Of zombies, ghosts, and death gods...

Tomorrow may be the Rapture, or then again maybe not...

I love the fact that right now #zombieApocalypse is now trending on Twitter. Even the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is jumping on the social media bandwagon and adopting the zombie trend to promote disaster preparedness. There is something just so cool about a government agency that is willing to be, well, weird. But, you know, weird in a good way...

BTW Is there any coincidence that the end of the world is coinciding with Zombie Awareness Month?

Well, I have a new app to try out, Comic Life, and I have to say I am in love with it. I found it very easy to use and once I figured out how to get it from the iPad to Flickr so I could upload it to Blogsy to upload to Blogger (did you follow all that?), I see some awesome future blogging potential.

In honor of the potential Zombie uprising I have a death inspired book review comic uploaded for your enjoyment. Enjoy!

Internet Civility

The Internet certainly connects the world more than we were twenty years ago. We get instant news, instant entertainment, and instant feedback. In many cases this instant gratification can be just as much a bad thing as it can be a good thing.

One of the problems with the Internet is the online disinhibition effect. The online disinhibition effect happens when the inhibitions one would normally demonstrate in the real world are loosened. This loss of inhibitions often causes people to say and do things on the Internet that may be embarrassing, hurtful, or just completely out of character; stuff that they wouldn't do or say in public.

There are many reason that this effect can happen and many degrees, but what is important is that you remember that at the other side of the screen is a real person with real feelings. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and their beliefs, but when you choose to voice yours in a public forum like Twitter, Facebook (Yes, Facebook. Even though you choose who sees your comments it is still a social network.), or blogs, be prepared for others to have a difference of opinion. If you are not up to someone challenging you, then simply don't post. The purpose of these types of social media is in fact to be social, to start a conversation.

I am a librarian which means I fully support freedom of speech and a person's right to information. However, I draw the line at talk that is discriminatory and hateful. Thankfully many social media outlets agree and have policies in place for just such a thing. So remember before you post have a little civility and think before you type or you just might find yourself booted from the network.

Twitter Twit

Follow me on Twitter! @woofer_kyyiv, a photo by Slava Baranskyi on Flickr.

Okay, so around this time last year I was very anti-twitter. I just couldn't see a need for it when Facebook did everything that Twitter did. That was until I seriously started blogging and writing and, well, you get the picture. 

It helped that I spent a lot of time on my smartphone and was seriously bored. Yes, there is an app for that. It made me realize how many of my favorite authors, agents, and publishers were using twitter. The great thing is that they will even reply back to your comments when you @mention them. There are even Q & A events using hashtags like #YALit and #AskAgent. Very helpful.

I even won a box of books from an @YALSA twitter #whyYALSA contest. Coolness!

Twitter is a great resource for me. I am connected to other writers and bloggers. I am able to keep up on new technology and other trending topics. I can even find out the latest Dr Who and Marvel news.

BTW last night because the wonderful @KierstenWhite and @WolfsonLiterary retweeted the link to my book review for White's Supernaturally, the blog has seen 100 hits in two hours. That is a record. Now how can you not love that?

Come follow me on Twitter @JHopwood80

Update on Twitter book reviews

Okay, the first Twitter book review is up. Remember that first does not always mean best (in other words, my example might suck a bit). Feel free to try your hand at the mayhem. Rules? Well, of course there are rules!
1. Give book title
2. Include hashtag #bktweetlet
3. Include hashtag #awesomeness, #sucks, etc to express your feelings on the book.
4. Remember you only have 140 characters to express this all, be creative!
5. Have fun!

I will try to collect some of the reviews to post on this blog as they start coming in.

Short and Tweet

One of my favorite authors, the wonderful Meg Cabot, recently posted this on her twitter feed: twitter movie reviews. They were short and they were sweet and yes they did peak my interest. Some of them were pretty funny. This sparked an idea in my head.

Some years ago, I did a program based on the book I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous & Obscure. The lesson learned, it is hard to be creative when you are stuck to a word count parameter. 

Of course, that doesn't stop me from trying. Hence, my new idea: twitter book reviews. Twitter already limits the characters for each post you make. Add a hash tag and you are limited even more. This means you have to be creative.

So crack open those pages and get to reading. Let those twitter book reviews come flying in (yes, pun intended).

The only problem is what hashtag to use. Hmmmm.....

Got any suggestions?