I’ve been wanting to blog for a while. I know you can’t tell by the lack of activity on this site, but honestly, I have. It’s just that every writing idea centers around the deaths of my parents, and that’s a habit that I don’t want to start here. So I asked myself if I could take that and turn it into a bigger issue that more people could relate to. I told myself that the answer was Yes, but I guess that it’s not up to me to decide if I successfully pulled it off.

On numerous occasions during the last few months, I’ve had conversations with friends about the issue of oversharing on Facebook. Not oversharing in the sense of something that may make a teenage girl squeal and scream, “Ew! TMI!” (as would be the case with describing your dog’s bowel movements, just in case you couldn’t think of such a topic). But oversharing in the sense of sharing every little personal crisis that comes one’s way. I have thought about this issue for a while, but I’ve obviously thought about it more lately with things that have happened in my personal life.

If you’re having a hard time figuring out how this conversation ties back into the intro of my post, just remember that that’s why I haven’t blogged: the last thing I want to do is vent all of my emotions to my readers and followers and push them away because they’re afraid of how depressed my interactions will make them. After all, I usually try to keep my posts positive no matter what the subject; the last thing I want is to be labeled a Debbie Downer.

I guess that this might bring up the question of the purpose of social media. Sure, the purpose is to connect, but to what extent and for what? Where is the line, where is the boundary?

I personally believe that there are some things that are reserved for certain people. And if someone should know these things, he would know without Facebook, whether by a phone conversation or face-to-face interaction. While it may seem nice to have the support of as many people as possible, let’s be honest: not everyone cares. At least not to the extent that they need/want frequent updates. Shouldn’t personal things be a bit more…personal? When things get blasted to a mass audience, they kind of lose that.

For a variety of reasons, I feel that we as a whole are still adjusting to the Internet. After all, it is still relatively new and young, at least for the majority of us. As we move more and more to an Internet-driven world, there are going to be some bumps in the way. Perhaps this is just one minor bump that we all must figure out.

As you may know, I spend a lot of time on the road. Lately, in order to make my commutes a little less boring — and maybe even a bit productive — I have been searching for some podcasts to stream on my phone and to play through my car speakers. This weekend, I found two great podcasts that I think could benefit any blogger.

For the technical aspects of writing…

I know that most of us don’t blog in perfect academic English, but some people may want to write without sounding completely illiterate. That’s why I recommend checking out Grammar Girl. Through the podcast, Mignon Fogarty discusses fundamental mistakes that many writers make while also taking the time to consider various aspects of grammar philosophy (such as the debate behind the Oxford Comma).

Another great thing about Grammar Girl’s podcast is that Forgarty keeps things simple and short. I must have listened to seven or eight podcasts, and while most topics floated around the 7-minute mark, none reached the 10-minute mark. Fogarty has already shared 280+ bits of wisdom, but due to the fact that Fogarty doesn’t waste any time, I feel that I can catch up and listen to all of her podcasts rather quickly.

Of course, you have to use your own judgment of when to take Fogarty’s advice and when to ignore it. If you want to better yourself by learning proper grammar, I’m all for it. But if you feel that a particular phrase may communicate well even though it breaks the inconsistent rules of the English language — well, ain’t nothing wrong with that!

Please note that Grammar Girl is intended to help with American English, or as the British likely call it, bastardized English.

And now for the storytelling…

If you’re not a corporate blogger focusing on boring everyone to death with specifications and technicalities of your company’s next great product, chances are that you communicate with others on your blog by storytelling. Maybe you’re not telling a story so much as you are painting a picture and describing a setting — but still, you very likely use crucial elements of storytelling. While you may seek influence and inspiration through reading novels and short stories, sometimes it’s good to get back to basics; I’m talking about old fashioned oral storytelling.

That’s where The Moth comes in. I first heard a couple of stories from The Moth on XM 123 PRX Radio. As stated on the organization’s website, The Moth is an acclaimed not-for-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. Often the stories are inspiring while also providing a few laughs, as was the case with Sherman “O. T.” Powell’s tale of making alcohol and bootlegging inside one of the worst prisons in America. Other stories may leave you doing your best to fight back the tears, which I found myself doing when a comedian shared his experience of losing a daughter to leukemia when she was only two years old.

