Time for this week’s #FollowFriday or #FF blog post. Once again, I’m pulling entries I’ve posted over on the Mr. Tweet service. You can see my running list of recommendations on Mr. Tweet. Today’s tweeps of note:

@JohnPoz – the man behind the website analytics gift that is Woopra, I met John P at Photoshop World, Las Vegas. He spins a few tales over at One Man’s Blog, a website infamous through its use of Lady Gaga imagery.

@forces2 – he refers to himself as the DJ of recycled jokes. I enjoy his 140 wit, late at night when I’m knockin’ out work.

@HeathRowe – his blog is great source of Adobe developer info with tutorials on Photoshop & Fireworks just to name a few.

@JustinSeeley – what can I say about Justin? He’s the man behind the Photoshop QuickTips podcast, a staple on most iPods everywhere. He’s seemingly everywhere with a blog & social media company.

@Landailyn – photo restoration artist Janine Smith is one of my cohorts over at TipSquirrel. A Photoshop Guru Award winner, Janine is a star on the rise.

Alrighty, that wraps up today’s #FollowFriday listing. Have a great weekend!

Following the footsteps of my good friend Glyn Dewis, who took a note from Chris Brogan, today marks my first #FollowFriday or #FF blog post. For those who enjoy sharing their favorite tweeps with others, I highly recommend using Twitter Lists (I really need to organize mine better), and also the Mr. Tweet service. You can see my running list of recommendations on Mr. Tweet. In addition to listing Twitter ID’s, I will also be posting user website info. Here is today’s #FF selection:

@GlynDewis – he gets the top spot for the idea. You should follow him because he’s a PHENOMENAL photographer, an Adobe Community Professional and all around good guy. We met at Photoshop World in Las Vegas a few years ago, and Glyn is a true inspiration for those folks who want to pursue their dreams. Some folks are all talk. Not Glyn.

@HauteShotsVegas – Stacy creates incredibly sexy images that empower her clientele. Love love love what she does. A fine example of boudoir photography done well.

@LRSecrets – Gene has quickly become the expert in all things Lightroom. Another Adobe Community Professional, I use his Lightroom Secrets website whenever I need a reference. (Surprise, I don’t know it all)

@LearnwithBetsy – Betsy’s website is a great learning center for both the hobbyist & professional photographer. She provides a wealth of information including PPA coverage, CPP certification info, and product/service reviews.

@xequals – “Image Workflow Technology Business” that sums up what you’ll get on the XEQUALS website run by Brandon. Another fine resource for Lightroom presets, technology coverage and reviews.

Alrighty, that wraps up today’s #FollowFriday listing. Be sure to check back each week as I’ve a ton of people to talk about.

If you haven’t caught wind, yesterday there was a dust up around this status update by @ScottBourne. “I’m consulting with a wedding #photog studio selling against a studio doing $500 weddings. Our new ad – ‘We fix $500 wedding photography.’ “ While I would normally ignore the “controversy” surrounding the heated discussion that followed, I soon learned that my friend @mitzs had received some harsh words via direct message from Scott. I have never met @ScottBourne but I do feel his tweets with @mitzs could have been more civil. Let me go on record and say, “Yo Scott! What up with dat? A bit rude ya know.” If you need to get up-to-speed read @mitzs blog post about professionalism (NOW with tons of comments) then @ScottBourne blog response to the topic of cheap photography, and if you want my opinion on the subject then read my articles on How Much Are You Worth? or Understand Art & Business 101 and finally Forbes & Crowdspring Fire-up Designers

My point today is not to defend or attack anyone, but highlight the shortcomings of communicating via status updates which have evolved from longer written communication via blogs or email. Maybe you’ve been in the workplace long enough to recall HR presentations about proper email etiquette. The primary focus of these presentations was to make employees aware that the written word is often literally absorbed by the reader, and applied wit or sarcasm can quickly be misunderstood. Email evolved to include emoticons, asterisked salutations *smile* even SMS lingo to help convey the tone of a message. The fact is the subtly of vocal inflection is something we easily forget about in the written word. How many times have you received an email you thought was funny, but when read literally by someone else they didn’t get it? “Oh, you’d have to know John to understand.”

