Blogging

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My family doesn’t have a drop of Irishness in our blood — that we know of, anyway. But that never stopped my dad and me from wearing green on March 17th. Dad went the extra mile by wearing a dark green suit to work with some silly button like, “Kiss me, I’m Irish.” Obviously, he liked to have fun and I am sure some folks today would say the button is harassment. No matter, count on my wearing green.

Brain food…

• 8 Must-Have Twitter and Facebook Add-Ons: Oh yes, add-ons go beyond browsers and blog apps. The article forgot to point to the scripts (all use Greasemonkey), which can you find by searching userscripts.org. Facebook Purity explains how to install scripts for other browsers.
• Synopsis Tips for Writers: Excellent short post. [Link: BubbleCow]
• 10 Turnsoffs Keeping Readers from My Blog: These are the unwritten rules I tend to follow… at least, I hope I am.
• 10 Amazing Life Lessons You Can Learn from Albert Einstein: Not a single one has anything to do with relativity.
• 33 Writing Terms You Should Know: When WIP on an ms, be sure to stick to DL while following GL [Link: BubbleCow -- awesome resource... follow @bubblecow!]
• Research Tip: Finding Crutch Words: Do you keep using some words repeatedly? I try not to, but with all that I write… it can be tough. Current challenge is to avoid that and which. Not easy! [Link: @elizabethscraig]
• Top 100 Sites on the Internet: Very cool interactive graphic. [Link: @kirstinbutler]

Image from jimbowen0306 / CC BY 2.0

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 10 Coolest Foosball Tables: Aww… My husband just has an ordinary table.
• 70+ Examples Of Beautiful Night Photography: Breathtaking… [Link: Ruhani Rabin]
• 40 Outstanding Mascot Designs: I’d love to have one… but not sure it would fit this site’s brand. Or what. My favorite mascot: Fort Worth’s TCU Horned Frogs. I found many horned toads in my backyard while growing up. [Link: bkmacdaddy]
• Junkyard steampunk Yoda: Serious, I am.
• 5 Browsers and the Modes of Transportation They Resemble: Pretty darn accurate.
• Top 10 Japanese Etiquette Mistakes: I love reading about cultures and etiquette even though I never get to try them (or avoid them). I learned about #2 from my husband and I have used it.
• Friday Funnies: Words Shape Your Existence: Great way to kick off weekend (and Spring Break for some of us). [Link: @alexkaris]

Image by erjkprunczyk via Flickr

I can remember being big on the Olympics back to 1976 watching gymnastics and pretending to be one of the Romanian gymnasts with a friend of mine. We even made our own banners with the country on it. Then when I went to basketball camp in 1984, I went to the TV room to catch whatever I could. Well, to my surprise, my younger two kids took an interest in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and I let them watch it even when TV watching time was over. I think I finally understand Curling.

What are your favorite Olympic stories or memories?

Brain food…

• New Tools for a New Writing World: Lists some free and low cost classes for freelance writers.
• I’ve Got Rhythm, I’ve Got Writing, I’ve Got My Work, Who Could Ask for Anything More? Great title and greater post.
• 9 Best Websites for Designing Your Logos Online for Free: But really… no substitute for professional design.
• On word counts and interesting books: Of course, word count isn’t a priority in writing a story… but it helps in goal setting and when working with a publisher.
• 11 Ways to Get People Addicted to Your Blog: [Subliminal message: You like it here. You will visit here daily. You will tell others about it. You will smile now.] [Link: Simon]

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Top 10 Worst Figure Skating Costumes: Heh… I was thinking the same about the ones mentioned from Vancouver 2010.
• 15 Funny and Creative 404 Pages: More goodness.
• 12 Coolest Sheets and Blankets = Good times in bed.
• 10 Unusual Clocks.

Image credit: Zsuzsanna Kilian

I avoid in-person events as much as possible. It’s not because I’m an introvert. It’s not because I look hideous. (Although we should know better than to let our looks get in the way of meetings.) It’s because I’m deaf. Most people understand me when I speak. It’s the other side — the more important part– of the conversation that’s a problem for me: Listening.

