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Quantum Entanglements: The Social Media Scandals

July 21, 2008

This is a guest post from kd kelly. kd kelly, aka dotlizard, who has learned a harsh lesson or two in her time on the internets, and wants to warn us about the dangers of social media as it relates to trusting relationships that end in lies, deception, and hurt. She’s a very social creature and is known as “dotlizard” pretty much everywhere.

Smile, I’m sending you some sunshine. Did your room just light up?

Kaycee Nicole What can you say about a beautiful girl who died? In the words of noted internet hedonist Halcyon Styn, from a Flash animation he created in her honor: “I want to introduce you to the bravest person I know / She is a warrior of the finest sort / She shoots sunbeams from her fingertips / makes rainbows shine on sunny days / and leaves a wake of smiles in her path / Kaycee, warrior supreme”. Kaycee Nicole Swenson brought her sparkly brand of wholesome, flirtatious courage to a wide audience on the internet from 1999 through May 14, 2001, when her mother Debbie announced that Kaycee had passed away suddenly. At a family gathering in celebration of her remission from leukemia, sometime around sunset, a blood vessel burst in Kaycee’s chemotherapy-weakened body; she died peacefully in the arms of her loved ones.

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Social Media: It’s No Longer Every Man for Himself

November 20, 2007

Charles Darwin is known for defining the concept surrounding of survival of the fittest. Those who adapt, survive; those who do not, die out. While this idea encapsulates evolution of the human species, or at least was intended to, it works quite stunningly in social media as well. But contrary to the notion that each man must survive alone, in social media, we’re all in this together as a community. Only those who languish behind will lose out and not reap the benefits.

Yesterday, I encountered blog post submission to a small but growing niche social news site. The post implied that the top players in social media had some alternative agenda going on (and you know how I feel about that). Essentially, the blog author had the vibe that the most dedicated person on the site was being “annoying” because his avatar (and thus his name), which he has built hard to establish through blood, sweat, and tears, was ubiquitous and that its mere presence was diluting the quality of the articles that have been promoted to the front page.

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When Somebody Dies in Your Social Networking Circle

November 29, 2006

We’d have never imagined the scope of our online communications when the Internet was first discovered for its networking potential. It soon became easy to chat with millions of people across the globe — and with forums, emails, and instant messages, this occurred simultaneously and with ease. Multitasking made it easier than a simple telephone or conference call. Forums and networks of friends enabled people to voice their opinions under a faceless name, though one that is often remembered more easily by a wider audience than ever thought possible.

The arm of social networking reaches farther than we’d have ever dreamed of a decade ago.

It’s a wonderful thing in its living being, and thriving social communities are indications that people flock to these social interactions despite how impersonal they may seem.

MySpace and Facebook User TombstoneIt’s no wonder that when someone dies in your social circle, it’s more than just hearing about another name or face in the news. It becomes real.

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