Internet Geek Girl

It’s a good time of the year to join a club. A good friend of mine is doing a “21 Club” – 21 days of yoga in a row. And now we have Blog 365.

What a great idea. I’m a little late to commit to the whole 365, but I really do want to make sure that blogging becomes more of a daily routine (it is if you add Twitter in, but that is a theoretical discussion for another time). Here are the suggested “rules” of the Blog 365 group (which is on Ning incidentally):

Rules:
- Blog everyday for 365 days.

- Feb.29th is a Free Day and will be the Blog365 day of rest!
(Thanks Leap Year)

- You do not HAVE to post to the same blog as long as you post everyday.

- No internet? Write your post locally and post it once you are back on the grid.

- Computer Broken? Grab some paper and do some old school blogging.

- A post is a post, not everything has to be in writing. Photos, YouTube videos, and the like are all considered content.

- Have fun, because that’s the whole point!

Note:
If you post offline work, consider changing the date on the post to reflect the day you actually created the content

Hmm.. I’m thinking of making another club. Call it…BlogOm! Let’s try 30 days in a row of doing yoga and writing a blog post everyday. Now that sounds heavenly. Any other yogi bloggers out there want to join me?

BlogOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Social media has the power to heal. From the Frozen Pea Fund to the stories of support and friendship that pop up on Twitter – I see daily examples of how important this medium has become to our social fabric.

Lance Armstrong and The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) team have long used the Internet to drive grassroots support for their charitable efforts. Many of you know that I’m all about LIVESTRONG. Well – Lance is on the road again, and he and his team of awesome volunteers will be in New Orleans on January 29th and 30th, helping to build new homes for cancer survivors and their families. Working with Habitat for Humanity (HFH), the LAF team will relocate New Orleans-area families who have faced the twin challenges of fighting cancer and displacement by Hurricane Katrina.

Can you believe it’s been almost two and a half years since Hurricane Katrina and there are still so many people lacking basic shelter? To use a favorite geek phrase: WTF?!? This is truly one of the great tragedies of our collective journey these last few years. I hope that our country elects a President that can start showing true leadership and unite us in efforts to improve ourselves and the world. Let’s not wait until November. Let’s start using our energy, skills, resources and talent TODAY to help those around us and send out positive vibes every where we go. Please make a donation to help Lance, LAF and HFH build homes for cancer survivors in New Orleans. Even $10 makes a difference.

There is no question that social media has the power to transform markets, communities, culture, and news. And let’s not forget the impact it has had on plain old socializing. Like all powerful tools, it can be used to harm and to heal. I choose HEAL. I hope you join me in the effort to make things just a little bit better. I realize we all don’t have time and resources to give of ourselves every day, but every little bit counts so please give something, no matter how small. Your support can come in many ways. The LiveStrong Facebook App (which Scott and Jeff Rozic developed) has over 80,000 users! That’s 80,000 small acts that have added value and support to hundreds of thousands of REAL PEOPLE. Please do whatever you can: yes, give some $, but also consider adding a social cause app on your facebook profile, telling a friend about your favorite charity, putting frozen peas in your avatar, VOTING, smiling at a stranger, bringing food to a food bank, hugging your family! Spread the LOVE.

Lance, Susan, Chris B (my house buildin’ pal), and all the cancer survivors out there that are using the Internet to help others HEAL – we are with you!!

Happy New Year friends. May 2008 be filled with good karma and many blessings. And may we all be new and improved every year.

I realize it’s a bit late into the year here for New Year greetings (or is it)? I was chilling in Florida for a bit, and I’m just getting back into the groove. But I couldn’t be more excited for 2008. Stayed tuned for many exciting announcements in the coming weeks.

But let’s start here, with Karma – Twitter Karma to be exact.

Let me explain because this is truly great social media story.

Dossy is my Twitter friend, he’s also a rad developer who lives here in New Jersey (go Jersey!). Back in December I was musing on Twitter about how I wish I had a tool that easily allowed me to figure out who is a reciprocal twitter friend and add followers to my list. As many of you know, I really love Twitter and more and more, I find it to be the most satisfying of all social networks. [Facebook is getting spammy - let's fix that people]. And surprise, surprise, Dossy made it happen. He built the thing!! I’m honored to have helped select the name btw. How very cool. Here’s the full announcement on Dossy’s blog.

I am amazed by the inspiration I find on Twitter, and the swirl of ideas that live in the petri dish of our online social networks. One person’s 140 character phrase is another’s software feature. Give to receive my friends, and please go give Twitter Karma a WHACK!

Peace Out!