I’ve been on the fence about doing a post about this particular medium in the online realm because like some of the others we have briefly discussed, it is NOT a social network per se. What Klout amounts to is a kind of gauge as to what ones social media standings are based on a number of criteria that gets pooled all together from interactions on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and all the rest of them.

According to what I have read about Klout, it ranks you on a 1-100 scale and I imagine that the closer you are to 100 means the more influential in Klout you are perceived to be in terms of online influence. The account I created was set up by using my Official Twitter for PiercingMetal.com because while a personal profile might have been nice, I decided to do one for the brand identity to see how it was reaching the world around it. At the time of this posting, I appear to rank a “57″ Klout Score which I guess is not all that influential across its system. To be honest I am not all that concerned about that since it does not affect the way that I do things on the website and blogs that I compose for you all. The tally itself has been one of the main concerns that people have with this medium as many feel that it is not truly representative to ones true social networking impact. Who knows. To me this stuff is all subjective anyway but still fun to see how it all presents itself. Check it out…..

PiercingMetal on Klout – HERE

It’s interesting to learn how they compile one’s Klout score and you can learn all about that via their Wikipedia entry which I have added to this posting. Some hold their findings with a bit of a question about the overall validity of them and I cannot blame them because even I found a couple of things that didn’t make sense being a part of my numeric gauge. When our friends or colleagues join in on Klout and see us they can rate us as either an influencer of their own stuff or not. I do admit to being a little flattered when I see that someone I know rates me as being of influence in a particular area, but let me not get misty eyed here. One thing that did surprise me was several accounts that list under my profile as being my own influencers. Now to be honest I only have about an handful of people that influence me in Media and in the social networking side and I do not recall marking many of those listed as being influential to me. If they are automatically making me view certain profiles as influential to my own workings then I am suspect of this. Maybe this stuff will mean a lot more to you but for me its only something to give a glance to every now and again. I did update my profile to reflect my business Linked In and the Official Facebook Page for the website so let’s see if they have any impact on the current score.

What are your own thoughts on this kind of process? Do you think its valid or a bunch of hooey?

Official Wikipedia Entry = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klout

For a number of months I have been offering up our readers a veritable cornucopia of Social Networking posts here in our our sites blog and speaking in relation as to how we were using them to better generate attention to the PiercingMetal.com brand identity. Since site launch back in 2005, I’ve seen networks come and go and while some have even remained active all this time, their own reach and considered impact on the larger geography has waned while others took the reigns and rose to new heights. MySpace in particular was one that is no longer deemed relevant by a large faction of Net savvy people. On the other hand, Facebook is now without question one of the most popular, if not THE most popular and powerful Social Network that is currently online. It seems that everyone you encounter in your travels has a Facebook page and while people used to ask for telephone numbers, I now hear “can I add you on Facebook” much more. Not long after I created my own personal account, I learned of being able to create a focused page that could be dedicated to my website and this community page was limited in its quantification and use to the readership. That left me with some serious doubts about its benefit.

Click This Logo for the Official PiercingMetal Facebook Page

(continue reading…)

Now this one was a little more up my alley because it dealt with the direct sharing of music that was currently on your mind and plays with how you would normally tell your friends about it so they could indulge in the song or band as well. Welcome to the newest Social Networking medium that they call “This Is My Jam” and I have to thank our stalwart colleague Skeleton Pete for directing me to it. Yes there are a lot of ways to share music out there thanks to the likes of Facebook and Twitter among others but this one seemed a little more unique so I decided to play around with it. Once you are at the site you can either create your account by signing in with Facebook, Twitter or starting from scratch with your email address. I decided to sign in with my Official PiercingMetal Twitter account of @piercingmetal since I am trying to use that particular medium a lot more as a journalist these days. It’s pretty straight forward and I think that it took me about five minutes to get underway.

