Sure, no one REALLY likes change, especially when change isn’t wanted or welcome. The status quo is comfortable, safe, and just “works” for us. Why fix it if it isn’t broken? There’s been some gripe lately about a few changes that are abound or have abounded… I’m not sure if that is the right use of that word there… and I used to be an English teacher, but I don’t really care because it sounds right to me and I like it. So deal.

But let’s face it, when stuff changes that we don’t want to change, we gripe. We complain, we rant, we throw up our arms and say, “TO HELL WIT ‘EM!” Granted, I do this too, sometimes. However, there are just some things that we are going to get used to. We will cry a river, but eventually, we will build that bridge and get over it. Now, of course, there are probably a few exceptions to that rule – and when we know that something is morally wrong or hurts someone, then of course we should gripe until it’s changed… but what I am referring to is not that serious.

Twitter’s New Retweet Feature

Yes, Twitter’s new retweet feature SUCKS. But, let’s be honest, it is not that serious. Some of the biggest complaints are that we can’t add our own 2 cents, that it doesn’t allow for additional commentary. Well, sure, not with the one-click retweet. But guess what you still CAN do? Copy and paste, add your 2 cents, and then type RT in front of it. Sure, it takes longer, but we can do it. Assuming our fingers still work.

And people are griping about seeing people they don’t follow in their timeline. Sure, it’s annoying. Sure, we don’t like strangers in our space, but guess what? In about 3-5 minutes, those people will be gone. More tweets will have come through replacing those of the ones we didn’t know. Phew. Problem averted. It just takes a little patience.

Or, if you use a web client like Tweetie or HootSuite, you don’t have to worry about any of the aforementioned problems.

Facebook’s Change of the News Feed

Facebook changed the user interface again. Now, this is a little bit of old news for most of us. The biggest gripe is coming from businesses who are trying to market themselves using Facebook. Their information is no longer showing up in the News Feed – it is only showing up in the Live Feed, which a user has to CHOOSE to see.

Well, businesses… I guess that means you are going to have to start working harder to engage your customers. The more you engage them, the more involved they become, the more your business will show up on customer’s News Feeds. It actually sounds like a positive problem to me.

I’m just saying.

Twitter’s Trending Topics Being Useless

Yes, 13-year-olds, spammers, and people who have nothing better to do (for the most part) have turned Twitter’s trending topics into something completely useless and borderline inappropriate.

There’s been a lot of talk as to whether or not to do away with trending topics until they provide more value.

I’m going to be honest and say, this is going to be difficult. Twitter has over 33 million users – and I will say that less than half of those users are on Twitter to engage, connect, and relate to people. Many users are on there simply to connect with friends, shoot the sh*t, and tell people what they are eating.

Now, of course, there is a VERY LARGE percentage of Twitter users that use Twitter in a positive, meaningful, and extremely valuable way. I like to think that I am one of those people. We can’t discount those users. At all.

But, I think it’s going to be hard to control the craziness of the trending topics. And seeing as how Twitter exec’s have been handling a lot of Twitter’s issues lately, I will be surprised if they handle this one any better.

But it’s okay, we can search for what we need and what we think is important. We’ll get over it.

The Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football

It is no secret that I am a CLEVELAND BROWNS FAN. No, I’m not from Cleveland. I was born actually in Redskins territory. My dad’s from Cleveland, and therefore, when I exited the womb, I was to be a CLEVELAND fan. It is genetic. I can’t choose who I love, I just do.

And it is no secret that this season, we suck. The Cleveland Browns are a horrible football team right now. No doubt about it. Well, this past Monday, the Cleveland Browns were on Monday Night Football. And it seemed like everyone and their great-aunt’s mother was complaining about it.

Things I read on Twitter (all found from http://search.twitter.com):

• “Watching the Browns on MNF is like watching paint dry.”
• “So who’s bright idea was it to put the Browns on Monday Night Football yesterday? Whoever it was should be fired. Pronto”
• “New Rule…. No more Browns on Monday Night Football!!”
• “Why would they even schedule the Cleveland Browns for a Monday Night Football game??”
• “If you thought the Redskins were NFL’s worst team, you must have missed seeing the Browns on Monday Night Football.”
• “Sunday Night Football ha sido mucho mejor que los MondayNight Football.. Sigo si entender porque Browns en MNF???”

THEY EVEN COMPLAINED IN SPANISH!!

Look people, you think it’s tough watching the Browns on Monday Night Football? Try being a Browns fan your ENTIRE life. The only years we were good (the Kosar years), I was wearing a diaper and being fed mashed squash like it was an airplane.

