I’m trading the Iowa snow for some African sun! I get to go home and spend the holidays with my parents in Tanzania. I hope you all have a great Christmas. And pardon my absence from the blog as I’m not sure how much Internet access I Will have. I’ll post some pictures if I can.

Posted under Uncategorized

I’ve always been a cautious joiner. I would rather be a leader than a follower, and if I must follow, I do so with plenty of skepticism.

Even with Facebook and Twitter, I was late to join by techie standards. I was over the hype before it even started, and had to convince myself of the utilitarian functions of the social platforms before I would surrender my independence.

But two weeks ago, I secretly joined a social phenomena with absolutely no usefulness. It is mindless, ridiculous, trivial, petty…and highly addictive. This week I realized that I am not alone in my guilty pleasure and I feel like I need to confess. I’m a farmer…a Farmville farmer.

Photo courtesy: Farmville

Despite the fact that Mafia Wars is the most frequently referenced Facebook gaming app in pop culture, Farmville is actually the most popular app on Facebook. Facebook execs made the announcement recently at a press event in the UK. They actually used it as a dig against Twitter, stating that more people used Facebook’s most popular app than used Twitter overall. I find the whole situation tacky. You’d think there would be a camaraderie, or maybe even a mentor/mentee attitude between the social media sites. The relationship is strangely reminiscent of MySpace’s attacks on a new college centric upstart named Facebook. I don’t think Facebook is going anywhere anytime soon, but then again, I also couldn’t imagine life with AIM at one point. Facebook, all I have to say is, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. But, I digress.

I found myself sitting at my computer this morning, wishing I had found time to log on and harvest my poinsettias before leaving for work.

I am not a farmer in real life. In fact, I have rarely even been on a farm. But milking my cows and harvesting my crops have become a daily part of my life.

And in true social media fashion, there are former classmates that I haven’t talked to in years, but I now fertilize their crops on a daily basis.

It’s not an addiction that I’m particularly proud of, but at least I know I’m not alone. Who else is willing to confess?

Posted under Web/Tech