Social Media Snores

A young cousin recently asked me what “on-line” meant.

Some still aren’t in the know.

If you’re not on Facebook does that mean you are faceless?

How’s anyone to know? 
Where you are, how you’re feeling, what you’re doing or what you’re working on.

The potential was unleashed six years ago for me. The new wave of technological infrastructure.

Yup, I jumped into it. Sunk my teeth into it.

You’re either in, or you’re not.

Nowadays the world grapples to status update or tweet or pin or plus or post or gram.

But like texting, it is so impersonal.

Frankly, I’ve grown bored of it.

This century has defined it.

Life at our fingertips. 
Out of person.
Out of face.

Not in person.

What does the world need now?

Connecting through the Internet. Some magic wireless connection that we can’t even see?

Sure I crave to be a trend spotter. Hook into what thought leaders are saying. To be in the know. I monitor the airwaves.

But I’d much rather define that for real.

Talk back. Listen. Share.

Feel the moment.

Understand the words with the emotions.

We’re spending our lives in front of a computer screen.

Is it really helping us to live richer, fuller lives?

Or is it hindering us?

Nov. 23, 2012
Came across this SocialNOMICS Infographics Video.
Powerful statistics which illustrates the force that drives the future for branding, marketing and all advertising...
Social Media = "The World of Mouth."

Spin Spun Fun

Facebook has it’s advantages. Like planting seeds.

In your head that is.

Somehow I got a LIKE on the new Cadence Spin Studio in Vancouver.

Not sure which “Friend” led me there.

Seems the rage these days. They’re popping up everywhere.

Which is great.

More folks are cycling. Gearing up for the RBC GranFondo Whistler or Kelowna.

Or like me, the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer.

Cripey, I started spin classes at the YMCA in Victoria a few years ago now. Remember my son’s father saying, “You’d love them.”
Sure enough, rather then intervals on some side street in the rain - spinning inside is the next best thing.

Pumping tunes. Pedaling energy all around. You’re amongst like-minded passionate cyclists.

They’ve got to be.

Only thing is - the cost.

First class was free for me today. To give the studio a try. I got a wicked Wednesday wake-up with Becky.

Sure I sweat buckets. Loved the new bikes. Music was great. I got a banana afterwards.

But $22 for a drop-in? For 45 minutes.

Yikes.

No question, the rush you feel afterwards is addictive.

As a student, I’ll have to weigh in on my weekly allotment of exercise expenditures.

Minus one Bikram Yoga 90 minute class for one 45 minute spin?

On the positive side, at least you can do drop-ins on either. 

Got MESHed

Mondays are typically busy. I head over to my part-time fun at TOIT Events first thing, for the weekly meeting of the minds. Always cheerful and engaging.

Today I bolt off as soon as I can after to attend MESH.

Had no clue what to expect. Of course I arrive late.

It’s the Salt building in the Olympic Village. Instantly I think great place to have live music and a dance.
The floor is cement and it’s cold. We’re not exactly there to move.

The conversations are on the stage. I'm listening to Stewart Butterfield talking about start-ups.

Lucky for me I pick a table with some great folks. A couple of SFU Digital Arts students and a gal that runs the Social Media, etc. etc. for CBC Vancouver. Immediately I’m engaged.

Unquestionably, everyone is talking global. With the power in our pocket. That being the mobile.

Of course we also hear how most folks are building something. A new game. An app. Product with a purpose.

The world is talking about what they’re going to buy on Facebook, before they buy it.
Leveraging the ‘Like’ to a BUY.

Link, like – love.

Creating more integrated experiences. Building social apps across all screens.

The speed of change.

Re-thinking in a social way.

Most important. To amplify your content in social spaces by creating great content.

There are so many tangents I could go out on to describe the information I heard and talked about, but really. It’s pretty much summed up in the title of the conference.

MESH. Connect. Share. Inspire.
Another wowzer for Vancouver.

Ok, maybe I'm not sharing enough. But I am thinking maybe I should get an iPad so I can download Zite and read the New York Times there instead. Amongst other things...

Swayed By Voices

So much information. On the Internet. With Twitter, Facebook and now Google+.

