Social Media

 

 

You may already know that I like social media a lot. They’re a great tool for both staying in touch with friends, but also – in a blogging context – to extend your communication to other media when some content you want to express or share doesn’t really fit the frame of a blog.

So here are the various sites and services where you can find me:

 

RSS feed is not exactly a social media, but it is in my opinion the best tool to read a blog when you like it and don’t want to miss a post. Of course, you’ll need a RSS aggregator to use the feeds. I use Google Reader, but there are plenty others out there.

 

Do I need to introduce Facebook? I didn’t think so. On my Facebook page, you’ll find links to all of my blog posts as well as links to other blog posts I find interesting, some news at times as well as random thoughts, comments and announcements pertaining to the blog or to Japan. If the blog were ever to be down for whatever reason, I would announce it on Facebook first. Same thing goes to any major event related to the blog itself and/or to Japan that I couldn’t post on the blog itself.

 

Google+! I know the product is still pretty new and a lot of people are still trying to figure out what to do with it. Personally, I think it’s the very best social media there is right now. Many people mistake it for another Facebook (and then they think why use it as they already have Facebook) it’s much more than that. Actually, if you need to compare it to another social network, you should compare it to Twitter on steroids. Imagine if you could do on Twitter all the things you usually do on Facebook and then some more; you’re starting to get an idea of what Google+. Now, think that it’s getting more and more integrated with the other Google services, imagine the possibilities. Honestly, if I was to keep only one social network, it would be the one. So you can imagine how strongly I advise you start using it if you don’t already do so.

 

I don’t think I need to introduce Twitter either. I use it more or less regularly (beyond automated content, be it links to old posts or to other Twitter users). I like Twitter, but I sometimes get frustrated with the 140 character limit as well as the poor way conversations are managed, so I’m not the power user that I could be.

 

 I recently joined Tumblr. Here are a few words about why and how.

 

 Yep, I have jumped on the Pinterest Bandwagon, just like everybody else. Follow me there for interesting (I hope) pictures of Japan and more.

 

I admit, I don’t really use Youtube that much as a social network, however, from my account you can see all of the videos I have uploaded (in case you’ve missed some on the blog) and by subscribing you can receive notifications every time I upload a new one and those sorts of things.

I don’t use Stumble Upon as much as I should, but if you’re a user to and want to connect, feel free.

 

Same thing with Reddit. Well, actually I use Reddit a lot, but mostly as a reader, I’m not too active on it as a commenter or poster.

 

If you’re on Last.fm, friend me. I love sharing music, discovering new one, and making discover new one to other people. This site is perfect for that.

 

And last but not least, Foursquare. I’m a relatively new user of Foursquare, and while I find it fascinating, I’m still trying to find interesting uses beyond trying to score as many points as possible and earning as many badges and mayorships as possible. I know that some venues offer coupons and such to their regulars, but this part isn’t really developed yet in Japan. However, I recently discovered the Lists and I’m seeing a lot of interesting possibilities with those, especially to use as a complement to the blog. One last note about Foursquare, as the main goal is to tell the thing where you are at any given moment, you’ll understand if I don’t accept your friendship request if I don’t really know you or such.

 

That’s it for now. More may or may not be added in the future. In any case, feel free to connect with me as you like.