Sunday - Coffee And Cake!

New And Relisted Listings on Etsy - Click an image to visit the corresponding listing

Another late one I'm afraid! More than likely on time for most of you across the water, but here in the UK it is now 2.20pm and so far today all I have achieved is a scan of a fake wall for my other half, addictive checking of my newest Treasury and mouldy courgette clippings... Although I did get an amazing photo of a bizarre bug earlier. He's going into my queue of edits... All in all it's been a slow day of a slowing mother. Seem to be getting increasingly tireder as the minutes whip by me. Nevertheless I have an article to write! Today we'll discuss the well known social networking site, http://twitter.com/.

Networking PART 2 - Twitter If any of you have braved this leap in the world of marketing, I think I'll have a lot of nodding heads when I say my first encounter of the networking site almost floored me with fear. I'm sure my first tweets were full of clumsy related banter of the sort actually... I think the most intimidating thing about Twitter isn't so much what the hell you need to do to make it work, but the idea of whether the millions of people at your disposal would give you any consideration. I'm sure you will have discovered as a newbie, not many people will begin to follow you if you haven't mastered the new power in your hands! I have to say though it's pretty easy to work out in terms of tweeting. Once you're set up, you can visit the homepage to "tweet" to your hearts content, as long as the bites of your mind are 140 characters in length. You are able to check personalised messages layed out on the right of the page, which also have this character limitation, and you can also find out who is tweeting about you and what they've said by visiting the @"yourtwittername" link above your messages. To view only your tweets, just click on your profile at the top navigation, and to view your followers tweets, just go back to the home link. Easy as pie.

But how to make yourself known? Well the trick really isn't to find whomever you feel like in the world, but to target your audience via relevent keywords. There are loads of third party style sites that run these "myspace" - like trains for people to jump on and gain followers. This works... you get loads of followers via these methods don't get me wrong! but to be fair this isn't good if you expect all of your new follower gain to share an interest in crocheted teapot covers, or baby hats; whatever it is you're trying to give some attention... Not everyone on these trains share the same interests, and may only want to have a large follower gain, and won't necessarily follow you back if you follow them (try and keep your follower ratio between 1:1 and 1.2:1 - following to followers. It'll keep things consistant for you in terms of Twitter follows).

However, you have fabulous sites like http://twibes.com/ which connects to your Twitter account and allows you to join "target" groups for you to post your specific tweets to people that will definitely have an interest in your stuff. For example, I am part of the photography and Etsy groups and I regularly post tweets on there when i update my store, knowing that both Etsy users and photography enthusiasts will find them and more than likely look at them. Compared to just any old person. The beauty about Twibes is you can also allow your tweets to go through Twitter aswell so your tweets will blast themselves into 2 venues, which is more exposure at the end of the day. Bonus. I'd recommend everyone to join it if you're serious about using Twitter.

On Twitter itself, the best way for you to get people to notice you like I say is to make sure your tweets include relevent keywords and if you can, link to your store, or items etc. If users search for particular keywords that you've used, you can bet your tweet will pop up infront of them if the timing is right, and if you have a link they'll check it out. Baring in mind that loads of people will use your keyword too so just like Etsy, it's a case of being bumped down the pile as time goes on. If you're lucky and people like your tweets, they will more than likely "retweet" (RT) your post which means they're offering further exposure of your tweet. That is simply forwarding your tweet with RT @"yourtwittername" at the start of it (like with me - @moonangelnay would direct the tweet at me, like emailing in a way), so people know who is being retweeted and the person being retweeted will be aware of your gesture :) An example that i've used today is.

