Category Archives: social

Snopes and Google Are Your BFFs to Fight Zombie Hoaxes

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Did you ever hear about how the U.S. Mint was changing their coins? What about getting severely sick because of dirty soda can? Worried that Facebook will force you to pay a subscription to use? Even a wild and outlandish story caught a U.S. Senator off-guard.

Russian Coca-Cola

Let’s find out how fast we can make a hoax that Russian Coca-Cola will replace American Coke in 2014… 

Don’t worry, your coins will stay the same. Soda cans are clean and safe. Facebook is still free. Also, smart U.S. Senators use Google or some kind of search engine.

But why are these hoaxes spreading around like wildfire on the Internet? These stories used to be in the form of chain emails and that was definitely annoying. Now I see these same hoaxes crop up on my Facebook feed. Why are these hoax zombies coming back? I wish I could answer that question.

I read a lot online and when I think something looks like a chain email or hoax post, it most likely is. At that point, I Google keywords + snopes. Usually I find Snopes at the top of the search results and find out it was indeed a hoax. If not, it could be a made up story from elsewhere like America’s Finest News Source: The Onion  Unbelievable, right?

Love

Your friends will love you forever if you don’t post hoaxes online. Surely, Philadelphia will appreciate the zombie-free zone too.

Lately, I have gone on a bit of a crusade to break these chain mails and chain posts and prove people should search for them online. I kindly reply or post a link to a website proving its a hoax or something made up.

Please, avoid posting hoax material on social networks. You will be forever thank yourself and be thanked by countless friends who really don’t care for hoaxes. Great Facebook friends should stop other friends who continue this perpetual madness. Also, by not posting this junk online makes you a better contributor to the social media scene. We don’t want to see zombie hoaxes out in the wild any more.

What are your thoughts? Comment below!

Professional Profile Pictures Please!

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If you ever want to get noticed on LinkedIn, having a profile picture would help you out. In the last year, colleagues I know by name are connecting with me on the professional social networking site but have not uploaded a profile picture.

LinkedIn Invitations

It’s great to see colleagues use LinkedIn to network professionally, yet a profile picture would help.

How am I supposed to verify that the person I’m connecting with professionally is really who they say they are? I can’t…

One way to make sure you can be easily identified on LinkedIn is to add your profile picture. Your photo does not have to be snazzy, but it can be casual to professional looking. Realistically, a photo is better than nothing! However, avoid LinkedIn profile photos that detract recruiters and colleagues–remember this isn’t college, Facebook, or…gasp…MySpace.

Don’t be shy…

You can have a simple headshot of yourself in a blouse or dress shirt on a plain background for starters. It should reflect your professional personality. For example, I have a good headshot for LinkedIn, Twitter, and my website. It may not look completely professional, but it is a good and consistent photo of me in a casual manner that establishes my brand and anyone can find me easily.

Headshot of Roger Renteria

Roger Renteria

Final Thoughts

Using a photo with your LinkedIn and Twitter profiles will make it easy for you to be visible among thousands of other professionals. It also establishes your personality among your colleagues. It is often great practice to have a picture with your profile so colleagues can find with you on LinkedIn. If you need some help,  check out these five tips for a successful LinkedIn profile picture.  Even LinkedIn says that a more complete profile with a picture of yourself can create and reinforce your online brand.

Again, don’t be shy–upload your picture!

LavaCon 2012 Recap

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Having returned from LavaCon Conference on Content Strategies and Digital Media, I feel much more confident within the field of technical communication. I have a list of colleagues I need to connect with after the conference and reconnect with others I saw too!

It is always a pleasure to meet up with conference attendees and this was the second time attending LavaCon. I have met most of my colleagues from previous STC Summits and it’s awesome that I get to see them twice a year.

Keep Calm and Back Up

Keep Calm and Back Up Slide – Photo by David Caruso

At this conference, I presented during the lightning talk session along with Kit Brown-Hoekstra, Brenda Huettner, and David Caruso. We each presented on a variety of inspirational topics about our field. Usually during a lightning talk, we each speak for 10 minutes with 20 slides that auto-advance every 30 seconds. We had enough time in our session to add a “ninja talk,” which follows the same format, except the presenter does not have access to the slides in advance to prepare for their talk. David Caruso was the lucky presenter to speak about “The Art of the Lightning Talk,” which Rachel Houghton recorded the presentation.

In addition to the conference, I enjoyed Adobe Day as well as the pre-conference workshop session on change management. Many thanks go out to my colleagues who I met at LavaCon. I greatly appreciate the help and advice they provided while socializing with them between sessions.

I also want to thank Jack Molisani, the Executive Director of the LavaCon Conference for opening up new opportunities in the technical communication field. The experience at LavaCon is rather unique due to his awesome conference hotel location choice; amazing food options and entertainment; and fantastic selection of professionals he invites to present during this conference.

Among my adventures in Portland, here are some numbers

  • Stayed in Portland for 5 days
  • Ate 3 Voodoo Doughnuts (yum!)
  • Visited Powell’s City of Books, which contain over 1 million volumes
  • Spent $10 to enjoy the Internet access for about 5 hours on Southwest Airlines (you have no idea how awesome internet is on a plane).
  • Walked over 10 miles in one day

Be sure to read coverage of LavaCon on TechWhirl Online Magazine for Tech Writers, follow #LavaCon as well as @LavaCon, and attend LavaCon next year!