What did I do today? You mean besides become enraged by Facebook? I spent the better part of an hour first trying to get it to accept an ad without churning, churning, churning, churning, finally had the brilliant idea to disable Adblocker, which was successful at getting it to finish churning, whereupon I moved on to the second step where I put in all the details about who I wanted the ad to be shown to (don’t worry, it wasn’t you; you’re smart enough to use Adblocker, like me, right?) and how much I wanted to pay and goddamn if it didn’t really, REALLY want me to pay in British Pounds and use Dawson, Yukon time.
I think Facebook must be secretly controlled by Richard Branson from an underground lair he has in Dawson, Yukon.
So! So I get through that part, I get through even the pricing part. There’s a part where you can set limits on how much you want to spend in a given day, and a place where you can say how many days you want the ad to run. Now, I figure you multiply the how much by the number and you get the total maximum cost for the campaign, right? Oh no, how could that be right? We’re talking about Facebook!
So you can pay via Visa, Mastercard, or Paypal. Yay, I have Paypal. So I click Pay By Paypal.
And it asks me for a credit card.
Sure, you can pay by Paypal. But not if you have to. It’s rather like the retail banking system, where anybody can get a loan as long as they can prove they don’t need it. What’s particularly annoying is, thanks to a couple of good months I actually have enough in my Paypal to pay for the whole campaign, even if it cost the maximum every damn day. I could pay for it right now, and they could just refund me the money it didn’t end up costing me. But will they? Nooooooo…
Anyway, Facebook sucks, which I’m sure is not news to you savvy readers.
What else did I do today? I’ve been astonishingly productive, and it’s obviously not ME, but some alchemical magic reaction between the Diet Coke and pasta salad left over from my birthday party along with the Evening Primrose that I’ve been trying to remember to take.
I did this:
Posted:
- My Name is Prince, and I am Busted
- Paul the Psychic Octopus Faces Uncertain Future
- Holiday! Celebrate?
- Tim Gunn vs Superheroes
- Tech Karaoke: Oh What a Night which involved hacking the login system twice, but hey, a blogger’s gotta do what a blogger’s gotta do and besides, I’m the damn President of Social Media Club Vancouver. I’ve gotta make this website my bitch!
- Social Media Scholarships Available
I also listed Blogging for Writers online workshop on (yes) the dreaded Facebook, so if you know any English-language based people who are interested in learning how to blog and use social media while improving their writing skills, pass the link along to them.
Made some aesthetic decisions about my new site at Making My Life which is a network of various social media platforms including audio, video, and blogging. I’ll be moving raincoastermedia over there and focusing more on my social media teaching and less on all the hyperlocal blogging that I’ve been doing such a bad job of.
Had to put out several fires, only one of which was mine. If anyone finds their life boring and staid, I have quite a collection of second and third-hand social media drama that you can take off my hands for free any time. Also, apparently an email went out saying my course on Social Media for Nonprofits was going to be fantastic (great, so far so terrific!) but alas, it also went on to say that there were several free places available. Guess what? Nobody wants to pay. The free spaces in my courses aren’t supposed to be for agencies on the Downtown Eastside, they’re for clients of the agencies: you know, poor people. I think I negotiated a compromise everybody can live with, but god help me, I didn’t get into this to give stuff away to the middle class. Also, BOB is charging me full price for the room anyway, so one free seat just evaporated so we can give the money to Shirley. All of which prompted the post outlining the social media scholarship policy. There, it’s in black and white!
Posted everything relevant from raincoaster media to the SMCYVR Facebook page and to the raincoaster media page itself. Sigh. At least THAT worked okay.
Deleted all the outdated emails from the Shebeen Club mailing list. Attempted to buy a Facebook ad for the Shebeen Club meeting but, crunching, crunching, crunching…gave up.
Promised this woman who messaged me on FB (it’s FB day, I swear; the CanadianPolice on Twitter just pinged me to complain how crazy things are lately, so it’s not just me or Vancouver, it’s everywhere) I’d read her MJ post (she was polite YAY and said she’d read mine, so reading hers was the least I could do, and she’s right about that) but OMG it’s a big one and I’m not sure I’ll get it all done today.
Bitched on Facebook about not being able to buy an ad on Facebook and promptly got two emails offering help. Problem appears to be solved, but I’m too sleepy to finish the job tonight and besides, the bank’s not open yet, it’s not even 7am.