"check out the beautiful new fine #art and #abstract photo prints on my #etsy store! http://bit.ly/fyZIt"

So anyone checking out any words in my tweet will probably come across it and may or may not follow me, check my links etc... If they retweet it on their own profile it'll look like this

"RT @moonangelnay check out the beautiful new fine #art and #abstract photo prints on my #etsy store! http://bit.ly/fyZIt"

So keywords! make them relevant to what you're about! Now another great thing you'll notice on twitter are the use of # or hashtags. This is a popular way to catagorise trends to follow. You'll notice my example tweet has a few. Notice how they are very specific. #Art, #Abstract, #Etsy... if I had more room I could have included #Prints and #Photo but that's excessive. There are tonnes of hashtag trending topics. I wouldn't go overboard with it though. There is an invisible etiquette to hashtag use. I had someone complain to me once that it's only supposed to be used to promote other people, yet many people say that it can be used how you like and you see it being used in alsorts of ways all over twitter. So far I havent come across anything that suggests rules for it, considering that I don't think twitter made up the idea. I think it's a to each their own thing. But it's nothing to be afraid of. When it comes down to it, hashtags are very good at narrowing down trends to catagories that many people will use or search for and as long as you dont go nuts with it, it can work with your tweets nicely. If you don't like it, don't use them. I have noticed that regardless of the hashtag, your keywords will fall within the trending topics anyway.

Some people get infuriated at the 140 character rule when it comes to wanting to share links. It's easily overcome by sites that offer link shortening. http://bit.ly/ is my favourite as like Twibes, it can link to your Twitter directly and you can post straight from it. You can also monitor your links and post them again if you want, without having to go through the process of typing or copying and pasting the original link again. You'll notice an example of a bit.ly shortened link in my example tweet. If you follow it, it leads you straight to my Etsy store, as promised in the tweet. Perfect.

So that's all there is to it really. Other than that i'd suggest posting your twitter links around to share in the Etsy forums, link to it (even via a widget) on all of your pages, blogs, social network profiles etc, and make sure you keep your tweets interesting! Don't always go on about your work. You're artists, not machines! Just like in the blogging world you can meet great people on Twitter, and being personal and tweeting about everyday things, or interesting things you have found, debates, news etc will keep lots of people keen on what you have to say!

OK! So thats that. Wow its 3.40pm where I am now. I thought I'd spend longer on this but I'm glad I can get it out now for everyone! Don't forget to Google Connect with me, to keep updated on my blog, and if you're on twitter, come by and follow me on mine! Just search for @moonangelnay or click here http://twitter.com/moonangelnay.

I look forward to writing my next networking article. Don't forget tomorrow is my first treasury like feature for my blog! Monday Magic! Otherwise come back next Sunday for part 3 of Sunday Coffee And Cake!

moonangelnay xxx

Opening Pandora's Box: Assisted Suicide

Last night, very very late (I think it was around 4 o'clock in the morning), I was just about to go to bed when I cracked open Pandora's box on Twitter.

I tweeted:
What is the current state of public opinion on assisted suicide for medical reasons?

And then I tweeted:
B/c I feel as though if I become sick and have cancer I should have the right to die.

Unprepared for the deluge of comments on this topic, I shut my computer and went out to the garage to have a cigarette (yes, I'm still smoking). Why was I awake so late? I got back from the bars around 2 am and found myself in a pensive mood. So I began writing. What I wrote down is of no importance, but the realization I had afterward is. I realized that I want the freedom to choose assisted suicide for medical reasons if I ever become terribly sick. This was an entirely personal realization; meaning, the thought was not inspired by anything but my own desire to have this right for myself.

I hadn't heard much of anything about assisted suicide in the news lately, and I began to seriously wonder what the current state of public opinion on the issue was. I wanted to know, "What do people believe?" Because in that moment, I knew deeply what I believed and how I felt.

I'm still exploring the possibilities of Twitter. The ability to tap into a vast and variegated live audience from different locations around the world, and at any hour of the day or night, is a phenomenon that draws my curiosity.

So what did people have to say on this topic? Well, I received a flurry of mixed opinions, but the majority of them leaned toward the individual's freedom to assisted suicide for medical reasons.

I was only interested in one question: "What do you think about assisted suicide for medical reasons?" In my rudimentary approach to sampling public opinion, I seemed to overlook the millions of other questions that went along with my original one; the what-ifs . . .

What if the person is not terminally ill?