It’s now 2010, and email is still used, but SMS messaging is becoming more prevalent. Twitter & Facebook require you to get your point across in 140 characters. In Scott’s blog post today, he responds to the controversy by stating, “I repeat, I was half-joking. I knew it might be a bit controversial given the fact that people who inhabit social media tend to be reactionary and don’t always stop and think before they react. (Me included) But I guess I wasn’t prepared for death threats – again.” Basically, without the context of Scott’s conversation, the statement by itself rubbed a few folks the wrong way. Conversations have only escalated into a large flame war via blogs, comment boxes, tweets & the like. With that in mind here are a few guidelines for communicating in the short form:

1. Learn to use emoticons, gestures or a simple LOL to convey humor, sarcasm, wit, or otherwise not serious statement. “Babies–the other white meat.” will be read literally no matter how absurd that sounds by thousands of folks. Sure, you can argue only the stupid ones without a sense of humor, but you only avoid stupid people by living in a vacuum.

2. Have a lot to say, include a link to a blog post on the topic. This won’t prevent people from flaming you, but at least your status updates show proof of your intentions.

3. If you’re going to DM someone via Twitter, have the decency to follow them so they can DM you back. This promotes a bit of good will, and perhaps a private conversation might (I said might) stay private.

4. Don’t jump on someone for a single “rogue” tweet. Take a moment to read their Twitter stream to see if the statement falls into a larger context. Simply put, maybe that conversation has NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU.

5. Don’t make it personal. Sure you’re getting in some zingers right now, but what happens when you’re reminded of your transgressions later? Passionately arguing a point does not require aggressively attacking the person involved in your discussion.

6. Don’t take it personally. We’re all adults. “Sticks & stones…” and all that stuff. We’ve all been disappointed by folks we admire, those who didn’t meet our expectations. Social media opens up a new world of expression, but it doesn’t hold you hostage. Everyone is free to unfollow or unfriend whoever they choose. You can’t change other people, but you CAN make a change.

This isn’t the first nor will it be the last time a difference of opinion leads to obstinate debate. Strong willed opinions with good intentions tend to get overshadowed by loud-mouthed voices filled with vitriol & angst. That’s why I love United States. Where else can such a dysfunctional, diverse group of people mix themselves into the melting pot of American greatness?

According to yesterday’s blog post, Twitter has plans to work retweets (RTs as they’re used) into the online application. According to Dan Zarrella this is a summary of the change in function, “Twitter plans to add a button to the Twitter web client that says “Retweet” that will allow you to send the same exact Tweet, withno editing, to your followers. Your followers will see the original poster’s avatar and name, even if they’re not following them, and the only indication they’ll see that it is a ReTweet will be a small line of light gray text underneath it.”

I saw a sputtering of tweets today on the topic, and I’m inclined to jump on the #SaveReTweets bandwagon. However, if we’re to assume Twitter has the interests of the community in mind, I would like to add some helpful critiques.

The image above is an example of the proposed change to retweets. The retweet button is a good idea, but here’s why I believe the “retweeted by biz” line fails:

1. This drawing assumes I use Twitter.com to read & post my tweets. Folks who are taking advantage of the power of Twitter are using third party clients.

2. The implementation shows the original poster’s avatar. When scanning through a list of tweets, I look at the avatars first then read the tweet. This ties into my 3rd point -

3. I’m reading the tweet AND/OR following the link because I trust the person who retweeted. In the image above, I won’t see @Biz’s avatar, and I’ll ignore @Ev because I don’t follow them.

4. The implementation doesn’t allow for a retweet chain. Sometimes I retweet two or three people, as I didn’t discover the thread AND I can introduce my followers to more people. For example, RT @Person1 RT @Person2 this is a really great tweet.

5. A driving factor for me on Twitter is discovery. The changes to @replies and now retweets hampers discovery of new folks. Since RTs can be ignored, I won’t be introduced to new people, and I won’t be able to introduce folks to new discoveries.

6. I’m already using some great third party tools to track retweets. Twitter isn’t adding a feature that will be helpful to me, rather they’re breaking my current workflow.

Looking at Twitter’s blog post the changes are in hand, and will be pushed on users after a trial period. My hope is that they consider how retweets have been implemented by the community before trying to reinvent the wheel.