No matter the theme, you will find that the speakers tell their stories in their own words while adding their own color. That’s why I feel that The Moth is great for any blogger — you can never be exposed to too many methods of sharing experiences.

The rule of three…

I wish that I had another podcast to share because, to be honest, three just feels like a good, even number. Okay, so it’s technically an odd number, but you know what I mean. Instead, I will share the following: this weekend, while searching for the ideal app for managing and listening to podcast subscriptions on my Android phone, I stumbled onto Stitcher Radio. I’m not sure if it’s going to remain my app of choice in regard to podcasts, but if you’re actively on the same search, it might be worth your time.

I want to start this post off by saying that I have been critical of Facebook lately, so I am going to try my best not to jump on the Google+ bandwagon just because I am looking for any alternative. I have been on Google+ for only a couple of days and because I don’t have very many contacts on it, my usage and experience have been a bit limited. That said, I do already have some opinions about the network.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get this show on the road.

It’s Clean!

When I first signed up for Facebook, I instantly preferred it over Myspace because it was so clean. As I’m sure you know, users had more flexibility on Myspace. Unfortunately, that meant that they could flood their profile pages with 1,000 pictures, 579 videos, and a black background with dark charcoal font.

I suppose that Facebook is still clean, but Google+ does feel cleaner and simpler. Surely, Google remembered what worked with their search page (not overloading it with text and pictures) and tried their best to transfer that over to their new network.

Circles give you control over what you share.

Google+ feels like a hybrid of Facebook and Twitter. The functionality makes it more like Facebook because it’s a place where you can share things on your profile (or your “wall”) and people can comment and allow their comments to be seen. On Twitter, people can reply to you, but for the most part, only you will see their comments. However, Google’s intent for Google+ to be more open makes it feel like Twitter. While Facebook is intended for connecting with people you actually know and Twitter is intended to be wide open, Google+ is somewhere in the middle.

On Google+, anyone can follow you, and as far as I know, there is no way to stop people from following you. But the good news is that you don’t have to allow those people to see anything that you post. You can share posts with the public and allow everyone to see them, or you can share with specific Circles, or you can even share with specific individuals.

I have only a few Circles right now: Friends, Family, Acquaintances, Social Media, Energy, Oil and Gas, etc. Circles are convenient for people who don’t like to be tied to one thing. If you want to show pictures of the kids and the dog, you can share with only your Friends and Family Circles. If you want to talk about new trends in social networks, maybe you would want to share that with your Social Media Circle. I hope you get the idea. Also, once you’ve started following people, all you need to do is drag them into a circle to add them.

One of my biggest problems with Facebook is that it dramatically changed over time. First, it was available to only us college kids, which made Facebook feel very safe. You could say and post almost anything you wanted because the only people who would see it were other party kids just like you. Then, it opened up to high schoolers. Then, it opened up to everyone, and then you found yourself censoring yourself because Mom and Dad might not like what you had to say. And then people you tried to forget after high school started finding you. And then you heard that potential employers were stalking your profile — your online haven — and trying to find a reason not to hire you.

Thanks to Circles, you can easily decide what you share with who. Sure, you can probably do the same thing with Facebook, but by the time that feature came around, I likely had a couple hundred contacts and who wants to go through the trouble of classifying every single contact at that point? This criticism may seem unfair, because Facebook was a pioneer in many ways, while Google+ has an advantage because it came around later and could fix this issue before it became a big deal. But it is what it is.

Google has reported that business profiles are on the way, and it will be interesting (maybe a bit scary?) to see how that shapes things up. Will Google ever advertise in the fashion that Facebook has?

I’m sure that there are other features that I’m missing, and perhaps over time I will experience them and be able to share an opinion, but at the moment, I’m focusing on what I think are (for me) the most important aspects of Google+.

Have you used Google+? If so, what are your thoughts? Please share!

By the way, if you’d like to connect with me on Google+, just click here.

Man, it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. Around 3 weeks or so. For a while I was fairly consistent, posting at least once a week, often twice a week. But then it stopped. And the obvious question would be Why?

The truth is, I didn’t feel like blogging. Or tweeting much, for that matter.

