21 in 21

21 things I know from my first 21 years on the planet.

1. Cherish good people.
2. Being professionally drunk is truly an art.
3. Trying v. Whining. Every time I’ve figured out the difference,  I got my stuff in line and I stopped wasting time.
4. Compare yourself to who you used to be, not others.
5. Don’t eat too many lemons. Even the best people get betrayed but no one wants to stay bitter. J.C. says forgiveness is always in.
6. Haters gon hate that’s hard to swallow but be kind always.
7. You don’t have to be perfect to make big plays. Over-thinking will kill a man.
8. Confidence is not cockiness.
9. Whenever I’m around my parents, I’m always 17 again.
10. People don’t forget. But, yeah they kind of do. Big deals are pretty much only that size in your brain.
11. A GPA is like a fake ID, you don’t need a good one if you know the right people. For the last 21 years, in my mind school was it, man. My 4.0 was all that mattered.  Six months out of college and guess what? No one really cares my teachers gave me a gold star.
12. No one knows anything when they graduate.
13. People are just people, they shouldn’t make you nervous.
14. Every 3 weeks, everything changes.
15. Be grateful. Don’t hate. Appreciate.
16. People change and it’s not always your deal.
17. Kevin Bacon knows everyone. The people you know know everyone else.
18. Take time to eat chips with your Pop.
19. There’s no need to defend your choices. I’mma do me, and you should do you.
20. Make impulse decisions. The best things I’ve done this year were straight-up blindly calculated. Being straight-up dropped off in Austin and hopping on a plane to in rural Poland are prime examples of ridiculous whims that were by far incredible.
21. Your life has own its own timeline.

21 years, thanks for the lessons. Big year for B15. Getting into bars, growing up too fast, graduating and becoming a real person. Double deuces has some shoes to fill.

Expressing the art of social networking through song

Based on an eclectic arrangement of songs from the early 1990s till today, I have assembled a compilation of three songs that express lessons on social media and its practical application for budding professionals.

TLC – Waterfalls 

This classic 1995 hit demonstrates a key to social networking and the song has been around since before most were using the Internet. While this song had been written as a cautionary note for independent women to evaluate their choices in men, the song can be used in a similar capacity to social networking, particularly with Twitter – but for all genders. The line: ”Don’t go chasing water falls. Please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to” speaks to the quality of individuals one can choose to follow on Twitter. Just because there are millions of Twitter users, be cautious with whom you follow. Make proactive decisions and follow users with credible information in regards to job leads, company information that’s worth your time to know or basic inform passed through the grapevine. Look to see who follows them and see if they swim in that lake that you’re used to. Likely, they may be worth their salt.

The Shins – Caring is Creepy 

Yeah, caring is creepy but the more you know, what can it hurt? You’re looking at a kid (hopefully not literally, cause that could be too creepy) who has made flash cards in nearly every situation to get to know large groups of people. I’ve found that if I’m going to be spending time with you in a professional capacity, I owe you the dignity of knowing your name and a little about who you are.  If I’ve learned anything from NBC’s shining star “More You Know” PSAs, it really doesn’t hurt to be informed, especially if you’re speaking with professionals. If you’re attending an event, check out who will be there and do your homework. Utilize Facebook guest lists, find Twitter handles and God-willing use LinkedIn to find out what’s available through these mediums. If you are familiar with someone’s business or his or her work particularly, let’s just say the average person is more than humbled. Nowadays, with networking you’ve got to be personal but remember there’s a difference between being personal and being a slime-ball.

Savage Garden – I Knew I Loved You 

Well, instead of loving someone before you met them, with Twitter it’s likely you already know someone before you met them. And, you may already know quite a lot of information even if you follow them or not. You may still know their Twitter presence and have read a few characters from time to time. But, what I find very odd about this quasi-stalking business is the dance at face-to-face networking events. It’s not socially appropriate to be frank about whom you follow and well, who’s following you. This delicate dance is one in which both parties may completely ignore their online relationship. I’ve experienced this in both capacities: where you skirt it under the table and also where you acknowledge it outright. I must admit, for me it’s awkward to pretend but it happens.

