Shai Coggins

I’m really curious about how different people use various social networking sites on the web. Right now, there are so many. And, with a limited amount of time, I know it’s impossible to keep up with all of them.

What about you? Do you use social networking sites at all? What do you use social networking sites for? Finding new friends? Catching up with old buddies? Staying in touch with family and friends? Promoting your work or product? How many social networks do you belong to? Do you have a favourite?

Hope you take the time to vote in this poll! If you have any other favourite social networking sites, you’re welcome to add them to the list. Thanks.

Swamped is currently an understatement when it comes to describing my state. I know I’m never ever not busy. But, right now, I’m in major catching up mode - comments, emails, projects, work stuff… So, if I haven’t gotten back to you - or responded to things that I need to respond to… please know that I’m not ignoring you. I will eventually catch up!

But, if you don’t hear back from me in the next week or two, please feel free to send me a nudge via email, Twitter, Skype, comment - or any other way that you can communicate with me.

Anyway, one of the things I’d like to clear up on this first day of the month is my current poll: Do You Twitter?

And, the answer? “Yes - just when I feel like it.” (36% ) And, an additional 19% said: “Yes - a lot!”. That makes it a 55% total voters who have Twitter accounts. Yeah, it looks like most readers and visitors to this blog are Twitter folks too.

There’s also an 11% of folks who say that they have an account but don’t use it much. And 14% of folks without an account said they plan to test Twitter at some stage.

Then, there’s 11% of voters who are not sure if they want to Twitter or not. Only 8% say that it’s not their kind of thing, and have no plans of signing up.

Anyway, thanks again to those who voted. And, I hope you’re all having a fabulous weekend.

Have a wonderful month of March!

P.S. - Just want to send another special shout-out to Kari, for being the Top Commenter of the month (February 2008). Two months in a row now! Wow. Thanks so much!

Over the last couple of months, Twitter has become more and more a part of my daily web routine. I don’t update every hour or anything like that. But, I probably have been sending Twitter updates at least 2-3x a day (+ direct replies to some conversations); sometimes, less on weekends.

Currently, these are my Top 9 Ways to Use Twitter:

1) Promote some of my content. I don’t inundate it with promos, but I do share… and I think it has helped bring folks to my blog, photos, etc. Here at ShaiCoggins.com alone, I’ve seen an increase in Twitter referrals over the last month, since I started using Twitterfeed and sharing some links.

2) Stay connected with some folks whom I wish to learn more about, but have no time to follow their blogs closely. There are many blogs that I just have no time to read and to monitor. But, I’m still interested to learn more about the bloggers. So, I follow them on Twitter. Chances are, they also tend to post stuff that have more meaning to them. Since their Twits are 140 characters or less, they’re easy to digest too. Not a lot of room for rambling, so folks get to the point. If I want to read more, I go to their blogs.

3) Communicate with bloggers and folks in general. There are people who won’t leave comments on my blogs but are happy to send Twitter responses. And, as I’ve said in Point #2, I don’t always visit blogs of all bloggers I wish to follow… so, Twitter is one good way to send them quick messages too.

4) For polling and instant feedback. I love that I can ask a question or seek ideas in one minute… Then, I get responses from all over the place soon after.

5) To think out loud. I post URLs that I find interesting… Share ideas that I come across… Again, without all the rambling.

6) As an ongoing “Note to Self” recorder. Sometimes, a concept comes to mind, a quote, a reminder, or an affirmation. If I feel like sharing these notes and thoughts, I Twit them. I figured if I ever need that note again, I can just revisit my Twitter archive.

7) To meet new folks and to network. Since folks conduct public conversations via Twitter using the @username function, I sometimes end up following those names if I’m interested in what folks are talking about. If I like ‘em based on their Twits, I follow them. Sometimes, they follow back. I also end up receiving public responses. And, I definitely visit the pages of folks who add or follow me on Twitter. If they seem nice and not ’spammy’, I tend to follow them too, even if I don’t really know them that well. I eventually develop friendships or networks based on these “Follows”.

8 ) To show a more personal side of me. On Twitter, I’m cool with talking about where I’m going or where I’ve just been… Who I just talked to… What I just did (or still doing)… I say when I’m feeling bad or tired or moody. I share jokes. Yes, I let my guard down a bit more. It’s easier, I guess, when I say such things and don’t have to explain for more than 140 characters.

9) For staying connected, when I’m disconnected. When I don’t have Internet access and all, often, I can still Twitter because of SMS/Text messaging and all that. I can even set my mobile phone to receive and to respond to Twits, if I want to. This is especially useful when I’m travelling or out and about in meetings, errands, etc.