If you don’t want to watch, then turn on something else. Quit complaining, because no one wants to hear it.

LOST is in it’s FINAL season and it doesn’t come on until FEBRUARY 2nd

Okay, maybe not everyone is complaining… maybe it’s more sadness from the Fans. I know I’m sad and I know I’m impatient. But let’s be honest, LOST fans have needed answers for six long years now. We’ve waited for a long time and we can wait a little longer. But all in all, it’s time.

I saw the FINAL SEASON trailer today. It’s going to be a good final season. At least it won’t have a crappy ending like SEINFELD or The SOPRANOS. Or, at least, let’s hope the ending isn’t like that.

——–

Okay, enough out of me. I’m feeling yucky talking about all this negativity. I need to go pet my dog, drink a Diet Coke, and watch this video at least seven times (NSFW – language).

I want to know, what do YOU think we will eventually get over?

Word.

There are a couple people that deserve a big shout-out this week – so I thought this would be a great public platform to shout them out on… shout on them… shout out them… out shout them. You know what I mean.

photo courtesy of Sweeden Rock.

Community Leaders

• @CHCYMCA – The Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA is doing everything right. I can’t say enough good things about their organization. They give back so much to the community with the Strong Kids Campaign and are getting kids involved the right way. I am also really excited because I am training for my FIRST half-marathon and the folks at the YMCA have been awesome and are helping to give me some great resources to help with my training. (I am a horrible runner, so this is exciting for me. I need all the help I can get!)
• @CarolinaChamber – Full Disclosure: I am doing freelance social media consulting for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce. Being new to the Triangle, it is hard to feel comfortable getting connected in the community when you don’t know very many people. I got involved with the Chamber about two months ago and since then we have forged a great working partnership. I do not work for the Chamber, but I am working with them on their social media strategy. I attended my Chamber New Member orientation tonight and my first Business After Hours at the Carolina Inn. Wow, that place is amazing! I have to say that the Chamber is really working to support local business, social entrepreneurship, and the local economy.

Inspirational Tweeters

• @Garyvee – Maybe if you’ve been living under a rock you haven’t heard of Gary Vaynerchuk. I aspire to be as inspiring as Gary. His book CRUSH IT! got my thoughts going and my ideas rolling. He is a rockstar community engager – and he totes responded to my tweet on Twitter. I got excited. PERSONAL GOAL: meet, eat dinner with, and interview Gary Vaynerchuk in 2010. I am going to make this happen.
• @LisaSullivan – This girl is a rockstar. I am really in awe of how hard she works and how much she is hustling to make things happen. Even after being laid off earlier in the year, she has maintained such a positive attitude and has never given up her sense of gusto. She is always so enthusiastic and incredibly insightful. What a lady!
• @joshhanagarne – Man, if this guy doesn’t make you grateful, I don’t know who will. Josh writes a blog called the World’s Strongest Librarian. I read an article by him earlier this month, and since then I have been following his blog. He is a librarian living with a severe case of Tourette’s Syndrome and he uses writing as a method of therapy. His writing is fresh, funny, witty, inspiring, insightful, and awesome.

These people are incredible and I recommend them uninhibitedly. They truly exemplify what it means to be valuable.

Tell me, who do YOU think is totally a rockstar right now? Who, in your opinion, is providing awesome content and needs to be shouted outed? You know what I mean.

Word.

Photo courtesy of Agent-X Comics

Ahhh who doesn’t love awkward dating and mating social media vernacular? I am going to go out on a limb and say this scenario, although exaggerated, is probably happening at bars across America and beyond. The reasons this is happening are THREE-FOLD:

1. Social Media Vocabulary can be awkward. Poke. Tweet. Twitter. Twit. Tag. Digg. Write on your wall. Blog post. See? All awkward and carry awkward innuendos.
2. We are Social Media saturated. You and I both know, social media is err’ywhere. Walk into a coffee shop, a restaurant, a bar, a bookstore, a library – how many people are probably checking facebook, texting, or tweeting? They are even passing legislation in states making it illegal to TWEET while driving. Duh.
3. Boys are getting desperate. No, not all boys… and notice I didn’t say MEN. Men wouldn’t dare hit on a woman with a social media term. Boys, however, would. (And a woman, would never ask a man if she could “poke” him.) In fact, no lie, I was hit on once by a guy who yelled across a bar at me and said, “Yo! Female! Lemme get that backslash.” He was referring to my “myspace.com [BACKSLASH] username.” Needless to say, I did not give him my “backslash.” Not okay. Am I right?