College Aftermath

With the days counting down until my undergraduate graduation, there are standard phases that have hit my peers and I. First, the immediate freak-out that the recession makes us all look like lazy piles because there are few (if any) with jobs, then there’s the gradual monetary hit and realization that parents will soon be cutting the cord,  and finally the one that I’m anticipating far more than most would like to articulate out loud: the social aspect and coming to grips with the fact that my friends aren’t all doing the same thing at the same place anymore.

It sounds silly but in all honesty this last phase sticks out more for me particularly because this is the first “real” time you’ll enter into the real world.  This is not the high school to college transition where most of your friends and acquaintances just happen to be in different classrooms and different universities. This time, your peers are headed to who-knows-where doing God-knows-what.

For my particular university, they’ve harped on about this motto from day one: we’re in the Creighton community. And, the message they send us as we set out on our wayward path is that we will always be a part of this community. However, a little part of me speculates that’s the alumni office making headway on our future donations. But, it will be hard to determine if a university that didn’t specifically create my relationships and experiences can maintain my friendships once I leave.

I’d imagine it comes back to the push for individual effort to stay connected. And, through my experience, I think social media will be a saving grace to this social fear.

Unlike our parents, whom are just marveled by reconnecting with old friends on Facebook, our generation skips that social media gap. We’ve been friended, (maybe even de-friended) and followed for years and there are more ways than one to “look someone up.” We have the tools to remain in constant communication and if used effectively, they may be the perfect aid in this post-grad transition.

There ought to be some tricks of the trade to surviving the college aftermath and here’s what I’m planning for:

Everyone will still have a birthday. This may be the simplest yet easiest way to reconnect with others as we begin to move our lives in separate directions. Everyone will still have a birthday and the impact of social media on birthdays can keep you connected with everyone from your best friends to the guy you took Sociology with, that one time. Check out this great little example from a man, who has grown up a little on the outside of the Google era but still has found a connection – better yet, a reconnection – to more of his friends over social mediums like Facebook and Twitter. Birthday’s are simple, constant and heck Facebook will still give you reminders, don’t forget how important a happy birthday wish can be.

Know the details. I, for one, am not ready for the awkward “recap the last XYZ months/years of your life to me in five minutes” reunions. In my experience, those are the buzz-kill moments for most any friendship.  The minute you lose track of the details, it may be the minute you lose track of the person and your relationship. People grow and change daily and that is evident when you get to those recapping conversations. However, social media helps keep people updated on the details. And, by following with simple intentions and not by being a stalker, for the most vested relationships it may be helpful to know what’s going on via updates, pictures and tweets. You may not always get that text that they went skiing, but if you’re good friends you can always ask them about the pics of those killer slopes.

Photo courtesy of buddytv.com

Help a brother out. When you know what’s going on in the lives of your friends, social media provides a great outlet to maintain that Golden Girls’ “Thank you for being a friend” vibe to your relationships. Social media becomes all about collaborating and if you know of a friend looking for something, there has bound to be someone you have met along the way that can help. Social media helps to connect your new world with their new world and allows you to extend your networks. It provides another, less formal forum for others to find employment, help on projects and inspire new ideas. You would have helped your buddy when he lived down the hall, no reason to treat his tweet any differently.

Reunited and it feels so good. Reunions will always be a huge part in maintaining friendships after college. Plus, what’s better than a road trip to a different city? But when you haven’t visited or had the chance to catch up, always remember to reconnect. There are so many modes to simply drop a line, send a message or even “like” something. Any bit of connection, innately helps bring some life back  if you’ve lost some touch.

To be honest, I’m terrified of moving forward but I have faith in my skills as an emerging media maven, and hopefully, some of these tricks will come into good use.

I’ll be a mayor someday

I think the iPhone bug has truly taken a sizable bite out of me. I feel that I am constantly connected but what’s remarkable is how I’m choosing to be connected.

A few months ago, I wrote about Foursquare when it was initially reaching popularity at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. My friends seemed to enjoy it and used the tool rather effectively. They were always connected to who was going where and what was going on. They never felt like they were missing out on anything in their social life. And, when Twitter started to become more popular on campus, the integration of  the two made it no secret as to why UNL took was ranked as one of the top campuses nationwide for its use of Foursquare.

My first reaction to the social media tool – terrifying. Geolocation seemed me border line unnecessary. But according to my personal trend in initially disliking social media, naturally, I have radically changed my approach to Foursquare and have found that it’s a pretty nifty tool. Personally, I like to see it as a log of where I’ve been. Looking back at what you did over a course of a week or even a month can make you feel pretty proud about what you’ve been up to, especially if you’ve earned some badges along the way.

