Social sharing through visual images seems to be the hot thing right now, doesn’t it? After being a quiet player on the scene for a couple of years, Pinterest has completely taken off with people repinning like crazy. I was actually on Pinterest from the get go but I, too, have started using it more in the past several months because of the fact that everyone else is using it.

So have you seen that there’s a new similar site called Clipix? Now I’m not typically one for jumping on the bandwagon of the latest new social networking thing. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. In this case, I’m playing around with Clipix a bit even though it’s very similar to Pinterest.

Why? Well, there are two reasons. First of all, I’ve kept my Pinterest boards almost exclusively about crochet. I use it mostly to connect with people who know me through my crochet website, Crochet Concupiscence. I use it to share what I’ve posted on my crochet site and to find new things to post there. So I haven’t really used any of the non-crochet stuff on the site even though there’s lots of beautiful pins there.

That leaves Clipix open for me to actually Pin tons of different things. I’m playing around with that side of Pinterest, instead of focusing on crochet there, and that’s part of why I’m enjoying it so much. I’ve got boards for shoes, fashion, travel, art and beautiful things.

And I also have a board for interesting articles which brings me to the second reason that I like Clipix – you can pin links to articles instead of just pictures. It’s not the main feature of the site but it’s a feature that I really like. It gives me a different options than “bookmarks” for storing things I want to be able to come back to and I like that.

I also think that there’s a really good social aspect to Clipix, better than what Pinterest seems to be offering, but I haven’t explored it extensively yet. So, we’ll see. The jury’s still out but I’m enjoying playing for now.

Tags: clipix, images, media, pinterest, social media, social sharing, web 2.0

Over the years, we’ve heard so many people complain that the Internet is bad for our children. People aren’t reading enough books anymore, they say. Kids are writing in txt. And I’ve always pretty much thought it was hog wash.

Now there’s some science to back up my feelings. A recent article from LiveScience starts off:

“Widespread Internet use will actually improve the reading and writing skills of the world’s population, most experts agreed in a new survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.”

The article goes on to discuss a survey that indicates, among other things, that a lot of people believe that the Internet is actually making people more literate than ever before. And you know what? I buy it.

Has book reading declined over the years? I’m not sure. I think that a case could be made either way. But what I do think is true is that there are more people, especially young people, who are reading a variety of different material on a daily basis thanks to the accessibility of information on the Internet.

We have access to more information than ever before. Kids who would never have watched the news before have a general idea of what’s going on in the world because of updates on various sites including their favorite social networking sites. Kids who never would have written long letters to their friends are constantly articulating things to them online and via text messaging.

Yes, undoubtedly there are some drawbacks (as there would be with anything). Text and IM may hinder spelling abilities. At the same time, you have to admit that the fact that your computer tells you when you’ve spelled something wrong makes it a lot easier to see your errors and learn how to fix them. So, pros and cons, maybe, but I’m in the camp of people who thinks that the more people who are reading – whether they’re reading books or reading Twitter status updates – the better.

What do you think about this issue?

Tags: internet, readers, reading, smart, Technology, web 2.0

If you had told me five years ago that I would be cuddling with my computer on a regular basis I probably would’ve dismissed you as crazy. Sure, I was already making a full-time living off of web writing which meant that I used my computer all of the time but I considered it a tool of the job. I certainly didn’t think of it as something to cuddle up with.

These days I cuddle up with my computer all of the time. What changed? A lot:

• Laptops are more cozy to cuddle up with. The biggest difference between then and now is probably that I use a laptop more often than I use my desktop. Sure, I have a LTR with my desktop computer which is where I save and store everything. But I can pull my laptop into bed with me, take it on vacations, have it there at all times. It’s much easier to cuddle up with it.
• Social media. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time on social networking sites five years ago. Sure I was active on a few but not like I am today. These days, social media makes it so that my computer is a friend. Or rather it gives me access to friends which makes it appealing to cuddle up with it. At the start of a new day or the end of a long one, it’s nice to pull my computer into my lap and reach out to the world beyond its screen.
• It’s my main source of entertainment. Five years ago I had a television set and preferred going to the arcade to play video games. These days my computer is my main source of entertainment. I love Internet TV and streaming movies. It’s no longer just a work tool; it’s my companion for an at-home movie date. And it’s not bad for playing video games with either.
• My personal blogging has grown. I used to only blog for clients. These days I blog for myself as well. I certainly prefer to journal in a notebook but I do have to admit that the confessional style of blogs is appealing as well. It gives me more of a connection with my computer than I had years ago.