The professional woman in me is disgusted by the utterly ridiculous attempts by boys to pick up women in this way. However, the comedian in me thinks it’s hilarious.

So, here is my FIRST OFFICIAL BLOG CHALLENGE/CONTEST: Leave a comment with your best awkward pick-up line that uses some sort of social network term OR tell me a hilarious story where you actually got hit-on using social networking terminology and the winner will receive a surprise prize. Get creative. Think outside the web? You know what I mean.

Word.

I have decided to listen to my own advice and do a blog post with my Twitter #FollowFriday suggestions this week. YAY! And I’m even going to break it down into categories. Oh man, who’s excited?! I know I am.

COMEDIANS & ALL-AROUND FUNNY PEOPLE

• @BeauCribbs – I have known Beau for almost 3 years and his tweets make me laugh every single day. In fact, if he posts a tweet that isn’t funny, he immediately tweets after that apologizing for the unfunny tweet WITH a funny tweet. It’s ingenious. Oh, and he loves the Red Sox (boo) and The Office. What’s not to love? Well, the Red Sox for me…
• @CallMeKP – Kristen and I took an improv class together at the Second City Training Center in NYC a couple summers ago. She, like Beau, loves the Red Sox, The Office, and is incredibly witty. You won’t regret following this girl.
• @Pijornification – An awesome graphic designer. An incredible web developer. An even more incredible improviser, David Pijor is awesome. He’s so creative and always has something to offer.
• @zachward – He is the founder, executive producer, and director of the Dirty South Comedy Theater. He loves improv, he loves performing, and is the smartest, most business-savvy comedian I know. (I promise, I’m not biased on this one… )

SOCIAL MEDIA AWESOMENESS

• @WayneSutton – Wayne is a rockstar. No doubt about it. He’s a blogger, strategist, and social entrepreneur. He speaks all over the country, yet he calls Raleigh, NC home. How awesome is that? He offers great tips and always has great insight.
• @1918 – Not only is @1918 a Buckley (which makes him super awesome – no relation) Phil Buckley is funny, smart, and has a great sense for social media.
• @JeremySaid – Jeremy is the owner and CEO of Twine Interactive – and awesome media firm here in the Triangle. Jeremy is awesome. For reals. Trust me. Incredibly insightful, honest, and savvy.
• @DanSchawbel – Dan is THE personal branding guy. His tweets offer AWESOME resources and he offers GREAT advice. You’ll learn A LOT just by following him.

I JUST LOVE THEM

• @PunkRockHR & @lruettimann – Punk Rock HR IS Laurie Ruettimann. Laurie is my new BFF here in the Triangle, but that does not go without saying that Laurie is THE go-to woman for ANYTHING HR/job related/employment related. She speaks all over the country and writes an awesome blog called Punk Rock HR. I even had the honor of guest-posting on her blog last week. It was awesome! We enjoy getting drinks and eating olives. We’re fancy like that.
• @DSIWN – I would be lying if I didn’t say that I write for DSI Witness News, but DSI Witness News is awesome. Get hilarious updates and headlines – subscribe to the podcast. You love news? You love to laugh? You’ll love DSIWN.
• @GregLee – the marketing director for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA, Greg is an avid runner who has really inspired me to start running. He is going to help me as I start to train for a HALF-MARATHON. Holy crap, I can barely run 3 miles let alone 13.1… but Greg is awesome and is going to be a great source of inspiration for me.
• @colettewh –  Colette is my comedy-duo partner in our awesome improv team FEMMEBOIS. She is a funny lady and also a great inspiration. She just completed her first half-marathon this past weekend and also raised over $2,500 (on her own) for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. Awesome. GO COLETTE!

PHEW! That was a lot. If I didn’t give props to you, don’t feel bad. I love you too! If I wrote about all the people I loved, well, that would take a long time. But I hope this helps.

You guys are awesome. Who are YOU #FollowFriday’ing?

All for now.

Yes, this exists.

For this week’s Thuper Therious Thursday, I thought I’d share this incredibly scary, adorable, weird, funny, [insert adjective here] video by @iJustine. iJustine is a blogger, vlogger, tech geeker, and tweeter. I have to give her credit, although it’s cheesy, it covers the entire Twitter spectrum. Hashtags and all.  Anyway, enjoy!

If you were to write your own Twitter song, what would YOU call it? It can be an original or a spoof.