It’s true that the average lipreader catches only one-third of what people say. Try reading every third word in this post or another and see how much you understand. I can usually fill in the gaps, but not always. “My name is [mumble]” is a biggie. I might ask the person to repeat once, but no more. In a book club meeting, someone mentioned that reading the book and seeing the movie version was not a good movie. I asked the name of the book. Missed it. Repeated once and missed it again. Gave up.

While this sounds innocent and no big deal, it is. People judge you when you don’t catch things because it makes a person look obtuse or not smart. With online marketing, I don’t miss a single thing and I catch every name and title. What you see of me online is all me without the barriers or presumptions. Writers can do more than just publish content to market themselves. These work well and take up whatever time you put into it.

1. Create a web site with a personal URL. It’s easier and cheaper than ever to build and update a web site. Using blogging applications like WordPress and Tumblr work well. They also have a lot of free and low-price templates available. A customized design adds a personal touch to your brand, but sometimes people don’t have the funds available right away. You can work it out so the only cost you incur is the yearly fee to buy your own URL. writer.blogspot.com hurts the professionalism. You have a lot of options for creating a web site using a blog app. Whether you should blog or not is a different discussion.

2. Set up social media profiles. The web site and blog is your home on the Internet. Social media sites give you a meeting place. Many, many social media sites exist. Forget that. Don’t let it faze you. Pick two or three and completely fill your profile on those sites. Currently, the biggies are LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. That can and will change. Remember MySpace was hot? I have a page that receives updates from my blog and Twitter account, but I don’t visit it. I’ll set up accounts on other social media sites, but only on a “come across it” basis. Usually I get an invite from a colleague and join up then. I fill in the profile as much as I can.

3. Join conversations. It doesn’t matter where. I go to blogs and leave comments, participate in scheduled Twitter chats, respond to people’s Facebook messages and reply and retweet tweets. Some people love to talk in forums. Notice this says “join conversations,” not “give soliloquies.” People who talk to no one in particular or don’t acknowledge other people’s existence are not listening or becoming a part of the community. The only folks who can get away with this are celebrities.

4. Do the guest thing. Invite and ask. Invite others to be a guest in your blog or community, and ask if you can do the same for others. You’re reaching two new audiences: the other person’s audience and the other person. The other person has a following and will ask people to check out the guest post in your community. Most guest posts come with a byline, which means link juice for your site and getting your name out there.

5. Link to your site and accounts. On your web site, link to your Twitter and other IDs. In your email signature, link to your web site and important IDs. Make sure everything points everywhere else. Do you have an email newsletter? Put your links there, too. This covers all your bases. Those who prefer email updates, RSS feeds and social media IDs.

These five I do on an almost daily basis. It works because I have a comfortable workload. You can do much more with online marketing, but other online marketing tools take more time. Some people do videos. Some do podcasts. Some do webinars. Some do email newsletters. Doing a video or podcast requires thinking about the goals, writing the script, recording and editing before you can publish. With social media, you have control over how much time you spend.

What online marketing tools work well for you?

Image credit: getwired

Merry Christmas to all my friends who celebrate. Enjoy your time off and the spirit of the holiday. I hope that everyone takes at least one day off and do something that makes you happy.

Thank you for stopping by, reading and commenting. Thank you for connecting with me outside of this teeny place on the web. Thank you for being you.

Brain food…

• 91 Journalism Blogs and Websites You Will Love: No Kidding!
• The 10 Biggest Mistakes We Made So You Don’t Have To! Excellent, excellent advice.
• Top 10 Everything of 2009 from TIME: You know it’s the end of the year when the best of lists start popping up.
• 6 Unexpected Events That Can Take Over a Web Worker’s Life (and How to Deal With Them): I’ve been sick for the past three, a time when I needed to be well especially since the next two weeks are slow and a time to be with family.
• Ten Thousand Tweets Worth the Effort? I agree with conclusion, “I just want to say thank you to all the people I’ve met on Twitter and who put up with my endless stream of rants.” Thank *you*. [Link: Karen Swim]

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Christmas Lights: Guitar Hero style. Holy rockin’.
• Letters of Note: “Correspondence deserving of a wider audience.”
• Top 10 Geeky Christmas Decorations: May the force of Christmas be with you. Live long and celebrate.
• 12 Creepiest Children’s Books: OK, why is If You Give a Cat a Cupcake on there? Agree with Mommy, Why Is There a Server in the House (Published by Microsoft, heh.)
• 6 Animals That Show Mother Nature’s Sense of Humor
• Sketchy Santas: You’ll smile. I promise.

