Social Media Archive:

Use FriendFeed As A Lifestream

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been doing some cleaning up on my blog over the last week and a half. I’ve removed a few things from my single post pages, as well as made some changes to my sidebar. The main thing I did with the sidebar is integrated a lifestream showing all my updates from various websites and social networks. Here’s how I did it:

TweetDeck Vs. Tweetie

I’m hanging out at WordCamp Dallas (Live Stream) and it seems like everyone is using desktop applications for Twitter. However, when it comes to which one is the best it’s a mixed bag. People seem to all have different opinions based on how they use Twitter.

Some people prefer TweetDeck while others prefer Tweetie. Someone even told me about Nambu which is a brand new application that’s still in beta. I gave it a quick try but wasn’t feeling it so I uninstalled it right away.

I’ve been using TweetDeck since it first came out and have been really happy with it. I like the fact you can monitor everything using columns and it has a boatload of features.

Austin Tweetups

Since I’ve moved to Austin, I’ve been trying my hardest to attend every event related to social media, blogging, and business in general. I even started a Beer and Blog Austin chapter I’m hoping to kick off soon.

Of all the events so far, tweetups have become one of my favorite ways to meet new people that are interested in new media and technology. And it just so happens there are a few tweetups here in Austin that are coming up over the next week that I wanted to…

Search Craigslist Like A Madman

I’ll admit it, I spend a TON of time on Craigslist. Just yesterday, I managed to sell my old iPhone and a computer desk. However, the most time consuming part is searching for gigs and temporary jobs. Since location doesn’t really matter when dealing with freelance web work, I usually search all of the big cities since they are more likely to have new posts.

The thing that sucks is manually going between all the cities and searching. Half the time I forget which city I am in and do the same searches over and over again. It can take a lot of time, especially if you are looking for a lot of jobs and gigs.

Introducing Crazedlist.org

I managed to find Crazedlist.org a few weeks ago and have been using it ever since. It lets you do a search in multiple cities and then returns the results in separate frames. It definitely cuts back on the time I spend.

Here is a quick screen capture of what it looks like when I search Phoenix and Tuscon at the same time:

Brand Yourself With A Twitter Background

Over the last few months, I have started to use Twitter (follow me) more and more. I think it is a great tool to stay in touch with friends, share links and information, and meet new people. I even wrote a post explaining 13 reasons you should follow me on Twitter.

The key to being popular on Twitter is setting yourself apart from everyone else. And what better way to do that then to make a sweet twitter background to customize your profile. I first noticed this in action when I saw Darren Rowse’s Twitter profile, which features a huge picture of his face in the background. It sure made his profile stick out.

Generic Backgrounds Are Lame

Although people are starting to create custom backgrounds, it is still early in the game. I still see a good portion of people using the generic backgrounds provided by Twitter. People may argue that it isn’t worth spending the time to create a custom one but I disagree. By spending a little time now, you can have a custom background up and running for some time to come. If you do it right the first time, you may never have to go back to edit it.

Besides, who wants to be normal? It’s the same concept as a MySpace page. People love to customize them because it sets them apart from everyone else. Which leads us to the next section…

Add Me As A Friend Buttons

After looking for well…2 months, I have still not found a good add me as a friend plug-in or button for any major social networks.

I have been looking pretty intensely and even tried making a drop down list (I hated it). So after looking non-stop, I decided to create my own buttons.

Time To Share Them

Not only did I create them for my blog, but I would love more than anything to share them. So without any more introduction, here are the first three buttons I created:

13 Reasons To Follow Me on Twitter

Lately I have been getting a lot more in to Twitter. Or maybe I am just that much more bored at work and need something new to waste time on. Anyways, I like how easy it is to use and really makes staying in touch a lot easier. So, I decided to come up with a short list on why you should follow me:

1. The sheer randomness of my tweets.

Yes, there about as random as the posts on this blog. But hey, it makes life interesting.

2. It lets you know where in the world I am (I travel a lot)

Life of Justin has a lot to do with my adventures, so I tweet as much as I can while I am on the road.

3. Because I’m hilarious and you like to laugh

At least I try to be. You could always laugh at the fact that I actually thing of myself as being hilarious.

Facebook Slapped Me On The Wrist

Facebook is mad at me, or so it seems. I think they want me to take a timeout…

It seems that Facebook likes to put limitations on certain things. Earlier this week, I was accepting a few friend requests and requested a few friends when I received the “strike 1″ red alert message. It basically said “Stop! You are making friends too quickly!.” And then it rambled on about how I would get disabled for a few days if I kept going.

I suppose this started happening since I created…

Is Web 3.0 Just Around the Corner?

As I was surfing the internet this morning, I stumbled upon an article written by Tony Dokoupil over at Newsweek.com. The title of the article was “Revenge of the Experts” and it was looking at the trends that seem to be happening on the internet lately.

Tony starts by saying:”By any name, the current incarnation of the Internet is known for giving power to the people. Sites like YouTube and Wikipedia collect the creations of unpaid amateurs while kicking pros to the curb—or at least deflating…

Make Money From Social Networking

I created LifeofJustin.com as a way of broadcasting my life to everyone on the internet. Social networking is a hobby I enjoy doing along with web design. I also enjoy writing, photography, and creating videos. So I thought, why not try and make a living doing this?

I have always used other social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, and many more. But what I find appealing about my own website is that I can incorporate all of those into one gigantic portal. Plus…