At what point has the bacon craze gone too far?
I hate the taste of envelopes like any other normal person out there, but do I really want to taste bacon before sealing it shut? I don’t think so. Bacon fans, on the other hand, must be signing up for as many pen pal lists as possible right now.
Hey everyone, it’s Erini… Jenn’s away over at Free and Flawed, so I did a guest post today… thought I’d share it with you here as well!
If you’ve been following us on twitter, you may have noticed a certain topic coming up quite a bit recently. That’s right, my friends, we’re talking Mario Kart. And it all started out innocent enough…
But then…
It’s true. She is. I have no idea how I beat her on my first race against her. But it was awesome. Now, don’t let the Master fool you. Others are sneaky too (looking at you Pham!)… So for this karter, it was time to change my plan of attack…
Now… despite all the trash talking, this is really community building. I mean, Mario Kart is all about team work, good sportsmanship, and blowin’ your opponents’ sh*t up with shells. This ain’t no GTA attacking pedistrians and hookers — though that one Goomba was looking a little loose… Mario Kart is about getting together to destroy your friends and enemies. (And while you’re on your victory lap, you can head back and talk to that Goomba…)
I’m more than excited about having Jenn join our little game. Never disregard the underdog. ‘Cause they’ll hit you will a blue shell every time.
You may have seen her test post a couple days ago, but I thought I’d give her a proper welcome. Erini, from Wench, will be a regular contributor here at Must Love Geek.
She’s already been sharing her awesomeness and geekiness over at my home away from home, Guidespot. Here’s a few goodies so you know what’s in store!
More and more companies are seeing the advantages of being on Twitter, but what many aren’t realizing is that there is a difference between being on Twitter and being active on Twitter.
I understand the point of securing your name on Twitter. I’m not talking about that level of inactive. I’m referring to the companies who are all push and no pull. They push their product launches, blog posts and discounts/specials but don’t engage their audience. If I reply to one of their tweets, I do expect a reply back – especially if it’s regarding a product, asking a question or initiating a conversation.
I’m much more likely to talk about and recommend a company who values the conversation between it and its customers. You dont have to let me know every detail of your work day or reply to every single one of my tweets, but let your followers know about a cool link you’ve found or something funny that happened to you on the way to work. Twitter is a great platform to remind people that you’re real and not just a corporation.
A couple examples of companies/organizations who get it:
Don’t mind me. I’m just testing out my new account here on MLG.
Awesome Face herself, Jenn, invited me to come and share some of my geekiness with you. 
I’m flattered and can’t wait!
(If you want to figure out more about me, check out my blog: Wench)
-Rini
At times I refuse to admit that I’m a grown-up. Those times include getting oil changes, paying taxes and filing for unemployment. Then there are other times when I giggle because someone said “penis,” laugh at the kid who fell and still put Elmer’s glue all over my hand just to peel it off. It’s that level of maturity that still gets me excited about stickers. I’m easy to please people. So imagine my excitement when I found these stickers:
My inner geek and 9-year-old can now share a playtime activity! I love slapping stickers on random things. Now I can leave USB and computer ports all over the place! For only $7, you too can enjoy the simple things in life with these Office Graffix Stickers.
For more geeky stickers, click here.
And I couldn’t be more excited! I’m actually surprised that it’s taken this long for Facebook to give its app a facelift. The almost complete app doesn’t have a release date yet, but the developer is sharing a lot about what type of new goodies iPhone users can expect.
Included in the update: enhanced privacy settings, notes, pages, events (with RSVP functionality – FINALLY!), the ability to create new photo albums, easier photo tagging, message restore (when interrupted by a phone call), quick call or texting directly from friends’ pages, in addition to a brand-spanking new homescreen.
Once this update is unleashed, Tweetie & Facebook will be fighting for my affection.
I have a bad case of the changes. That is, I don’t spend too much time sporting one item. Usually this applies to purses, but lately I’ve been itching for some new iPhone gear. Well this itch couldn’t have come at a better time because I just found these awesome iPhone cases!
Unfortunately, after checking out the Etsy shop that makes these, I learned that they’re sold out. Boo-urns. Hopefully they’ll be restocked soon because my geeky heart is in love.
Do you use an iPhone case? Know where I can find a super cute one that isn’t too girly, but doesn’t scream “I eat babies!”?
Just found this CollegeHumor parody of the Internet set to a West Side Story medley. Twitter, Pandora, eHarmony and Evite are just a few of the sites mentioned.
I’m not going to lie…Tony can come back to Myspace and Twitter all over my Facebook. (Thanks Threadless.)
The other day someone asked me how I sorted through my following/followers list on Twitter. I find that this can be quite a daunting process when you have numbers in the triple digits.
What I look at immediately: Profile picture, bio statement and number of updates/followers/following.
I start the sorting process the minute I am notified of a new follower. I always go to their profile and check their stats: how many followers do they have and how many times have they updated? If they’re following 100+, but only have 1-10 followers, it makes me feel a little odd about returning the follow. If they’re following 100+ and I can count the number of times they’ve updated on one hand, then I definitely don’t follow.
Twitter is not a numbers game. I look at Twitter as an opportunity for conversation. I can have a quality conversation with one or ten people. If you make it obvious you’re only after a number, I will block you.
I admit that sometimes it’s easy to fall behind on a busy day and not have time to check out each profile. In that case I look at my followers list and let my mouse scroll over a Twitter username. If a bio pops up, I’m more likely to click on your profile and follow you back. Sometimes, depending on your bio, I won’t even check the profile – I’ll just follow. If you don’t have a bio, or if your username looks like “jslihgisae,” more times than not I will check out your profile, but proceed to blocking you.
So how do I find new people to follow? One of my favorite Twitter tools is Mr. Tweet. You start out by following Mr. Tweet and within a few hours, you’ll receive a DM with a link for you to click on. 
This link will show you who you should be following, based on who your followers are following. You can also see who is following you, but you aren’t following back. This is also a great place to recommend tweeters for others to follow.
Another great tool is #followfriday. #followfriday is a way for tweeters to highlight some of their followers or people they’re following. Check out your followers picks and recommend a few of your own.
Don’t underestimate the awesomeness of a tweet-up. Many people ask if they should go. Do you have Twitter? Yes? Then you should go! A tweet-up is just a meet-up for folks on Twitter. If you’re in Chicago, check out Chicago Tweetups for a list of all the fun tweet-ups happening in and around Chicago (follow them on Twitter and Facebook, too!) Outside of Chicago? No problem. Check out Happin.in. It shows you what’s being talked about in your city, including tweet-ups.
Here’s a great post from Mashable: 9 Ways to Find Twitter Users in Your Town
How do you find new people to follow on Twitter?
