6 MONTHS of TWITTER & FACEBOOK (10 Things I've Seen & What I've learned on them.)

Hello, WORLD!! Last December, while working on a job for Amazon Mechanical Turck (look this up if you're unemployed or if you are looking for a way to supplement your income), one of the tasks had me start a Facebook page if I hadn't already done so, which at that point I hadn't, and "Like" a status. I dont really remember which status but I know for that $0.75 it wasn't too much trouble to do. Little did I know that that one act would limit my A.M.T. production. I haven't went back on there that much since. One of the last times I did return, however, had me do almost the exact same thing except I had to "ReTweet" something via Twitter. I figured why not? I did both jobs and thought nothing about them until a week later when I checked my eMail. By that time I had maybe 100 request from names I hadn't seen in years. Just what was this Facebook thing I had gotten into? I had no idea at that time, although I remembered a few of my friends had wanted me to check it out on various occasions. I was skeptical, but for the life of me I can't remember why I felt that way. Anyway, I decided to see what was to it and lo and behold, I had fun. Enough fun to make me regret all the time I wasted not being on Facebook. This feeling of fun lasted on Facebook until maybe March or April when I started noticing how fake some of the people on here was. Not my friends from real life; out of all of those friends that I also had as Facebook friends, I only know of one that was being phony and she has since deleted herself from my page and my life to which I say "Good riddance, with your phony ass!" Nuff said on that, for now. Anyway, around that time I decided to give Twitter a try. And lo and behold, THAT was fun. I can't believe I had so much fun on just thinking out loud (which is all Twitter is, IMO). As much fun as I had on Facebook, it seems I'm having more fun on Twitter because the Followers on Twitter (as opposed to "friends" on Facebook) are not obligated to follow me; instead they follow because they want to follow. I figure you gotta be saying some good shit in order to get a few 1000 or so followers and over the course of these 6 months I believe I have had at least that many followers total but never at one time. On Facebook, at one point I had 1000 friends until I realized I didn't need that many people in my life that's not worth knowing period and started cutting the loose ends loose. I am now @ 600 plus friends and almost 300 followers. As far as followers go, it's modest but the people who follow me are more than likely worth following in return. There's that at least. As far as my Facebook friends go, I know each and every last one of them. Admittedly, some I met through FB, but these people's insights are as valued as the insights from my real life friends, some I look at as true friends in every sense of the words, feel me.
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What have I learned in these 6 plus months?: I've learned a few details about social networks in general and Facebook & Twitter in particular:

1.)Not everybody on these pages keep things 100: A no brainer. Remember I mentioned an ex-friend? She was always posting stories of her traveling and such when she did not go anywhere. I found this out when I told her to "Enjoy a trip" she had been discussing earlier on her page. She responded "I'm not taking a trip. I did that so I could make the nosy people more jealous of me." My thinking is why would you do this unless them same nosy people were only being nosy because you lied in the first place? Whatever.

2.)Even if you had been friends with a person in the past, that doesn't mean yall still cool just because you befriended each other on Facebook: Time changes outlooks, you know. A person whom was ya closest friend might not recognize the new you, even if you aren't the one who has changed. #SadButTrue....

3.)Twitter is more "adult" than Facebook: Another no brainer. My major pet peeve with Facebook is the fact that I have a gang of inboxed things that have absolutely no beneficial properties for me at all, like invites to fan pages such as "I like Doing Hand-Stands" or "Vote for Banana the Chimp as Facebook's Sexiest Animal". I made them up, but look through some of the pages you guys are part of and you'll see I ain't that far off the margin. Twitter, however, doesn't have these annoying messages or games and game request ("Send my a Bulletproof Shield" ala Mafia Wars and the like) for that matter, or maybe it does and I don't get the junk mail for it. IDK but as long as I am not receiving it, hey...