Blogging to you live this damp, rainy morning. @PicSeshu threw up a blog post earlier this week with the 31 photographers he follows on Twitter. Each Friday is considered “#followfriday” where folks on the Twitterverse use that hashtag to denote who they suggest. If you follow me then you probably follow a lot of the folks that I reply to. Here are some folks I follow that maybe you haven’t seen:

Folks in this list either impressed me with their blogs, creative works, or are just great Twitter peeps. This is not the defacto list, but some of the peeps I haven’t mentioned before on either Twitter or here on the blog. Until next week…

Good morning dear readers. Based on recent feedback via Twitter, I am updating my tweet schedule for the following topics:

Adobe Tips – Monday through Friday, I post Adobe software tips at 9am & again at 9pm. Products include, Photoshop, Lightroom, InDesign, Illustrator & the occasional Acrobat/Bridge tweet.

In the past, I have posted the same product over a week’s timeframe. The challenge has not only been tweeting worthwhile info, but dealing with the brevity of allotted characters. Moving forward I intend to do a different product each day, e.g., Photoshop on Monday, Lightroom on Tuesday, etc. New hashtag is #Tip12pm

Profound Thoughts at 8:52am – Inspired by @Landailyn, I try to kick off your morning with a bit of wit. Sometimes profound, sometimes mundane, I figure if I keep swinging for the fences I’ll hit a couple big ones. I recently added the #852am hashtag to these tweets, and I am using Twitter search to repost & tag older tweets.

If you have thoughts or suggestions hit me up on Twitter or leave a comment (or two).

How YOU doin’? It’s been quite a week, which ended with Sydney being sick today with a viral infection. Not how I planned to start the weekend. If you’re in Austin for SXSW this weekend, be sure to catch my sister Lesli’s band The Redwood Plan tomorrow at Lovejoys. I had planned to be there, but we’ll be staying home to get baby girl better. Alrighty, onto news around the Interwebs:

@Firgs recently wrote on her blog that she’s a Photoshop Snob. As a fellow enthusiast, I can understand the passion. However, while Photoshop is an AMAZING piece of software, it’s not for everyone. Even it’s little brother PS Elements can be a bit much, especially if all you want to do is have fun with your photos. And that’s what Vertus has done right with its latest software creation Play with Pictures.

It was quite a coincidence that the same time I was reading an email from Vertus, I was catching up with @DawnMHSH‘s blog. Dawn wrote an excellent review/tutorial of Play with Pictures, and she’s even running a contest which you should enter. As your local Adobe guy, I can say I had a blast with this package. It is fun for everyone, and easily mastered, which is perfect for home enthusiasts, families or the creative who wants to stretch their imagination. Download a free trial or Join the Play with Pictures Facebook group which has photos & videos. I had to get in on the action so I posted a quick video for you my dear reader:

Other notable links this week:

Nearby Tweets – What I like about this app is it gets you connected with people who tweet locally on topics you’re interested in. I love technology, but I enjoy an opportunity to meet folks face to face. What makes this app strong is searching by both location and topic. My new favorite.

Tweetlater – OK. Here’s my Twitter secret. I automate my Adobe Tips both on Twitter & this blog using Tweetlater. *shock & awe ensue* Scheduling tweets seemed like a silly idea until I realized the value a regular format gave to my followers. Loyal readers know that I tweet my Adobe Tips Monday through Friday at 9am & 9pm. Using Tweetlater allows me to organize all those tips “offline” and I don’t have to worry if something else keeps me from tweeting. Having a schedule for certain tweets means my followers know when to listen to me, which is vitally important as chatter static grows with each new follower. It also has a feature to vet new followers, a process for auto-following that allows you to check the twitterers first to see if you really want to add them. I use this constantly, especially with the rise in spambots. Finally Tweetlater has RSS feed capabilities which I use to update the sidebar with my daily tip.

Alright, it’s now early evening, and I should get back to the family. Everyone have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll catch you with Adobe tips next week.

Morning all. It’s a light blog week. Need to think about getting me some guest bloggers over here, drum up some interest. Here are some links from around the interwebs:

NAPP Twitter Folks – @mitzs put together a list of about 112 NAPP members who also use Twitter. Just another way for you Photoshop enthusiasts to connect.

50 Tips for Frugal Living – with all the doom & gloom in the economic forecasts, you might consider reigning in some of those frivolous expenses.

17 Gmail Tools – if you live in Gmail (and who doesn’t these days?) then you might already be familiar with some of these apps.

