Well, this is the 100th post to my blog. I have reached the goal that I had set for myself in the spring of this year (2009). For this blog, I want to encourage everyone with something...that is discussing with respect.

As many of my readers and followers are probably aware, I have different political beliefs than most. In fact, I do not claim to be of a "political party." Why you may ask? Well the reason is simple. Both of the classic political parties are full of corruption, both Republican and Democratic. So, with that being said, I am an independent...a "free thinker" if you will.

Here recently, I was corresponding with a guy in whom I have never actually met via Twitter. The conversations started off okay...We both attend the same university and we were talking about that. Then...he sent me some very cold and harsh DM's (direct messages) about how "ignorant" and "close minded" I am...and even said that I have "a 6th grade understanding" of politics. I was in no way offended by this, because I am aware that most people can not have a civilized discussion about things. They do not know their facts, so the only thing they can do is viciously attack another person.

Let me encourage everyone on this...whether we believe the same things or not. This is a good thing to apply to any aspect of your life. A friend once told me "It is easier to attract bees with sugar than with vinegar." How true that statement is. It shows your immaturity if you just attack a person because they believe differently than you. I am all for discussing things...whether on a political, religious or personal basis, but I will not be attacked. When that happens, I will step away from the situation and move on to bigger and better things.

I welcome debates, but there also needs to be an understanding of professionalism and respect. I quite frankly do not care what a person thinks of me...I am not in high school anymore. I am not here to please anyone...So please, when you disagree, please agree to disagree agreeably.

-Ken

Labels: agree, disagree, goal, politics, professionalism, respect, twitter

This week two of my twitter friends (@bdivine and @jdivine) are in Orlando for a conference that @bdivine is doing music for tonight. I had the honor this afternoon of meeting them at their hotel.

They are just as great in person as they are on Twitter...if not better. They have three amazing boys. I originally met @jdivine in the lobby as @bdivine was on his way back over to the hotel. We had a little conversation, but the boys were so energetic...they were all over the place. That was cute. Somedays...I wish I had that much energy.

Within 4 minutes of initially meeting them, they were treating me like that had grown up with me. It is great. This reassured me that one day, I want my own children. I must say, this was the second tweetup that I have had, and again it was a great one. I have said it before, and will say it again...Twitter is a great way of meeting people with your same beliefs or interests, but again, please use caution. If you are talking to some stranger, I would not recommend following through. Luckily, the Divine's are mutual friends of people I knew already...so I knew that everything would be okay. Just please use caution always when meeting people that you correspond online.

It was great to meet the Divine family! Hopefully, next time we are in the same town we would be able to meet up again and continue our conversation. See you on Twitter!

-Ken

Labels: boys, Chapel Hill, meet, safety, social networking, travel, twitter

"Gosh, it is so hot!"
"Ugh, this internet is SOO slow!"
"Man, these people can't drive!"

I will spare you from any more. But seriously, do people that complain irritate you? Why do people have to constantly state their discontentment with a specific situation?

I tend to think people that complain either are not aware that they are doing it or they are just miserable (or close too it) and would like to let everyone else know how miserable they are. Whichever the answer to the question may be, I believe complaints are very unnecessary. I welcome criticism any day (as long as it is in good taste); but there is a line between the two.

I will break it down into two "levels." A complaint is something a person states...that is not significant to any other human being, but it is a declaration of one's discontentment with a specific happening within their life. To be honest, complaints most of the time do nothing to help solve a problem.

Criticism is when a person makes an observation and offers helpful suggestions in order that one person become better at a specific task or situation. I am a big problem solver. I love brainstorming to find resolutions for a given scenario, but when someone comes over and is upset and starts rambling on about how discontent they are, that is unnecessary.

Come to me with a legitimate problem and your best solution for it, I will be more than happy to help you in solving that, come to me with an annoying complaint...I am sorry but that does not do anything for me.

You know yourself best. If you are forgetful, make reminders. If you are naturally cold, bring more clothes. For every problem there is a solution. People will respect you more if you are mature enough to learn from your own mistakes.