4.)Make sure you dont embarrass anybody that has old pics of you you dont want to see online: Nuff said on this but then again...Nah, this one is self explaining. BUT I do want to add a note or two about sexting here. It's a couple of guys that be on Twitter that admit they save pics people tweet and sometimes save profile pics. But if that pic you saved is of a half nude minor, that could cause a small problem. Another small problem could be sexting on your behalf. You meet somebody, feeling 'em, and soon you're sending 'em pics of ya naked ass. The problem arises if yall have a falling out and that person still has them pics. You already know whats next, right? Right. You know. Watch what you send people in regards to yourself and how you want to be viewed.

5.)Engaging in Twitter Wars/Facebook Beefs is worthless: Instead of wasting your time trying to put down somebody that you probably don't know in real life anyway (what's the sense in that?), why not use your energy wisely and try to help others you don't know? #ImJustSaying... And with that said

6.)Stay out of your Friends/Followers beefs: Nine times outta ten, if it involves real friends you'd do your best to stay out of it unless you're a drama king or queen. Try to remember that next time there's an Internet war of words between people you are cool with. You find yourself in the middle of some stuff you really ain't got nothing to do with and it might wind up costing you not one friend but several after all the smoke clears, feel me.

7.)You don't have to accept every friend request/Screen who sends you a friend request before you accept: I just got a friend request from a JASMINE YOUNG (she's looking for friends so feel free to look her up). The first thing I do is check her page. I see she has just become friends with 9 people by one line on her page, another line says 10 and then it says 4 more similar stories. The thing is she only has 113 friends. She just got started on her page, I assume. What does she post? Her only posts reads "hi guys come view my webcam". The WORST kinda people get you to leave a relatively safe website like Twitter or Facebook to come to a Webcam site which is usually the home of dozens of viruses and spyware, just waiting on a sap to come and check it out so they can infect the user's computer. Avoid these like the plague! Also be weary of any friend request you get and yall have no mutual friends in common. It's strange how a person in San Jose can request your friendship and you dont even know how they came across your page. Sometimes it's nothing; sometimes it's a person trying to spread more of the viruses that you see on other websites. #SadButTrue...

8.)Being thirsty gets you nowhere!!: Take this advice on EVERY level you can! First, I'm not a fan of dating anybody I didn't meet in person first, but that's just me. If you are into that kinda thing, be careful. If you try to talk to a person based on the picture you see as their profile pic, you're setting yourself up for an epic #Fail. See Lesson #1 again in case I need to elaborate. Then if you're satisfied that that pic is the person ya feeling, you STILL should be weary. I mean, after all, that person chatting with you over the computer isn't just chatting with you over the computer no matter what you think. Again, #ImJustSaying...

9.)Maybe you're not right after all...: We, as people, have a tendency to think that whatever we say or do is the end all be all of whatever. This is not the case. Say you share an idea and your brainchild gets heavily criticized. Does this mean your idea is a bad one? No, nor does it mean that your friends/followers are idiots. It could be exactly what you needed to hear in order to take your brainchild to the next level. Then again, it could be total shit just like your people tried to tell you. Learn to accept criticism for what it's worth. Conversely, if you're the one giving criticism, do so in the manner that the critized person can learn and build from instead of tearing down his or her hard work and not so much as leave a 'what's needed for improvement' note.

10.)These are websites, not your life!!:Typically, I dont do websites after I get off work. Main reason: After work, I live my life! Secondary reason:I got things to do. Even if there is nothing I have to do, the main reason is good enough to warrant me a break from posting/tweeting. I know for a fact that there is a few people who surprisingly are on this sites all day long. How can that be possible, especially if these people: have children?, have real friends?, are human (24 hours without sleep?!?!)?,etc. I understand some people are not really social and yes I will admit that this site can help a person in this regard. But the fact remains that having a cyber life doesn't constitute having a life. It's just one aspect of life and just like the rest of them, it does not complete a person. Get off the website for a minute; see what the real world is doing once in a while.

Of course, I've learned more than just these things but these are the main points that stand out to me as "Why doesn't everybody know this shit?" department. That's all for now, WORLD, but isn't this enough?

