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PiercingMetal & Social Networking: Instagram

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instagram, instagram logo, social media logos

If you have an iPhone you have no doubt already heard about and have been using the application known as “Instagram”. If I had to venture a guess, I would say that almost everyone I know must have an iPhone because I am constantly seeing their captured visuals on their Facebook pages and Twitter posts. So what is Instagram and why am I adding it to this little series of narratives you might ask? Well, let’s get down to it shall we.

Launched to the public as a free application in October 2010, Instagram is a photographic application that makes use of your Smartphones camera and let’s you change images around a little bit in terms of their design and shading to make them even more appealing or interesting. You can even add captions to them that your friends/followers can read or comment back on. Similar to the Facebook Liking system, there is a little heart that you can click to approve an image. Sadly, at this point in time when I post this for you, its only something that the iPhone users seem to have to their advantage in their application arsenal. Mind you I can take photos with my Droid Incredible device and then share with my Twitter and Facebook as well, but the tinkering that people can do in Instagram adds a new level of coolness to doing this kind of thing and that is what is driving more and more people to download it. Those who want to play around can get it via the iTunes Store.

Now to the reason I added this to my little Social Networking narratives. The answer to that is very simple. With so many people networking and sharing information via the two giant Facebook and Twitter mediums, the use of Instagram has created a sort of photo social networking. I’ve not been able to really experiment by being a Droid user, but I have looked at friends phones and their accounts with them to see how they are chiming in on celebrity account photos or following people of note or friends that they find more interesting than some others. The following and commenting on and sharing of these images makes it a bit of a Social Network of its own to me but on a slightly different level. It’s pretty cool as long as people keep using this for good and not to do anyone harm. I will add that I do not know offhand if Instagram will work on the new iPad’s that are coming out in March so if any readers get one and can play around perhaps let us know in the comments section of this posting.

UPDATE 4/3/2012: I am happy to be able to share this news with you readers and Android device users because today anyone with a Droid phone will be able to download and use Instagram. For me this is a kind of technological birthday present for the website because tomorrow is the anniversary of PiercingMetal’s launch. I downloaded it and can be found under the user name of “PiercingKen”. I might create a more music scene focused ID like PiercingMetal and this way can share exclusive finds that relate to my journalism and photo adventures. For now though I will use this ID and dabble about to see what I can learn. Follow me if you want.

PiercingKen on Instagram = HERE

UPDATE 4/12/2012: Wow, Facebook has purchased Instagram. Will this be good or bad? You decide. I am on the fence about it.

UPDATE 9/15/2012: I’m heading out to see Nightwish and Kamelot in New York City this evening and since its a big event for Metal I decided that I would act upon my months ago comment about potentially creating an Instagram account purely for PiercingMetal.com adventures in music and media. My readers already know that I take a lot of photos so this makes sense and lets me instantly get some more cool ideas out before I sit down and write the articles and blogs up. I think that it will be a lot of fun so please come and follow that account via the link below.

PiercingMetal on Instagram = HERE

Official Website: http://www.instagram.com
Official Wikipedia Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instagram

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PiercingMetal & Social-Networking: Pinterest

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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/

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PiercingMetal & Social Networking: Yelp!

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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. These posts were moved over to my Lifestyle Blog site PiercingKen.com since it deals with dining, fashion and tourism a lot more than PiercingMetal.com does.

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.

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PiercingMetal & Social Networking: Friendburst

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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.

UPDATE 10/6/2011: As was lined out as a potential occurrence in this blog posting, I have effectively deleted my Friendburst account. It never seemed to serve any positive purpose for me personally or for the PiercingMetal.com website. Perhaps you will find a different experience but for me not so much.

Official Website: http://friendburst.com/

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PiercingMetal & Social Networking: Google+

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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.
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