Call it what you will. Maybe I hit a wall. Perhaps I burned out. However you word it, I simply stopped participating in one of my favorite hobbies. When I first started blogging, it was so easy to find stuff to write about. Even if the ideas (and the posts that were born from those ideas) were bad, at least I was motivated to do something. But lately, not so much. I had nothing to talk about and was no longer in love with the sound of my own voice (or the sound of my fingers hitting the keyboards, typing my thoughts).

However, I can’t say that my lack of blogging is a bad thing.

In a nutshell, it is what it is. Luckily, blogging and Twitter are not a part of my job. Therefore, I have the luxury of saying, “Hey, I’m not inspired to do this at the moment.” Or maybe I’m too lazy. Either way, I ain’t been bloggin’, suga!

For the last three weeks, the worst thing that could have happened would have been for me to force myself to blog because of some obligation that I put upon myself. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a fan of unplugging from time to time. As much as I’m happy to be hitting my prime in the 21st century and as much as I love technology and how it is transforming our daily lives, I’m also a fan of stepping away and doing something else that makes you happy. Sometimes social media and technology — all of this crap — get in the way of other things.

I’ve been busy lately, but have I had time to blog? Sure, of course I have. I could have squeezed a quick post in here or there, especially on the weekends when I’ve been sitting up in my mancave, posting my ass up on the sofa and playing endless hours of video games.

Will I get back on the wagon and start blogging again?

I hope so. I really do. As I’ve said before, I feel that blogging benefits me, but for now I’m gonna keep on keeping on. Who knows, maybe that’s the only way I’ll find something to talk about again.

There are certain truths that some people hold on to, especially in regard to social media. For instance, you’ve likely heard time and time again that engagement is a key aspect of social media. And you’ve likely also heard that a key part of engagement is the act of listening to your audience.

And surely you’ve heard some examples of people who do a great job of listening on social channels, and then you’ve probably heard some examples of celebrities who do a horrible job of paying attention to what others are saying. And you may hear people complain that a celebrity can’t possibly have a high Klout score if he’s following no one, even though he has two hundred thousand million followers and his every little tweet gets more attention than all of the awards you won in junior high school combined! Yeah, you know who I’m talking about!

Unfortunately, sometimes the people who don’t give a crap about others are the ones who get the most attention from others. And you can sit there an argue principles all day long. You can talk until you’re blue in the face about how unfair it is and how it should be different.

But we’re not talking about fair. We’re talking about results.

It’s the same as when people say that hard work is the only way that you’ll accomplish anything. Well, perhaps it is the only way that you can accomplish anything, but it is not the only way that you can attain something. No, unfortunately, some people get certain titles and privileges bought for them by their rich daddies and their rich mommies. Some people get promoted because they’re better at schmoozing than they are at building value through their work.

It’s just like the pretty girl with no personality who gets all of the proposals for hot dates on Friday night, while the homely sweetheart goes home and cries in her pillow because not even the kid who gets jammed in his locker by the captain of the football team will make an offer. Unfortunately, sometimes pretty people are just more interesting. I didn’t make the rules, but I have observed them.

I’ll be the first to admit that maybe you and I have to listen and engage in order to fully and properly utilize social media, but it is not required of everyone. Some people just have tiger blood and are winning.

If you blog or have an interest in blogging, chances are you’ve heard the question “Who should you blog for?” Some will say that you should blog for your audience, while others will say that you should blog for yourself.

So what’s the right answer?

I can’t say that there’s an absolute right answer, and I find that this is the case in many situations. The only right answer is the one that is right for you. And I finally found the one that is right for me.

The truth is, I blog for myself. In many ways, my blog is an outlet for personal therapy. It gives me an opportunity to experiment with new ideas or to showcase what I think. Therefore, it forces me to actually think rather than sit by idly and walk like a zombie through the journey of life. My blog is another outlet for me to have a voice. And it’s nice to know that I have the confidence to share that voice, and I can see that it transfer over to the offline world.

It may sound selfish and it may sound vain, and maybe it is. I’m fine with that, because it is what it is. But I’d rather be honest than say that I don’t have myself in mind at all when I write on this blog.