So yeah, after loving Twitter… then, not loving it… then, coming back and feeling unsure… to using it again… Then, feeling blocked - and then getting back to it… Well, now, I’m back to loving it.

What about you? What do you think of Twitter? If you don’t Twitter, why not? If you do, what do you use it for and how do you like it?

I’d love to find out what you think via comments and/or vote on this poll:

Oh, and if you want to follow me or add me as a friend, my Twitter address is:
http://twitter.com/shaicoggins

One of the things that I really miss about not being on WP was the ability to create built-in polls. So, as a way to celebrate my move back to WordPress, I thought I’d do a little poll… Just for fun.

And, if you’re curious, I use the Democracy plug-in for polls in WordPress. It’s great because you can even integrate it with a sidebar widget. And, with the use of a small code, you can embed the polls within your blog posts.

If you read this post, then you’d probably know that finding ways to improve this blog is something that I’ve been thinking about a lot. And, not just because Darren’s urging Problogger readers to Build a Better Blog in 31 Days. Truth is, I’ve been brainstorming ideas over the last few months - but, I end up going around in circles.

Do I simply write a personal personal blog? Or, do I begin to build this as a mini-magazine of sort? A place where I don’t just share stuff about me - but a place where people can really find lessons, ideas, and inspiration from (and for) everyday life.

So, after much internal deliberation, I realised that the best place to ask for some additional ideas and feedback is through you - the readers and visitors of this blog. So, I hope that you’ll take a moment to share some of your thoughts on this matter. I’ve posted some questions in poll-format here. Feel free to answer just one - or all - of them. And, maybe consider sharing more opinions (or questions!) in the comment form. I’m really looking forward to learning from you on how I can make this blog a better blog.

NOTE: If you don’t see your votes recorded immediately in the polls, don’t worry. They’ve been counted. These things are just a tad bit slow. The results are updated every hour. Thanks!

“Write what you know” is a well-worn advice to writers. Along similar lines is the advice: “write what you feel passionate about.” While I do see the merit in both sentiments, I also realise that they can be very limiting.

For example, I never would’ve written articles on credit cards or travel insurance for Elle Magazine if I had to rely on knowledge and passion alone. I never owned a credit card or bought travel insurance before I wrote those articles. I probably wouldn’t have chosen to write about them either, if not for my editor. Yet, I was glad that I received the assignments. Writing those pieces not only gave me bylines in a fancy glossy magazine (and accompanying cheques) - it also educated and enriched me. Although I started out feeling glum with the topics to begin with, I ended up happy that I was pushed to go out of my “writing comfort zone.”

However, now that I’ve pretty much stopped writing for magazines and other publications, I no longer have editors to challenge me to go past certain boundaries that I’ve grown accustomed to. As I moved more and more in to the sphere of personal publishing through blogging, I felt that I had to rely only on myself more and more for ideas, for inspiration…

In the beginning, that was just liberating… exhilarating, even. The freedom to be able to write whatever I want, whenever I want, however I want… How wonderful!

But, no matter how fantastic that is, I now realise that I need something different at times. Something more.

I need to have the need to push the limits. To get past “comfort zone writing/blogging.”

How do I that without deadlines, without editors?

Then, it struck me that I do have something more. Something better. Or, rather, someone.

Although I started this personal blog as a way to express myself, it has slowly evolved in to becoming a way to connect with other people. I am here not just because of me. I am here because of you too. Because you’re here. Because I know that you come here and read what I have to write. So, this blog is not just about me anymore. It’s about you.

And, that’s just how I like to look at it the moment.

So, instead of writing just what I know and what I feel passionate about, I want to know what YOU know and what you feel passionate about.

What are you interested in? What are the things that you enjoy reading? What do you like to talk about with your friends and family? What makes you happy? What makes you mad?

What do you look for when you come to this blog? What do you want to see more of?

Tell me why you’re here. What got you here? Why do you come back?

Or, if those things are too much to ask, just let me know that you’ve passed by. I’d love to return the favour even just to say hello.

Oh, and don’t worry about just saying “nice things”. I won’t mind some constructive suggestions too. I’m here to learn from what you have to say.

Image by Keith M.

Technorati Tags: conversations, interests, passions, surveys, topics

Just found the article, Beyond YouTube - The Best Free Online Video Hosting Sites, and started wondering about this growing online video industry. There seems to be a new hosting site coming up everyday.

Anyway, do you use any of these? How? As in, do you use them to watch videos, share videos, and/or distribute videos (by re-posting or emailing them)?