Once I created my account I selected my first official “jam” and decided that “Quantum Symphony” by the band Unexpect would be my first choice in this experiment. You essentially search for the tune that you want to broadcast and then post a brief thought about it and make it your jam. Good fun and more especially so if it helps a band that really needs the attention and a wider audience base. This jam will stay in place for one week and then you are asked to submit another choice and so on. You can accrue followers and friends much like the other social networks that are out there. When I dug around the settings a little more I discovered that you could also connect your Facebook and Last FM account to it and as you already know I did mine with Twitter. I opted to only add my Last FM to the mix because the Facebook profile it selected was not my Official PiercingMetal Facebook page and was instead my personal profile. I’m really trying to wean off using the personal page for my Metal adventuring as much as possible lately since that is nice to have as a space to breathe every now and again outside of all the thunderous stuff that I find myself doing.

Please check out this newness and by all means search for me using “PiercingMetal”, I should be easy enough to locate. Let’s all help out some extraordinary musical talents together.

Official Website: http://www.thisismyjam.com

I first heard about Pinterest thanks to the postings over on the Blog World & New Media Expo Facebook page that I am a fan of. This mention intrigued me since they often point out things that are very helpful to resources like my own and columns such as this that try to explain the good and bad of such things. That being said, my next Social Networking examination would be “Pinterest”. It appears to be a combination of the word “pin” and “interest”. Clever.

Pinterest is labelled as an online pin board where you can keep reference to things that interest you the most. After I managed to get my account activated (you had to request an invite during the early stages like Google+ before being approved) I figured I would use the service to broadcast several friends websites as my test subjects and hence send more friends over to my friend SkeletonPete, the Beehive Hairdresser and even my own PiercingKen site but there didn’t appear to be a clear way to do this kind of thing. Instead I was able to add several of my existing Facebook friends and choose to “Follow Them” much like is done in Twitter. Once they find a pinner who they have interest in, I will see it, and the same applies for things that I enjoy being broadcast to them. Sadly this did not have any immediate value for the things I was doing on PiercingMetal.com because there did not see to be an easily discoverable “music” category. There was Art, Photography, Cooking, and Tourism, so I followed a bunch of people for good measure. I did add the websites that I mentioned a little earlier but who knows if they will find any additional readers for me.

I understand that this is a new thing so perhaps it has some kinks to work out, but at the end of the day I just had far too many other things keeping my interest so I will not be playing around on Pinterest all that much. Maybe it is what you are looking for and if so, that is awesome.

Official Website: https://pinterest.com/

Have you Yelped yet?

I know, I know, what on Earth are you talking about this time Ken? Well here is the scoop about Yelp as I continue to offer up my thoughts about the various Social Networks and how we apply their use in the role of Music Journalist and Photographer for the PiercingMetal Command HQ. Yelp is a reviews website and Social Network that lets you post your thoughts about restaurants, stores and numerous other things. You are able to rate across a five star scale and then offer up your objective views about the space. For example, let’s assume you visit a fast food restaurant and it takes you thirty minutes to get an order in when there is no one on the line. Clearly this is something that other Yelpers could benefit in learning about. Oh yes, the reviewer community are called Yelpers. Pretty clever right?

I’ve been using this a little more religiously over the past year and really try to be as on point as possible. If I have only tried the hamburger at a place I cannot speak to the rest of their cuisine, but I stress that this is all I had. If I had companions with me who had other fare that I sampled I mention this, or line out their own comments for better Yelper understanding. It’s very important to be honest with what you write and not have an agenda over one place against another. Questionable reviews can get flagged by the other Yelpers in the community and sometimes the profile or email address gets banned for improper practices. Keep that stuff in mind when you begin typing. To see my existing reviews and profile just click the logo below as that will bring you right over there. I add to my Yelp account when the moment and the experience motivates me to do so. At this point in time there are a few dozen reviews and surely more to come since I have been trying some new places as well as re-visiting some favorites.

One quick note about my profile. While I often speak about the places and spaces that I adventure into for the sake of my musical scribe life, it is a personal profile at the end of the day. With that in mind when it comes to adding people to the list of friends in the network I am pretty locked into only adding those folks who I actually know or do business with as a member of the media. It’s nothing personal and can be thought of as keeping certain groups in certain circles like one does with the Google+ stuff. One of the things that I like most about this network is that you can follow the Yelpers that you find of some interest and still leave them compliments, messages and the like. Someone actually contacted me about a restaurant once and remembered seeing me at a Metal show. I was more than happy to help them along.

