Social Networks
Entries related to social networks, group psychology, anthropology, and really any of the social sciences.
Wordless Wednesday
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 07/27/2011 - 14:41
Wordless Wednesday
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 07/20/2011 - 19:06
Playing Apples to Apples with a Spotify Soundtrack
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 07/16/2011 - 20:22This evening, I installed Spotify on my wife’s computer. For those who have missed it, Spotify is the latest music streaming fad. You can select songs from just about any genre and stream them on your computer. They have a Freemium model. With a free account, you can listen to songs on the computer, with the occasional interruption of advertisements. With the paid, premium account, you don’t have the ads, and you can also listen on your cellphone.
Currently, you need to get an invitation to it. I use Klout, a website that ranks influence on different social media websites. Klout has a new program called ‘perks’. For people who are influential enough, they give you freebies. The first freebie I got was a year’s supply of Secret Deodorant. That will go to Kim. The second one I got was an invitation to Spotify, so I started using it yesterday. If you want to get an invite to Spotify, sign up for Klout at this address, and if you’re in time you’ll get an invite. (I think I only have two remaining invites. Also, if two more people sign up, I get an upgrade to premium).
Anyway, while I wanted to listen to music, Fiona wanted to play Apples to Apples. This is a card game where you get seven red cards which typically contains nouns or phrases. Taking turns, each person turns over a green card, which typically has an adjective, and the other players chose from their red cards a card that they think the person whose turn it is will most closely associate with the green card. (There are several variations on this as well).
So, as we played, one of the red cards was ‘Crazy Horse’, so I selected Rust Never Sleeps on Spotify. We spent a bit of time listening to that album, until Rocky Mountain came up. Then, I cued up John Denver, doing Rocky Mountain High. Another red card had “YMCA”. I cued up the Village People, and the other Red Card that got played at the same time was Construction Worker. We explained to Fiona that one of the Village People was a construction worker.
It brought a new dimension to the game, and also made Spotify more fun to play with. So, do you have any interesting Spotify mashups?
#FF @shesosocial @kanter @jcnork @khynes2000 @kevindarst @jrlogan @alizasherman @jeff1132 @lnreynolds @hynesyte
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 07/15/2011 - 17:25Okay, so, for Follow Friday this week, I used Google+. I started off by going to my Circles page, and clicking on people in my circles. I sorted it by relevance, and went to the profiles of the people that Google+ said were most relevant. From that, I grabbed their Twitter id, and here they are.
Following with the Google+ theme, instead of talking about each person and why they might be relevant, how well I know them, etc., I’m going to take a look at an over view of who they are, sort of like the analysis I might do in deciding which circles to put them in.
I do not have gender based circles, but there has been a bit of talk recently about how Google+ is dominated by males. First, I question the methodology used. How did they come up with their samples? I find it interesting that of the ten people chosen it is an equal split between mail and female.
So, let’s start with @shesosocial. I’ve got her in circles for people that live nearby. In fact, four of the people fit into circles like that. @kanter is one of the best known social media and non-profit people and at least half of the people in this list are involved in one way or another with nonprofits. There is also a strong health care component, and although I only have three family members in my circles, two of them show up as most relevant.
I hope to explore some of the social dynamics of my circles in a later post, but for now, that’s my Google+ inspired #ff.
Now, for a quick, different comment. Klout has a new thing called ‘Perks’. People who are viewed as influential on Klout can get various freebees. The idea is that they want people who are influential to post about the perks, generating viral advertising. Today, I receive my first Perk.
Certain Klout users could receive invitations to Spotify, the new (at least in the U.S.) video streaming service. I received my invitation and set up Spotify. Spotify is working on a Freemium model. There is a certain amount that you can do on Spotify for free, supported by advertising. If you upgrade to a premium account, you get additional features and no ads.
Klout will provide Premium upgrades to people who get at least five other people to sign up for Klout. Those people also get invitations to Spotify. So, if you’re not on Klout, please sign up on Klout/Spotify link. Thanks.
Almost Wordless Wednesday
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 07/13/2011 - 11:52
Last night, someone dropped off this dog in a small carrier at the end of our driveway. Anyone have any clues about who the dog might be?