Tags: change, computers, society, Technology, web 2.0

YouTube is a site that I visit semi-regularly but I’m not terrifically active on it. I think that’s because the site has its benefits but I haven’t really been maximizing my use of those benefits.

Some of the things that I do use YouTube for include:

• Watching funny clips. I admit it, I’ll sometimes watch whatever links I’m sent just for entertainment.
• Watching shows I missed during the week. I don’t follow too many TV shows. The ones that I do, I can usually see online elsewhere if I miss an episode (either on Hulu or on the network’s channel). However, there have been times when I couldn’t find an episode online anywhere else except on YouTube so I watched it there.
• Researching information. There are things that I have researched which are much easier to understand through a video than through text (like how to blow smoke rings) so sometimes I research through the site.

What I think I should start using the site for more is:

• Promoting my work. You can definitely use YouTube to promote your business but I haven’t done it much myself.
• Networking. YouTube is a social networking site but I’ve never really taken advantage of that aspect of it.
• Learning about new shows that I might like. As far as entertainment goes, I could probably find clips of shows I might like on the site but I’ve never bothered.

What do you use YouTube for?

Tags: kathryn vercillo, Social Networking, videos, watch videos online, web 2.0, youtube

There used to be a big difference between general search engines (like Google) and mobile search engines (like Google’s Mobile Sitemaps). That’s because there has historically been a big difference in the architecture of regular sites as compared to mobile sites. However, that seems to be changing now that more advanced phones are becoming increasingly capable of handling improved web pages. Does that mean that mobile search engines no longer matter?

It may be something that won’t matter in the future but for the time being it’s still important to get listed in mobile search engines. In fact, it may be even more important than in the past since more people are using the mobile web. Despite advances in phone technology, most phones are still accessing mobile web pages rather than standard web pages. People interested in having their site found through mobile phone searches would do best to list themselves in both regular and mobile-specific search engine directories.

The whole thing is a matter of making sure the word about you is out there in as many places as possible. You want to have your website listed in as many directories and search engines as there are because this gives you maximum exposure to the people who are searching for things relevant to your site. Local search engines are another area that you may want to look at for this type of maximum exposure. At least for now, it all still matters.

Tags: business, internet marketing, mobile phones, mobile search, mobile search engines, search engines, Technology, web 2.0

As money has been getting tighter and tighter for everyone I know, I suddenly find myself fielding a lot of questions about the work that I do. Many people think that perhaps they can easily get into freelance writing and make some money at it so they want to know what I do to earn money. I’m happy to answer these questions not only because I like to be helpful but also because it reminds me of how tough what I do actually is.

One of the things that I’ve remembered from these discussions is that most people don’t know how involved Google is with advertising methods online and how it is possible to make money yourself as a result of that. Google has everything from AdSense for Blog Content to Coupon Templates for Businesses. I mention these things in passing to people asking me questions about my work and their ears perk up because they’ve never heard of these things before.

This reminds me that it’s taken me a long time to learn what I know about the web writing and blogging business. When I first started out, I didn’t know about these things either. And the fact that I’ve picked up all of these skills over the years sometimes gets overlooked because mostly I just do what I do and that stuff all adds up in the background. But it’s a real business and a tough one and those of us who are doing it should stop to pat ourselves on the back sometimes.

Tags: adwords, business, coupon template, freelance, google, google adwords, kathryn vercillo, web 2.0, web writing

I am active on Twitter. I post to Twitter daily. I have four different RSS feeds that add my blog content to Twitter throughout the day. I have about 400 Twitter followers and follow about that many people. I am starting to make use of Twitter clients and Twitter tools like TweetDeck. I link my Twitter account in various ways to other social networking sites that I’m on.