Oh yes, sent three pitch letters to editors today. Sure, it’s spec work and probably free, but it’s ink and paper AND it’s tremendous profile-building. It’s nice to be able to put “President of SMCYVR” on an email. Which reminds me to put it in my signature too.
Tuned up the professional profile on raincoastermedia: what do you think?
What did I not get done? A podcast. Sometime between now and 7pm I’ve got to record and upload a podcast. It was an assignment I gave everyone last week in the Blogging for Writers online course, and the least I can do is try it myself! Wish me luck!
Will in all likelihood go for a walk/jog now, provided I can find my Zune, which is the only portable timekeeping device I have that still has a working battery.
Then: I will have a Martini and collapse. Yes, gin is not in the diet. But it’s very good for collapsing with. With which to collapse. Whatever.
raincoaster 
Aaack, I frickin HATE Facebook.
Always have, always will.
That is all.
I got some good advice: ads on LinkedIn are cheaper, and that’s more my target audience anyway. Going to get a prepaid VISA from MoneyMart and use that.
I did three more posts:
http://lolebrity.net/2010/07/13/nikola-tesla-discovers-a-new-law-of-the-universe/
http://ayyyy.com/2010/07/13/whatever/
http://trueslant.com/lorrainemurphy/2010/07/12/celebutweet-of-the-day-mel-gibson/
Taught an episode of my ten week Blogging for Writers class
Made a Google Calendar for my social media courses and put it in my sidebar at raincoastermedia.com
and now am going to jog to the liquor store, buy a bottle of gin, and curl up with Donnie Darko.
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Busy bee. The cartoon at the top of this post is priceless. Facebook makes me despair for the future of, well, the future. But then again, it’s just the tip of the iceberg we are headed for while rearranging deck chairs…
I honestly don’t see it that way. I see it this way: people have always been dumb, self-absorbed, and boring, it’s just that now we have documentation.
Fair enough…
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[quote]I also listed Blogging for Writers online workshop on (yes) the dreaded Facebook, so if you know any English-language based people who are interested in learning how to blog and use social media while improving their writing skills, pass the link along to them.[/quote]
I came by to see how you are doing with your site. You poor fellow. Since you mentioned a birthday, I’ll start by wishing you a “happy birthday”. :)
As for me, I’ve finished making qute a lot of improvement in my site and it turns out that we may have something in common. Though I am not sure if my type of writings is what you had in mind. As it happens, I use facebook and WordPress’ ability to update my FB account. I have also discovered something called ‘stumbledupon’. Is this a viable media to use?
The only thing I can say is, I somehow got over 100 pageview associated with this, yesterday. How reliable is this item?
Now, for my original question. I was going to ask Timethief this, but you seem to crank out a similar number of stories. How long has this story been cooking in the oven? How long have you been working on it? Do you do multiples at once? I ask, for it amazes me how quickly you post a story (daily).
That’s nothing; I post to seven blogs daily. I used to post up to 15 at a time. This blog post took me about 20 minutes, and wasn’t ‘cooking’ at all, I just jammed it out.
I’m not sure what your question is: “Is Stumbleupon a viable media to use?” It’s not for you to use, it’s for your readers and if they Stumble a story, it can be a very big boost in hits.
Tell me about it! Yesterday, I had over 100 hits via stumbleupon. Today, I got nothing. I went back down to 19 hits.
So stumbleupon is a search engine of some type. Since I checked stumbleupon along with Digg and the other stuff, I’ll see a potential increase of traffic. I had actually thought I’d see another hit like yesterday. I take it, the hits generated by stumbleupon is sporadic.
Stumble is a recommendation engine: if people like your stuff, they Stumble it, ie recommend it to their friends and followers. YOU don’t use it, the readers do. And whether they consider something Stumble Worthy is up to them.
Okay thanks. It is a good thing I added blog subscription to my site. I placed the button on the bottom right column. The next time that I get a wave, I’ll be ready.
My only concern is “Did I get everything on my site done correctly?” I’ve a goal towards adding some authors to my site. Does my site appear ready for such an endeavor? I didn’t add the authors widget, as I’m the only author. Tomorrow, I will seek other sites like mine and see what may need to be added. Of course, I’ll look to posting, as well. I’m also a member of two Christian forums, so this should help.
Am I missing anything?
barryb64: Yeah…A firm grip on reality.