What if the person has Alzheimer's and can't decide for themselves?

What if the person is "pressured" into assisted suicide?

While I understood that an abundance of hypothetical situations are enmeshed in the topic itself, I was still looking for some straight answers. These were some of the responses I got:

@salwaansart I agree with assisted suicide for medical reasons.

@dijeratic Depends where you are - some states do allow for it, all states should, in my opinion.

@JamesHancox Still mixed I think. Personally, I support a persons right to choose. Needs to be VERY carefully monitored though.

@buffysquirrel i don't think any of us needs a right to die; dying is going to happen whether we like it or not

@PaulMathers I am inclined to agree although I like to think I would not take that path personally. But as a right I'm inclined to agree

@DavidMunn Yeah, I'm in favor of euthanasia as long as the individual is making the decision without pressure.

@JackAwful You're knocking on an open door here. I was a nurse for 10 years. Kevorkian was a brave man and only the suffering know.

@crazygibbonsorry 140 characters. If someone is in a fit mental to decide state that's fine. Becomes difficult if they aren't.

@desireekoh13 Your responsibility to make decision when in right state of mind, so no one has to be responsible for making it for you.

@NightShiftNurse assisted suicide should be legal. I have seen too many patients suffer.

@StirringTrouble How you can call yourself innocent and promote assisted murder? I'm sorry, but you're off my list.

That last one really caught me off guard. I replied, "I promote the freedom; not murder."

Just as a side note, I call my blog The Blog of Innocence because I cultivate a wonder, an innocence, about the world in my writings. Because, to me, each new experience is a new reality. I feel as though I will always be innocent to life. This naivete is actually something I practice as I attempt to learn more about myself and more about others.

The interesting thing about assisted suicide for medical reasons is how diverse laws are from country to country, and within countries as well. I would like the law in Illinois to reflect my right to die for medical reasons.

I have Hepatitis C, which means there is a 50% chance I will develop liver cancer. In addition, I smoke and smoking is proven to cause lung cancer. Compound these possibilities with my already abused system from years of drug abuse.

And so, these are my concerns. What if I get sick? What if I develop cancer? Can I choose to die?

What baffles me is that people feel they can tell me I don't have that right. But this should be my decision.

My mother died of a degenerative disease. I watched her slowly lose all of her motor abilities, all of her facial expression, her balance, her ability to walk, her ability to speak.

Around forty-five years old, my mother was diagnosed with multi-system atrophy, a variant of Parkinson's. She went strong until everything was taken away from her. Her last three years on earth, she couldn't talk, couldn't walk, couldn't use the restroom by herself.

She never told me she wanted to die. But then again, she couldn't speak. How would I know? It became increasingly difficult to know her thoughts about her situation.

She was completely lucid until her death. Only in the last month, when she was unable to even eat enough food to stay alive, did she show signs of confusion.

The doctors never called my mother's illness "terminal". They called it "degenerative".

I watched my mother suffer. I saw what she had to go through for five agonizing years. And I wonder if such a thing were ever to happen to me, would I want to continue to live?

For more essays by the author, visit Escape into Life.

PHOTO ART BY MARIANNE ENGEL (via BOOOOOOM!)

Re-thinking Iran and Twitter

After writing "Is Social Technology Making Us Smarter?", I felt a twinge of regret for not having capitalized on my argument.

While we all agree that social technology is becoming a greater part of global society, it is easy to get carried away. I've noticed that rational arguments about social technology can quickly become quixotic pseudo-spiritual prognostications.

There have been a half-dozen articles since the huge media flurry over Twitter and the Iran elections that attempt to curb our enthusiasm about the prospect that social media is going to change the world. Here are just a couple from Wired, Slate, and Forbes:

"Iran: Before You Have That Twitter-Gasm . . ." (Wired Magazine)

Let's not get carried away about Twitter power's role in Iran's demonstrations. (Slate Magazine)

Information Is Overrated: Twitter's not gonna change our world. (Forbes Magazine)

Toward the end of my last post, I believe I grew a bit vague, relying on Peter Daou's mystical vision of the "collective turning-outward of human thought". It sounded good at the time . . .

