Bitstrips - Fun Phenomenon, Or Most Annoying Social Media Creation In History?

MY THOUGHTS ON THE BITSRIPS INVASION

About a month ago, I was perusing the Facebook place, and I noticed something was seriously different. There were cartoon strips everywhere. I couldn't scroll for more than a page length without some cartoon strip showing up with different characters and scenes.

But something just didn't add up... the artwork was amazing, and the layout looked just like a professional had designed them all. Each cartoon strip was slightly similar but unique in nature.

However, there was one huge thing that each and every one of them had in common:

They weren't funny.

Not only were these cartoon strips lacking any trace of humor, they were just plain stupid. Almost every strip that I viewed didn't have a story line or punchline.

Instead, there were random references to things that I couldn't have had a clue about as to what was being referenced.

Then it dawned on me... these were being created by Facebook users. Apparently they had all found some way to create their own custom cartoon strips. That explained the this-is-entirely-not-funny aspect. But how were they making them?

I had to dig a while, but then I discovered the "Bitstrips" app on my Android device (you can get an iOS version too). The precipice is that you can create your own custom avatar, and even avatars for cartoon versions of your friends.

Next, you get to choose from a variety of pre-made cartoon scenes or progressions, and all you have to do is fill in the text bubbles. The end result? You get your very own high-quality cartoon feature! Unfortunately, they don't supply the humor.

The problem is, 99% of people are not very good at comedic writing. Instead of making a cartoon strip that would be understood by any reader, and written for humor value, we have "Bitstrippers" who create cartoon scenes involving their friends involving situations that only they would understand.

What is so annoyingly common is that the Bitstrippers create cartoon strips from inside jokes. But why does this rub people like me the wrong way?

It's due to the nature of a cartoon strip. When you are perusing Facebook or other social media site and you come across a cartoon, you get instantly excited because you anticipate something that will give you a good laugh. The Bitstrippers fool you into thinking you're about to experience a great funny, but you are completely let down when the cartoon makes absolutely no sense.

Right when I was able to write this off as a pure annoyance plaguing Facebook, someone tagged me in a Bitstrip cartoon with an inside joke that involved an experience between only myself and the Bitstripping creator. What happened next surprised me...

I laughed insanely.

So I decided to dig further into this Bitstrip mess, and I found that a great number of my friends had avatars set up when I perused my Bitstrip app account on my Samsung Galaxy 4 smartphone. Then came surprise number two...

I found a friend's avatar that made me break out into laughter because it looked just like him. Then I had a second surge of uncontrollable laughter when I instantly thought of an inside joke cartoon strip that I could create starring the two of us.

Could this be the start of my downfall? Will this lead into an addiction? Will I become an annoying Bitstripper that drives everyone insane with comedy-less inside jokes and situations that absolutely no other person will understand?

The jury is still out on that note. Time will only tell. In the meantime, I'm still of the opinion that Bitstrips need to disappear from the Facebook universe, never to be found again. I'm close to disabling it on my own Facebook account. And I don't want to be assimilated into the Bitstripper Borg population.

But will I miss out on some tremendous fun?

Who knows.

Carlton Flowers
Potential Bitstripper

Facebook Holdouts In 2012 - Wise Reasoning, Paranoia, or Social Ineptness?

A VIEW OF FACEBOOK HOLDOUTS IN 2012 - THE PHENOMENON EXAMINED

It is the final month of the year 2012, and the global Facebook population is at an astounding 1 billion people. Yet in your community of educated professional people, there are still holdouts.

What are the common reasons for the restistance to participation? Are some of the reasons logical? Are they fear-based, anti-social, or with valid reason?

Whatever the case may be, one thing is for sure. We have experienced a paradigm shift in the way that we as a people communicate and interact in this society, and whether you like it or not, it's called Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg has forever changed the world with the idea he hatched over a decade ago.

But getting back to the topic at hand, the Facebook Holdouts come several different flavors. We'll take an in depth look at each one, and then hold a general discussion. So let's have a look at the variety of the common Facebookless citizens of our world!

THE FOUR FACEBOOK HOLDOUTS - "PROFILES" DEFINED

The Technologically Challenged Facebook Holdout - this holdout doesn't participate on Facebook because they simply don't know how to. They are either elderly or unplugged from all technology, living off the land somewhere deep in the woods. This type of holdout could care less, because they don't have the wherewithall to figure out any type of technology more complex than a feature phone. They get a pass for not participating.

The Paranoid Conspiracy Facebook Holdout - due to an enormous fear of "big brother" watching every move they make, this Facebook Holdout wouldn't dare post a single detail on such a public forum for fear that the government will use it against them whenever they round up all the people and throw them in concentration camps. Forget the fact that this paranoid individual doesn't break the law in any way. That doesn't matter. But the fear of retribution from posting about posting your favorite cookie recipe is real.

