Twitter and Pownce bring co-worker camaraderie to the self-employed hermit.

It’s no secret that this social butterfly has had a difficult time adjusting to the absolute silence and anti-social nature of her new work environment. I have been working from home since Feb 1st, so over 2 months now. Every day I write articles, build websites almost from the ground up (with graphics and troubleshooting assistance when needed), run reports, test and manage ad space, and participate in every social networking fad I can muster, all for the greater good. I’ve learned how to clobber through HTML, PHP, CSS, MySql, and a handful of other web design languages, and learned an entirely new field that I have never worked in before. And I’d like to think I’ve gotten pretty damned good at it too. It’s fun, somewhat easy, creative, and rewarding in its’ own way.
But I do it alone, or at least that’s how it feels most days. As a self-employed content optimizer / SEO Apprentice / jack of all internet trades I felt lost in the massive sea of web traffic. This is probably my biggest pet peeve of the moment. I’m finding that being an entrepreneur in a business that trades only “intellectual property” is quite possibly the most unnoticeable, invisible, unrecognizable accomplishment I’ve ever achieved. I’m aiming to build a name for myself as a top-level content optimizer and master of affiliate revenue programs but everything I do is behind the curtain. I have no coworkers to cheer me on. No audience to applaud me. No customers to complain or compliment. I have no gauge of whether I’m breaking new ground, setting a bar, or just spinning my wheels.

Then along comes my testing on Twitter and Pownce. I had seen the internet buzz surrounding these social applications but never signed up, thinking it was a gadget for teens or just an opportunity to get spammed. However, in my testing I found salvation for my lonely soul. I built a network of local users who are also in the web marketing field as well as a few creative folks, and existing friends. I tried the standalone social applications, tested all the features, and managed to find something completely unexpected. Co-workers. People just like me out there on their own just rockin’ the internet world. People who understood buzzwords in my posts, and taught me a few of their own. People who pointed me in the right direction when I got hung up on a problem. People who gave me feedback on the ideas I mulled over. In the race for user loyalty Pownce is slowly winning my vote, but was an extremely close run.

For a more in depth comparison of the social networking tools that brought me out of the darkside, take a look at my full Twitter VS Pownce comparison post over at bUmp Interactive. And by all means, feel free to add me

WhiskeyChick on Pownce

WhiskeyChick on Twitter

The 2008 CMT Music Awards were hosted by Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus. It was a shockingly revealing award show. I’m not a fan of most Country music, but I had to watch this one, just to see what miss Miley Cyrus was wearing. Since she was on the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana, on almost every award show she has attended her outfits have been very revealing. From short dresses and skirts, to shirts and dresses with a little too much cleavage showing. Yes, she is fifteen years old, and yes, she is in the music scene, so she must keep up with people like Taylor Swift and such. But she is also a role model for young children. “Hannah Montana” doesn’t dress like that, but Miley Cyrus does. If small children under the age of 10 are watching TV and a person they want to be just like one day comes on and they are wearing bootie shorts and a tube top, don’t you think the child would want to dress like that as well? Having a little sister and a younger cousin, both a fan of Miley Cyrus, makes it tough not to care about stars with young fans, and dressing the way some of them do. Lots of people rag on Miley because she talks funny, or because she drinks ketchup straight from the bottle, but the thing is, that doesn’t effect you in anyway. It may gross you out, but thats it.

Dressing with short dresses, low cut shirts, small shorts, and small shirts does effect some people. I mean honestly, what kind of STRONGLY Christian parents allow their WORLD FAMOUS CHILD to dress like that to a live television award show being viewed by millions? What kind of normal parent would let their kid out in public wearing bootie shorts or a really short and low-cut dress for that matter? Thanks to all these lovely people who dress like this now, all of the children of the future will be dressing like hookers as well.

A bit of advice:Get longer Skirts, shirts, dresses, shorts, and all clothing in general!

-Loula

Loula is a guest writer for Random Review Crew. More of her life’s observations can be found at loulaspace.com