Social Media: Hurricane Irene, Givvy and Mashable

I jumped on Twitter (and Facebook, for that matter) November 30, 2009.  Family and friends immediately asked "Twitter? Do you really care what Ashton Kutcher has for lunch?" I had something else in mind. I wanted to test my hypothesis about using Twitter to drive B2C demand (specifically prepared food) during offpeak hours. I thought using twitter to drive demand was possible and in fact it's being done in L.A. The experiment failed in my laboratory of choice. I came out a big winner, though. I made friends with Twitter and in so doing connected with many wonderful mentors and friends along the way. I still don't care what Ashton Kutcher has for lunch, but that's social media. It can be a wonderful tool or an irrelevant doodad. This point was driven home Saturday, as Hurricane Irene began it's New England coastal tour.

Source: Mashable

I found two post on Mashable that caused immediate response. One post got a bravo, the other post a "so?" but it was the juxtaposition of the post that is my source of commentary. The bravo went to a post about Foursquare being used to find evacuation centers in New York during Hurricane Irene. Social media to save lives, yeah! The "so?" went to a post that included a write-up about Givvy, a Facebook gift finding application. Social media for giving cool gifts, okay?

Source: morgueFile.com

Genie Says, "You Only Get Three."

There's nothing wrong with using social media to find great gifts. There's nothing wrong with using social media to follow Aston Kutcher's lunch menu. It's just that it's like using one of three genie wishes to get ahead in line at McDonald's. I am taken aback at using such a powerful tool for something so mundane. Friends, there is simply more to life.

Find Your Comfort Zone.

Social media can be used to do many good things or it can be used to accomplish nothing at all. And if I wanted to be a heavy handed yutz, I would say "Social Media is an excellent metaphor for life.", but I left my sledgehammer at my other laptop. It's always going to be about striking a balance between the sacred (finding a shelter in a hurricane) and the profane (finding a wall salmon that sings Puccini for an opera loving fishing afficionado). Oh and if you want to know what I'm having for lunch don't follow me on Twitter. That's what Google+ is for.

What uses of social media do you find amazing? Silly? A great big waste?

Ralph Waldo Emerson Trust 30 Challenge: Everyone is an Expert at Something.

This Trust30 prompt is from Jen Louden. This prompt is an understated warning to beware the expert. The internet provides unlimited access to unlimited information but search engines neither vet the purveyor of said information nor guarantee results should you follow the advice you find.

When looking for help on the internet, it's challenging differentiating good information from invented information. The wiki is now perverted by contributors adding "information" to enhance a specific POV. Google is helping with +1 as is Bing with it's collaboration with Facebook. As for me, I have some additional advice.

Since jumping on Twitter I have gained an even greater disdain for self anointed gurus, ninjas, sherpas, experts, secret agents and freemasons (OK, I made the last one up). For years I have steadfastly avoided eateries that felt a need to place the words "Good Food" on the sign. I'm paying someone else to cook and they need to tell me in advance it's good? Are they afraid I'll have a different opinion? It's the same with self anointed experts: For goodness sake, let me decide on the level of your expertise!

Everyone is a expert at something. In that light, I put up a sight designed to pay homage to the expert in everyone. "Crowdsourcing A Good Life" is a forum to share information on life's burning questions and collectively quench that fire.  Please stop by and add your $2 (indexed for inflation) worth.

How about you? How do you guard yourself from experts that may not be such experts?