TweetDeck angers users as it integrates Deck.ly

One of the things I like best about Twitter is its built-in brevity. No rambling. Limited nonsense. Perfect for quick info and to-the-point conversations. One-hundred-and-forty characters is enough for me.

However, if you use a Twitter client such as TweetDeck, you've now officially been empowered to drone on...and on...and on. In the latest version of TweetDeck (version 0.37), launched this week, the company saw fit to install Deck.ly integration. What that means is that you can tweet beyond that 140 character number and a link will be installed into your tweet directing people to the entire message.

Worse yet, the window in which you tweet just lets you go beyond your 140 character limit without making it obvious that you're a chatty cathy. It used to be that the window and text changed color when you went beyond your character count. Now, with the "upgrade", it just puts a tiny "+" sign on the right where your character count is located. One could, very easily, utilize Deck.ly without really realizing it. Talk about annoying.

Fortunately, the TweetDeck support site is blowing up today with complaints about the new feature. Users, rightfully so, want the option to turn off Deck.ly without having to worry that it will automatically kick in. TweetDeck reps say they've heard us and are working on a solution. I'm not sure if Deck.ly paid Tweetdeck for this integration, but I'm sure there's some deal and maybe that's causing the delay.

Yes, these clients are free, but that doesn't mean users don't have a voice. If you don't want forced Deck.ly integration in your TweetDeck application, you have two options:

1. Don't upgrade if you haven't done so already.
2. Sound off on the complaint thread HERE. 

In the meantime, if you use TweetDeck, beware. You may be annoying your followers with lots of Deck.ly links and be talking way more than you intended.

Now, get back to tweeting and be safe out there.

Is social media turning adults into insecure teenagers?

For better or worse, there are no secrets in social media. If it happens in my circle of friends, it gets tweeted or Facebooked about.

This week, I was talking with someone about not being invited to the birthday parties of some mutual friends. People were tweeting from the parties so it was hard to miss the fact that they were together and I was home. In all actuality, though, the people I'm referring to are friendly acquaintances and not true blue friends, so I understand the oversight. No harm, no foul.

However, after this brief discussion with my friend I felt like I was 15 years old again. Just for a minute, but it happened. What do I care if I wasn't invited? Truth be told, I don't care in the least. Honestly. But that young adolescent in me seemed to rise to the surface for just a few moments. The girl who wasn't asked to the dance or didn't get invited to the head cheerleader's surprise party.

Ever tweet someone who didn't answer you back? How about comment on someone's Facebook status only to see him or her answer everyone else back except for you? Have you ever put something really serious out there, only to feel like you're talking to yourself (the many folks who have announced their suicides via social media and only received snide replies or jokes as responses comes to mind).

That takes me to Google. I wrote a blog post a year and a half ago asking if Facebook was making people lonelier. I discussed my friend who was feeling left out and sad because she was ignored by her "friends" on Facebook. I didn't have much of a readership back then, so the piece has been gathering dust in the archives. That is until people recently started entering "facebook lonely", "facebook lonely people", "lonely people on facebook", and "facebook is for lonely people" into Google search.

According to Google Analytics, these search terms represent four of the top 10 keywords people use that ultimately direct them to my blog. All told, that is 50% of my traffic from search! So many people are using those search phrases that my post on Facebook making people lonelier has risen to the sixth most popular post on my blog out of hundreds that I've written. Imagine that. A piece about people feeling left out because they're ignored on Facebook. There's definitely something to that.

In a new world where we share our private lives in the public eye, everything that happens in our social circles is out there for the world to see. Your friend posts a photo album to Facebook that has photos of her last dinner party that you didn't know about. Someone tweets about the drinks he's enjoying with people who you thought were your friends, too, but who didn't seem to include you. When people talk so openly, there are destined to be those who feel left out and have their feelings hurt. Those who will, undoubtedly, revert back to insecure teenagers; wondering why they were overlooked.

As kids, we actually were insecure. Even the popular kids. But, as adults, thankfully we have the good sense to know what matters and what doesn't. We know the power we have to shape our lives and circumstances and that we are not merely pawns in someone else's story. We all know that.

But, strangely enough, whether we're 25 or 60, sometimes we all have a little 15 year old hiding within us. Why is that?

The library is like a BFF who lets you borrow their stuff

February 5th is Save Our Libraries Day. Last year alone I checked out about 25 books and close to 150 DVDs from my local library. All the books were on my Amazon wish list, but I got to read them for free thanks to the city of Los Angeles. I could have spent more than $2,000 to get all that knowledge and entertainment, but I just flashed my VIP card (my library card, that is) and I gotta leave the building without maxing out my MasterCard. How cool is that?

Libraries are one of the few city services which everyone can enjoy. Want to curl up with a good book? Gotta rent a flick for family movie night? Need a computer to use while yours is on the fritz? Have to find a free class so your grandma can learn to surf the web? Look no further than your local library! The reference librarian at my branch knows me by name at this point (thanks for the excellent customer service, Ramona!) and I'm sure the person at your branch can help you track down whatever you need, too.

Still think the library's not for you? How about just doing your part to help support the community then? Donate your unwanted or excess books, DVDs, or audio books to your local branch. If they can't put them into circulation, they can undoubtedly sell them at their next book sale fundraiser!

Libraries are wonderful community hubs. Places where people can come together (albeit quietly!) and enjoy something worthwhile. So why not:

• Learn something new
• Expand your horizons
• Stimulate your imagination
• Be whisked away
• Get lost in another world 
• Find your inspiration

Get your library card today and help save our libraries. Your mind will thank you for it.

Hat tip to Claudia Yuskoff who tweeted about Save Our Libraries Day and, therefore, gave me the inspiration for this post.