The Lewis Show

I hear this quite a bit, "Gosh, Mike, you have pretty much joined everything, haven't you?" Of course these people are referring to social networks, micro blogs, you get the idea. The answer to that is always, "Can't help it.". I'm always trying to find that right formula for posting in a  new web environment. I think a lot of people are. So out of all those hundreds of services, what am I using, and what has found the trash heap (for now)? As I discussed earlier, the blog is home. It will always be home. I learned that pouring myself into these start ups typically leave me with my data scattered and confusing to access. From home, I regularly update Twitter, read and share articles via Google Reader, and then feed them through my main Tumblr blog which has been optimized for mobile use. I also have a Posterous account and my own picture posting Tumblr page. When I Digg something, it relays back to the mobile site, but there's a handy link to it i...

Many of you have a similar web experience than mine. About nine years ago people started setting up Live Journal pages and kept a journal. People started calling that kind of journaling blogging and blog services started springing up. Around 2004 or so blogs started to show into the mainstream discussion as some journalists began the slow process of embracing blogging. In July, 2004. I became a "blogger". Then MySpace hit and there was a flood of interest for this kind of social network with blogging features and people began to get distracted from their home base, their website, and started dedicating hours of their time to a service that we had little or no control over. As MySpace became a juggernaut, people began to search for other services that were easier to use that didn't force feed dozens of simultaneous ads down our throats. Most of us remembered when it became overly pop culture, it jumped the shark and became old hat. The skies then opened up. Facebook ch...

One of my excuses for not posting the past few months is that I've been "brainstorming" ideas for the blog. This has turned into an excuse not to post anything at all, so I remembered one of the techniques I learned in grade school when it came to coming up with material for writing. So I give you some ideas that I came up with by " Free Writing " instead of just....thinking: Irreverence Posts - Most of you know I have a Tumblr page that feeds the news items that I find interesting. Last year I would post my thoughts on those stories and it made for some pretty decent material. I became too lazy for such commentary, so I'm going to have a weekly recap, but I'll keep it short. Two articles short. Commute Podcast - For a while, I was using the Utterli service via my cell phone to post audio updates and that was starting to go over well; people actually took five minutes once a week and listened to it. I plan on doing that again, and keeping things sho...

So as you saw in my last post, I'm trying to get blogs together. I'm trying to rebuild a community that has gone the way of social networks not by sticking to the old system, but by embracing the new. I make no qualms about my subscriber list, it's not huge, at least it isn't yet. At the time of writing, I have 25 people that read my blog anytime I post. First, I want to thank each and every one of you readers for doing so. I am flattered that anyone wants to read my posts, and it encourages me to do better, and I will. I also know a lot of my friends on the social nets do not have a large group of readers. We all strive to have that readership that a lot of big time bloggers enjoy and take for granted. I want to bring readers together. I want to create a network for the rest of us. I want to put good, real content out there for more people to see. I see a lot of friends that have good content and no readers, and it's tough. I want to help get your brand out t...

I don't do this very often. About twice a year, I clean out my blog roll and try to add in some new reads. I'm also trying to get reacquainted with Delicious , the social bookmarking site, in one fell swoop. I want to expand what I know in many areas including cooking, technology, and heck, even some financial planning. It doesn't hurt to take a few minutes every day to try to learn something! So I'd like for anyone who has a delicious account to tag their blogs to me. You just have to add the tag 'for:mlewis106x' and I'll be able to sort through them and subscribe. I sense that blogging this year is going to face a crossroads between the traditional post and reply method to the newer more social aspect. That step forward intertwines social news, social media, and social networks. I don't want to see blogging become old media and I fear it's already on the fast track, so help me take this first step. The worst that can happen is you get one add...