Complaints do not get you very far in this world. I am sure that what you find worthy of a complaint, does not compare to anything that someone within ten feet of you are going through. Thank you for reading. I tried to not "complain" too much. This is just an observation that I have made the last couple of weeks...and thought that someone could benefit from it.

Thanks for reading. I would like to hear your feedback on what you think!

-Ken

Labels: annoying, beliefs, Change in my Life, common sense, complaints, growth, immaturity, Jesus, maturity, observations, others, over reacting, politics, relationships, trends, tweet, twitter, YOU

Tonight I had the pleasure of being able to be a part of a small group session started by the one and only @jacalopekid (Adam Smith). This is something that he started last week, but due to my school schedule I was unable to attend last week.

Tonight's session was led by @leslieblueeyes. The entire time was a complete blessing after a long and hard day...emotionally. Will post about that tomorrow. But...I was blessed tremendously by many people that I daily interact with on Twitter. Even though we (the body of Christ) were in many different states (possibly even countries...) we were able to connect and grow with one another through video, audio and text chat online. Amazing what technology has allowed us to do.

For all that attended, it was great. Just remember the things that we discussed, and please apply them to your life. I hope we were able to minister or encourage one person...if not everyone that was in the chat room tonight. If you missed it, we therefore missed you as well. We will be having another one next week. Not sure who will be leading it, but I know they will bring a great message and it will be a great opportunity. Plan on attending next week, if you schedule allows.

Thanks for reading. I hope that you all have a blessed day tomorrow and the rest of the week.

To GOD be the GLORY, HONOR and PRAISE!!

-Ken

Labels: Bible, gospel, Jesus, small group, social networking, study, twitter

So, this evening I will be joining in an online small group discussion. I am excited about it, I have a really good feeling about this. If you feel as though it is something that you would like to be a part of, here is the information:

Time: 7PM EST, Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Login to: http://tinychat.com/smallgroup
Password: jackalopekid
Leader: @leslieblueeyes

Hope to see you all then!

-Ken

Labels: Bible, gospel, Jesus, small group, social networking, study, twitter

For fellow Twitter users, you can skip this first paragraph. If you are new to Twitter or do not know what Twitter is and would still like to know, continue reading. #ff (#followfriday) is a Twitter theme for Friday where you recommend people that you follow to others who you think are interesting and are worth following.

I choose to do it later in the day on Friday because there are people in the west coast who may not be able to get on Twitter, because of work or other obligations throughout the day. I do mix it up from time to time, but mostly I do it later in the evening so that they will be more likely to see the tweets. Short blog, just felt that I should share.

If you are not on Twitter, I think you should join up. Let me know (by either commenting on this blog . . . or replying to me) and I will be sure to give a shout out for you. Happy Friday!

-Ken

Labels: #ff, #followfriday, Jesus, social networking, twitter

This week, I had the amazing opportunity to connect with some people that I have been in conversation with over Twitter in the last couple of months. I must say, it was a great experience, just knowing and getting to physically know the people you have been interacting with. I told them that it seems to go against everything that your parents have taught you about "meeting people online." You do have to use discretion though. I know a few people if they every brought up the idea of meeting I would "come up with an excuse not too."

-Ken

Labels: friendships, internet growth, microblogging, relationships, social networking, twitter

It is here. This is basically a "re-blog" (RB, for those Twitter users...)

On Twitter, we have themes for specific days, such as Music Monday (#musicmonday) and Follow Friday (3followfriday) are a few examples. One of my friends is wanting to start a Worship Wednesday theme, where we proclaim specific Scriptures, songs or things God is doing in your life. Read more about it here.

What is God doing in your life? Share it. See what people are here.

Labels: #worshipwednesday, blog, microblogging, scripture, themes, twitter, worship

I had an interesting story . . . something that happened tonight.

Tonight, I was working "Hymns of the Faith" at First Baptist Orlando. I had been tweeting with another one of the volunteers for broadcast, Michael throughout the afternoon. Unfortunately, he could not be with us tonight, because he was working later tonight. But, we were blessed with having his wife, serve with us tonight!