The premise has expanded to more than just restaurants and bars and now features shops, scenic places and more. I’ve never had to add a new place but I think that you can do that if you need to. Each Yelp review also offers the means to answer additional questions that will benefit the community so please always try to answer them since its very helpful. If there is free Wi-Fi let them know, if there is only street parking get the word out and if you need to wear a tuxedo and tails – You get the picture – Just be honest and objective as that makes you more valuable to the whole process. Yelpers who continually add items and grow popular became Elite members and hence are respected a lot more. The way I use this as a writing adventurer is that I speak about the places I am hitting before or after a concert or event and even discussing the venue of the show itself when its possible to give a few tips to the fans who might want to know more about the place.

This kind of Social Network was one of the key reasons that I began my series of Concert Pre-Gaming narratives some months ago. I offer up some candid images from those hangs and a little more fun details and memories. Check those out when time allows via THIS LINK.

Learn more about Yelp by clicking their official Wikipedia entry HERE.

Should you have any interest in seeing the places that I have Yelped, please check me out via the badge link below. You can click “Follow This Reviewer” if you like and then you will be in the loop a little more.

Recent reviews by Ken P.

What's this?

I guess I can blame my friend Rys for making me aware of this particular little home on the web but I mean that in an entirely good way of course as she is only looking to keep me in the loop of things she learns about via her online adventures. Now as readers of the PiercingMetal Musings blog have been aware already, I’ve been giving some light examination to the various Social Networking sites that are available and had lined out how they were being used by either PiercingMetal.com as a resource or myself as a single individual. This was originally a lengthy blog posting and started to need to many edits for my liking and was eventually dissected into specific pieces that focused on each branding we happened upon. That being said we are now at the recently discovered “Friendburst”.

Friendburst is listed as a “place for sharing” and apparently one is limited to only fifty “50″ friends on said network based on its aim at connecting you with those you already know in life or really communicate with. I signed onto the service to see what it was all about and of course listed my websites and twitter feed in my profile but I really didn’t find anyone that I knew using it. Mind you I have had the account for months already before adding this little posting to the batch of the others. Clearly Facebook has become the dominating force of nature out there and this new Friendburst resource is little more than where Friendster and MySpace were years ago. I deleted my Friendster account at the beginning of the summer when drastic changes to its format made it useless to me, and MySpace is just there in terms of my account.

While not meaning to point a finger at or scorn those who might be enjoying Friendburst despite my reservations it was definitely not for someone like me who is seeking to widen their circles exponentially or have their enterprise and work shared across numerous mediums. There is no apparent way to scan an email address to see if friends are in the network and I will say right off the bat that searching for friends one by one is a tedious process that no one will do. It’s quite possible that my account on Friendburst will not last the year but you are welcome to give it a whirl by clicking the logo above. It shall take you to the main screen of the network and you can peruse it at your leisure. There is no page for PiercingMetal.com on Friendburst either so stick with our Facebook or Twitter feed if you are looking for us at all.

It’s without question that Google is one of the main innovators of “stuff to enjoy” and work with when it comes to the world wide web, and I have loved checking out each and every one of them since I first got my email “invite” to start a free Gmail.com account.  At the time I as a diehard AOL user (which is America Online for those no longer familiar with the abbreviation) and its since that first account setup it has become my primary personal address. Over the years they’ve given us Google Earth, Google Docs and even Google Buzz; the latter of which was briefly discussed on our Social Networking narratives. That brings us to the newest announcement of Google + which is designed to help you “share” what you are most interested in with your friends and the online world around you.

This project is in its very beginning stages and I signed up as one of the numerous beta testing public but I am guessing we are closer to its being made available to a wider audience today than when I first did this a couple of weeks ago. The premise appeals to me since its about sharing that which you love with those who might find you during some Google searches. I view it as being very helpful to the articles on PiercingMetal.com as well since the more that this work is shared around peoples circles of friends, then the greater impact the viewpoints have in guiding you to something that was thought to be outstanding or to steer clear of something determined to be dreadful.  My guess is that Google is aiming its sights on the stuff that Facebook is doing and that is good, a little competition keeps things interesting in this ever-changing online realm.