Now I'm going to admit to you that I'm not entirely convinced that social technology is making us smarter. This weekend I got a chance to visit my father in Chicago and one of the things we talked about was Iran and Twitter.

My father knows nothing about Twitter. He's only learned of Twitter's existence from newspapers like The New York Times. He was born in Iraq and lived there until his twenties. So while he doesn't know much about Twitter, he happens to know a lot about dictators. He lived under the regime of Saddam Hussein.

I'm less inclined to believe that social technology is making us smarter after having talked with my Dad. But I still believe we are becoming smarter through the use of blogging, Twitter, and the vast number of social networking sites. The reason for this is so simple I overlooked it in my first examination.

Social technology, at its core, enables, encourages, and expands collective intelligence. And so, it may seem like splitting hairs, but the real argument is that collective intelligence trumps individual intelligence. Social technology does not make us smarter; we are already smarter in large groups. Because social technology creates the network for collective intelligence, we tend to think it is causing the intelligence but the intelligence was there all along, we just never tapped into it.


Let's put this into a global perspective.

"What allows a dictatorship to function is its ability to isolate the people. To keep the people from communicating. That's how every dictatorship works."

My father continues, "In our country, we had a right-wing hold on the government for eight years. How did Barack Obama get elected? Not because of Bush's failures. It was because Obama's campaign took advantage of the Internet. Obama learned that he could accomplish incredible things using these new technologies."

"Whatever the outcome of the Iranian elections, it's not as important as the fact that the protest occurred and a threshold has been broken. Authoritarian regimes will have a harder time suppressing their populations. The momentum of electronic communications and media is growing every week, every day, creating a massive counter-movement to the traditional practices of dictatorships such as China and North Korea."

In my first article, "Is Social Technology Making us Smarter?", I mentioned an "inscrutable" aspect of social technology. I was unable to pin down what made Twitter a phenomenon on a large scale. I used the word "inscrutable" because I didn't have an answer at the time.

Now I know that the mystery behind Twitter is collective intelligence itself. As I said before, social technology does not make us smarter; we are already smarter in large groups.

From the "Afterword" in The Wisdom of Crowds, James Surowiecki writes:

The growing interest in collective wisdom is the product of a host of different factors, but I think in many ways it's directly connected to the increased importance of the Internet. In part, that's because I think the ethos of the Net is fundamentally respectful of and invested in the idea of collective wisdom, and in some sense hostile to the idea that power and authority should belong to a select few. Many of the Net's most distinctive landmarks--Google, Slashdot, Wikipedia--are the products of the wisdom of crowds, and more generally, the Net, almost by its very structure, seems antihierarchical. It provides a vivid demonstration every day that systems can work smoothly and intelligently without having any one person in charge.

Surowiecki believes that the conditions necessary for a crowd to be wise are: diversity, independence, and a particular kind of decentralization. Social technology seems to embrace all of these conditions, which is why I may have initially seen it as the cause of augmented intelligence. But this is looking at the world through a grain of sand.

We are intelligent, we are collectively wiser, and our latest technologies only reveal this truth more.

For more essays by the author, visit Escape into Life . . .

ARTWORK BY KOLAHSTUDIO IRANIAN UNDERGROUND ART

The Occasional Jerk

On another blog of mine, a commenter left a reassuring bit of advice to me under my post, "What is it to be an artist?". I'll quote verbatim:

Yeh. You're not a writer. Hard to imagine how you'll become one. But the first lesson you need to learn is to focus on the most basic components of your craft first -- which means sentences and fundamental grammar. Forget about those wise-ass quotations from real writers. You're a million miles from there. Walk before you run.

And my response?

Be careful what you pretend to be because you are what you pretend to be.

That's Kurt Vonnegut.

Doubt, Mr. Toast, is natural for any writer or artist. I'm not ashamed of my doubts about my writing; in fact, I embrace them. This seems to be difficult for people like yourself who pretend otherwise.