And yet, the fact of the matter is that I don’t love Twitter. Or maybe I do.

For the most part, I don’t enjoy Twitter. I don’t like the format that it’s in because it seems messy and complicated and overwhelming. Even with the use of Twitter clients, I don’t find Twitter to be friendly on the eyes (or the brain). I also don’t like that Twitter seems to be most effective as a tool for blog traffic if you’re following tons of people but that means that you’ve got to look at Twitter updates every few seconds because there are so many people posting all of the time.

But there’s definitely something that draws me to Twitter. It’s addictive. It’s interesting. I can see what people are thinking about all of the time. I get links to information that I wouldn’t otherwise have seen. I feel connected to the world around me by virtue of the fact that we’re chatting online even though I see a level of superficiality to all of that online communication.

You know, come to think of it, my love/hate relationship with Twitter is a lot like my love/hate relationship with the city of Las Vegas. I don’t like Las Vegas much. It’s overstimulating and overwhelming and superficial in so many ways. But I go to Vegas fairly often because it’s a convenient vacation, most of what I want from a trip can be found there and the benefits of traveling there sometimes outweigh the negatives of the experience. Now if only Twitter had showgirls and slots … you know, I bet if I looked around, it might.

Tags: hubpages, internet, kathryn vercillo, online networking, Social Networking, Technology, twitter, twitter tips, web, web 2.0

I am often surprised by the fact that people continue to get trapped by online scams. I’m astounded that anyone would ever answer a Nigerian bank request in their email or click through on a highly promotional ad for genital enhancement or go ahead and call up to see if they’ve really won the lottery like that computer is telling them that they did. Because I am online so much, I am familiar with these online scams and I ignore their attempts to snag me. I assume that others do as well until I read about those people who are still getting scammed online.

Because I am online so much, I may be able to avoid these scams but I also do realize that the scammers are getting better and better at what they do. They are learning tricks to get even people like me by looking legitimate in what they’re doing online. It’s tough to avoid them sometimes. That’s why it’s important that we arm ourselves with knowledge about how to not get scammed online.

There are many basic things that the average Internet user can do to avoid online scams. Learning to ignore those emails and popups are a big part of the picture. Increasing computer security and trusting your gut instinct on the Internet are also things that we need to be doing. Make sure that you’re aware of the scams that are out there and that you do what you can to avoid them. You’re not only helping yourself but also making it harder for the scammers to stay in business which ends up helping all of us.

Tags: avoid online scams, don't get scammed, fraud, how to not get scammed, internet, privacy, scams, security, Technology, web 2.0

One of the things that I do every few months is take a good hard look at my website and all of my blogs to make sure that they look the way that I want them to. It’s hard to remember to do this because you’re usually working on the back end of your website (adding content and optimizing it for search engines). However, the thing that people see when they come to your page is ultimately the only thing that really ends up mattering so I think it’s important to try to get a viewer’s perspective on your sites and blogs every once in awhile.

One of the things that you have to ask yourself when doing this kind of review is whether or not your site looks trustworthy. Most people have ads and links out on their sites and this is normal but the wrong ads or excessive linking can make people feeling like they’re just looking at a lot of spam when they come to your site. The design of the site, the content that you choose to put up, the way that you categorize everything … all of these things have a visual impact on the people who visit your site and you want to make sure that the impact they have is a positive one.

Basically, you have to think about the fact that most people who come to your website aren’t planning to stay there long, especially if they just clicked through from somewhere else on the web. You want to create a website that looks friendly and professional and aesthetically pleasing. You want to make a good first impression. When you meet a new person for the first time, you probably want them to believe that they can trust you right? It’s the same thing with a website.

What are you doing to make your site look like it can be trusted?

For me, the bottom line is that I try to create a site that not only looks trustworthy but actually is trustworthy. I try to stick to writing about topics that I know well enough to provide accurate information about them. I try to make sure that the things I promote through the site are things I would promote in real life if asked. And I keep checking to make sure that the sites look the way that they should so that I can feel comfortable with what I’m putting out there.

Tags: Blog, customers, design, kathryn vercillo, site design, trustworthy, web 2.0, website