Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Blogger Training Camp 2010 -- Day 2

Day 2 of Blogger Camp 2010, and in getting familiar with the tools of the trade, it’s “Social Networking Day.” The day when the cousins go through their paces in navigating the ins and outs of working online and social networking. Today’s session starts with some basic drills…

Googling

The ability to find information at the click of a mouse quickly and efficiently is the life’s blood of the blogger. Whether it is statistics, records, quotes, the latest trade rumor, or just a feature on their favorite club, being quick on the click is one of the most important tools in the blogger’s arsenal. Cheerless is in the midst of the daily Google drill…

“Hey cuz, look what I get when I type in ‘hot hockey babes…’ would ya look at the Koho’s on that one!”

A prodigy, ain’t he?...

“Cousin, if you google 'Google,' do you go into an infinite loop?”

Fearless, I think YOU are an infinite loop.

“Hey, cuz! What does it mean when this Norton screen comes up and says you’ve been attacked by a virus? Is that one of those computer games I keep hearing about?”

I think we’re going to need two-a-days…


Twitter

If you took a message board and mashed it up with instant messaging, then concentrated it into a 140-character nugget, you’d have Twitter. In barely four years of existence, it has become one of the most important tools for the advanced blogger. Blogger training camp is the time for the denizens of the keyboard to master the hash mark and the “at” sign, to keep their #’s and @’s straight. Cheerless has been having trouble getting the knack of it…

“#@%&it!”

Not what we had in mind, cuz…Now, let’s go over the terms. Cheerless, can you tell me what a “tweet” is.

“Something folks give you on Hallowe’en, or you play a twick on them.”

C’mon, it’s in the “Bloggers Playbook.”

“Twut?”

Fearless?

“A ‘tweet’ is a message posted via Twitter containing 140 characters or fewer.”

Very good…

“suck up”

Cheerless, can you give me a definition for “twitterer?”

“Uh, cuz, I think you mean ‘twit.’”

OK, let’s try this…what does “FF” stand for?

“I heard of MF, and that stands for mother-fu…”

HEY!!!

I see three-a-days in our future.

Facebook

At last count 5.8 billion people were registered to this, allowing them to add people as friends, send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by workplace, school, or college.

“There aren’t 5.8 billion people on Facebook, cuz…”

No, it only seems that way.

“There are 5.8 billion Capitals blogs.”

No there aren’t…now let’s keep our focus. Fearless, can you tell me what a “friend” is in Facebook?

“A person who has joined a profile, usually by invitation.”

Very good, and Cheerless, what is a “profile?”

“It’s how they made me stand to get my picture took when I crashed the truck into Old Man Grabowski’s front porch and the sheriff hauled me in to the hooskow.”

OK, forget that… what’s a “mini-feed?”

"Ooh! I know!!"

OK, Cheerless…

“It’s the small bag o’ food for chickens.”

“Hey, cousin, did you know that you can Facebook on Twitter?”

Is it too early for waivers?


Message Boards

They might seem passé in the age of Twitter and Facebook, but message boards still command a lot of time and attention from the die-hard hockey fan. Bloggers ignore them at their peril. They also post there at their peril.

“You do it…”

“He drinks heavily, too. Think that’s a coincidence?”

Anyway… message boards give the everyday fan the forum to opine on any number of subjects. For the Caps, you might find any number of “discussions” going on covering a plethora of subjects.

“I loved Godzilla vs. Plethora.”

“Plethora!”… Not “Mothra,” you twit!

“Did we cover that in Twitter?”

UGH! Anyway, you might find such subjects as these on Capitals message boards giving the blogger an opportunity to take the pulse of the fan…

“George McPhee Sucks”
“Bruce Boudreau Sucks”
“Ted Leonsis Sucks”
“Trade Tyler Sloan and a draft pick for Sidney Crosby.”
“Beer Costs Too Much at Verizon Center.”

“Is that it?”

Yup, pretty much.