Last night I was interviewed by the great guys from WordCast about my research on WordPress, teaching social media and blogging classes and personal blogging experiences. We talked about the tight relationship between blog software and search engines that caused the implementation of the nofollow attribute on comment links in an attempt to combat spam. This deal shows one of the main differences between blog services and self-hosted blogs as the latter allow users to subvert the defaults by installing a dofollow plugin.

We also talked about my social media addiction that started in 1995 and about being offline. In contrast to the early days of the web it is very hard to be offline nowadays. We are nearing an era where being offline is a choice instead of being online. Fred Stutzman, a doctoral student on social media, actually developed the application Freedom for our era “in which our computers resist encroachments of connectivity.” I’m guess I’m not the only social media PhD student for whom being offline doesn’t come naturally.

Listen to the whole episode: WordCast Conversations 8: Anne Helmond on SEO and Social Media

Over a year ago, on January 17 2009, I gave up my tv. I must admit, the choice was not that hard. First my tv broke down and then I moved to a new house without an active cable connection so I did not bother to buy a new tv. So, how’s life, a year after I gave up on my tv?

The last image of my tv

Do I stare less at screens? No. Do I watch less series? No. After getting a VPN client a whole world of series opened up to me. The main difference between my life before and after tv? Twitter changed my viewing interests.

The Dutch twitterscene is very active commenting on tv programs. This brings back the old gathering function of tv: everyone watching the same program at the same time accompanied with a Twitter backchannel.  It made me want to watch programs I would have never considered watching before. However, following the hashtag (#) that belongs to the program, to me, is as entertaining as actually watching the show. Snarky, witty comments filling my screen. However, not owning a tv means I cannot participate unless it is streamed live.

With the turmoil around the Comissie Davids (“This independent committee has investigated the preparation and the decision-making process regarding the political support given by the Netherlands for the invasion of Iraq in the period from the summer of 2002 to the summer of 2003.”) a series of debates was held. With Femke Halsema (the leader of the GreenLeft parliamentary party in the House of Representatives since 2002) twittering live during the debate the #irakdebat Twitter backchannel got an extra dimension. Not only did she keep us up to date during the recessions, she participated in the conversation about the debate on Twitter. Never before did I watch political debates which such interest. My Twitter timeline provided me with cynical jokes, political context and supporting links and a strong politician who brought me closer to politics by providing a sense of immediacy.

Publiek Literanita

Vanavond, op de sterfavond van JD Salinger, organiseerde De Nieuwe Anita een nieuwe literaire avond genaamd Literanita. Ik ben een fervent lezer, maar het concept “literaire avond” heeft mij nog nooit aantrekkelijk in de oren geklonken. Het zal de connotatie met droog overloos gezever zijn. Totdat Freek Broekhuysen voor de Nieuwe Anita een avond samenstelde met Ivo Victoria, F. Starik, Maartje Wortel, Bernard Wesseling en Merel Roze. De tent zat vol en enkele schrijvers bleken geboren sprekers. Zo kocht ik na afloop van de avond het boek van Maartje Wortel die een van haar kortel verhalen voordroog. De eerste avond was een enorm succes.

F. Starik

Bernard Wesseling

Ivo Victoria

Maartje Wortel

Merel Roze

Publiek Literanita

I appear as an actor in the official Google Chrome OS UI Concept Video on YouTube. Fame at last!

Thanks to @jvdgoot for noticing.

MMK Frankfurt am Main | Museum für Moderne Kunst

MMK Frankfurt am Main | Museum für Moderne Kunst

MMK Frankfurt am Main | Museum für Moderne Kunst

Frankfurt am Main

Frankfurt am Main | The Iron Bridge (Eiserner Steg)

Frankfurt am Main | The Iron Bridge (Eiserner Steg)

Goethe-Universität Frankfurt. Campus Westend, I.G. Farben Building.

More photos on Flickr.

I love music, I love free stuff but not everything online can be for free. Please stop whining about Last.fm introducing a paid membership system for listening to radio stations. A membership for one year will only cost you about 1 or 2 CDs. I know you might not know what CDs are but they are the physical objects that usually carry your torrent mp3s.

I love free stuff but I also enjoy a good services that adds value. I have a Flickr Pro account and now I have a Last.fm paid account. It enables me to listen to my music anywhere. On top of that I’ve discovered a lot of new great bands by listening to band channels and getting recommendations.

For those who want to save some money in these hard economic times. Check out the current exchange rates for pounds or dollars, it may save you a few pennies ;)

< / end of rant >