Do I like the idea of helping people? Sure! But I feel that the best way to help others comes through helping myself.

Over the last couple of years, my attitude about many things has changed. Whenever I was in school and teachers were trying to encourage students to speak up and ask questions, they’d always say something along the lines of: “Don’t be afraid to have a question. If you have a question about something, there are probably at least five other people who have the same question.”

Well, I’d like to amend that for the purpose of this blog. “If you’ve had an experience that has changed your life, there are probably a few others who could benefit from hearing about it as well.”

So here we are. That’s LaCaze Enterprises in a nutshell. When I look back and read some of these posts, I’m so happy and proud to see that I am not the same person that I was before I started this blog. And that’s my goal: I hope that every day I look back and say, “Man, I was so STUPID back then.” If you can say that about yourself, I think you’re doing pretty damn well.

Some people are just too eager to be whistleblowers.

How many times have we heard that rock ‘n’ roll is dead? The talk probably started as soon as the Rolling Stones had their first #1 single, because as far as I can remember, people have been declaring its demise while always looking like idiots. Of course, these people also declare that rap music is the rock killer. Apparently, in some people’s eyes, there is no such thing as coexistence and if you’re not on top, then you must not be alive or relevant.

Well, folks, I’m here to tell you that rock ‘n’ roll is still alive and well. I should know, I listen to enough of it.

And so, some people are always looking for that next big declaration. Everybody wants to the first to see it coming, so they make crazy statements for the shock value and the hope that one of these days they’ll be right.

Right now, such attention is turned to social media, blogging in particular. Too often I see blog posts with a title along the lines of “Is Blogging Dead?” I won’t even bother linking to such a post. Just search for it on Google; you shouldn’t have any problem finding a relevant blog post (is that irony?).

Before John Mayer clarified that he was not saying that Twitter was dead, people were asking if Twitter was the next to face an ugly fate after Mayer left the social networking site for the comforts of Tumblr.

For some people, every minor change is a sign of the end.

Just look at some of the commentary related to the world economy. Now that the bubble has burst, some people will tell you that it’s all over, that the end is just around the corner.

Rock ‘n’ roll hasn’t died. But music has evolved. Perhaps rock isn’t the chart-topping genre that it once was, but it’s still there, and it’s waiting for you to listen.

When I hear that the social aspects of the Internet are dying, I laugh, because to me, the Internet has always been about being social. We’ve moved from chat rooms and AOL Instant Messenger and ICQ to blogs and Twitter and Facebook. Sure, maybe blogs and Twitter and Facebook will die someday, but what they represent — a method of online communication — most likely will not.

And, as for the economy, well, it’s evolving as well. Maybe we have to be more creative and maybe the days of working at the same factory for 40 years are far behind us, but surely that doesn’t mean that the economy is dead.

Right? Or no?

If you’ve researched social media at all, perhaps you’ve heard a few of the universally accepted rules, such as:

- Engage.
- Give.
- Listen.
- Don’t be spammy.

Surely you can think of a few more, maybe a few hundred or thousand more. Perhaps you’ve heard this one: “It’s not about you.”

The belief behind this is that you shouldn’t talk about yourself or your products or services because no one cares about you. What they care about is how you can help and benefit them. I understand the thought behind this because, to a degree, I agree. But if you take the advice too seriously and say “It’s not about me, not even an ounce, not even one tiny bit,” I have to disagree.

In social media, as in all business, you’re selling yourself. How can you sell yourself if you take yourself out of the equation?

What if you talk about your products or services but show how they can help people from time to time?

If talking about yourself or your offerings can add value, is it taboo to do so?

What do you think about this topic? Do you know of people who sometimes make it a bit about themselves but do so without crossing the line?

I don’t get Twitter. I don’t get Facebook. I don’t get social media.

Chances are, you’ve heard at least one person mutter these words or some variation. I know I’ve heard similar phrases numerous times. Strangely, I find that, in this situation, what people say and what people mean are two completely different things.

Often, this means that someone has logged on, created an account, and waited for the masses to flock. Or maybe they’ve gotten 100 followers on Twitter or 100 fans on Facebook, but nothing’s happening. They heard all of these great things about social media and its tools, but here they are, and they’re not seeing the benefits.