Photo courtesy of Foursquare

The troubling issue with Foursquare for me is a user issue. It’s fun to check-in and earn badges, but when less than 30 friends use Foursquare, and most of whom I’m not relatively close enough with to know their exact locations, it makes the tool seem fruitless and to be frank, kind of lame. I’m assuming this issue is one of that will be alleviated in a similar fashion to any social media craze  like Twitter, Facebook as it becomes more popular in this region. It was a really cool experience to use Foursquare at SXSW but  I’d like to up my friend count and really explore the nooks and crannies of this city that my friends could clue me in on.

However, there is a redeeming quality to the social media tool if you happen to be lonely, and that’s its integration with businesses. Businesses have the opportunity to grant discounts and rewards for loyal customers. Foursquare becomes the ultimate customer rewards punch-card. I’ll be friendless to get a 20 percent discount. I think that’s where my iPhone has truly taken a bit out of me when as a social media maven I can’t be social. At least, the tool let’s me be frugal.

R. B. Rebecca Black

Nearly three months have passed since a 13 year old, front-seat kickin’ girl introduced herself to the world and changed the face of viral videos. She’s taught us everything we need to know about appropriate seat selection to explicitly filling us in on sequence of days in the week, and in the process she’s placed a prolonged chokehold on social mediums.

With monotonous lyrics sung in a near deafening tone, Rebecca Black released a song that not only haunts listeners but has fueled a social media fire. Aside from the fun-fun-fun and partying-partying-yeah , her song “Friday” fits seemingly in the pop music genre. However, the novelty of the song is deciphering if that was its original intention. Is the young girl from the Ark Music Factory making a statement about this generation’s Bieber-fever or is she truly trying to make in the biz? Either way, it made for some great Twitter chatter.

#RebeccaBlack reached the number one trending topic on Twitter among many others: #rebecca #friday #funfunfun and #wesoexcited. The Twitter talk was quick to flood the gates for an upward of five weeks of constant references both online and on TV – especially on that day that comes after Thursday. From this viral video and the attention that had surfaced in the Twitterverse, Black has grabbed national media attention from the likes of USA Today to ABC News, just to name a few. And, just around week three when the trend should have been dying off, Funny or Die, the tongue-in-cheek site featuring videos, pictures and jokesters turned into Friday or Die for a little April fool’s gag.

Picture of Funny or Die’s April fool’s joke “Friday or Die”

The video was officially released in February but by mid-March, Friday had exponentially become a YouTube sensation.

Statistics provided by Mashable

To date, the song is in the neighborhood of 2.5 million dislikes on YouTube, but with more than 126 million hits it’s hard to judge if that makes the song a failure or an inspiration. It’s been covered, remixed and parodied by Katy Perry and even praised by Lady Gaga. The App store carries dozens of Friday apps. Heck, I’ve even hopped on bandwagon and installed a soundboard.

Photo of the It's Friday application for the iPhone

Aside from providing a quality auto-tuned anthem for my Friday afternoons, there are lessons from social media to be learned from Rebecca Black’s song. Without the help of Twitter, it’d be hard to claim this song could have generated this much buzz so quickly. With a tweet from the right handle – be it @danieltosh or Michael J. Nelson or whichever one sparked the phenomenon – the pace of going viral could break any of Black’s middle school’s track records. And, her song proves another lesson, too. One that fulfills the hopefulness of childhood dreams – anyone can make it, kid. As awful as the production value of the video and the vocals combined, with the help of social media nearly anything can be a hit. But, whether the tweets were positive or negative – the moral of it all is that a tweet is a tweet and she keeps making noise.*

*Note: Noise, not music. Key difference.

Want more R.B. Rebecca Black? Check out one of my favorites that happens to be from the Friday or Die day - funnyordie.com/videos.

Social Pets: Woof, there it is.

“Do you feel like you’re feeding a monster?”

When Elizabeth Hilpipre, Development and Communications Specialist at the Nebraska Humane Society, answered this loaded question about social media she pulled out this little gem, and what I consider a pretty convincing answer:

“No, we’re just taming the beast.”

However, it just so happens that the beast may be as adorable as a puppy.