Pixelmator – if Pixlr wasn’t enough for you last week, or if you want an offline app, you might give this image editor a spin. Mac OSX only.

Periodic Table of Adobe Shortcuts – I had to use Firefox zoom to get a good look at these. Certainly wouldn’t mind a larger image size.

Viveza for Lightroom Review – Matt Kloskowski gives a quick review of Nik Software’s Viveza plugin now available for Lightroom.

Recovering today from the event that was Photoshop World 2008. Arrived home in the late evening (due to time change), and a week of no sleep has finally caught up to me. This was my fourth time out to PSW, and it never fails to be a worthwhile experience. Some highlights from my trip:

1. Just met a ton of people, including Twitter peeps Nancy, LeAnn, Dorothy & Jeff. This was really the best part of the trip for me. Not only did I make new business contacts, I had a great time with folks sharing our interests in photography and Photoshop.
2. I won a copy of the CS3 Master Collection my first day at the pre-conference. (This would ultimately doom me the next day)
3. I was a Photoshop Guru Award top three finalist in the Photo Restoration category. (I would have gladly traded out my CS3 prize for the Guru award)
4. I had a chance to chat with Scott Kelby, and had him sign his book for a friend back here in Dallas.
5. Afterparty at the House of Blues. Probably the largest showing I have seen this particular event. The club was packed, standing room only. I posted a Flickr photostream of Scott Kelby and the band.
6. Tweeting live from the event. I didn’t get as much posting done as I had planned, but a few folks commented on tweets. I’ll have a better plan of attack for next time.

You can click the thumbnails to see the TwitPics.

NAPP reminds me of the employee culture at Southwest Airlines. I’ve yet to meet a NAPP member or employee who doesn’t think the world of the organization. That’s truly a testament to the company that Scott Kelby has built. Twice a year they put on this conference, and it only gets better. If I would have changed anything it would have been some cooler announcements from Adobe, Canon or Nikon. Really, with a captive audience of 3000+, I expected some insider info, not confirmation of rumors learned two months ago.

The only regret I have is I didn’t take any pictures after the House of Blues event. There I was with my new iPhone, twitpicking away, and not once did I grab a photo of the cool peeps I met at the conference. Oh well, next time…

I recently stumbled upon a thread in Twitter, an apparent flame war between several patrons of Twitterland. It didn’t affect me personally, but I was drawn in by the vile language and extreme rage being thrown out on both sides. At different points in the threads I read, links were tossed out as “evidence” to backup statements, followed by more links as counter-arguments to accusations.

Then my wife walked into my office with baby girl in her arms…

My daughter will grow up in a technological age unlike anything I or my parents could have imagined. The Internet connects citizens around the world, and information exchange is so quick only telepathy would be faster. While I admire our advances, and the geek in me loves all the gadgets & technical wizardry, I worry about the challenges my daughter will face.

Cyber-bullying. Cyber-stalkers. Identity thieves. Some of these items weren’t even around when I was a teenager. People ask me why I don’t use an alias online, why I make it a point to use my real name on message boards or social networks. First, I generally won’t post something online I wouldn’t say in person, and second I’ve done what I can to establish my actual identity online in hopes it will deter others from pretending to be me. (Not that you would want to do that, I’m really not all that hip) I’ve already been the victim of identity theft.

In eight years it may be next to impossible to tell our daughter “No, you don’t need a cell phone.” I certainly didn’t think an eight year old needed one several years ago, but now “tweens” as they are called seem to be getting younger & younger. There was an article on MSNBC that talked about “Grade-school Lolitas“, how parents are facing the challenges of stemming off a constant tide of media & Internet information that is out there unfiltered. My 7 year old niece thinks she’s fat. Why in the world is a 7 year old concerned about body image?

I dealt with bullies when I was growing up, but they were tangible flesh obstacles I learned to overcome. A quick wit, weight training, Saturday night kung fu and a big dog were all I needed to tackle the bullies of my day. How do I prepare my daughter for an onslaught of cyber accusations or candid images & videos? And it’s not just “kids being kids” or harmless fun, adults are being harrassed as well. Ariel Waldman wrote a post about Twitter harrassment back in May 2008.

Today’s Twitter flame war reminded me just how easy it is for people to horribly abuse technology.