The Ostrich Facebook Holdout - this individual is antisocial and would rather bury their head in the digital sand and not be known. They are happy in isolation, and could care less about interacting with people. Facebook would only be an intrusion into this person's perfect quiet life in isolation.

The "I-Don't-Trust-My-Spouse" Facebook Holdout - Infidelity fuels this holdout's funk with Facebook. With the divorce rate as high as it is, and the growing number of affairs that start on social networks, the IDTMS types not only stay off the network themselves, but they also forbid their philandering significant others from flirting with the Facebook family. Sadly, Facebook forbiddance fails to fend off the frivolous behavior.

Enough about the obvious Facebook Holdouts. We've seen these types, and they are no surprise. But what really gets me are those that don't have an excuse to hold out on the world's largest social community.

What leaves me confused are those who would obviously benefit from having a Facebook profile and interacting with people. This would include business owners, sales professionals of all types, those in medical professions, consultants, attorneys, and others of similar nature.

People with these backgrounds have no excuse to hold out on Facebook whatsoever. It goes against the very purpose of their profession - to interact with people and transact business.

Let me paint a scenario...

It's 1975. A new business opens up in a local town. It's a bakery. The owner has the greatest tasting pastries and breads that any tastebuds could ever experience. He wants everyone to experience his award-winning goods, and is excited to open for business.

But before he opens, he tells the phone company that he refuses to have a listing. He chooses to keep his number unlisted. He also is against signs. He will have no part of any signs being erected on his structure.  He also has a beef with the local newspaper, so he refuses to place any ads for his bakery in the paper. Plus he doesn't own a radio or TV, so he can't see spending money advertising with either.

Do you think this would be a wise marketing strategy for a startup business? Of course not! Sure, maybe this guy could generate a fair amount of traffic from the waft of fresh bread baking in the ovens. But he would be turning a deaf ear to the majority of his market by not making his presence known.

I know what you're thinking... that was a stupid example. But it's no more stupid than a professional or business owner in 2012 that refuses to leverage theirself with a Facebook presence.

It is an undeniable fact that the majority of the eyeballs in this world are plastered on Facebook. It's the new town hall, the new phonebook, the new high-tech hangout. Call it what you want, this is where people now live and play.

But for the Facebook Holdout that can find no credible reason for their refusal, what fuels their fight against the most obvious free marketing opportunity on planet Earth?

Carlton Flowers
Self-Proclaimed Facebook King

Coming Soon: How I Figured Out The Golden Path to Facebook Marketing Success Without A Single  Advertisement!

Psycho Social Networking - Are We All This Crazy About Sharing?

SOCIAL NETWORKING OR NARCISSISTIC NETWORKING?

This is an interesting infographic that makes you stop and think just a bit. Are we just in the midst of an interesting techno-psychological age, or are we more self-absorbed as human beings than ever before?

Read this, then you be the judge...

Is this news to you? Do you relate to these statistics, or are you different? Post your thoughts and comments below!

Carlton Flowers
Self-Proclaimed King of Social Media (Narcissist)

Android Facebook App Update Lets You Get Social More With Video!

FACEBOOK FOR ANDROID ALLOWS VIDEO WALL POSTING

I'm a huge Facebook user, and one thing I love to do is posting video messages on other people's walls. It's a great way to give a personal message and stay in touch. But you couldn't do that from your smartphone, until now!

The most recent Facebook Android update that rolled out last week comes with some new video tweaks. You used to only be able to post videos to your own wall using your smartphone. You could only post pictures to other friends' walls.

Now you can drop a direct video message to your friends straight from your smartphone. I think this will revolutionize the way Facebook will be used, because it promotes more multimedia use. Rather than typing boring messages on your friend's wall, they can see all of your emotional expressions with a video.

Posting video content to Facebook can be quite the promotional tool when you are a public speaker, singer, comedian, or politica figurehead. Now that you can share video messages directly, you'll be able to have a greater impact on others.

Previously, I would use my desktop computer and the Flash video app to post video messages on the walls of my friends. But the app is very buggy, and sometimes you would have to record multiple times just to get the video to take. That gets quite annoying.

But with the Android Facebook app, I have had zero problems or bugs when posting videos to my friends walls. Plus, the quality of the video is much higher than that of using a USB webcam to create your message.

The audio is rich and full when creating a video using my Samsung Galaxy S2 smartphone. I was not expecting it to be this good. You can choose the resolution of the video from your phone, but I'm not sure if Facebook truncates the size by decreasing the resolution on the server side.

Whatever the case, this is something I have been waiting over a year to see on Facebook for Android. Let the video messaging begin!

Carlton Flowers
Avid Video Facebooker Extreme