I have experimented on how it works by doing some searches for things I regularly enjoy or have written on my own and felt the largest sampling of the public would appreciate.  When you get your list in a Google screen and are in the “+” program, you see a little “plus 1″ icon that is greyed out.  If you want to speak up for this particular item you just click the icon and it shows that you gave this a plus one.  It’s kind of like giving something a thumbs up or in direct example “Liking” something on Facebook.  The critical difference seems to be that it’s going to be available across the entire Googlesphere as opposed to being only viewed in Facebook as something people dig.  My hope is that it works out in the fashion that they expect it to because it has some promise and might bring things a wider level of attention.  There are so many things online that it sometimes becomes difficult to find them and this could make a difference.  If you click the logo above you will see that I did a Google search for some PiercingMetal.com things and if you are signed up for the “Plus 1″ project we welcome you giving it a whirl on some of those items.  When you scroll over the shaded out icon it suggests for you to “Recommend This Item”.  Then I encourage you to support the other stuff you are most passionate about so the world at large knows that they need to pay more attention to it.  If you like it, “Plus 1″ it.  You would be doing some good for all of it.

The Social Networking aspect of Google Plus does take a little getting used to.  When you check it out you will see a number of Circles and these allot Family, Friends, Acquaintances and Following.  So essentially you can be Following a website profile like PiercingMetal.com to see what they are up to and place those who you know in Acquaintances as opposed to friends.  In similar fashion to Facebook, there is a Stream that shows you the latest news from the people who you have added to the Circles on your profile.  Since I am a music journalist I have created two additional Circles with one being restricted to the talented people I am proud to call friends and the Media Contacts that I have made over the years.  Since some of these Media Contacts are now actually friends in my regular day, I have included them in my Friends Circle.  Confused yet?  Don’t be because it all makes a little sense when you look at it like this.  Let’s say you had a new job interview and you want people to know about it.  You can share this post with the Friends and Family but not the Media Contacts or Acquaintances circles.  I have always hated how people who barely know me get to “like” or add comments to things I post on my personal Facebook but deleting people on the network now seems to cause a whole new world of crap.  Who has time for dealing with that.  What I would really love to do is connect my “Buzz” account to this profile as opposed to my primary personal one but since I did post the site Facebook and Twitter so at least people can find those links and keep up with the adventures in Media in the same fashion.

I created a profile for PiercingMetal.com on Google + using the email that I had to use for the official YouTube.com channel, so fans or supporters of the site are encouraged to “Follow Us” (as they would in Twitter) via this PROFILE LINK or the email address of “piercingmetalnyc@gmail.com”.  On the same note, new Media Contacts and talent are welcome to add us to their Circles in the hope of working in tandem with each other.  This is still new so it has a lot of things to work out but I will admit it has a very clean feel.  There is also an Android app that you can download for your Smartphone or non-Apple tablet device.

Learn more of the finer details about Google + via its Wikipedia entry HERE.

UPDATE 11/7/2011: Google+ has been growing as a Social Networking tool since I originally wrote up this narrative back in July and today I discovered that the option for creating what is referred to as a “Branded Page” was available. For those in need of a reference this is similar to the Facebook Fan Page for PiercingMetal in terms of connecting ones branded identity to the general public. I welcome all followers to this page and hope to somehow make it as vital to my sites efforts as the Facebook Page has become. Perhaps we can feed our Official PiercingMetal Twitter account into the statuses of our Google + official page. That would save some work.

To say that I had been keeping a busy couple of weeks would be an understatement. Since the Sunday before last I had been occupying my time with both concert appearances and a number of conventions that were happening in the area. It’s obvious to the readers of the site and the official blog that the concert reports are one of the main things we do as a music journalist for your entertainment, but the conventions are still a relatively new territory that we are exploring in our quest to keep you enlightened and aware of what is out there in our fair metropolis.  As an online provider of music overview and photography, I was immediately intrigued by the listing of the Blogworld & New Media Expo that was going to be running at the Javits Center this week.

