1. We are, in other words, one another’s virtual enablers.
    Facebook Made Me Do It - NYTimes.com
    2. 14 hours ago  Notes (1)

  2. (via Twitter Conversation Statistics - Power of Replies and Retweets)

    Twitterers don’t @reply much, according to data from Sysomos, and they respond to responses even less.

    Let’s talk through the numbers. Of the 1.2 billion tweets Sysomos examined from the past two months, only 23 percent got an @reply. Of those, 85 percent got only one @reply (and as such, no response from the original tweeter, or I suppose anyone else). Looking at what’s left, 10.7 percent of @replied tweets got a reply to a reply (the response going two levels deep). Three levels deep was just 1.53 percent (yes, of that original 23 percent). Any @replies deeper than that was really, really rare.

    If this data holds accurate, just 15 percent of 23 percent of 1.2 billion tweets involved any real back and forth on Twitter. Someone check my math, but I’m pretty sure that means only 3.45 percent of tweets sparked a level of engagement that can be deemed a conversation.

    Starting an @reply conversation isn’t the only way to engage on Twitter by any means. RTs and mentions are nice, and conversation can and does continue on other platforms that tweets link out to. But this number still seemed very low to me, and for “social” media, kind of sad.

    Why do so few people respond to people who respond do them? What do you think? 

    3. 4 months ago  Notes (0)
  3. (via Tender Nuggets: Phone-Shaped Hole)A funny look at a day in this writer’s life, all told through the perspective of their smartphone. An entertaining read that’s probably relatable to an increasing number of people with smartphones as limbs. h/t @vaguity  

    (via Tender Nuggets: Phone-Shaped Hole)

    A funny look at a day in this writer’s life, all told through the perspective of their smartphone. An entertaining read that’s probably relatable to an increasing number of people with smartphones as limbs.

    h/t @vaguity  

    4. 5 months ago  Notes (0)
  4. These applications are the opposite of groomed; they practically require imperfection, a sloppiness and a grittiness that conveys a sense of realness, something I’ve been craving in my communication.

    Digital Diary: Facebook Poke and the Tedium of Success Theater - NYTimes.com

    We’ve mastered success theater, according to NYT’s Jenna Wortham, and more people may be attracted to Snapchat or Facebook Poke because they are designed for the opposite. It’s tech, it’s social media— but it’s not choreographed or polished. 

    This is a nice, quick read that touches the reality of performing online and the reality, so it seems, that we want something more real, something unfiltered.

    5. 5 months ago  Notes (0)
  5. We’ve surrendered a massive amount of mental and emotional energy without making the explicit choice to do so—it’s simply imposed on us by subscribing to the channel and checking it.

    I quit Twitter for a month and it completely changed my thinking about mostly everything.

    Adam Brault has a very honest honest assessment of how he feels compelled to check social media and what the effects are on his mental capacity. Dunbar’s number and other scientific reasoning gets some play here, but what’s perhaps most persuading is just the logic and sincerity of what he writes (also read: how he feels). 

    Great thoughts here about empathy and social media here and the idea that little things can affect you. There’s only so much mental space. Interesting to read and consider if you relate in any way.

    6. 6 months ago  Notes (2)