He was not able to get in touch with his wife to ask her a quick question. I assume he could have sent a text message or something, maybe he did, but I guess her phone was away in her purse our of her reach. Michael ended up sending me a "Tweet" to ask his wife the question. I was able to pass on the message then became the mediator between him and his wife.

It was great. So you see, Twitter is not about posting useless information, which some people live their life believing. It is about sharing information, keeping in touch with others and being informative. For all fo you Twitter haters out there, get over yourself. It can be useful and is for many many Twitter users. Don't bash something just because you do not use it. That is something that I can not stand.

-Ken

Labels: cell phones, haters, informative, mediator, message, Michael, social networking, tweet, twitter

So, I decided today that I am going to start occasionally doing polls on my Twitter to get some feedback from the world on topics I would like to blog about. But before doing that, I want to go on a rant here for a minute. People say many things, take those with a grain of salt. A guy that I know, attempts to rub it in my face that I am addicted to Facebook / or this new "stupid" (the exact word he used) thing called Twitter. Say what you want, social networking is what I do. It is a great way of keeping in touch with folks from past and present. It is the way of the future. Adjust, or get out.

Anyway, the question that I Tweeted today was "What was your initial thought of Twitter? Has that changed? What do you think now? Responses may be used in a blog post."

Thank you all for your responses! I would like to focus on two...first the irritated tweeter. Ashley (Orlando, FL): "ugh...twitter...theres a limit on how long your private messages are so when im trying to catch up with a friend i havent seen in awhile its a pain in the ass plus the whole user interface could be organized a little better.. im just in a mood to complain" Good point, is it a little irritating at times with having a 140 character limit. But...I am a firm believer that it makes you be concise in your messages. Suggestion if you would like to have a detailed conversation with a long-lost friend, send them a message through another medium. There are many other ways to connect to people. Even if they do not have a Facebook or the dreaded MySpace, surely they have an e-mail address. In fact you have to inorder to use Twitter!

The second response I would like to focus on is the positive tweeter. Michelle (Atlanta, GA): "My initial thought of twitter was "what in the world is that? And why do people love it?" Now I think it's pretty awesome! . . . I like connecting to others....and twitter is just one more way to do it. It gets word spread quickly too!" This response coincides more with my initial thought. I did not know much about it at first, but now, I am very fond of it. It has connected me with some new people and has given me a closer connection with people that I am friends with and some that I see everyday!

One thing that I enjoy knowing is what my friends are up to. Twitter uses the internet to bring that information to me and in a way, it is sorta like being with that person, but physically not. Does that make sense? Twitter has much potential. I think that it needs to stay the way it is, I would hate for someone to come along and reuin it, just like Facebook and other social networks. Facebook attempted to do the same thing Twitter does in their recent update, but I am not very fond of it. Facebook should be more non-status based.

If you are not a Twitter user, I would encourage you to try it out!

-Ken

Labels: facebook, poll, rant, social networking, twitter, twitter poll

So, I am at a landmark place with my personal Twitter account. I almost have 1,000 updates. In my advancement of life, I have been able to see and be a part of the social networking spectrum. It seems as though the growth and advancement of the internet leads the way for the growth of social networking.

As with anything, we all find yourself settling with some type of social network that we are comfortable with, such as the types of clothes we wear. You would never wear clothes that are not favoring of your personal style. Currently, my favorite social networks are Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. I am most comfortable with those. I also use Google's Reader to subscribe to numerous blogs that are of interest to me.

Social networks are a great way of staying connected with current and past friends and colleagues...and in addition also a way of making new friends that you may have lived your life without ever meeting. It is very interesting some of the people that I have stumbled upon. I know, I know...what is going through your head at this point, "Oh my goodness, you shouldn't ever meet people online! That is dangerous!!" Yes, you have a point, but as long as you are smart and careful about it, everything should be fine.

In addition to following and meeting people, I believe the social networks have a great opportunity to convey information to groups of people. Such as school news, church events, or news media outlets (the good ones, at least). There is much potential for these networks to "bring" information to those that subscribe to them.

So...now it is your turn:
What are your views on social networking? What are your three favorites?

Labels: facebook, google reader, internet growth, linkedin, social networking, twitter, updates