Big Sole Blog (BSB)

This is how my summer's going. I'm spending more time in my brick and mortar life, and so I'm not online as much. That's how I ended up watching Twitter on television instead of Twitter itself. But Jimmy Fallon's delivery of tweets under his #worstsummervacation hashtag made me laugh just the same. Big media and entertainment is really leveraging the social media thing, huh?

The President of the United States of America is holding a raffle. I received in my email today a fundraiser promotion from President Barack Obama's re-election campaign offering me and everyone else a chance to win dinner with the the President of the United States. Of course, it didn't say it that crassly, but still it's a chance for me (or you)--an ordinary citizen--to win dinner with the most

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The video above shows Michael A. Stefanone discussing the results of a study he and other researchers conducted through the University of Buffalo, "Contingencies of Self-Worth and Social-Networking-Site Behavior" that has been published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. Shari Roan of the L.A. Times reports that "a study :on how people use social networking websites

I do not have the time to surf YouTube all day, and so I thank NPR for bringing composer and choral director Eric Whitacre's virtual choir to my attention.At NPR, reporter Jeff Lunden says: I've been singing in real choirs since I was a kid, so I was intrigued to participate in a virtual one. I recently asked Whitacre how he came up with the concept."Well, it all started with this video — a young

I am happy for the people of Egypt, and as someone trained in communications with experience in social activism who has been online since the mid 90s and uses Facebook and Twitter, I understand how social media can be used as a powerful tool to build a movement. So, on some level I like the play of media soundbites such as "Facebook freed Egypt." I like the warm and fuzzy feel of them, but I know

"Show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are." That's one of those sayings we hear repeated and consider wise. You could probably come up with any number of similar quotes that suggest we can discern the nature and character of a person by what they say, do, wear, and even who they marry. Common sense right?But what if the person judging who you are is not looking at you in the real world

I'm using my blog now partly as a commonplace book. Last night I came across this article or series of articles at the New York Times about why criticism matters. Since the one I read discusses in part how the Internet has changed views of audience in fiction and writing, I decided to bookmark it. Stephen Burns writes:While (Alfred) Kazin could complain in 1960 that “the audience doesn’t know

I had to post this Digital Story of the Nativity, especially since my final pedagogy project for a rhetoric and composition class was on social media and composition in the digital age. It begins with Mary hearing from Gabriel, the arch angel, on her iPhone. I hope readers enjoy it.

This FORA.TV video that includes Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook talking about defining the self online is old. I know it's old because Twitter's not there and the moderator makes MySpace sound like it's bigger than Facebook, but the video's discussion still may intrigue some. Zuckerberg stresses that on Facebook, people communicate as themselves rather than as personas.I suppose the video's being

A Brand Named HumanBy Nordette N. AdamsPeople play. See me when you try to care how I see.See you when you stop chasing fame.See me when you learn my nameStop tripping 'cuz I'm deep!Lost to you and the games,I'm deep under midnight in what you call blue funkHowling in my soul's blues trunkafter hanging low to weepSee you when I rise for air.See me.See me when I rise for airafter hanging low to