A while ago, back in the day, I did a video blog post about “What is #FollowFriday?” back when #FollowFriday on Twitter was this new and exciting thing. Since then, I think most of us have lost sight about what #FollowFriday really is about.

See this? This is Twitter name vomit.

On Twitter, #FollowFriday is really a way for us to tell our friends and followers who we LOVE on Twitter and, of course, give props to those awesome Twitter rockstars.

Now, all #FollowFriday has become is a bunch of Twitter-name-vomit.

And that’s sad. When you rock out #FollowFriday with a gazillion (I still say that’s a real number) Twitter names, they all become lip-service and get lost in the mix.

How many times do you see a #FollowFriday on Twitter now and actually check out each individual name? I am going to bet that it’s not very often.

So here’s my tip this week: take some extra time with #FollowFriday and say no to name-vomiting. Instead, choose ONE person to give props to in each tweet and tell your followers WHY they are awesome.

Give your followers a reason to follow the people you love.

For example, I gave #FollowFriday props to two of my good friends Beau and Kristen. Here’s my tweet on #FollowFriday for them:

TELL your Followers WHY they're awesome!

Shameless plug? Sure, but the message is short, simple, and tells my followers why these people are awesome. Why not spread your #FollowFriday messages out throughout the day? Even more meaningful, write a blog post giving props to those people you love. That’ll really make them feel awesome and give even more credibility to your suggestions. Try it out this week. I bet you that people will be more likely to listen. Otherwise, it’ll be just a big jumble of names. Ya heard?!

So say NO to #FollowFriday-Twitter-Name-Vomit.

Love your followers and love those you follow and they’ll love you back. Word.

Social Media TIP OF THE WEEK: A Better #FollowFriday from Molly Buckley on Vimeo.

All for now.

Since Facebook now allows you to tag other users in posts INSIDE Facebook - (I’m too tired to explain it here, - here’s a great Mashable post about Facebook status tagging) - many Facebook users are treating Facebook status updates much like they would Twitter tweets.

TAG! You're it.

So what are we, as Facebook users to do, if we want to repost and/or share Facebook status update we like? I’m calling it now. Or at least I hope I am – I haven’t heard anyone else call this yet. I’m trying to get on the ball right away.

Instead of a RETWEET (RT: a reposting of a tweet on Twitter) from here on out, a post of another user’s Facebook status will be called the RFB – a REFACEBOOK.

Here’s how it works:

• Step ONE: You see a Facebook status you like. Identify said Facebook status
• Step TWO: Highlight Facebook status. COPY Facebook status by either using the “Copy” feature in Edit or by hitting Apple C or CNTL C on a PC
• Step THREE: Paste copied Facebook status in YOUR OWN PERSONAL status bar
• Step FOUR: Tag the originator of the post by tying the “@” symbol and identifying the individual (see aforementioned post about Facebook tagging above)
• Step FIVE: Say RFB to indicate that this is a REFACEBOOK. Example: RFB: John Smith said a really cool thing that I support and/or think is funny so I want to RFB it, yo.
• Step SIX: Be awesome.

It’s genius. I love it. Who doesn’t?

So, spread the word. See a Facebook status update you like? Copy and paste it, @ tag the person who first said it, and RFB it! YAY REFACEBOOKING.

It’s the little pleasures in life.

All for now.

READ: The FIRST EVER Deep Fried #TriangleTweetup at the NC State Fair (@NCStateFair) was awesome. I was excited that @colettewh came with me! Even though it took us almost an hour to find the unassuming white tent on the opposite side of the fairgrounds, we had such a blast. I met some awesome new people and I even saw some familiar faces (Hey, @1918, we Buckley’s gotta stick together!)

There were Twitter-themed swag bags, free state fair food (READ: chocolate covered bacon = NOT okay), prizes, free L’OREAL Paris makeovers, and even Twitter-themed FACE PAINTING. Mimi the Clown was awesome and did a great job decking everyone out in sweet Fail Whales, Twitter birds, and even RSS Feeds (@WayneSutton “gotta sport the RSS feed”). I took a picture of some of the awesome face paintings that Mimi the Clown did! (I particularly love the little girl’s AWESOME @ symbol on her forehead). Check out some of them here:

Tweeple Pictured:

• @WayneSutton
• @GwenSutton
• @1918
• @mollybuckley (that’s ME!)
• @colettewh
• @ashevilleallie
• @JoyNatalie
• @EllenLynch
• @JennaFleur

…and more! (Sorry kids! I don’t remember everyone’s Twitter handle, if you’re pictured and I didn’t list you, leave a comment with your name!)