I can’t walk by a newspaper without reading a headline. Even if it does have paint on it.

Words mix with voices. 

We hear it on the television. At the movies. In the streets. With music.

Humour me now. Are there voices in our head's too?
Little by little, we absorb. Transfer words to thoughts.

Then through actions. 

Often swayed by voices.

Getting Hired

Haven’t had a full-time, long term job since 2009. Been doing what I can here and there. Snippets of contracts and manual labour.
Uganda Wishes.

Been loving the evenings though when I can sit down and do what I really enjoy. 
Writing this blog. 
Whatever comes to mind. Something I heard, saw or did that inspired me to tangle words together. In turn, with the purpose to inspire you in some way.

Can’t imagine a better way to live then by doing what you love.

Like to know how I can make a living at it.

The question has come up often enough. I’ve even asked MISS604.

Turns out most blogs direct traffic to a web site. The source of the income. Whether it be services or books.

Dreaming out loud. Maybe I can publish a book like Seth Godin in an inspirational way that will garner me more readers. Bite the bullet and do the Google AdSense and see what comes…

Maybe set up an e-commerce side to my web site (the domain name is there) and put my poetry and photographs together and sell them.

I often receive favourable feedback from readers. Mostly through Facebook and Twitter.

Today I updated my LinkedIn profile. The scattered past. Full of this and that.

Thought of a song my dad used to sing out loud.

“What’s it all about, Alfie?”

Getting hired.

What is it all about?

Change Makers

Trend spotters.

Mashable.

Milkshake.

People for Good.

Robots.

Technology.

Notes for TV movies.

Facebook.

Twitter.

Google+?
Computers.

Smart Phones.

Visionaries.

Leaders.

Engagement.

Critical thinking.

Integrated digital marketing.

Outside the box thinking.

Bold.

Innovative.

Inspirational.

Remarkable.

A Fresh Thinker.

How the Internet Connects

My Pal Amy!

I know Amy. Even though I’ve never met her in person.

We’re pals. Some day we are going to ride together.

Until our time comes, we connect via email and Facebook.

She’s in Knoxville, Tennessee. I’m in Victoria, British Columbia.

We first met last year when I was doing the BC Bike Race.

Amy read my blog. It was so cool to hear how excited she was everyday to read my posts.

I absolutely loved receiving her comments. So much enthusiasm and support!

The BC Bike Race came and went and Amy continued to comment on my blog. We joined together on Facebook and started to enjoy long emails back and forth.

It was amazing to discover how much we have in common when it comes to life, drive, attitude and gratitude.

Ironically the very day I took my tumble off my road bike and fractured my pelvis and clavicle, Amy had sent me one her usual upbeat “checking in” emails.

I gave her the news.

Behind my Blackberry I could feel her sympathy and support in her every typed out word. It was wonderful.

She tagged me with the line, “It’s OK to have the pity party!”

Previous to my tumble, Amy had supported my efforts in my project with Uganda Wishes. I received the most thoughtful care package ever.

She put together post-its, small bulldog clips for paperwork, lip balm, a unique “Amy” designed t-shirt (I wore it today!), and an amazing pair of “Amy” earrings – bike style with chain links. So original!

As the weeks have followed my accident (May 22) I have asked for advise. She’s a Physical Therapist (had written her up originally as an Occupational Therapist sorry Amy!) so she’s dealt with people like me.

I’m so grateful for our friendship. Can hardly wait to ride my bike along side her. One day we hope to team up for the BC Bike Race.

How the Internet connects!

Tag Them AND Shame Them

The mass excites of riots that ensued after the Stanley Cup final game play last night, which saw our home team the Vancouver Canucks loose - won’t get cleaned up anytime soon.

In absolute horror I watched as station after station broadcast live the so-called action.

It is beyond understanding how these young adults who have so much thought it OK to violently attack other people’s property in hell-bent destruction. Even looting.

Shame on them.

I watched the end of the game last night. Made a few family calls in reflection. Then tuned into a movie, which was disrupted by the live broadcasts.

Utter disbelief had me flicking from channel to channel till late into the night. This can’t be happening. This is Vancouver. Home of Vancouver 2010. Not Lebannon or Egypt.

