Facebook's Get Out the Vote

Amid news reports that Facebook has hit 1.8 BILLION users I noticed this when I logged on to my account! Facebook is helping people get ready for election day in a very user friendly way. You can see exactly what your ballot will look like on election day based on your address. You can also plan your vote, select who you want to vote for, save it in private, print it off and bring it to the ballot box!


How many times have you been surprised to see there are smaller, local races you need to vote on and you have no clue who the candidates are? Well now, with less than a week until election day you will know who those people are and research them so you can make an educated decision- instead of playing pick and choose.


Don't forget to vote people. Your opinion really only matters one place... at the ballot box~

Lessons Learned From Disconnecting

When I decided to disconnect for my week-long vacation part of me thought I might go through withdraw symptoms and another part of me thought it would be easy. It was a little bit of both with a healthy dose of lessons learned from my disconnect.

1. On the first day I had to physically stop myself multiple times from clicking on the Facebook app to get my "News". I wondered what was going on in some of my friends who frequently post through out the day. Was Kristy having any pregnancy symptoms? Did Tony post another picture of a gigantic pizza made at his shop? Did Johnny "like" or comment on a status update? These are all people I don't know personally but have come to rely on hearing from on a daily basis.

2. I discovered Facebook was the most missed app... but only for the first day.

3. After I got through day 1- I realized I could do this and I actually had so much more time on my hands! Without the need to keep up with comings and goings, posting a witty link or blogging about an interesting topic- I had A LOT OF TIME.

4. With so much extra time on my hands I went about addressing some much ignored projects around the house. This made my husband very excited (NOT). Let's just say... one of the projects is painting the brick on my house.

5. I even started attacking the garage which had become a place where we put items we didn't know what to do with.

6. I only heard from a couple friends. Have we become a world addicted to social media?

7. My husband would say yes... after all he admitted that when he was checking his Facebook during a nice dinner out without the kids! I actually got pretty upset about that... and even more when he checked it again a little while later.

8. I missed sharing with you the fun at the NKOTB concert, didn't hear about a fun activity being planned for my kids (all spread through Facebook) and I relied on friends to post pictures of events like the Firefly 5k- but toward the end of the week I didn't feel the need to pull out my camera to document that wonderful meal- I just ate it.

I woke up Sunday, got my coffee and enjoyed some conversation with the kids and spent several hours piddling around the house before checking back in. It surprised me how much I no longer "needed" social media. I think there is room for it- for sure, after all I am a News Anchor. It's my job to stay informed and communicate with people- but I no longer need to check in every waking moment for fear of missing something.

It surprised me how much the people around me had their faces in their phones checking in on others- while having a conversation with me. Was I not enough entertainment? Did I do that to them when I was "connected"? Either way- I hope to be more intentional when using it. I do love it. It's fun and I enjoy sharing with you and learning about you- I just promise to be more present when we are face to face. It was probably the greatest lesson I learned.

Privacy Please

So, did you hear that Mark Zuckerberg's sister Randi got all in a tiff over a picture that she thought she posted privately on her Facebook page got shared all across Facebook and Twitter? I've found the picture. If you'd like to see it click HERE.

Funny thing is- the picture is really no big deal. I'd had hoped to see people living in excess or doing something crazy that only rich people can afford to do- but it's just a picture of people goofing around a kitchen island.

She got all upset that her picture was shared but because of her privacy settings on Facebook- it was all legal. She just didn't know the rules. Apparently the sister of one of her friends thought it was funny and shared it and that's how it got out.

Do you think she should have known the rules? Do you think she had a right to be mad?

New FB App Warning

If you're a parent of a teenager this one is for you. Apparently you need to talk to your kids about Facebook's new photo and video messaging app. According to THIS article it's being used similar to another app where kids can take sexy pictures of themselves and they will self destruct after 1, 3, 5 or 10 seconds. But the article points out there's nothing keeping recipients from taking a quick screen shot and then sharing that. This is dangerous. Be sure to talk to your kids about not making a bad choice! Wow- things have really changed since I was a teenager!