Image from Twitlogo.com

You do everything right in Twitter. So why are some people not following you back? It’s not you. (Well, maybe in the rare situation when someone truly doesn’t like you. Even the nicest people don’t have a fan in a person or two.) Doing Twitter right means you …

• Mix up your tweets (retweets, replies, original messages and links).
• Take care in promoting your own stuff.
• Don’t spam.
• Have a nice follower and following ratio.
• Share insights.
• Spotlight others in a genuine way.
• Have a complete profile that includes a bio, avatar, link and location.

Good for you. That’s all you can do to encourage people to follow you and stick with you. Yet, you still won’t always make the cut. I have plenty of good Twitter users who don’t follow me back or decide to stop following me and I am OK with that. Even I don’t follow back people with thousands of followers. If you work hard enough and long enough, you too, can have loads of followers without producing good quality tweets.

Why would people not follow back a good Twitter user? The first thing to understand about Twitter is that we have different goals of what we want to do with it. In other words, five people could use Twitter in different ways and they’re all doing it right. Here are the possible reasons:

1. They follow specific topics or careers: One client follows only those involved the Intranet, internal communications and enterprise communications. Another follows only those who are writers, editors and publishers.
2. They want to limit their tweet stream: There’s no rule of thumb on how often to tweet. Some do 20+ tweets a day and others do just two tweets a day. Not everyone wants a flooded Twitter stream. So they limit their follows to the people they like, admire and respect.
3. They don’t know you’re following them: Some folks opt not to receive an email every time they gain a new follower. They also don’t review their “followers” list. Who has time for that?
4. They follow only people they know offline: While we can make friends and acquaintances online, some prefer not to venture that far and stick close to home with people they already know.
5. They just started using Twitter: Few figure out Twitter in an instant, so they’re not sure how they want to use Twitter or exactly how it works.
6. They may not know they stopped following you: Twitter isn’t perfect. I’ve followed people only to find out later that I stopped following them due to a Twitter quirk. Several of us swore that we thought we were already following each other.
7. They thought they were already following you: Unless you follow fewer than 100 people, very few study their followers and make sure they stay connected. So it’s easy to overlook someone. The fastest way to see if someone follows you is to look on their Twitter page for “message” under “Actions.” If it’s not there, they’re not following you. You can send a gentle tweet or email them privately letting them know that you can’t send DMs because they’re not following you. It’s OK. Many of us appreciate that.
8. They have millions of followers: These folks tend to be the celebrities or people with popular web sites (Oprah, Ashton Kutcher, Cakewrecks and Mashable). They know they can’t keep up and operate differently from the rest of us.
9. They didn’t like your introductory direct message (DM): Some people automatically respond to every new follower with a direct message while others send annoying (yes, they annoy a lot of folks) ones like: “Thanks for following me.” “I hope to get to know you.” “You can learn more about me at my blog.”
10. They were tired of your reciprocal tweets: On #followfridays, you list a bunch of names and not much else. Or you thank every single person for retweeting (RT) or mentioning you. Some people love it. Some people hate it.
11. They never heard from you: The other person is one of those who DMs everyone and if they don’t hear back, they unfollow. Or they RT something you said and never got a thank you from you.

Again, you and I have different rules and expectations when it comes to Twitter. While I follow one rule, you may break it, and in reverse. Conversation quality is what makes the Twitter experience. Not numbers. Not who follows you.

We can’t control who follows us (aside from the occasional nudge) or adds us to one of their lists. We CAN control who we follow. In rare cases, the decision to not follow you is a personal one — but most of the time it’s not.

What rules do you have for using Twitter?

The previous post has a quick and dirty list of the applications I use most often in my writing business. Some apps may perplex you or you’d like to know more about how I use them. This provides the magnifying glass edition so you can decide if you’d like to look into them.

Browsers

I used to rely on just Firefox with the occasional use of Internet Explorer because some applications didn’t work right in Firefox. Now I use Google Chrome almost as much as Firefox. Sometimes I open Opera — I love its look, feel and speed. Firefox hangs and slows down often, but it has the best and most useful plug-ins. Jump to Firefox add-ons to see my faves.