 

Social media for the Nebraska Humane Society means taking the conversations to the online community and turning them into something more than straight dialogue. With more than 14,000 fans, the NHS Facebook page has become the main generator for the Nebraska Humane Society’s online presence. For Hilpipre, she said that the primary goals for this Facebook communication outreach relies on its effectiveness in two key areas: fundraising and turnaround.

The return on conversation for the Facebook page can clearly be seen through the metrics Hilpipre uses to gauge fan interactions. With consistent postings of pictures, profiled animals and videos, the page remains relevant for its fans. Hilpipre seeks to produce three videos a week – simple videos with a slide-show feel – and, because of this relatively simply tactic, the NHS statistics are off the charts. Currently, the NHS is ranked at number 61 for the non-profit channels on YouTube. However, Hilpipre said it has reached higher listings in previous weeks, and on occasion has trumped the National Humane Society’s YouTube channel, a feat she says proves to her higher-ups that this social media thing is “for real.”

However, analytics aside, the numbers must match the goal behind the NHS’ fundraising. And, Hilpipre thinks they surely will. By engaging with the community in a social way, their presence as a brand has already “significantly” increased in the local community as well as the national. Based upon everything from dog treats to monetary contributions that help this non-profit function day-to-day, the responses from Facebook requests have contributed to an overall increase in donations as well.

Turnaround rates for pet adoption are another key reason for the NHS to continue its Facebook efforts. Through its ability to profile animals on their page or add icanhascheezburger-like captions to their photos, they have found different ways to engage with those interested in adopting pets. Here, Hilpipre said, they’ve received a great response from their fans. For them, it is fulfilling to see the complete journey for pets searching for that “forever home.” The Facebook page serves to document this process and allow for fans to receive follow-ups on their favorite online pet celebrities.

 

Here are some of the most compelling take-a-ways from the Nebraska Humane Society’s Facebook strategy:

• They seek to fit to their mission.
  “We provide education, give sanctuary to animals, encourage adoptions and promote responsible pet ownership.”
  And, they do. The NHS utilizes Facebook for direct outreach to their followers and their response rate turns comments and clicks into the action the organization is looking for. Within hours, NHS will receive the donations for pet toys, treats, up-coming events – you name it, if there’s a request, they’ll get a response. When it comes to the pets themselves, the inquiry emails about abandoned pets and most importantly, they receive the most attentive response: the adoptions that bring pets to a deserving home. The Facebook page fits the needs of the organization and allows the organization an outlet to advance their mission further.
• They understand their audience.
  It’s clear. The Nebraska Humane Society understands how to speak to their audience, and they speak to more than just the overzealous pet crazies. Yes, the animal market yields a lot of leeway in the sense that everyone with a pulse could faun over an adorable puppy and eat up a message. But, what the NHS capitalizes on is engaging followers with a tone that allows for conversation to flood through kennel gates. The right amount of cheeky and cutesy wordplay through direct, succinct messages makes the NHS more creditable to their audience and more willing to connect beyond the Facebook page.
• They just do it.
  No, they’re not Nike. But, they do go out on a whim and take a chance. The NHS is exploring social media just like the rest of the world – but, they’re not afraid to take some risks and try new things. Before Hilpipre revamped their social media, it was bleak at best. Hilpipre hinted to a little secret, “do and ask for forgiveness later.” She took at risk and explored what Facebook and Twitter could do for this nonprofit, and the NHS is reaping the benefits. Social media is all about trial and error. It’s so new that the rules are still forming and it’s easy to go out and just give it a shot.

Photo: Charles Barkley poses in the Mas living room. Credit: Mama Mas

 

 

 

 

Journalism, there’s an app for that

Slowly but surely, I’m mentally returning from my whirlwind trip through the great state of Texas.

Stage outside of the CNN Grill at SXSW in Austin, Texas

This is quite the understatement but my mind has been blowing up from all the sights and sounds I experienced at South by Southwest and I am piecing together how this experience will impact me as not only a participant in the world of social media but more importantly in my role as a budding journalist.

Recently, I read over the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism: The State of News Media’s 2011 Annual Report of American Journalism. To say the least, I wasn’t particularly shocked by the strong focus on technology, particularly mobile technology, impacting journalism today. If my experiences at SXSW with my iPhone glued to my hand weren’t enough to tell me that already.

