Tidying Up the Ol' Blog

When I decided to revisit my blog yesterday for the first time in two years, I found there were some things that needed to be cleaned up as part of the design. Today, I took some time to clean up the sidebar to make it a little more relevant. Here's what I did:

1. I removed my Facebook badge. I really can't remember the last time I friended someone on Facebook that I haven't met in person. That's what Facebook will continue to be for me, for now. I'd much rather connect on Twitter and G+ right now, it's a simple fact. (reminder: blog about my social media habits)


2. I added a link to my Google+ profile. I haven't done much on G+ as far as posting is concerned, but I have started to comment and +1 to try and get myself more involved with it. Twitter is still my 'go to' network to share and post for now.


3. I removed my FriendFeed link. Yes, the last time I blogged, FriendFeed was relevant.


4. I removed my "What Am I Reading" section. It was linked to my Google Reader feed. While I still maintain that feed so I can push it into other aggregating apps on my iPad and iPhone (like Zite), I haven't been pushing anything to that feed in a long time.


5. I made a minor modification to my tag/label cloud, removing the amount of tags number from each tag. It makes it look a little cleaner.

That's about it for now. I'll keep making small tweaks until I decide to either do a major overhaul (if that will ever happen) or to switch platforms altogether. This was more of an update to make sure all my links are relevant. I want to make the blog more about my writing than anything right now, instead of aesthetics.

Web 2.0 - Contribution is Key

I've spent most of my night cleaning up Google Reader, trying to ship eBay auction items, tinkering with my new phone, and learning about more things I won't have time to use. I turn into a technology-sponge when I sit at my computer. I just enjoy plowing through all the feeds and info. According to Google Reader, I browsed through almost 1200 items today, and we didn't I wasn't even home from our 3 day weekend until 4PM.

All this to say, did I just waste the last 5 hours? Did I do something productive? Did I affect anything in a positive way? I don't know. Maybe someone will read something I have done and say, well done, who knows. I think I need to train myself to contribute to the web 2.0 sphere, not just feed off of it. Although I really haven't found the time to get involved in FriendFeed yet, my limited experience with it has taught me if I want to contribute, I can't sit on the sidelines. If I really want to learn, I have to be involved and open up. I can read 1200 items in a day, but have I shared with anyone what I have learned or how it makes me feel? I want to be part of an interactive web, not a self-affixed knowledge sponge. I need to start finding ways to sqeeze the sponge after it has been soaked up. Once I start squeezing, hopefully my experiences can be shared with others in a way that inspires.

Can You Be a Casual Internet Junkie?

I was pondering this question over the last few days while I thought about my interests in the web 2.0 'sphere. Can you really be a junkie if you only have the time for it to be a casual interest? Sometimes I don't feel like I have time to keep up with the internet. I am signed up on so many sites that I don't have time to use. I just signed up for Freindfeed just because I heard it was cool. I could spend hours reading through feeds, writing reviews, updating a blog, or tweeting it up. I sign up for sites that I just hear about, I'm not even sure if I'll use it or not.

It really leads me to my next question. Why do I enjoy web 2.0 so much? Well, I think it comes down to contribution and interaction. I want to be able to learn and share with others. I want to have fun and intelligent conversations about technology, local issues, the economy. I want to learn what's interesting to other people that have the same (or sometimes differing) interests. That's what makes it so great. You don't have 1 site to check for news or opinion, you can see the ebb and flow of what's important to people everywhere.

For now, I think I'll be a casual junkie. I'll get to the computer when I can. It's a hobby. Maybe some day it will be more than that, but that's definitely not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for opportunities to open my mind and to contribute to the greater cloud of the web.