Is a 'retweet' an endorsement?

Occasionally on Twitter I am asked to retweet something; a competition, a charitable cause, a tweet to raise awareness.  By doing so, I believe I am endorsing the information in the tweet or accompanying link - I am showing my support.  More often than not, I try to add a few words into the retweet to express my opinion.  This is easier using a third party client such as Tweetdeck as the Twitter web only allows a direct retweet with no alteration to the original text.

This is where endorsement issues can arise.

Continuous Loop

Shorter version first published on The Huffington Post on Thursday 25th August 2011

Has anyone else noticed the Facebook "On this day in..." notifications to the right hand side of the screen (web version)?  Have a glance at the picture on the left and you can see what mine looked like a couple of days ago.

Strangely related and sort of interesting so I almost put as my Facebook status, "Well, on this day in 2009 I was submitting an OU assignment" because we do that, don't we?  We update our social networks with random observations but why repeat something from a couple of years ago?  Who else is going to be interested AGAIN?

Also, I saw that there is a Twitter account that is retweeting every single tweet from Twitter, in chronological order, from the beginning of "twime" (sorry...).  At the time of publication @wetreet was up to July 2006 and it's a whole different world.  

It really was micro-blogging back then with hardly any @replies.  I mentioned on my "I'm a Twitterholic" post that you used to be able to see everyone in the Twitter timeline and that's where a lot of my original followees came from.  Yes, it was quieter back then but it was also a lot less interactive.  It would be very strange to go back to that now although I do miss being able to see tweets from anyone and everyone.

Again, I thought about tweeting out about the @wetreet account but what happens when @wetreet gets round to retweeting that exact tweet from today.  Will the account self-combust?

Are we in danger of creating a social media Möbius Band?

Damn You, Auto Correct!

Have you fallen foul of the auto-correct facility when using predictive text on your phone?

Seeing a tweet of the Top 15 "Damn You, Auto Correct" entries reminded me of the time it happened to me.

I had arranged to meet Ruth (GeekMummy) at Euston Station to taxi-share to the Cybermummy conference.  Our trains were due in at similar times so I sent a quick text to let her know we were 15 minutes away:

Have you had any auto-correct mishaps?

Five Songs To Live Your Life By

If you could just choose five songs to live your life by, what would they be?

Christine asked me this a while back and it's taken a lot of thinking but I think I've got it down to a final five now.  I'm a very lyrical person in all senses of the word and have ended up choosing these songs mainly for the lyrics, but as many of you know, I love music anyway and videos just enhance the whole experience.

So, in no particular order:

What's in my handbag?

I'm taking part in the "What's In Your Handbag?" Tumblr project from BritMums for three reasons:

1. I want to show off my new handbag again.
2. I cannot believe how much my new handbag needed tidying out after just twenty days of use 
3. I'm a nosy sod and think that if I'm having a look in other people's bags then they should be able to see in mine

I did a similar blog post about 18 months ago and nothing much changes really.  But do you know what the weirdest thing is?  The fact that I've streamlined the contents but increased the size of bag.  I need a smaller handbag really but I'm too much in love with the MiaTui to downsize at the moment.

Back at the "When I Was A Kid" blog...

Well, I'm still the When I Was A Kid resident blogger!  You will find me over there a couple of times a month.

Click the logo to visit the blog!

Today I am talking about Bedtime Stories.  Look out for the secret page link with a special offer only for readers of the blog and don't forget to nip back here and let me know what you think.

Nails now looking "Filthy Gorgeous"

I may... just may have solved my "I can chip chip-proof nail varnish whilst I'm asleep" dilemma.  Do you remember my blog post entitled "Tough as Nails"?  Here's an excerpt:

I'm 36 hours into a new application of nail varnish. [..]   This pot of nail varnish promises up to five days of perfect nails and is supposedly chip-resistant.  I went to bed, slept for 6 hours, woke up and saw a slight chip in the corner of my ring finger  

[..]

I have a day in front of a computer - mainly typing, answering the phone, writing, washing the odd cup after a brew, buttering a piece of toast... the usual office-type activities.  It's not exactly manual labour.  I head for home noticing another couple of chips on two separate nails on my left hand.  I think to myself that I'll have to sort that our later. 

