MySpace….must I?

In the course of joining Etsy, I’ve learned so much about online presence and online sales. It’s why I started this blog (my personal blog is just TOO personal…and no, I won’t link to it here). It’s also why I joined Flickr – which I will admit I’m now addicted to, although originally it was supposed to help drive sales.

It's called a "bunny suit"...that cracks me up!

I’ve recently joined IndiePublic and BlogCatalog (see those icons on the left??), and while I’ve found more fun blogs to read – and have slogged my way through many more mediocre ones in the hopes of fun – again, the ultimate goal is to spread the link love, and perhaps drive some people here (and ultimately to my etsy or ebay sites).

So it’s with great trepidation that I read posts on Etsy’s Forums about MySpace. I have enough freakin’ stuff to do already! I mean, yes, for the most part blogging is fun, reading other blogs is fun…but there’s an element of WORK to it as well. If I’m sick, or tired, or swamped at my day job – I still have to find the time to do it! My online presence is just to new and fragile, it needs fed and cared for daily. Where am I supposed to find the time to create and maintain a MySpace page?

And to be honest…I don’t wanna! (Stomping feet like angry toddler) I have a few friends on MySpace (real, offline friends that is)….and their pages are either blank (new mom friend) or filled with silly stuff that reminds me of high school (sorry Daredevil Diva). I’m truly concerned that, even if I spend the time to do it, I won’t see any benefit…or worse, it will be so goofy and unprofessional that it will actually do damage to my business. I mean, heck, I’m a thirty-something scientist…it just doesn’t seem RIGHT to join all those college and high-school kids!

Anybody on MySpace who wants to prove me wrong? All the MySpace people I know seem like cultists to me.

“You gotta join, it’s great” “We have cookies after the leader speaks on YouTube!”

Me, at end of work day

So send me your links, tell me why I’m crazy/silly/stupid. Or maybe, MySpace refugees…tell me why I’m RIGHT to stay away!

Hoppin’ Like the Easter Bunny

Ok, I admit – lame title. Coffee hasn’t kicked in yet, I guess. (Probably because it’s instant stuff, instead of the real, brewed, yumminess found at my local coffee places)

I’m in a link-hopping kind of mood today. It started on Flickr last night, and I still can’t get enough. I opened a picture from one of my friends, and a commenter’s avatar caught my eye…so off I wandered to their pictures….and someone else’s…

I probably visited 10 total stranger’s photos last night, leaving comments in my wake. Woke up to new friends, and a new addiction! Can’t wait for my next break to go looking at Flickr again this way – great way to discover random and fun pictures.

It got me thinking, what kind of BLOGS might I find this way? If I read someone’s blog, then follow either a blogroll link, or the link for a comment. This could be rather enlightening – and possibly more rewarding than random searches through BlogCatalog.

Want me to wander your way? Be sure to leave a comment – I’ll start with all my recent comments! And why not wander with me, either through blogs or flickr…bet you’ll like it too!