There’s no reason for this horror. It shows absolute disrespect, not only for Vancouver – but for the sad souls celebrating in it.

Shame on them again.

Why? I wake up this morning. Was it all a bad dream? How can this be?

I shutter to calculate the cost to taxpayers, let alone businesses, the City of Vancouver, Police and Fire Departments, BC Ambulance Service, the Health Authority.

Did Social Media play a part in the action? With the majority posing for photographs and Smart Phones recording their glee?

Absolutely. Fueling the fire.

But today, let’s hope Social Media helps to clean it up and make those who stoked the fires accountable.

Tag them. Shame them. Make them pay.

See Facebook: Canucks Fans Against the 2011 Vancouver Riots

The Habit of Time

Once I heard my son say sleeping was over-rated. I beg to differ.  I was trying to tell him he needed to catch up on his sleep.

“That’s impossible,” he replied. "You can never catch up on sleep."

The dog sleeps with his tongue out. Snoring. I profess to giving him a swift foot nudge when he starts to twitch at the end of my bed. It’s nice someone is asleep.

As far as scheduling out time though, here’s the thing. Should we be scheduling sleep?

Recently an associate asked me what time I went to sleep, what time I got up and what I did when I woke up first thing.

It got me thinking. Living takes time. Think about it. There's all this other time stuff like for example:

• Time to eat.
• Time to wash dishes.
• Time to vacuum.
• Time to buy groceries.
• Time to walk the dog.
• Time to shower.
• Time to check emails, Facebook and Twitter.
• Time to work out.
• Time to talk to friends.
• Time to meditate.
• Time to be with family.

And so on. Not including the biggest time suck of all - work.

I’ve been to known to answer in a stern voice when asked, "exactly what time will I get there?" (at my mother’s house for the family dinner for example) with, “I’ll be there when I get there!”

What about the time to just be? To space out. To vacate. To drift off. To go off into la la land.

Do you make any time for that -  in your habit of time?

2010 Transformed

The Universe talks. I look back and smile. We humans continue to evolve. With age brings wisdom. In time change. Tomorrow will always be different to today. Once what was, may never be - ever again.

I started 2010 off right. I gained the opportunity to help with Right To Play during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. I saw, I learn - I was inspired.

Not long after I lit up. A guest post for MISS604 with Mission Emp-ossible. She’s a ladder of knowledge amidst the fray of the Social Media revolution. What a gift.

Never much to travel the same path twice, I take up an ambitious challenge to my psyche. The Challenge Course for BC Bike Race 2010. Truthfully more then a physical dare. A consumption of my senses. Can I maintain the three-hour training rides before work (varnishing old wooden boats) by getting up at 4:15 a.m.?

My son travels to Quebec and wins another Canada Cup downhill mountain bike race. Later relieving himself of the race pace. I acknowledge the bliss by observing him master rugby. Not quite as extreme.

At some point I confront the notion of time. It moves quickly. Never enough of it. Priorities set in. The kayak is sold.

I’m going to Uganda. It’d decided in May. Six weeks in the plan. Fear sets in. Multiple shots soon required.

Volunteerism runs amuck. With the NS Freeride Bike Park FUNdraiser. A James Bond event. Glowing with gambling amid food and delight – at an airport hanger venue no less.

At some point I create my first vision board. “If you could do anything what would you do?” runs the headline.

Number one son graduates. Same school as I. Twenty-eight years later.

Again I ponder the future.  A blog begins. Raincoaster hosts the first of many Skype broadcasts. I absorb. Like a sponge I squeeze it out into words.

Sometime during I develop a new addiction. Riding in a pack. I become a cardio junky. I savour sweet moments with my new found training partner C.C. AKA missy iron legs.

More inspiration sets in. My soul sister and I attend a workshop at Hollyhock on Cortes Island with best selling author, SARK.

Here I declare worthiness. Open-ness to receiving.   

Uganda Wishes erupts.

Soon after I visit the Museum of Flight in Seattle with dear Uncle Len. Historical planes. Preserved in their time.

Then I depart for more change. It’s Uganda. Africa. A chance to look outside myself. Away from the norm.