A Funny Thing Happened At (and Leaving) The Taste of Chicago Yesterday...

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A Month Without a Cellphone (& Why This Has Been A Good Thing)

Hello, WORLD!!! WORLD before I go into this post, I just like to make an announcement of sorts that the S'sWP Blog will now be the exclusive website for all updates about my life. I will keep Blog updates flowing to both Facebook (which I mainly use for more exposure) & Twitter (where I mainly rift off of current events)but will very rarely update any personal info about me and my personal life on either one of them. Too much drama on Facebook lately and no place for getting personal on Twitter (which I would LOVE to keep that way!). Anywho... On with today's update********************************************************************************
WORLD, if you know anything about me, you know I am not a big fan of phone conversations. Why? Because I work on a phone all day long. Even as I type this, a client has me on hold. I do customer service for Comet Messenger Service from 8a-6p, 5 days a week. This is 50 hours of work a week which consist of at least 35 hours of the workweek on the phone. Not that I have a problem doing that or my job; I'm good at what I do and I have no problem working hard at all. The thing is when I get off work I am in no mood to talk to anybody unless we're talking about my kids. Most of my female friends know this as well as my address & the fact that after work, I usually head straight home tired until I need, *ahem*, "energy". I mentioned I do customer service for Comet, which I had done as a biker from 2003 to 2005, as a biker/office assistant for mid 2005 to early 2006, and as a full fledged office administration from that time in early 2006 to May, 2010, when I switched jobs (Actually I covered the change in earlier posts All GOOD THINGS & in detail w/ Goode N BIZZEE!!), I still in effect work for Comet but at least 35 other Courier companies as well. Anyway, I had my same cell phone number since 2004 because my working for Comet entitled me to my own phone for necessary communications w/drivers and bikers. Since I no longer work for Comet, I am no longer entitled to a phone. No problem here. The problem lies in the fact that I DO need a phone, so that my children can call me anytime they want to and my family can check up on me. Of course, getting a phone these days is as easy as getting a credit card in every sense of the analogy. If you got good credit, you can get one on credit. If not, your best option is pay as you go, but it's not your only option. With some companies that offer contracts, you can put a deposit (which you get back after a grace period) down and still get the contract plan instead of a PAYG plan, which will save you money in the long run. I could go the PAYG route except for one small problem: I want the iPhone 4! Why the iPhone 4 when so many other phones are available without the deposit? Because it is the phone I want. If you know anything about me, you should know I gets what I want instead of settling for less and I will go without whatever until I get the one I want. Anyway,as you might already know, my credit is fucked up due to student loans, various credit cards, medical bills, etc (and my lack of paying these bills back in a timely fashion), & among the etc is a $500 debt to AT&T, the only carrier that offers any type of iPhone. (BTW: All of my debts, and the efforts to pay them back, will be exposed to the WORLD in a brand new blog, SMOKKEE's BIG PAYBACK). So with that said, I must pay a $750 deposit plus the price of the phone, which will cost me $1100 total. WORLD, I am in position to get this phone if not this week or next then definitely in 2 weeks from this coming Friday, after I take care of rent.
***What's good in the meantime? The fact that I've went a month without a phone has reprogrammed my thinking. Before cellphones were the norm, I remembered every phone number I needed I needed to. Now, the only numbers I remember by heart are my BM's, my eldest daughter's, and 1 of my closest buddies, who sells weed. This are the only numbers I need for now but it makes one wonder why I dont know more. I think it's because we are spoiled by the fact that cellphones remember numbers for us and even if we lose the cellphone, most update info to an online site where you can retrieve every little nugget of information stored on the cellphone that was lost for easy replacement. WORLD, that makes us lazy and I would still be in that mode if not for the situation I found myself in. Whatever, WORLD. I know alot of yall like "that's TOO much for a phone" or "you're stupid! Just pay ya damn bills on time and get credit later for it!" and I know to a certain extent yall right. But when have I ever listened to any drumbeat besides that of my own heart? Answer that one and I might remember YOUR phone number as well. Until then, I'll be vocal in less than 4 weeks, so you won't be missing my voice much longer.

