I’m pretty sure CAPTCHA is messing with me

I’ve noticed over the past few weeks that whenever I’m presented a CAPTCHA box (one of those security fields that has you type the words that you see on your screen, supposedly to make sure you’re not some kind of robot) the words in the box have been a little suspicious. As if the program was trying to tell me something.

I’d get presented with a combination of words like “lazy” and “worker” or “heavy” and “foundation“. Never anything overt, but always a combination that could have another meaning implied if you read into it. And always something slightly derogatory.

Of course I would dismiss it every time because acknowledging it as more than just coincidence would give credence to the fact that a mischievous and malicious computer program was out to get me. I have a hard enough time maintaining outward appearances of...

22 Ways to Use Twitter Fast Follow

Twitter’s introduction of the Fast Follow feature is a brilliant strategy for expanding the reach of Twitter to non-users. Fast Follow is a great tool for churches, ministries and businesses to add to their social media tool belt.

Here are 22 ways that I see these organizations adding Fast Follow to their social media strategy.

Church social media uses

Sending time-sensitive messages Sending service time or event reminders Notifying people of inclement weather service cancellations Promoting ministry-specific events Communicating prayer requests or member needs Sending daily devotionals Providing supplemental information (such as additional Bible verses to read) during services Communicating...

Twitter Introduces New “Fast Follow” Feature

Yesterday Twitter announce a new service that allows anyone in the US to subscribe to any user’s tweets via SMS. Accoding to Twitter’s blog:

Fast Follow. Anyone in the US can receive Tweets on their phone even if they haven’t signed up for Twitter. This is a simple way for people to get information they care about in real-time. For example, let’s say you want to get Tweets from New York City’s office of emergency management (@NotifyNYC). Just text ‘follow NotifyNYC’ to 40404 in the US.

Fast Follow functionality allows people to subscribe to an organization’s tweets via text messaging regardless if they have a Twitter account or not… effectively extending the reach of Twitter as a communication tool. Now churches and ministries can use Twitter...

All Your Data Are Belong To Us

Concerned about Facebook’s use of your private data? Consider this – while a lot of attention has been given in the past year to Facebook’s aggressive push to capture more and more data about users, Google has (more or less) managed to fly under the radar as it embedded itself into the entire fabric of the entire Internet.

Google is watching you right now

The amount of information that Google collects from your web browsing session is staggering. Yet we don’t hear as much backlash against Google, largely in part because the data collection happens behind the scenes with most users unaware of how frequently they’re sending data to Google.

The guys at Free Art and Technology (F.A.T.) Lab have developed a clever browser plug-in that demonstrates this by sounding an alarm every time data is sent to Google from a web site....

Social Media Demographics – Top Social Networking Sites

Effective social media strategy starts with knowing your audience.

Every social media site attracts different users for different reasons. Whether your a business, a church, or a ministry, your ability to effectively reach and engage through social media greatly depends on knowing where your audience is online.

Below is demographic information for the world’s most popular social networks. Knowing the demographics of your target audience allows you to determine how much of that audience you can reach on each of these sites. Focusing on the sites with the greatest reach will maximize the effectiveness of your efforts and help you make the most of your social media strategy.

Top Social Network Demographic Data

(Data as of April, 2010)