Inappropriate times to use Facebook part 1

Flying is not what it used to be between delays, baggage restrictions and security checks. The one thing I do enjoy about flying is switching off my phone and staring out of the window to engage in the good old fashioned passtimes of day dreaming and cloud gazing.

That's why I was horrified to read this story on Mashable - http://on.mash.to/fFhjY0.

That's right. Facebook on planes, for people who can't switch off, even at 10,000 feet. There's a time and a place for Facebook and on a plane is most definitely not it. For now, it's just a free trial in the US so lets hope that once passengers have to pay for the service they'll put it down to another airport rip off and that'll be the end of that!

Imitation: Flattery or Fakery?

Does the old adage about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery apply in the social media sphere?

On one hand, we measure the success of social media campaigns in retweets and others posting links to our content. On the other side of the argument, look back to the fierce row that errupted on twiter when a group comedians accused TV presenter Keith Chegwin of stealing jokes and passing them off as his own to see that plagiarism and ownership are still issues in social media.

Wheteher or not  imitation can be called a 'sincere' form of flattery, you know you're something of a big deal when someone has gone to the bother of parodying your creation. Quora parody Cwera was one of the hot topic doing the rounds on twitter last week. Tom Scott got there first, poking fun at the impending tsunami of spam that Quora is likely to become as it grows while most of us were still scratching our heads trying to work out how exactly to make the most of our brand new Quora profiles.

So yes, imitation is flattering when it comes to social media. As long as you remember to credit your sources with a hashtag reference.