That’s because social media is not a field of dreams.

You know that movie Field of Dreams with Kevin Costner where he plays the guy who builds a baseball field in the middle of his farm because he heard a mysterious voice ordering him to do so. You know that line: If you build it, they will come. It worked for Kevin, but it doesn’t work that way in social media.

And that’s something that many people don’t seem to get.

To get anything out of social media, it helps to do something other than simply be there. It helps to communicate and interact. It helps to give people a reason to come along for the ride.

Unless you’re Conan O’Brien. Just being there seems to work for him just fine.

Obviously, this is a post about social media, but sometimes it’s nice to take the scenic route to your destination.

In case you didn’t already know, The Jesus and Mary Chain are awesome. How awesome are they, you may find yourself asking. They are so awesome that I’m convinced that, if you don’t know The Jesus and Mary Chain, you don’t know rock ‘n’ roll. It’s a fact. Learn it; accept it. Trust me, you’ll be a better person for it.

Part of what makes them so interesting is that they can be a bit bipolar. If you need proof, then you need look no further than their album titled Munki. The album starts off fun and lighthearted, with the carefree and bouncy tune I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll. If you haven’t heard the song, I’ll give you an idea of what you’re missing out on with this little excerpt:

Man, if those lyrics don’t touch you, I don’t know if anything else can…

Unfortunately, Munki doesn’t end with the same tone that it starts with. In case you can’t tell by its title, the album’s closing track, I Hate Rock ‘N’ Roll goes in a direction completely different from the opening track. How can The Jesus and Mary Chain hate rock ‘n’ roll less than an hour after they declared that they loved rock ‘n’ roll? Well, it’s quite simple…

If you’ve stuck with me this long, thank you and now I’ll get to my point. What does The Jesus and Mary Chain’s bipolar attitude toward rock ‘n’ roll have to do with social media? To be completely honest, how The Jesus and Mary Chain feel about rock ‘n’ roll is how I feel about social media.

First of all, I think that social media is great. It’s great for small business owners with a limited or inexistent marketing budget. It’s another tool for job searchers to utilize. It offers the opportunity to meet intelligent and like-minded people all over the world that you may otherwise not have had the chance to share ideas with. And let’s be honest, it’s a great medium for bitching.

And now I want to use social media as a medium to bitch about social media. Kind of like how The Jesus and Mary Chain used rock ‘n’ roll as a medium to bitch about rock ‘n’ roll. Hey, I never said I was original; in fact, I’ve said quite the opposite.

After a while, all social media advice starts to sound the same. I’m sure you’ve heard it all before:

- Create killer content!
- It’s not about you!
- Stop trying to sell stuff!
- Give things away!
- It’s all about relationships!

Julien Smith recently posted this great article, All social media experts “are actually the same person,” Wikileaks documents reveal. The article’s great for a good laugh, but there’s also some truth to it. If you’ve followed social media experts for while, somewhere deep in your heart you know it’s true.

One of my favorite blogs I’ve recently found is A Bajillion Hits. Alex Blagg has been described as the Stephen Colbert of social media, and I think that’s a very accurate title for him. I’m constantly catching myself laughing at his blog posts, videos, and tweets. A Bajillion Hits has the look and feel of a social media guru’s blog, but Blagg is obviously making a satire of the profession. This promo video gives you an idea of what Blagg’s all about:

When I first got interested in social media, it seemed so new and fun and exciting. But after a while, it runs the risk of feeling generic, depending on who you listen to. It’s so generic that my buddy Joey Strawn has identified the perfect blogging formula.

Social media experts will tell you that the rise of social media was a revolution, a medium that turned one-way communication into two-way communication. But now I can’t help feeling that we need a revolution for our revolution. After all, many of the popular social media “personalities” sound a lot alike. For me, many of these voices have lost their authenticity.

After all of this, I must say that, if there is only one piece of social media advice that you should listen to it, it is this:

Be yourself.

Do things your own way. Put a little spin on it.

But hey, I’m not a social media expert, so what do I know.

I feel that this post is very uncharacteristic of me, and I blame it on the fact that I’m reading In Fifty Years We’ll All Be Chicks by Adam Carolla.