If you want me to answer “Did I get everything on my site done correctly?” I’m going to have to charge you my consulting rate, which is $150 an hour. I do my volunteering in the support forum and that question is just too damn big for me to undertake for free.
Sorry. Don’t worry about it. I didn’t know you did this stuff as a paid job.
What you’re simply seeing is me, “Wanting it to be just right and a bit of second guessing.”. Fact is, I’m learning quickly as I go along. I simply need to stay focus.
Gee, it’s amazing what sleep can do. :)
Sleep and exercise are the two greatest cures in the world!
Here is the BEST piece of advice I can give: just start blogging. Just Do It. That’s worth more than all the formatting, widgets, etc in the world.
Rain, I didn’t know you provided “holistic” healing services for blogosis. Or whatever else it is that ails ya. Forget consulting, peddle that virtual tonic.
Not pro bono, of course.
Oh yes, I’m know worldwide as a big holisticist. At least, I THINK that’s what they called me.
Rain’s Belly Elixr: it’ll chill u out, rev u up, and turn a single rainbow into a million-hit post.
Like I sed, shebeen busy, “lazy” need not apply here.
I’m interested in the “Blogging for Writers” Skype class. (with small caveat) Also, is the “Blogging for Beginners” one-day course a local thing or an on-line deal?
I feel like I’m the last person in the world not on FB, the more I hear what u say, the more vin-dickhated I feel, tho will I ultimately have to succumb? Is it just a matter of time?
You should slow down, we don’t need another dead fairy on our hands.
Blogging for Beginners is a local deal, but if you’re interested I can schedule one online as well, it’s easy. It’s WP.com based, not Blogspot, though. That IS a nice blog you’ve got. Maybe I’ll recruit a Blogspot expert to teach that online for me.
As for Facebook, everybody claims to hate it, but everybody is there every damn day. I use it to keep track of events, to promote my posts and events, and to keep up on birthdays. It’s really actually not that good at keeping you informed about people’s lives. But yeah, sooner or later everyone joins. For my birthday party, I used FB exclusively, because I could control the list so easily, which resulted in my friends who do not use FB not getting invited to my party. D’oh!
Thanks, I’m glad you liked my blog, (unformed as it may be). I’m not married to blogspot, like I said, I wanted to experiment with something simple, but I do want to learn WordPress as well.
I have resisted FB for so long, it’s hard to rationalize, but if I thought there was some benefit besides airing your curious predilections, babies’ photos, and what toaster you bought, I’d probably go for it. Plus, I don’t like that you can never truly remove your profile, is that true? Are you on there in all your realness, or as Raincoaster?
I used to have a rain coaster account, but FB deleted it, as they will with any pseudonymous account, never mind that it’s been my professional name for eight years now. But you can still find me at http://facebook.com/raincoaster
And yes, you can never remove from FB all the evidence that you were there, because your stuff has shown up on your friend’s news feeds and so on. You may have posted to their Wall, or sent them a Message. Those things stay.
I can’t believe they deleted you for having a pseudonymous account! How can they do that? How is that different than having a business on FB? My sister’s business is on FB, and she is “friends” with a lot of accounts that aren’t people, per se, how do they differentiate?
Facebook pages are for businesses and personas, but they didn’t exist when I created the raincoaster account. FB’s rules say for a Profile, you have to use your real, legal name.
Lots of people ignore the rule, but FB deletes them when they get a complaint.
Oh, they are so full of themselves: real, legal name…how dare they? Who do they think they are? I can’t believe someone complained…was it one of those Michael Jackson fan haters? As long as you’re still reachable as Raincoaster I suppose it’s fine, but that’s one more reason not to join as far as I am concerned.
No, it wasn’t an MJ fan; this was long ago. It was probably this woman:
YIKES! So I take it your FB account got taken down shortly after this exchange? Did you ever find her on FB and confront her about it? So that blog was/is a forum for WP vols that she found her way onto? I love how fearless you are, but you have much more to lose than she does, it’s a shame to waste it on her, on the other hand, from what I am gathering, this controversy actually helps you by bringing people in….I’m starting to catch on to your crafty ways, you little minx.
Oh, I wouldn’t bother confronting her over a FB account. I just made a new one; it wasn’t that big a deal.
What do I have to lose? I’ve made a reputation by being fearless and confrontational. Type “AA Gill” into the search box and see my flamewar with the nation of Albania.