Facebook. You know that little social network? As many of you know, I’m quite active there. My pages? Yes, they are "Public"; all are welcome to read, learn, laugh and reflect upon what I share there. My personal profile is another matter entirely. I’m fussy about who gets to see my posts and the majority of my posts are for "Friends". Whatever I post there is meant to be enjoyed, whether it be a something scenic, silly, or members of my family. So what am I leading up to here? Let me take just one example. On Valentine’s Day, I received flowers. Took a photo of them on my dining room table and posted the picture to my Friends on Facebook. Didn’t post this picture anywhere else; not on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr, nor Instagram. A friend (one I know “in real life”) liked the photo and shared it on his wall. Publicly. And mentioned me by my first and last name. Here’s the impact this share has. What my dining room looks like and the gift of flowers I received is now exposed to the eyes of over one billion people: ALL of the users of Facebook! This is NOT something I wanted! As luck has it, I spotted the share about three minutes after it happened and was able to contact my friend. I told him it was okay to share my photo if it was to his Friends (only). He wrote back saying that the post was a positive one. That wasn’t the point! The point was that aspects of my personal life were now visible to the masses. End result? He took the post down rather than changing it to Friends. When I post on Facebook here’s the options I get:
My default is Friends Only. There’s also a symbol for “Friends of Friends” (your friends and their friends) that looks like this:
Simple rule of thumb: “When sharing a post, either share it at the same “level” of privacy that the post is set at or take it a notch lower.“ Look at that symbol on a post! It tells a lot. Your Facebook friends who prefer to keep their lives a bit more underground will appreciate it! Now, depending on the friend, it may also be wise to ask their permission to share first; that is up to you to gauge whether or not you need to ask. For once I can't think of a suitable song to post here. If you know of one, please let me know. The door is open to ModlandUSA; please visit ourwebsite, or stop by on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.
Who knew one could fly so high? Sure, I’ve been in a plane recently and it drives me crazy that I’m without internet for hours. However, nowadays, if I'm grounded and have access to a computer, any computer, and I’m in a situation where I need some of my files fast, I can get them right out of the sky. The Groovy Reflections team (my other endeavor) is scattered across the United States: New Hampshire, Florida, New York, Michigan, and California. We reside in three different time zones; sorry Mountain Time! I get online between 6 and 7 AM Pacific while members of my team are getting hunger pains long after breakfast has faded away for them. And now, things have changed. The team is groovin’ in a cloud! Two team members investigated and came up with the best solution for us. Criteria included finding an answer that was free or low cost to start with the capability to grow with the company. And they found one...
...It’s not relevant which solution was the chosen one. What IS important is how it is starting to change the way we work together. And here are just two examples:
We can all add to spreadsheets. For several things we’re working on lists are created first. And as each item on that list, of which the majority are quick hits, are completed, they are highlighted in yellow to alert the other team members that the task is completed. These are items that several members of the team can assist with. And the lists grow as more items are added, however see those highlighted areas shows us that things are getting done and keeps us moving.
I admit to having a challenge when those lists grew rather long and needed to be sorted alphabetically! Apparently, some browsers were not allowing me to bring the file into the full-fledged version of the software where the sorting capabilities were, however, it didn’t take long to figure that out. In addition, I learned that you must close and get out of the file when you're done with it so that another team member can access it. Lots of little learning curves!
And the second example: Our original photo library is growing. Currently, it resides in my computer. So far, I’ve uploaded just 15 photos to the library so that the other team members can use them. There is a system in place to let team members know when a photo has been used so that we don’t repost it anytime soon (if it is reposted at all). Bringing the fans original, exclusive material is important to us. I knew this photography hobby could come in handy for something (and yes, all of the photos here were taken by me)!
Being part of a virtual team has many challenges. Keeping your eyes and mind open and seeking out ways to make it easy to collaborate and communicate brings the team closer together, especially when everyone is working towards making it work! And we are soaring! When I see that a team member has added more useful information into our cloud I’m flying high with the feeling that we’re moving forward! The Orb were likely feeling elevated when they originally released this tune below in 1990 that features the voice of Rickie Lee Jones of “Chuck E’s in Love” fame. Check out ModlandUSA in the internet galaxy: visit on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+and Groovy Reflections at their Facebook page, as well as on Pinterest, Twitter, and Google+. Thanks for reading.
Facebook. You know that little social network? As many of you know, I’m quite active there. My pages? Yes, they are "Public"; all are welcome to read, learn, laugh and reflect upon what I share there.