I’ll make more than a declarative statement when I say that the future of journalism is hooked like a ball and chain to advancing technology. For years, mobile has been emerging and it keeps growing rapidly. And if your smart device is not quite in your hands yet, it will be in the years to come as the PEW data suggests. Soon, consumers must choose to accept the growing technology around them because they’ll likely to lose what’s left of traditional outlets.

With trends in new media, journalists must latch on to skills that allow them to not only observe but adapt. It’s not good enough nowadays to be aware that social technology is simply out there. You must have your hands in it, one way or another to remain relevant – regardless if your market is up to speed yet. One day, they will be; and, you’ll be held accountable as a journalist  to implement these technologies because they impact how consumers interact with media.

At the pace technology impacts news, consumers actively filter their information from the flood of news media available. But, simply because the technologies exist for news consumers to interact with media, it does not necessarily mean the “hard news” is what they are buying into. According to the PEW research article, news consumers are, “not more interested in news, just more active consumers.” And, in the choices that consumers make to subscribe and be attentive to “their” news, they have prerogative to be picky with what they follow. This loose definition makes news seem broad and often times vapid. Weather can be news, but local coupon discounts are not.

And, although the liberal definition of news is ever-more apparent with the growth of mobile and, technology in general, the most alarming problem presents itself in fiscal questions.

• How can free applications generate a revenue stream?
• Can you charge for news? Who will pay if consumers can receive news for free?
• Where will the careers be in the field of journalism if consumers receive free news from 140 character tweets?
• At what price is accurate news paying to remain competitive?
• Are careers in journalism at risk of extinction?
• Will journalists ever have the ability to make it rain?

Okay, well, let’s hope there has to be solutions to these questions – especially to the last one. I’d like a job sometime in the future.

Ultimately, what these questions mean for future journalists is that we must become more crafty now than ever before.

And I say: challenge, accepted.

A Plethora of Plaid: An Observer’s Take on SXSWI

Everyone is face down in their smart phone simultaneously multitasking and drifting the streets of Austin looking for what will be this year’s buzz coming from South by Southwest.

If there’s anything I appreciate more about social media is just that – this buzz and its ability to keep us constantly stimulated and constantly connected. It’s human nature to be social and inherently wanting in the loop, and at South by Southwest it’s pretty hard not to be in one loop or another. The only problem might be the overwhelming amount of loops to choose from, especially if you’re on a quest for the loop with the most buzz.

From a promotional standpoint, this is it. Really, it is. If you’re pitching your ideas, this is the place to prove you are making a solid hmmm, maybe even that buzz everyone is looking for. But the catch is that everyone has that something – be it an idea, app. or what have you -and as great as the fusion of all these “it” factors are quickly this pull to be noticed creates a strong (if not, obnoxious) advertising frenzy to this conference and it’s coming from the most tech and business savvy of them all.

On the streets outside the conference center, you’ll be sure to find plenty of sign spinners, roller bladers and even a glimpse of a life-size chipmunk, a “hip”munk.

Every street post, building column and Seran-wrapped tree is covered stretch-to-stretch with posters advertising everything from new products to future conferences and tonight’s hottest parties.
And, yes, I did say Seran-wrapped trees. Believe it or not, that’s actually the eco-friendly solution to preserve these trees. That alone speaks for itself for the amount of posters, stickers and banners “Marketing Monkeys” have used to decorate everything in this city including its foliage.

But trying to tap into the stream of conference consciousness seems to be quite the feat. However, what this fly on the wall has noticed is that the one way to the heart behind the red lanyard is a four letter word: free. Don’t get me wrong, this can’t work for just anything free and this handy technique has been engraved into marketing 101 text books for years. But, at SXSW, the most effective free stuff needs to be different, and by different I mean borderline outrageous just to stand out from the surge of all the stickers and flyers mindlessly handed out. What it comes down to is providing something free that enhances the conference goers experience in some way and gets them to notice the buzz you’re making.

Word on the street is that conference apps and QR codes sprinkled around this town are seeming to add that value by allowing users to more easily navigate through conference activities and maximize their experience. If you can provide something that does just that, by George, you’ll have them taking notice of what you have to offer.

I had found that the most functional, free advertising tool isn’t mobile and arguably isn’t quite social but what it is is delicious.