(continue reading…)

I had honestly almost completely forgotten about this one until I was going through a spreadsheet to make sure that I was using a standard ID across as many of the Social Networks that I belonged to as I possibly could. So what is Nextcat? Why have I never heard of this one you might ask, well, I think the answer is on the simple side.

Not enough people took advantage of it to make it a general success. If memory serves me correctly I had a Nextcat account long before I had a Facebook and a Linked In account but I stopped using it when I was not really connecting with anyone in the Metal Scene or Music Industry that I focused on. Oh yeah, you are still waiting on a description. For the sake of keeping it simple, Nextcat had a great premise. It was a place for actors, actresses, musicians, artists and those in the overall entertainment field to connect with each other and hopefully enrich each others lives. When I created my account, I used it sparingly and did like it. I met three singers and three models who were interested in the Metal realm so that was a plus, but it didn’t extend past that. I did like it, but how good is the party going to be when the music is boring and no one shows up right?

When I last checked it out the site was still running but was inaccessible. It said changes were coming and I have to admit that now with my Facebook Fan pages for the two sites I run and a Linked In page and Twitter accounts that all talk to each other I hardly see the need. If it does come back I will likely participate and try to lock out or at least list PiercingMetal.com as a company somehow for good measure. Let’s see what happens in this whirlwind dynamic of Social Media. I wish them luck.

Official Website: www.nextcat.com

This particular Social Networking medium was somewhat fascinating when I learned what it was all about because its premise was very different in comparison to the others out there.  When a user creates their Foursquare profile, they can then “Check In” to where they are at that particular time whether it be a restaurant, bar or shopping establishment.   This is done via their mobile device but you can also keep tabs on the account with the website.

I mentioned how you “check in” via your mobile device, and since I have only seen this being used on a Smart phone, I will have to guess that you need one of those to do this proper. When you do check in, it shows you that other users are there with you and perhaps some are even your friends. As we find being the case with other social networking mediums, you can add friends to your own Foursquare so you can interact better and it seems to even let strangers request that they be added to your friends. I will admit that this part I am not too crazy about myself and I am very careful when doing this. Once you check in you also earn points on a leader board and are compared to your friends who are also using it and depending on what you do you can earn some kind of badge for doing so. A good frame of reference might be a trophy earned in a PS3 or Xbox Gaming environment. These add onto your account and get displayed to your friends. There is another cool side of Foursquare and that is when an establishment makes specials for those who are considered the Mayor of the place. This could be a coupon of some kind or something free for their constant patronage. I think this is pretty cool but some of the places exploring this treat to Foursquare users need to upgrade what they are giving out as some are really cheap. You know who you are

A close female friend of mine said she hates this medium as she feels it makes for a better stalker and while she might be correct in that, I have to say that ANY of the mediums that disclose your personal information help this to become the case. If you do use Foursquare and are hesitant about telling people where you are at the exact moment, then perhaps you want to log into the space as you leave them for good measure. Perhaps it is not exactly the kind of thing for you to use if you get too nervous about stuff like that, and no one will fault you for it at all. You can connect this to your Twitter and Facebook accounts which I have done with my own.

I’ve not linked my own Foursquare to this narrative because its not a site one even though I do use it during my adventures as a music journalist and his PiercingMetal brand name. I debated creating one for purely show happening purposes but really decided against it since there is only so much time in the day that one can spend on this kind of stuff. We all have those friends who are addicted to the social networks so I am sure you will agree with me. To explore Foursquare for yourself you can click the logo above and be taken to their domain page. Investigate around by creating a profile and tinkering with it, but by all means delete it should you feel uncomfortable by how it works. Should you want to learn more about the company itself, please take a look at it’s Wikipedia entry HERE.

PS: Facebook in its quest to be the one all and be all has instituted “Places” in their services and this let’s you denote where you are at a given time as you would in Foursquare and also to “Tag” friends that might be with you or those you have run into who also happen to be on your Profile Friends list.  They do not let you accrue points or badges like Foursquare does and that aspect makes me use it less than I would if it had.