I go home, eat my tea (I don't prepare it - my husband has already done that). dry the pots after son #1 has washed them, watch some TV, read a book, open my laptop, go for a bath, wash my hair, get ready for bed, head downstairs for more laptop/TV time and a brew and notice that my nail varnish is now beyond touch-up repair.

(FFS, I sound a bit Nancy Dell'Olio, don't I?)

Blackpool Illuminations Switch On - Why Keith Lemon?

I grew up in the Fylde - St Annes on Sea to be exact.  Blackpool was but a short car journey away and we very possibly took the entertainment capital of the North for granted.  When we went on holiday people marveled at the fact we lived a stones throw away from this amazing town and presumed that we went up the Tower every week.  In fact, as a child, I only visited Blackpool Tower twice.

100 Words - Bacon Butties

So, I conducted a Sunday brunch survey on Twitter and Facebook:

• White or brown bread for bacon butties - and why?

The general consensus appears to be that white bread is the way forward. White bread supports the bacon and holds the sauce in place properly. Brown is only to be used if you are on a diet. Barm cakes were mentioned but that's too much bread for me.

But it does also open two other debates:

• Red or brown sauce – and why?
• BLT – lots of wrongness or just the best thing in the world?

McVitie's Jamaica Ginger Cake

Advertorial (for more information please see my disclosure policy)

The jungle drums beat loud and proud round these parts.  McVitie's have obviously heard about my dalliance with a ginger cake recipe so asked me to share the information about their relaunch of the original Jamaica Ginger Cake with you.

Guest Editor at Tots100

I am guest editor on the Tots100 "Ten at Ten" today.  

Grab a brew and a treat of choice then click the logo to see
my ten recommendations from the greatest collection of Parent Blogs.

Eh?

We have a site caretaker deliver our post at work.  The postman leaves it at the Gatehouse, the staff there sort it out and deliver it around the business park.  Today, the usual knock on the office door was heard and this was handed to me:

"No post today, love.  Just this from the site manager.  I dunno... maybe he thinks walls need brightening up"

What was it?  

An afternoon of good, clean fun!

Sometimes you get a PR offer in your email that you just can't refuse:

*Hi, we're from Dirt Devil.  Would you and Jake like to come to The Lowry to watch Mr Stink by David Walliams?  We've got a bit of information about our latest cleaning range too and a great workshop for the kids to attend whilst you're listening to the boring stuff.

*or words to that effect

It took about 2 seconds between the email landing and me replying to accept the offer.  And what a fabulous idea - a cleaning company and a scratch-and-sniff experience at the theatre (more about that in a minute).

Why are women getting into debt?

Advertorial (for more info please see my disclosure policy)

Credit analysts claim that female personal bankruptcies are now growing at 25% a year. But why is this happening?

One likely answer is the increased cost of living, combined with the fact that men's salaries still generally outstrip women's in the world of work. Also, many women who have children will take time out of their careers to raise their families and often return to the workforce on a lower income than they might have reached if they had stayed in work.

I'm on the "When I Was A Kid" blog today...

I am the new When I Was A Kid resident blogger!  You will find me over there a couple of times a month.

Click the logo to visit the blog!

This month we are talking about Outdoor Play.  Look out for the secret page link with a special offer only for readers of the blog and don't forget to nip back here and let me know what you think.

and over at In The Powder Room...

I have written a calmer, more balanced article about my Mumsnet experience which
has been published in the "Shit Happens" section of  In The Powder Room.

There is also a response from Justine Roberts, co-founder of Mumsnet. 

Head on over there to have a read.

(all links will open in a new browser window)

Wikio Parent Blog Rankings - August Preview

Don't the months just fly by?  It's already time for another sneak peek of the Wikio Parent Blog Rankings.  There is the usual movement up and down, a few noticeable absenses for one reason or another and a few newbies.

I've always noticed that during the summer months I experience a drop in readers, comments, people sharing the posts but we all know it's only for a bit of fun, right?  In fact, even though I say I don't take much notice of my statistics, I actually have a glance at them now and again.  It's always useful to know how people are arriving on your blog, how long they stay, if they read any other posts whilst here and how/why they leave.  What do you think?  Do you scour your stats page, do you glance occasionally or do you not really care in the slightest?