My Baby Toe is On Facebook: The Economics of Oversharing

You are now entering the Facebook profile of my Baby Toe.

My Baby Toe is currently recovering from a case of fungus. He resides in Riverview Florida, where he enjoys a scenic view. His past life includes a brief stint at Kforce. Hobbies include: swimming, eating, and torturing those two pesky housecats. Mood: friendly. Age: Approx 3. Species: Beta Fish.

After Digg's Kevin Rose's cold rang up over 1200 followers on Twitter in one day, and people began subscribing to the twitter stream of this lady's cats, I figured all my "Facebook Friends", including family members, the people I work with, went to grammar school with, and don't even really know would want to know about the musings of our pet beta fish, right?

You thought I was talking about my ACTUAL baby toe? Gotcha.

Are these examples of creative uses of new media at their best or oversharing meets boredom at its worst? I'll let you be the judge.

Need a Break from Election Craziness? Check Out These Shrimp On a TreadMill...

More Crazy Video Mondays... and no, it's not the Sarah Palin prank-call clip. Did you know that shrimp, when placed on a treadmill, run up to 66 feet per minute for up to 3 hours without needing a rest? Well now you do. Thanks internets!

Boom-Chick-A-Boom-Boom! He's A Cat.... Flushing A Toilet!

Video O' the day... to bring a smile to your face. Dig that funky music! Now, if only I could train my cats (and husband- J/K!) ;) to do this... Thanks internets!

Want Earbuds With That?

Marketers are forever combining products, free gifts and packages in an attempt to make their brand more attractive to consumers and to (insert buzzword here) "add value".

This example of a value-added promotion, now available at Target stores nationwide, is one example of a marketer that, in my opinion, clearly missed the target. Pun intended. Free earbuds with facewash purchase? These two items have about as much in common as the political leanings of my family vs. my in-laws. ;) Also, how exactly is a person supposed to use said free earbuds while washing one's face? That would be one nifty trick!!! As the Consumerist pointed out, this may be where all the old free JetBlue earphones are going. Smart thinking guys! It's always good to recycle.

I can see that the users of Neutrogena's oil-free face wash may indeed be the same target audience as the iPod generation, but pairing el-cheapo earbuds combined with facewash? Because surely the free ones that come with your face wash are SO much better than the ones that come with your iPod...

Here's an option B for you marketers out there: How about free iTunes downloads or a gift card instead of the earbuds? I bet the packaging for that is easier on the eyes as well!

Come on marketers, you can do better. Promotion Grade: FAIL. Except for the fact that it did make me giggle through my lunch.

I Can Haz Writers Block? Inexpensive Cures

There is nothing quite like the combination of a seemingly never-ending cold, a horribly depressing news cycle and a spending two months coding an e-commerce website (when you typically spend that time working on marketing projects) to sap all the creativity out of a girl faster than my cat sneaks out the front door.

When the world is getting me down, I remember how fortunate I am to have things so many others are struggling with in these days: work in my field, a house with fixed-rate mortgage, a healthy family, and luckily considering my appendicitis attack earlier this year, health insurance. Historically, times of great economic stress, such as the Great Depression provided the world with an outpouring of arguably some of the best art, film, and literature we had seen. The same thing is happening today. People may be cutting their spending on eating out, but they still are going to movies in record breaking numbers. Essentially, in crisis, people look for beauty and escape to get them through the reality of their everyday.

What cheap-ish thrills get my creative engine going again when I am feeling zapped?
1. For me, the answer is first and foremost always books. If your shelves are falling over like mine, I highly recommend a swap site like Bookins, which lets you send books to other people for free and get new books for $4 in postage. Don't forget, libraries are free, and Borders does not charge a "browsing fee."

2. Music: Thank heaven for Music Swapping Sites, iTunes and community radio (88.5 Radio-Active Tampa!) and cheap local shows. While I love music with a passion, I am lucky in that my husband "J" does the heavy lifting, providing me with a constant stream of new music and dragging me to shows even on the days I don't feel like going out. Concerts don't always have to cost $60. Check your local papers and community radio stations for free shows and low-cost options. It's always a better story to say "I saw them at a bar with 50 people before they were famous" anyway. J has LOTS of those stories.

3. Humor: No shocker here, besides beautiful films, I am drawn to the absurd and humorous in television and film when down. Cheap(ish) thrills- NetFlix, basic cable and our trusty DVR filled with the Daily Show and Colbert Report from the previous evening, since I am a nerd and go to sleep by 10pm. That being said, I will close with this clip from last week's SNL, which had me in tears of laughter, despite a fever. Warning: it is advisable to use the potty before viewing.

Each to It's Own Purpose, Everything in It's Right Place

Lately they seem to be crawling out of the woodwork. "They" being old friends from my past. People I haven't spoken to or thought of in over ten years at the minimum. I moved across the country after graduating college, and I am definitely not the best person at keeping in touch via phone. Ask my best friends, including the ones in town. :)

With each connection, a new memory is ignited. Riding bikes down the street as a child, being chased by my friend's little brother. Sleepovers and riding my bike to the pool. Dance routines and being scared to death of Nightmare on Elm Street. Fast forward... driving around with my friends looking for stuff to do, U2 blaring. Biology lab, Homecoming, English class, walking to school, parties, crushes and spring break in Cancun. Fast forward again... autumn leaves, red brick, libraries, rushing, and disco dancing at 11am before a football game in full costume, more than a little tailgating tipsy. More dances and parties, and some dancing on tables...I think.

Why this sudden reconnection with the past? Social networks, of course. LinkedIn is great for the professional world, networking with current and former colleagues, highlighting your talents, link building, and in my husbands case, finding good job candidates. I use FriendFeed much the way I used to Twitter (although I just can't seem to quit you)- to stay on top of the the latest and greatest from those early adopters and techies I don't quite know, yet love. More linkbait there. I still use social bookmarking sites occasionally.. to bookmark. (Del.icio.us I'm looking at you). My husband uses MySpace in his avid, continual hunt for the latest band that doesn't exist yet. However, I am busier these days, and less promiscuous in my tendency to jump on the latest network bandwagon. Case in point: I lasted on Plurk exactly one day.

Networks are only as strong as their user base. Most people I know in real life are not the FriendFeed type. This may be because I live in Tampa, not the Silicon Valley. When I talk about Twittering, they think I am talking dirty. I use these tools each for their specific purposes. But Facebook... to me you are a tool for professional networking, as well as a window into my life both past and present, ages 6 and up.

Marketing Analysis...a Day in the Life

"Is the sun yellow?"

"How yellow is the sun?"

"What metics do we have for measuring the level of yellow?"

"How frequently are they measured?"

"On line 47, of spreadsheet 672, it says the sun is yellow. When you subtract the CM and K values, you are left with the value of absolute Y. Y is measured weekly, monthly and by the nanosecond."

"Well, what are your plans for keeping the sun yellow?"