My thoughts on Twitter

Twitter is a magical thing. It is magical because I have entire "friendships" entirely born out of this social networking site. It is crazy to think that silly little comments about what you ate for lunch, how much you hate reality TV, or what silly thing your cat is doing can be the basis of new friendships, but it is. But how can friendships be created out of 140 characters or less?

My answer: kairos.

Kairos is the Greek concept of "the right moment" and that's what Twitter is based upon. You follow people you know/respect/find interesting and they follow you (if they like). You update your twitter feed with your commentary/updates/whatever. And then the magic of kairos happens. One day, you're bored on your iphone and you see that one of your Twitter acquaintances has a problem that you've experienced, so you hop on and give advice. You give your running commentary on American Idol and some other fan gives his two cents back. Twitter is filling the space of the work water cooler--only on a global level. My husband and I have a wedding photography/cinematography business and Twitter has helped me find like-minded creatives as far away as Atlanta and as nearby as the next neighborhood.

Twitter is playing an increasingly important role in our social networks. Researchers now say that Twitter can be used to predict top films: BBC News: "Twitter used to predict box office hits". I certainly use the site for recommendations on purchases, advice in sticky situations, and as a place to both whine and celebrate--publicly.

Want to follow me on Twitter? http://twitter.com/ZinchukFilms

10 Google Search Tricks

I came across 10 really useful tricks for Google on the NY Times Technology page today:
"10 Simple Google Search Tricks"

Some I use:
Use Google as a spelling aid: when I need a word quick and I don't quite know a) how to spell it or b) if it actually exists; type it in the Google search box and voila! you know how it is spelled and used.

Get quick currency conversions: yep--Google is my source of pounds to kg, and vice-versa. I can do Celsius by myself ;)

Some I might start trying:
Use Google as a calculator: I'm guilty of searching for the elusive calculator on my computer--Google will be so much easier!

All the "operator" tricks--limiting searches to specific sites, searching with the - function, or searching for specific documents types would all be really useful. . if I could remember them!