Wide Rule

I hate most sites/programs that auto-update twitter or Facebook.

I mentioned this briefly in my foursquare rules post, but seriously.  If I want to know about what game you’re playing or if you’ve gone to lunch, I will check in at Raptr or foursquare.  I am following you on twitter because I want to hear your commentary, not which videos you love on youtube.

Facebook has dealt with this issue in an intelligent, if not clunky, fashion.  If there is an application that is spamming your friends feed, you simply hide it.  The other person doesn’t need to know that you’ve hidden the princess look-a-like test and you don’t have to see it.  The only annoying part is that you have to hide every single program that appears instead of having a global “don’t show me applications,” but at least I can hide Farmville and Mafia Wars (I do play both of these, but I don’t want the updates cluttering up my pages).

There is no way to block these things on twitter.

I have decided that it is time to review how annoying auto-updating twitter can be.

Scientific Method Time!

Since this is an experiment, I figure I’ll throw back to the old eight step process (Wikipedia):

1. Define the question
2. Gather information and resources (observe)
3. Form hypothesis
4. Perform experiment and collect data
5. Analyze data
6. Interpret data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point for new hypothesis
7. Publish results
8. Retest (frequently done by other scientists)

Define the Question:

What is the highest post per day I can get from just auto-updating services?

Gather Information and Resources:

This is a call to arms – I’m trying to find any service that I can use that will auto-update twitter.  I use a BlackBerry, not an iPhone, so that limits me in some regard.  I’ve already switched over my foursquare and raptr accounts and will be digging through to find other services.

Hypothesis:

Auto-updating services can outpost me any day of the week.  I also believe that I will be followed by a ridiculous amount of  twitter spammers.

And beyond

This is just the beginning of the experimentation phase.  I plan on having a detailed list of all of the service that I’m using as well as my post per day.  I am actually excited about this in a very silly way.

I think it’s time to go a little Amy Vanderbilt on Foursquare.

I know that a service has hit the big time the moment that any application that could be construed as social or fun is available on my blackberry.  Having an iPhone or Droid app means your trendy – having a BlackBerry app says you mean business.

Don’t be public if you don’t want company

Romantic dinners are not the time to update your foursquare friends as to your whereabouts. 

I will reiterate this because it is important.

Do not tell your geolocation friends where you and the person possibly sleeping with you are having an evening alone. 

If you need to get your points for a location, just set your foursquare update to be hidden from friends. It isn’t hard.

If you tell people you’re at bar/restaurant, expect your friends to want to join you.  You are saying “hey, I’m here, you can come play with me!”  Friends want to come play with you and if they’re close by, they probably will!

If they don’t want to join you, you might just be a jerk.

Situations to set your status to hidden:

• dates
• job interviews
• family dinners
• drinking alone

Spamming twitter/Facebook is annoying

This is true for everything that has the ability to auto-update your feeds.

I want to hear what you think, not what game you’re playing or song you like.  If I wanted to know these things, I would follow those feeds directly.  I follow you on twitter or Facebook because I’m interested in your thoughts, hopes, dreams and bitching.  If I have to deal with your auto-update, I feel like I’m dating someone where all I get is their answering machine.

I think it’s fun if you post about when you’re a Mayor – that’s part of the game.  It also allows me to make fun of people who are Mayors of their job or home.

Don’t check-in at your place of employment

You have to go to work.  You should be there everyday. Being Mayor of where you work isn’t cool.

Unless you are a prostitute, your home should not be a check-in

Are you really checking in at home every night? Did you really put your address on foursquare as a place where everyone can check-in?

This is a bad idea for a lot of personal reasons.

Geolocation apps are a meet-up tools. Do you want random people meeting up for your family dinner?

This is connected to you. You post about video games, gadgets, life style choices – you have a PS3? Well someone is going to check-in at your house and steal your stuff.

Foursquare is a “where am I patronizing” application – that’s why there is a Mayor and Tip system.  Unless you are selling (or giving away) something out of your house then you do not have patrons.  As much as I’m sure you’d like to see who the Mayor of your house is when you’re out of town, but that’s between you and your wife/husband/dog.

If you are a prostitute, this still might not be a good idea.

I love it when sports meet the internet.

I should preface this post by saying that I am an American football fan, specifically of the Tennessee Volunteers and the Tennessee Titans.  I play in at least two fantasy leagues every year and I regularly read Football Outsiders as well as the Sports Argument Stadium.  A bout of depression hits me after the second Sunday in February and it lasts until September.

Yesterday, two major news stories hit my social networking sites at about the same time.

The first, and much more important news story, was the recent 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti.  The second was Lane Kiffin’s decision to take the head coaching job at Southern California, leaving Tennessee after only one season, a bowl loss and a lot of smack talk.

I’m not interested in going in depth on either of these topics.  I’m planning on donating to Yele as soon as their site is back up – USA Today has a good article if you are looking for other aid options.  As for the Kiffin drama, there are sports bloggers who will always be more creative than I.

What’s more interesting to me is the social media reaction I’ve seen surrounding both these issues

My Facebook, twitter, tumblr feeds were all full of updates about Knoxville – Kiffin, the march of protesters through campus, the burning of mattresses and essentially everything that was going on locally.  Knoxville is a college football town and there really isn’t anything much more important than the team.  If any of my readers aren’t SEC fans, I recommend picking up the book Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Road Trip into the Heart of Fan Mania – it is the best introduction into the crazy that is football fanatics.

I was invited to a total of seven Kiffin hatred Facebook groups.  Around 3 am I was invited to my first “Pray for Haiti” group.

This morning I discovered that I was oblivious to international issues when I updated about football last night instead of Haiti.  Everyone in Knoxville “didn’t know what was important” because they were reacting to football instead of creating internet prayer groups for the Haiti survivors.

I am slightly peeved by the backlash against Tennessee fans.

I believe that Haiti is important and that the world needs to respond to the earthquake.  There are thousands of victims and any help that they can get is necessary.  It is a tragedy on a monumental level and I cannot even begin to wrap my head around the devastation brought upon some of the poorest people.

I also believe that the Kiffin decision and the subsequent almost-riot that took place half a mile from my home is also news worthy. 

Yes, this is important to me

A few people on my twitter feed have asked if I feel foolish.

No, I don’t feel foolish.  The coaching change up at Tennessee is a big issue and its going to push our program back for years.  We are losing our recruits left and right.

I also didn’t set mattresses on fire, so maybe the foolish comments weren’t directed at me.