. Not that anyone reads the thing anyway, other than to help them fall asleep at night.

It finally dawned on me. I’ve stumbled across one of the quintessential “Mommy Bloggers” that give the rest of us a bad name. See, her blog is actually tied to her website where she sells web design and training and also sells cutesy mommy crap. Her blog is just a front. Another way to get more mommies into her store or to pay her to set them up with a website so they can get rich working from home, just like her.

She can stay in her own little “positive-only” world until it blows up in her face. I’ll stay in mine, flaws and all.

Thanks for stopping by!

How Much Technology Do Kids Really Need

Cyndi — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:47:48 +0000

“Technology frightens me to death. It’s designed by engineers to impress other engineers. And they always come with instruction booklets that are written by engineers for other engineers — which is why almost no technology ever works.” — John Cleese

Ok, so technology doesn’t actually frighten me. I love it! What frightens me is the use of some forms of technology by children, specifically my children. Yours are your problem. I have enough to worry about, thank you very much.

There is a revolution brewing in our home. The two factions involved in this potential war are hubby and I (henceforth referred to as, “Parents”) and our two sons (henceforth referred to as, “Rugrats”). The topic of what is (so far) only a heated on-going debate is cell phones. Rugrats (ages 8 & 11) want them. Parents don’t think they need them.

Both parties do agree that Rugrats cannot afford them, based on an in-depth audit of their combined financial portfolios. Rugrats believe that they need cell phones and that Parents should pay for them. Rugrats argue that everybody else has one. Parents respond that everybody else doesn’t live here. That we know of. We don’t like to go into their rooms often. There are a lot of things to trip on in there.

Rugrats are also attempting to distract Parents from the main issue of cell phones by discussing the possibilities of laptops and MySpace pages. Parents will not be budging on the laptop issue until said Rugrats have earned a full ride to an Ivy League college. MySpace is also non-negotiable due to the creeps, weirdos and pervs (oh my!) out there on these here interwebs. You know who you are.

Possible Perv (no, not a Creep or Weirdo) on what qualified as a cell phone back in the day. No wonder we didn't want one!

The cell phone is the real issue and I’m struggling a little bit with our stance on this issue (please don’t mention this to other Parent). With our oldest Rugrat going out into the big bad world that is middle school, I would kind of like to be able to call him whenever I want. They both go to friends’ houses, etc. and again, it would be great to know that we could all reach each other anytime. I wouldn’t consider giving them internet or texting and would want to put all the parental controls on so that only certain numbers can be called and can be received.

I don’t know. What do you think? Do kids need cell phones, or at least, is it a good idea for them to have them at these ages? Or is it just more “stuff” for our spoiled youth to bug their long-suffering Parents about?

Thanks for stopping by!

Bourdain Is Back

Cyndi — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:46:27 +0000

“I’ll make fun of the French, thank you very much.” – Anthony Bourdain

My TV watching schedule is picking up fast. I try to limit the number of shows I watch and keep most on the DVR for a while before watching several at once. However, this week, there are two shows starting that I always have to watch the same night they are on. Entourage and Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

Last season after writing a blog post about how much I love Bourdain’s show, I was contacted by the PR firm for The Travel Channel and asked to post weekly promos that they sent out regarding the upcoming episodes. I agreed to do it for several reasons. One reason was that I already loved the show and didn’t mind posting the promos for it. Another reason was that I thought it was pretty cool that they contacted little old me to help promote their show. Finally, I was pretty new to the blogging world and naive about how things worked.

I was pretty harshly criticized by some other bloggers for agreeing to this. I was accused of shilling for The Travel Channel, not writing original content and even of claiming that the promo posts were my own original material. For the record, I never received any compensation for this or claimed that any of the promos were my own original material. I did receive an autographed picture as a thank you. I disclosed all of this on my blog.

I’m not so naive anymore. I still have no problem promoting this great show on my blog. However, I now know that bloggers are regularly paid for ad space on their blogs. I no longer “shill” for free. Especially when dealing with an organization as large as The Travel Channel, they can certainly afford to pay for ad space.

I’m not sure why they choose to ask bloggers to advertise the show. Obviously, the way they are going about it now is cost effective, since no one is getting paid. What I don’t understand is why they need to promote this show in this manner. I believe the show is already pretty well known and know that they run traditional advertising campaigns. You wouldn’t think that the promos bloggers agree to post would make a big difference in the ratings, but as long as it isn’t costing them anything I guess it can’t hurt.

Am I watching the show this season? Of course! Will I blog about the show again? Maybe, if I feel like discussing a particular episode for some reason. Will I be more than happy to receive compensation from The Travel Channel for being a sponsor on my blog? Absolutely.

Thanks for stopping by!

Finding My Way

Cyndi — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 18:39:35 +0000

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” – Lao Tsu

Do you see it?! The banner is UP! It took most of last night and this morning but I finally figured out why it wasn’t working, got the title onto the picture, found the right size, uploaded it to my hosting site, inserted into my theme, and voila! The #$%&@ banner is finally here. Aren’t you impressed with all my new lingo? Yeah, like I know what I’m talking about.