The groupme grilled cheese station perched conveniently outside of the conference center provided conference goers the immediate value-add of a delicious free lunch. As they hooked you into line, it was their time to shine, pitch and draw you to get their product. I did, and I ate my greasy sandwich, and so did the line of others behind me and the crowd of people in the grilled cheese lot pitching and looking for more SXSW buzz.

All in all, what better place could a young journalist nom on a grilled cheese and witness the next steps buzzing in advertising, new business and communication? I would say close to no where else in the world. And heck, I’m even on the outskirts looking in.

#rolljays

Well, talk about a rally in the Valley.

Photo courtesy of Creighton University Admissions

As I’m coming down from the high of a 60-57 win over Northern Iowa, in these first hours after the big Jays win in the Missouri Valley Tournament  I can’t help but say it’s a great day to be Jay. There’s a spirit of camaraderie that overwhelms the fan inside of me and if I know anything about the good Creighton fans who make the Meca to the Lou, there will definitely be something floating through the streets of Saint Louis tonight.

What I’m most excited for tonight will be connecting with the fans in a way I never have before, simply because of a little hashtag: #gojays.

As I’ve been venturing through Nelly‘s hometown, I not only have been able to find the loyal Jays fans but I’ve been able to see their reactions to the tournament play-by-play. I’m starting to question how I’ve ever been able to be a fan at this tournament before without knowing the 140 character thoughts and feelings of Creighton crowd. Believe it or not, it’s just what I need to get the full scope of what’s going on in the tournament. While I’m cheering up a storm, it’s hard to fully connect to the passion of discussion among the fans. Yes, being in my stripes with Blue Crew, I am verbal – perhaps too verbal. But, I am not engaging in the conversation of the play.

With Twitter and the help of hashtags like #gojays and #rolljays, fans help to elucidate what I may have missed during the game when I am running around with flags. I can see the discussions and truly get into the nitty griddy of what’s in their heads.

It’s also been another way to engage with the community through a loose form of geolocations. I’d say this doesn’t do quite the job of Foursquare but, most hashtags typically have been followed with a location. In terms of my overwhelmed love for the Jays right about now, I’d say that this is truly adding to the value of the human condition at this tournament. Well, perhaps that went a little far but the human condition in terms of community with other like-minded Creighton crazies will be significantly enhanced for those of us in the Lou tonight.

 

Centennial Celebration

No, this is not 2001. We are not celebrating the 100 Magical Years of Walt Disney. And, no, this is not a tip of the hat to the 100 days I’ve attended class this year. Although, I’d like to put 100 pennies in that jar like I did back in kindergarten.

This is bigger, much bigger. Today marks a true centennial celebration.

Aurora Driscoll, a stout, social media pioneer, has weathered her biggest feat to date – mastering the art of the 100th tweet.

Photo: Aurora Driscoll, basking in the glory of the centennial tweet

She may have put it best in her very first tweet:

courtesy of twitter.com/auroradriscoll

 

And, 100 tweets later, Driscoll has deemed herself worthy of being “twitter-licious.”

Within the first year of Driscoll’s tweeting revolution, she has taken the Twitter industry by storm with as many as 61 followers and her 140 character voice echoing as far as 7,477 people via 19 tweets, data courtesy of a Tweet Reach.

“I never knew it was possible to be this good at Twitter,” Driscoll said, hours after the retweet of @DepressedDarth that marked her monumental moment.

She has come along way since April 6, 2010, the day she introduced herself to the Twitterverse.  She said she never knew that she could reach this level of tweeting and  feel so accomplished.

However, she acknowledges that she would never have reached the centennial tweet if it wasn’t for the help of social media gurus that came before her. She especially attributes her success to those who helped her activate a Twitter account and find the true value in this social media tool.

“Dr. [Carol] Z got me started and really let me see the good in Twitter. Now, I can let the people know just what they’ve been dying to know,” she said. “I have the opportunity to tweet them more, and on more than the basic GTL.”

Driscoll said she is unaware of how many other Twitter users have reached the centennial record but she sure hopes not many.

“I feel like I’m basically the Mark Zuckerberg of Twitter,” Driscoll said.  ”There’s a lot riding on my online presence now, like a lot.”

Decipher for yourself which elements of this blog entry are laced with sarcasm, and check out @auroradriscoll to see if she can outperform herself and reach 101 tweets.