In any case, here are 15 Top Free Online Video Hosts (+2!) —

• YouTube - Undoubtedly the most popular free online video hosting service available. Good for getting eyeballs, of course. And, it’s generally quite reliable. Probably will keep growing in this space. I have two accounts there: a personal one and a freshwavetv channel created for myself and my co-blogger on FreshWave.TV.
• MySpace - I don’t really use this to upload videos, as I’m not too keen on it. I tried it once but never really kept up with it. I’ve never really been a MySpace fan, truth be told. But, I’m slowly trying to learn how to make the most out of this.
• Revver - Although the whole process of uploading, waiting for approval, and such can be a bit taxing, the good thing here is that you know they’re trying to maintain quality control in their service. Also, the service offers ways for both producers (those who upload original videos) and distributors (those who share/re-post the videos in their own blogs and sites) a chance to make some money. They have different codes and formats available for embedding/sharing - to make life easier for those who wish to re-distribute the videos. Anyway, overall, I really like this service. View my Revver channel.
• Blip.TV - This one’s meant to be another service where you can make money from your original videos. But, I’m still unsure about this, as I haven’t seen any signs of such a thing happening in my short experience with them. The upload process is a lot easier and quicker than Revver, but I find Revver’s video conversions and output nicer. There are some aspects of it I like, though, so I’m willing to keep giving it a go.
• Vimeo - Never used it. Don’t know if I will.
• OurMedia - Tried using it when it was first released. You need to have an account with Internet Archive to get this to work. I never liked it. It was too clunky and unreliable when I gave it a go. Admittedly, I haven’t tried it again recently. But, I’m not sure if I’d like to.
• Google Video - In terms of views, this one probably got the most views and ratings for my videos. It also has a few nifty features that I like. I just wish there was a way to link directly to an account!
• Yahoo Video - I’ve never tried this service until today. The first time I tried to upload a video, it crashed my computer. Obviously, this put me off. But, maybe I’ll try again another day.
• iFilm - Looks interesting but not sure if I’ll give it a go.
• DailyMotion - Nice looking site, but looks quiet. Not sure if it’ll be worth trying.
• Grouper - Heard about this free online video hosting service a while back, but never signed up. I might try it one of these days.
• Multiply - I like Multiply as a social networking site. They’ve added a lot of nice features over the last few months, including free video hosting. You can even import videos from other services like YouTube. I tried that function and it worked well. Just not sure if it’s best to upload/import there - or just post embedded links to videos from elsewhere (like Revver or YouTube).
• AOL Uncut Video - Just found out about this. Very uninspiring.
• MSN Soapbox - Even more uninspiring than AOL Uncut. But, it might grow in popularity. I’ll just have to watch this.
• Metacafe - Another new discovery for me. And, I like what I see! I’ll definitely give this a go when I get the chance. Will report back when I do.

Oh yeah, I ended up not including the following in my poll:

• Motionbox

- Again, it looks nice. But, I’m not sure if I’ll give it a go.

• Brightcove - Very professional looking service. Lots of professionally-made videos, as they’re obviously geared towards the commercial market. There are ways to make money as a producer and/or as a distributor. Not sure how it works yet, though. Or, how easy it is to get in to the action.

Hmmm… I wonder if I missed anything else? There’s probably more. Let me know if you’ve got other services that you’re using! Oh, and don’t forget to vote in the poll.

Several of my sites hosted by Siteocity.com have been down for the past 2-3 days. Apparently, my account has been suspended for some reason. And, someone from tech support sent me this note as an explanation:

We have noticed that the database chrysali_ncls1 is causing lot of issues with our shared server. Load is spiking out and on monitoring further, what I could notice is that your database is causing the issue. We are very hard on the server stability matter and don’t allow any users to cause the problem with the server.

Honestly, I’m not techy enough to translate the meaning of that note. And, I’m being asked to fix the problem before they restore SIX of my sites. Argh. I wonder if anyone here can give me a hand in sorting this out?

The only thing I know is that that’s the database I’m using for my AboutWeblogs.com site - using Nucleus as the blogging software/CMS. I’m now wondering whether there’s something in Nucleus’s system that makes the database unstable, as I believe that this has happened to me in the past too.

Anyway, I’ve sent a ticket to Tech Support and had been trying to email someone about it, to no avail. I’m now trying to talk to someone from their Live Support. Hopefully, that will help.

For now, I’m stuck. So, I’d really, really appreciate any help from Tech gurus out there who can guide me in fixing this issue.

UPDATE: (11/5/06) Scott from Live Support offered help and lifted the suspension. My sites are all back up, but I still have no idea why it all happened and how I can prevent it from happening in the future. Anyway, here’s to hoping that all will go well from here.