Most likely to be a social media nerd

Although I didn't think of myself as exactly being at the top of the social ladder in high school, apparently many of my former classmates now consider me the king of social media.

Last night Niskayuna High School's Class of 1990 had their 20-year reunion.  It was so great to see so many old faces -- many of which I haven't seen since graduation. At least, not in person.

That brings us to modern marvel that is Facebook.  I seriously lost track of how many people said to me, "Hey, Chris, I see you on Facebook all the time!" or "Yeah, you're all over Facebook."

Another person looked at the drink in my hand and asked why I wasn't drinking a cup of coffee. Apparently I've written many status updates about enjoying a cup of coffee.

Then there was the guy who told me I'm on Facebook so much that I have the most recognizable face in the room.  I know that was meant as a compliment, but I admit I was a little embarrassed. Am I putting too much out there?

For the record, I think I only did a few updates on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare during the course of the party.

I also only sang karaoke twice. I haven't done that since college.  But the ham in me couldn't resist the urge to grab the microphone and make an ass of myself.

I was one of the first singers of the night and did a very lame rendition of "Great Balls of Fire."  Much later in the evening I had the urge to take another crack at it.  It took a while to decide what song to do, but I finally settled on Van Halen's "Jump." However,when the DJ told me I'd be the last song of the night, I immediately changed my mind. "New York, New York" would be the perfect song to end the night!

I managed to get a good number of the attendees on the dance floor to sing along and start a kick line.

And of course I couldn't wait to update my Facebook status about it.

Social media ain't kid stuff

It seems like I still run into people who think Facebook and Twitter are for youngsters. But get a load of these figures Lost Remote pulled from a Forrester Research report...

• A third of adults post at least once a week to social sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
• A quarter of adults publish a blog and upload video/audio they created.
• Nearly 60% maintain a profile on a social networking site.
• 70% Read blogs, tweets and watch UGC video.

Tweet addict

UPDATED:My initial score was only 54%. But one of the questions in the quiz asked how many tweets I author in a day. After counting today's tweets, I realized my initial estimate was way low.

So I took the quiz again, changing only that answer. Here's the new result...

Created by Oatmeal

This social media thing is catching on

I attended the first Social Media Breakfast - Tech Valley this morning. It was a gathering of people from all walks of life and all sorts of professional fields to talk about all things social networking-related.

I went partially for business reasons – looking for ways to improve WNYT’s social media standing – and partially for fun as an amateur consumer/producer of blogs, tweets and pointless Facebook junk.

There were certain names I’ve come to recognize from following them on Twitter or reading local blogs and I was looking forward to meeting some of these folks face-to-face.

Much to my surprise, people seemed just as interested in meeting little ol’ me! When I walked into the room, the event organizer, Amy Mengel, spotted me and said, “It’s nice to see more than just the top of your head.” Mary Darcy, one of the people behind All Over Albany, introduced herself to me, saying she follows me on Twitter.

There was another person, Kristen Campbell, who recently started following WNYT’s Twitter feed. When she did, she publicly asked who was doing the tweeting for the station. So I announced who I was to all of our followers. It turns out she was at the event today and upon spotting my name tag, she introduced herself.

Not to go all narcissistic and “yeah, me,” but it really took me aback that anyone would actually know and/or care who I was. I work in a business with people who are easily recognized. I’m not used to being one of them.

It just drives home the point that…people are actually looking at this stuff! It also illustrates the power of social networking to bring people together – not only the people you already know (Facebook friends), but also the new people you don’t know yet (Twitter followers).

Socially awkward media

@amymengel passed this along on Twitter this morning. I thought it was just too funny not to share here.

You can get your own T-shirt here.