Bookkeeping and Invoicing

QuickBooks: Had I started my business within the last couple of years, I might not be using QuickBooks. It’s the only software that almost beat me in the battle of gal vs. app; eventually I got the hang of it. It may be a good thing because I’ve used a popular web-based invoicing application from the client point of view. It would not let me pay the 50 percent payment due at the start of a project. Sure, the vendor could’ve sent me two invoices: one for the first payment and one for the final payment, but it didn’t make sense to do that as it’s all one project.

I appreciate keeping my finances and invoices on my computer rather than in the cloud (web-based). I can’t access the app if I’m away from my home. However, when I’m away — I don’t do invoicing. If I traveled frequently or for longer periods, then a web-based app makes sense.

Writing

Microsoft Office: No matter how you feel about Microsoft, Word has everything writers need. I’ve tried web-based apps, which made me feel constrained. Favorite features: Counts (word, character, etc.), Review (tracking), Comments and Thesaurus. Excel keeps track of data or create a spreadsheet of information for a project or client.

Notetab: Cleans content and frees it from the invisible and bloated code that apps like Word add to it. If you copy and paste Word content into a blog post, it often brings a lot of useless and wasteful code with it. Notetab sheds it all.

Communications

Gmail: Thanks to Gmail, I stopped micromanaging my inbox.

Thunderbird: Friendly, easy, smooth and simple. My Fave Thunderbird add-ons.

Google Talk: Instant messenger apps used to be a regular part of my toolbox, but then some people abused it to talk to me about nothing and it disrupted my work. However, I needed a way to stay in touch with family and Google Talk allows me to be invisible yet able to connect with my spouse. We also use it on our BlackBerrys instead of SMS. No offense if you’re one of the people I’ve chatted with IM. No one can see what I am doing, so no one is at fault.

Marketing and Connecting

Blogging: I have both Wordpress and MovableType installed. All of meryl.net uses Wordpress except for Bionic Ear, which uses MovableType. Writers don’t all need to have a blog. If you interact regularly on social networks and visit other people’s blogs while leaving meaningful comments, you’ll be fine without your own blog. It’s still important to have your own web site rather than relying on social network profile to be your web page. Visiting other people’s blogs takes precedence over writing in my own as I want to hear what they have to say and respond to that.

Social networks: This includes blogs, Twitter, Twitter Search, Facebook, LinkedIn and FriendFeed. I’ve set up my accounts to feed into each other so they stay fresh without requiring my visiting each site daily. You don’t have to do cold calling to make it as a full-time writer. I do zero cold calling and instead take the Quiet Marketing approach. Few Twitter notification apps have proven to remain consistent about sending you an email letting you know when someone mentions your name or brand. Twitter Search is the best option for accurate results.

Tweetchat: This one is my app of choice for joining Twitter chats. Video on how to use Tweetchat.

Tweetdeck: Organize and manage my Twitter accounts and groups. Has some non-intuitive features that I handle on Twitter.com instead.

Personal Information Manager aka Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Memos

In the past, I needed to have my personal information manager (PIM) data with me and carried my Palm device everywhere along with my cell phone. When I upgraded to a BlackBerry, a superior phone to my previous, I decided it was time to let go of the Palm. Besides, I interact more with the PIM on my computer than I do on a handheld.

So the ability to update the PIM on a computer outweighed the need to update it on a device. That said, I needed to sync my data with the BlackBerry. I don’t like the BlackBerry’s PIM apps because they take too many steps and have too many features. It took me seconds to add a new item on the Palm yet minutes on the BlackBerry.

I still use Palm Desktop. It loads fast. It has just the right features without overkill — although it could stand a few more features. Originally, I synced the Palm with Outlook and let Outlook update the BlackBerry.

Now I’ve taken Outlook out of the equation thanks to CompanionLink’s Google Sync. It syncs all four Palm Desktop apps with Google. While its process for transferring memos isn’t elegant — it offers the best option. Google Sync then updates the BlackBerry. I update Calendar and Contacts in both apps and the rest in Palm Desktop. You can find more sync options.

Miscellaneous

Team work: Some clients and assignments involve working with a team. Each has its own web-based app for communicating. No one stands out or dominates. All apps have strong and weak areas.

Filezilla: Managing files on my web site’s server.

