On being permanently plugged in

On being permanently plugged in
The freeway is tantalising close but impossible to access. I am at the end of a dead end street with a huge wall separating me from where I need to go. I have no idea how to get back to Brisbane from our day trip. My phone’s battery is hovering at 6% and draining rapidly. Google maps has been crashing regularly. I have an ageing refidex in the car that I do not trust and two tired young boys keen to get home. It’s moments like these I realise how reliant I am on being plugged in. I try google maps again, praying the battery won’t run flat. I know I won’t be able to rely on the guided GPS and try to memorise the route home. Even that seems a difficult feat. Holding so much temporary information in a brain used to relying on a hand held device for short term memory.

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Periscope and Slippery Slopes

Slippery Slopes & PeriscopesWhen I was about twelve years old my neighbour received a walkie-talkie set for her birthday. Not a kids set. A real set. It didn’t take my neighbour, my sister and I long to figure out that we could tune into the radio frequency truck drivers used. We often chatted to these men (and they were always men) and felt a girlish thrill in doing so. The men were polite and respectful, if somewhat bemused to find a trio of girls on their wave length. Very occasionally we would pick up a bad vibe and hurriedly turn the things off if we were concerned about where the conversation was going.

I remembered those walkie talkies the other day as I was playing with Twitter’s new app: Periscope. It’s a live video streaming app where people can comment as you are streaming. I think it has some great potential uses. Q & A sessions. Tutorials. Discovering exactly what sunset looks like in St Petersburg tonight. But it also rang alarm bells.  Read more

Why I love social media

Why I love social mediaI have been chatting about social media this month – the good, the bad and the ugly. And I wanted to finish on a high note. I love social media. I love how it democratises information. How it has created universally accessible platforms for expression and connection. How it allows like-minded people to become friends.How it brings the previously inaccessible closer. Sure, there is the trolling, the judgemental comments, the bullying and the invasion of privacy, but there are so many lighter sides to the darker underbelly.

Here are the reasons I love social media:  Read more

The digital footprints of children

The eyes of a child

This beautiful portrait of my youngest son is by my incredibly talented father. Click on image to see more of his work.

The on-line world knows a great deal about my boys. They have a digital imprint that took shape before they were even born – when I first mentioned pregnancy on social media. And it’s starting to worry me – what these digital footprints will mean.

I wonder, what are your security questions for secure accounts? What primary school you went to? The name of your first pet? Your mother’s maiden name perhaps? Things that no-one but you and those very close to you would know, right?

Now, if someone looked at your social profiles, could they answer those questions for your children? For me, the answer is yes. Facebook posts, this blog and other social media would easily reveal the name of our dog, where my child goes to school and my maiden name. Before they are old enough to have any kind of self-generated internet presence, my kids already have an impressive digital footprint.

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A day in the life of my social media

where does the time go?

This month I am concentrating on kerbing my social media use. Reclaiming my mornings is just one reason.

Here is what my morning with social media looks like:

Wake up. Shower.  Hesitate as choosing clothes. Am I doing a style dare at the moment? Is this going to be Instagram-able? Oh F* it, it’s too early and too cold too care.  

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Weekend Rewind + Why I like blogs better than magazines

I am so excited (and a little starry-eyed) to be co-hosting the Weekend Rewind with Bron from Maxabella loves, Sonia from Life, Love and Hiccups, and Kelly from Kelly Exeter . I love a good party, I love hosting a good party and being invited to co-host a great party is even better. Like any fabulous party the Weekend Rewind is a place to make new friends and catch up with old ones. Please link up below to feed the mutual blog addiction.

Arrow 2

It occurred to me that my blog addiction has replaced my magazine addiction. And I used to have quite the problem. As soon as a new issue hit the newsstands, it hit my bedside table. I would buy every issue of Vogue, Marie Claire, Harpers Bazaar and InStyle. Their covers were full of promises that were seldom fulfilled by the pages. But that never stopped me searching news agents, coveting my next magazine hit.  Nowadays, I have a Collective Magazine subscription and I will sometimes buy Frankie or Peppermint magazine. At some point spending nearly $10 on glossy pages full of advertising lost its appeal. It was probably at around the some point that I discovered blogs.

These are the reasons I think blogs are better than magazines. Read more