Testing Smokkee's WORLD Twitter Page!

Hello WORLD! No update here; move along to the next post if that's what ya here for (of course, that's what you're here for!) Actually this is a MAJOR annoucement of sorts: Most of yall already know ya can find me on Twitter & Facebook (Twitter as @SmokkeBizzee, Facebook as Smokkee Singleton), but now you can find my Blog updates to on Twitter!! Follow @SmokkeeWORLD for all my latest Blog posts. That's it fa now WORLD, but aint that enough?

The Next Phase Of Smokkee's WORLD

Hello WORLD!! As you know, there are already 3 Planets (Read: Blogs) in my WORLD all ready. I'm pleased to announce the next Planets are on the way! Smokkee's BIG PAYBACK is probably going to be up and running by the end of June. SBP is the main one that I wont have to write; it will write itself! It's all about my efforts to get out of debt, some of which goes back some YEARS. I'm not really excited about it because it means having to collect all of my bills, contact creditors, etc, but if me doing it can help anybody else do it, it helps me get one step closer to crossing off one of my 101 goals: helping 10 people get out of debt/better credit score. I don't even think I posted that goal yet, but it's definitely on there. Besides that, I'll also offer advice and tips on everything financial and how to be more frugal or more wiser with your money. The next Planet on the horizon is Smokkee's WORLD Sports. This was a no-brainer: I'm a sports nut that hangs with nothing but sports nuts and we talk sports all day long. I figured why not let you in on our conversations. The beautiful part of sports is everybody has an opinion and most sports fans listen to everybody's opinion before ripping into it!! I can't wait!! Should be up by the middle of July. Finally, the last Planet in my WORLD will be Smokkee's World News, and it is exactly what it sounds like: me and my teams takes and views on the news of that day. Once that last Planet is revolving then the next phase after that is to move all of them from under Blogger (which has been nothing but nice, no problems at all)to my own domain (another 101 goal). I have no time frame on that, WORLD but I will keep you posted, as always. Side-note: Smokkee's World Prime & Smokkee's WORLD 101 are all SMOKKEE all the time and will stay that way until I am no more. Smokkee's BIG PAYBACK will be mostly me but I figure to have a couple of people that are in debt as well post there efforts to get out of debt right along with me so I have no idea on how much they will be posting. Smokkee's WORLD Favorites (currently up & running & ran by yours truly alone) & Smokkee's World of Sports will have other writers posting, some probably more than me. That's all for now WORLD, but for reasons I don't think I touched on yet, like my upcoming book releases, we got WAAAAAYY more stuff to cover. I'll keep ya posted,WORLD like always.

A Smokkee's WORLD 101 Update

Hello WORLD!! It feels good ta blog in capitol letters again this week; I almost wanted to type in ALL CAPS ALL WEEK but nixed the idea. Anyway, I only did it for a week to honor Gary Coleman, who died to Friday's ago from a brain hemorrhage. Now back to normal. NOW back to BIZZness. WHATs GOOD WORLD: I've been slacking on my blogs lately,none more so than WORLD 101, the blog that covers all of the things I want accomplished before I pass. What's the hold up, you ask? Trying to figure out what's most important to what I'm trying to do is harder than I thought. I honestly got more than 101 goals but picking the ones I'm ready to put on this blog is damn near impossible. But I'm almost through though and I figure to have the finally 101 goals that's most important to me posted by the end of July. At least that's the plan for now, WORLD. Wish me luck!

status update, facebook style.

evening, world!! nothing new to report her. i just wanted to say that i'm outta here. finna go treat my favorite 3 year old like the princess she is til sunday when my baby girl makes 4! DAD LOVES YOU ADRIA!! world, you aight too!