I know this is of no importance to anyone but me. That’s ok. I wanted the banner and I’ve finally got it.

Yay for progress, no matter how slow or small!

Thanks for stopping by!

Making Some Progress

Cyndi — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:49:15 +0000

“Perhaps this is how you know you’re doing the thing you’re intended to: No matter how slow or how slight your progress, you never feel that it’s a waste of time.” – Curtis Sittenfeld

I love this quote. Of course, I love all the quotes I use and quotes in general. They make you think. I’m stalling.

Here’s the thing…I don’t know what the hell I’m doing with this new website. Seriously. I had a lot of help getting it to it’s current functional state. I spent hours upon hours working on it this weekend and several more hours last night. I still can’t even get the freakin’ banner up at the top!

I have willingly thrown myself into a world where foregin abbreviations such as “FTP” and “CSS” are included as part of the instructions on how to perform a certain task. Here’s one I DO understand….WTF?!

I started to become somewhat agitated by my own lack of knowledge about these things because they are necessary for me to do different things with my blog. I want to do many different things, some of which I probably don’t even know the correct term for yet, let alone how to do them. I’ll get there. Slowly. But, I’ll get there.

The progress I have made is that I didn’t freak out about it, beat myself up over it or quit. I even walked away and left it in it’s current imperfect state. For me, dear readers, that is progress.

Thanks for stopping by!

Click here to view more details

Welcome!

Cyndi — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:51:45 +0000

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein

You made it! Welcome to my brand new site. I know it looks pretty much the same as the old one. Well, except for the areas in which I am still having some technical difficulties, such as the missing banner at the top. I’ll get there. Being a huge fan of instant gratification, once the site was functional, there was no chance I could wait until it was perfect to start using it. And besides, nothing is ever perfect anyway now is it?

Thanks for stopping by!

Click here to view more details

So Much More Than A Mom » Internet

A Profound Analysis Of Facebook Status Updates

Related Reading:

Related posts

I’m Not Tired

“Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you’re in diapers; the next day you’re gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul.” – The Wonder Years

Related Reading:

Related posts

One Year Ago Today

“Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.” — Madeleine L’Engle

Related Reading:

Related posts

Follow Friday Mister Linky

“Blogging is best learned by blogging…and by reading other bloggers.” – George Siemens

Related Reading:

Related posts

Taking The High Road (sort of) On Twitter

“Old lady judges watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn’t talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony.”
- Bob Dylan / It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)

Related Reading:

Related posts

How Much Technology Do Kids Really Need

“Technology frightens me to death. It’s designed by engineers to impress other engineers. And they always come with instruction booklets that are written by engineers for other engineers — which is why almost no technology ever works.” — John Cleese

Related Reading:

Related posts

Bourdain Is Back

“I’ll make fun of the French, thank you very much.” – Anthony Bourdain

Related Reading:

Related posts

Finding My Way

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” – Lao Tsu

Related Reading:

Related posts

Making Some Progress

“Perhaps this is how you know you’re doing the thing you’re intended to: No matter how slow or how slight your progress, you never feel that it’s a waste of time.” – Curtis Sittenfeld

Related Reading:

Related posts

Welcome!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein

Related Reading:

Related posts

So Much More Than A Mom » Internet

A Profound Analysis Of Facebook Status Updates

Related Reading:

Related posts

I’m Not Tired

“Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you’re in diapers; the next day you’re gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul.” – The Wonder Years

Related Reading:

Related posts

One Year Ago Today

“Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.” — Madeleine L’Engle

Related Reading:

Related posts

Follow Friday Mister Linky

“Blogging is best learned by blogging…and by reading other bloggers.” – George Siemens

Related Reading:

Related posts

Taking The High Road (sort of) On Twitter

“Old lady judges watch people in pairs Limited in sex, they dare To push fake morals, insult and stare While money doesn’t talk, it swears Obscenity, who really cares Propaganda, all is phony.” - Bob Dylan / It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)

Related Reading:

Related posts

How Much Technology Do Kids Really Need

“Technology frightens me to death. It’s designed by engineers to impress other engineers. And they always come with instruction booklets that are written by engineers for other engineers — which is why almost no technology ever works.” — John Cleese

Related Reading:

Related posts

Bourdain Is Back

“I’ll make fun of the French, thank you very much.” – Anthony Bourdain

Related Reading:

Related posts

Finding My Way

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” – Lao Tsu

Related Reading:

Related posts

Making Some Progress

“Perhaps this is how you know you’re doing the thing you’re intended to: No matter how slow or how slight your progress, you never feel that it’s a waste of time.” – Curtis Sittenfeld

Related Reading:

Related posts

Welcome!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein

Related Reading:

Related posts

“Old lady judges watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn’t talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony.”
- Bob Dylan / It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)