The weeks pass. Calamity provides. Love ensues. Emotions are tangled. There’s a gap between time. What is. What was.

Back to red lights, buzz of today, text messaging in tribes and recycled garbage.

I divulge 2010 was Facebooked, Tweeted and such. The learning’s were real, the takeaways were more.

Like Kelly said after returning home from Africa, “It’s not about what we can do for them, it’s what they can do for us.”

Humbly I confess, things look differently now.

Goals may change but life hangs on.

People and Purpose is talked.

I admit in the year 2010 I was rushed, addicted, squeezed, stretched, strayed, inspired and later loved but most importantly - I was transformed.

Here’s hoping for peace, love, stability with good health and meaning for all.

Happy 2011 everyone.

Sincerely,

Jane Victoria King

Facebook Friends

Saw I had an option to upgrade Facebook in my in box today. How fluid of them. Constantly evolving. Always changing. When I was first introduced to Facebook it was through my pal Neat Pete From Down the Street. He sent me a friend request. Said it was a great way to keep in touch with my friends.  All the University kids were doing it. His step-son had hooked him.

What he didn’t say was that it is also a great way to meet new friends. Seriously. I’m in ah at how many new friends I’ve made through Facebook. As well as business type acquaintances, which I probably never would of tangled with otherwise.

I often thought when it comes to on-line dating, that it’s an un-universe directed way to meet-up with the one. I suppose now with what the universe is flooded with as far as Facebook and Linked In goes that it’s probably ok with the universe.

Don’t you think!

Friend request sent.

Brain Games

Did the hills tonight. With my pal Iron Legs as I fondly refer to her. She’s strong. I had my heart in my throat on the first one. Up ahead of me she went. Full load conversation all the while. I’m spattering out words when I can. Literally. In between oxygen intakes.

Hills on a bike no problem. Haven’t been doing them much with my feet as of late. So around about the third one Missy Iron Legs blurts out her Brain Challenge. One foot at a time she says. She’s talking about the long steep tough one.

I muse to myself. It was Missy who Facebooked me before I rode the ride of fear. Day Day 5 Long Flowy RUN! of BC Bike Race. She wrote something to the affect of “One kilometer at a time, you’ll peel it off before you know it.”

What we tell our brains hey! It works. There is no question in my mind you can channel anything you want into that tub on the top of your shoulders and it will listen and manifest itself into what you want.

Now if I could only get it to tell my body that I don’t need that chocolate cake for dessert…

Is Reality Real?

Depends which way you look at it. The question was repeated during the rest stop on the Sunday bike ride. I overheard Mark speaking about it. He'd heard a scientist discuss it on BBC.

Assume your reality is real. Is it the same as your neighbours? What makes reality? The world around you or the way you think? Suppose it’s different for everyone. Depending how we were raised. Where we were raised.

I search reality and read comments on Twitter and Facebook that say "Back to reality." Assume that is the end of a holiday and back to reality means back to work and paying the bills.

Be nice if reality didn’t have anything to do with money. 

Guess it wouldn’t be real then would it? 

Facebook LOVE

It’s been a few years since I consummated an ideal amount of time, almost on a daily basis (admittedly) to the Facebook world. These days, when I run into old acquaintances, invariably the parting words are “I’ll friend you!” or “I’m on Facebook are you?”
Who would of thunk this would be our anecdote for daily living a decade ago? Not I.
I love the opportunities Facebook has delivered. Facebook connects you. I love that on a daily basis if I’m feeling crappy because I ate too many brioches or bagels or whatever, that when I Facebook how awful I’m feeling and why, a friend will read my post and comment. In my case, my comments lead to thoughts and inevitably make me feel better or stimulated to do something.
Take Catherine’s comment when I gloated my emotional eating habits:
“Take it to the gym, Jane!”
Exactly what I needed to hear to transplant that thought to the forefront of my brain, which later turned to action.
This morning, after well over a year of being Facebook Friends, Catherine and I did our second road ride of the week together, this time hill climbs. Had we of gotten together to ride if we hadn’t of Friended on Facebook?
Who’s to say? Being on Facebook puts you out there. For who you choose to be with and for who you might want to take the time to get to know a little better.