I know I'm a writer. Freelance writing pays my bills. I write for law firms, non-profit organizations, and companies.

The post was asking the question, "Am I an artist?"

But judging by your posts, Mr. Toast, you seem to delight in flinging venom at other writers. Such as Nigel Beale from Nota Bene Books, who happens to be writing the next article for Escape into Life.

A little more investigation about the anonymous jerk on the Internet will reveal one thing.

You're not alone. He does this to everyone.

Mr. Toast (happens to think he's a literary luminary) and enjoys, yes, downright relishes, telling people they suck at what they love to do.

I'm not going to reference his website here because he doesn't deserve the attention, but on countless posts people are leaving comments on his blog basically to tell him to fuck off.

The occasional jerk is not a new phenomenon. There were jerks before the Internet and there will be jerks after it. But cyberspace, and especially the blogosphere, does lend itself to the flourishing of these trolls.

From Communities in Cyberspace, by Peter Kollack,

Even a casual trip through cyberspace will turn up evidence of hostility, selfishness, and simple nonsense. Yes the wonder of the Internet is not that there is so much noise, but that there is any significant cooperation at all.

Having recently indoctrinated myself into Twitter, I was surprised to find out not how much vileness and stupidity there was but just the opposite. I discovered a spontaneous overflow of conviviality and mutual interest.

Twitter forms a different ecosystem than the blogosphere. Because the posts are so short, it is less a reflection of one's self (although it can be, of course) and more an interaction with the community.

I'm addicted to Twitter. I love the simultaneous conversation with hundreds of people. Amid the noise, you sense a spectacular driving force of mass communication upturning all of our notions about what it is to communicate.

The occasional jerk shows up on Twitter as well, I would imagine. But there's nothing like a blogger who insists on drawing attention to his own blog by making rude comments on other people's blogs.

He is alone in his self-hatred.

In this post, "The Blogosphere is Full of Jerks", Dave Schuler writes:

Finally, there’s the jerk, the individual who contributes nothing positive to the common objective but is always ready with a put-down for those who are trying to accomplish something.

And here:

You can’t remonstrate with a jerk: the jerk can always respond with more of the same. The only alternatives are to become a jerk yourself or to shut up and take it in silence.

I've only come across the occasional jerk. Mostly, however, I find people who are generous with their support, thoughtful, and interested in what I'm doing. If they're not interested in what I'm doing, they'll go to another webpage. Which works out. Not everyone shares the same interests.

What I love about Twitter is that you can find people with your same interests and follow their conversations. To me, Twitter is the best tool to find a niche group of like-minded individuals.

But I haven't met any real jerks on Twitter or anywhere else on the Web, with the exception of Mr. Toast. There is a word for that kind of behavior. Misanthropy.

I don't claim to be a brilliant writer. I used to force myself to write. I disciplined myself to sit down for five or six hours a day.

But nothing came of it because I did not have the endurance to write fiction that way. Lately I've kept myself open, and the writing seems to happen on its own. I don't need to set a schedule to write poems every day. When I have a poem inside of me, it simply comes out. The same goes for my novel.

I'm interested in the question of mass amateurism on the Web. Because I think that I may be an amateur poet, amateur blogger, amateur novelist and amateur everything else for that matter.

When we're young, we imagine becoming great. All I wanted to do was become a famous writer.

There are many excellent writers, many excellent artists. The Internet reveals the abundance of them. My own little world is put into perspective. I do have a contribution to make, but so do others. "Wow, look at what they're doing."

I tend to develop tunnel vision about my own abilities. When you're confined to your own work, whatever it happens to be, you forget about everyone else.

The webzine I edit, Escape into Life, is helping me appreciate the greatness in others around me. By writing illustration art reviews I have a chance to step outside of my narrow world and look at what others have built, what others have created.

I can't think of a better antidote to the occasional jerk: Appreciate someone.

PHOTO FROM retrogoddess73'S PHOTOSTREAM

More Essays . . .