All I can say is, I can’t WAIT for next year.

All for now.

BOOM! This week’s TIP OF THE WEEK features me talking about FAVORITING. That’s right. A made up word and I like it. Favoriting (verb): to favorite something, more specifically on Twitter. You know, that star thing next to each individual tweet.

Don't be a FAIL WHALE.

You can favorite tweets on Twitter’s site, HootSuite, Tweetie, TweetDeck, anywhere! Now why on earth would you want to do this? (Some of you may already be favoriting posts, but some of you may not be. That’s okay. It’s never too late!) Here are my THREE reasons for favoriting a post on Twitter:

1. Makes revisiting information that much easier. Sometimes tweets can get lost in the mix of real-time updates. By favoriting a tweet that you like, you are able to go back and revisit it a lot easier.
2. Learn what works and what doesn’t. I like to favorite tweets that provide interesting, valuable, and worthwhile content and information. (I also like to favorite tweets that literally make me laugh out loud). I am able to take information that I gather from productive tweets and implement those tools myself. I get a lot of joy in learning from others. This is a very easy and simple way to do that!
3. Giving props where props is due. By favoriting someone else’s tweet, you’re ultimately giving them twitter props. That says that you like what they have to say, that you’re paying attention to their content, and that you appreciate them. Everyone wants to be appreciated. Don’t you?

My personal goal is that when I go through tweets, reading “the stream,” and catching up with people I follow, I try to make a conscious effort to favorite tweets I like. And it’s totally okay to go back and “un-favorite” (SO many new words today) old content. Once you’ve revisited something a few times, it’s fine to bump it out – you’re not going to hurt anyone’s feelings.

Just my two cents. Enjoy this week’s TIP video!

All for now.

If this is the career confessional, then it’s been four months since my last job.

That’s right. I left a steady job, with a steady salary, a great benefits package, and a 401(k). [I didn't even know what a 401(K) was until about a year into the workforce... they don't teach you that stuff in college]. I packed up my things into a rented U-Haul truck, I left Richmond, VA, drove two and half hours, and unpacked my things to start a new life in Carrboro, North Carolina.

Why? Why would I do these things in the middle of one of our country’s worst recessions in a generation? Because I’m passionate. I’m passionate about what I do.

I came to a point where I needed to do what I love: perform, write, and go out on my own. [Now, everyone knows that I love writing and I love comedy. But this is not what I'm here to talk about. I'm here to talk about social media].

Sure, everyone and their great-aunt uses social media these days. Everyone seems to be calling themselves an “expert,” a “guru,” a “ninja.” But I am going to tell you that I am none of those things. I am not an expert, guru, or ninja. I am someone who is passionate about social media and what it can do for individuals, small & large businesses, non-profits, and the public at large.

So many people that I meet and work with ask me: “What is your social media philosophy?” At this point, that is a heavy loaded question, and many people will disagree with each other as to a particular definition or the type of weight that it carries. To me, personally, social media is:

• A means of building a community around a common idea or goal for the purpose of connecting, engaging, supporting, marketing, and branding.
• It’s taking traditional media, and upgrading it.
• It’s turning marketing, into engaging.
• It’s supporting competitors, and connecting with others.
• It’s having a positive attitude towards your purpose, your goal, your business, your competitors, and your clients.
• It’s always accepting the opportunities that are in front of you and building upon them in a new and interesting way.

Okay, so that’s my opinion. But what do I know? Well, I started early. I blogged when blogging wasn’t cool. I saw the gradual (and suddenly overnight) transformation of these social networks from just connecting with long-lost friends and family to utilizing these tools for business and working towards a goal. I also realized that these tools are changing every single day and that there is no way that I could possibly know it all. So I’ve begun to learn, absorb, practice, and implement these tools. And I love it. Sitting down with people one-on-one and talking about social media gets me excited about work and the possibilities that lie ahead.

So why should you hire me? Because I’m smart, I’m funny, I’m enthusiastic, but most of all, I’m passionate. If you aren’t passionate about what you’re doing, then you are ultimately failing yourself and those whom you are working for. I love social media. I love it. [In fact, I might even be obsessed].

Because I like to make lists, here are my bullet points and highlights:

• I’m new to the area
• I don’t have a full-time job yet – I want a full-time job
• I’m networking like crazy
• I’ve met some incredible people along the way
• I’m building – I’m learning – I’m growing
• I know what I don’t know
• I work hard – all the time
• I’m awesome

And that’s why you should hire me.

So let’s meet.

You can contact me for an interview through the blog, by email, or Twitter.