Bit.ly: Shorten URLs.

Dropbox: If I work on an article on both computers, I save it on Dropbox so I can access the file from anywhere. Once finished, I archive it on my PC as MyDropbox should be like an inbox — hold as little content as possible.

Online backup: I have an external hard drive for saving my work, but — G-d forbid, if something happens to my house, I’ve got my data online.

SnagIt: It’s amazing how often I use this screen capture software. It helps explain things or problems with few words. It loads faster than my photo editing software, so I use SnagIt to crop and tweak.

Adobe Acrobat Professional for saving work, invoices and other documents in its original format.

Firefox Add-ons

Links to all of these are in my Firefox Collection.

AI Roboform: Because Google Chrome doesn’t have add-ons, I turn to Firefox more often. For one, I prefer Roboform to Last Pass for managing my passwords. I tried Last Pass because of its compatibility with Google Chrome, but it requires extra steps. Roboform sometimes annoys me with its pop up box when I don’t need it.

Better Gmail 2: Gmail stays open in my browser all the time and receives equal — maybe more — attention as Thunderbird. Yes, the app can be worrisome as it goes down form time to time. But I can access email from anywhere, any computer. Better Gmail 2 enhances Gmail’s features by adding “sub-labels” (Gmail doesn’t have folders).

Download Status Bar: Instead of a pop up box, downloads appear in the status bar at the bottom of Firefox out of your way. Right click downloads to open, rename, delete or clear them. What could be easier?

Print/Print Preview: Don’t you hate it when you think you’re printing a short page only to see the first print out is blank and the contents show up a page or two later? Print/Print Preview puts the printer icon in your toolbar and lets you select Print Preview so you can control what you print without overdoing the tree killing.

Read it Later: Another reason I choose Firefox over Google Chrome. Click the checkmark in the URL box to save an article for later. I have yet to let my reading pile up. I tried a bookmarklet app in Google Chrome, but Read it Later works better.

Word Count Plus: As a writer, word count is important data. It can count anything you select.

Xmarks: Sync bookmarks across computers. I use a laptop often so I can work outside of my home office. I don’t have to do a thing to keep both computer’s browsers set up the same way.

What are your favorite apps? Why?

Everyone has their own preference for what apps make a difference in their work. Mine might work for you, or they might not. We all try, download and install many apps and add-ons. Bet  the Pareto Principle applies here: We use 20 percent of the applications we have 80 percent of the time.

Not all of these apps relate to the act of writing, but contribute to my career as a writer.

Browsers: Yes, more than one!

1. Firefox and Firefox add-ons (my favorite)

2. Google Chrome

3. Opera

4. Internet Explorer

Bookkeeping and Invoicing

5. QuickBooks

Writing

6. Microsoft Office

7. Notetab

Communications

8. Gmail

9. Thunderbird and Thunderbird add-ons.

10. Google Talk

Marketing and Connecting

11. Blogs: Wordpress, MovableType and other people’s blogs

12. Twitter and Twitter Search

13. Facebook

14. LinkedIn

15. FriendFeed

16. Tweetchat

17. Tweetdeck

Personal Information Management

18. Palm Desktop

19. CompanionLink

20. Google: Calendar, Contacts and Mobile Sync

Miscellaneous

21. Team apps: SocialCast, Basecamp and GroupSite

22. Filezilla

23. Bit.ly

24. Dropbox

25. Online backup

26. SnagIt

27. Adobe Acrobat

Not software, but must share. Love working with two monitors.

Next entry: The details behind these apps for those who wanna know.

What apps do you depend on for your writing business?

On the original 9/11, I was in my corporate job in Richardson, TX. I could not believe what people were telling me about airplanes and World Trade Center. Of course, the Internet was overloaded with everyone wondering the same thing. Took hours before we got the full story. I hope the survivors and the families of those who passed are doing OK and carrying on as their loved ones would want them to.

• Reuters Handbook of Journalism: You know… a style guide [Link: Smashing Magazine].
• Writer Unleashed 25 Best Writing Blogs 2009
• How to Develop into a Leader on Twitter
• Case Study: Can You Launch a New Site with Twitter Alone?
• Must See SEO Guide for All WordPress Bloggers: Must find time to ensure this site follows these recommendations.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Do you leave your USB drive in your pants and wash them often? Hubby has MANY times (dryer, too) and his Kingston USB still works!
• This Is Photobomb: Hilarious photos.
• Official Seal Generator
• Icon Finder: Search solely focused on icons.

My favorites that I haven’t posted here from CNN 10 Humor Sites…

• My Life Is Average: It only took six days before my first grader forgot his take home folder. Five for my 5th grader.
• My Parents Joined Facebook: My mom did, but I’m cool with that. Daughter not so happy about me on FB.
• Laser Portraits: Think Star Trek light sabers in the background.
• Historical Tweets: Taking famous scenes and tweeting them. Star Trek’s Trouble with Tribbles: “@Spock Would you consider investing in a powder puff export business?” Written by: Heather Turner of Forfeng Designs
• GraphJam: Charts, charts, charts, baby!

• The Reality of a Times Bestseller: Think you have to go to 40 signings in one week, every conference, etc. etc. to have a best seller? Not in one author’s case.
• A Day in the Life of an Author: Great lesson for authors with new releases.
• 99 Free Online Classes on Business and Entrepreneurship [Link: SternalPR]
• How to get your press releases read, not trashed [Link: Susan Jacobsen]
• Productivity and Time Wasters in Social Media: Covers much of what I believe in when it comes to social media.
• 12 Ways to Reveal Suspicious Shortened URLs: Ching Ya put a LOT of time and effort into researching this for us. I use Firefox’s Longurlplz, but the drawback is when I do a RT in Twitter — copy/paste copies the longer URL and not the shorter version. So I have to right-click copy the URL to get the shortened version.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 10 Strangest Allergies: I think being allergic to water is the worst.
• Tech Support Cheat Sheet: I do all I can to avoid making the call to tech support. Google, knowledgebase, forums…
• Awesome Transformer Costume: Gosh, Halloween isn’t so far off. And it’ll be the last year of first grade pumpkin math for my family
• Google Sightseeing: Funny sights.
• Rubik’s Cube for the Visually Impaired: I think this is a great tool for everyone to sharpen his/her senses by wearing a blindfold. I can’t do it without a blindfold, so it’d be pointless to try with one

Image from Riesma Pawestri

I wish I could say this is stating the obvious — it’s not. People continue to miss out on opportunities because of something they said anywhere online. This applies not only to those looking for jobs, but also freelancers and those in current jobs. Future clients, customers, employers, agents and publishers WILL check up on you before they consider signing you.

This applies to interests including political. Now, we all have a right to support whomever we want running for office, but how we handle ourselves in supporting or not supporting a candidate can affect whether you get a job or gig. A financial service placement firm reported that a candidate lost out on a job because he posted a negative note on a candidate’s Facebook page.

Whole Foods Flap

I wish I had more details. Would the employer overlook a positive post? Was the negative post one of those shooting off at the mouth without any supporting facts? If the job was an executive or C-level one, it probably would not matter as Whole Foods CEO John Mackey wrote a Wall Street Journal Op/Ed that left many loyal customers seething. Mackey posts the full details on his blog. In short, his opnion went against what many of Whole Foods’ customers believe in.

Topics That Might Bug Folks

Would you want to hire someone who complains about family, marriage and illnesses, or posts about a drunken night ora frustrating editor? Most of us have done regretable or silly things in our lives, especially as youngsters, but they don’t belong online if you want to have a chance of landing a job, contract or gig.

Oh, you only send it to close friends and family? Even if you can trust them, are you sure they won’t accidentally forward it or accidentally spill it to the public? Remember landing the job at Cisco tweet? Or the Fedex insult?

Rule of Thumb

When you write anything electronically, do the Mom / child / employer check

Would you want your mama or child to read about your drunk night? Would you want your employer to read that you can’t stand X candidate? Would you want your client to see you whine and complain about life in general? Do you want an editor to see how difficult you are as a writer?

If necessary, reword them to ask “How would you feel if you read that a prospective peer or employee did X?” Maybe the reality will have a greater impact.

Recruiters, hiring managers and other folks know that many folks share too much about themselves online. While someone might keep that out of her professional life, that has no bearing on the message she sends. If you need to talk to someone, do it offline. Also, watch what you text on your phone because people can forward those too.

What stories have you heard about people who lost opportunities as a result of improper online posts?