Ugh! Sometimes I wonder why I try to keep everyone informed of our happenings, and then I receive an email asking for more pictures, or DH tells me he was freaked out by a colleague discussing a blog topic he didn't know was public knowledge. What's frustrating, however, is all the changes that have occurred since I started posting information.
My first taste at Internet voyeurism came when I was getting married. The sales consultant at St. Pucci Sposa told me about TheKnot, a wedding site that helped me plan and organize most aspects of my wedding. Actually sticking to the budget was a lost cause, but at least it prepared one for me. I wasn't very big on posting and what-not, but I did create a "wedding website" for family and friends to view so they could learn the details of our relationship and upcoming nuptials. A few people, at least, visited the site as indicated by messages left in our virtual guest book.
Sometime after we were married, I "graduated" to TheNest, a website for newlyweds about marital and home issues, mostly. Again, I didn't really post, but it could be considered a most visited site for me. After I became pregnant I thought about how cool it would be if the same company had a website for pregnant women. Behold, TheNestBaby, now TheBump. This site I really got into! I updated my profile, posted like crazy, worked on my profile's web page, and blogged on their site. I also joined other pregnancy and parenting sites, such as BabyFit, BabyCenter, WhatToExpect, etc., but I wasn't quite as thorough with the others and just seemed to mesh well with the system and other members of TheBump. The problem with these websites, however, was that my family and friends couldn't view the information and updates I was posting.
Enter GooglePages. Now anyone could view information and images. While this created more work for me (posting entries and information to both TheBump and the website), I was able to create a more elaborate site easier, and again, reach more people. Besides, I had a lot of time on my hands pre-baby. Posting pictures was the greatest hassle, but alas, there was a solution.
With our Internet server we received free Flickr account. When I checked this out I discovered that some pictures sent through our email were already in our account. I could have pictures available to the entire public world, just for me, or easily viewable by friends and family, either through a guest pass or by inviting people to join so they could view all pictures I chose. Now I had various albums with every wedding photo, birthday parties, each baby bump photo, hundreds of pictures from our Bahamian vacation, etc. Not only that, but through Picnik I could edit the photos in various neat ways. Unfortunately, the contract between our server and Flickr ended, so my page went bye-bye.
Hello Shutterfly. When I took DD for her Santa Claus photos I purchased the package that gave us a $25 Shutterfly gift card, so naturally I had to sign up. After playing around with it for awhile I discovered that I could create web pages (so far I've only created one) to showcase photos, calendar of events, photo books, even a feed to this blog.
During all this I was disappointed that, while my Bump friends could post comments to blogs left on that site, non-Bump friends and family couldn't post comments on my website (well, apparently there was a way to do it, but this is much easier), so I started this very blog and have been trying to transfer over all my posts.
I then began a family tree on Geni which not only allows family members to post basic information about themselves, but various happenings, pictures, videos, etc. as well. There are no blog feeds, but you can add links to your blog, website, whatever.
My first taste at Internet voyeurism came when I was getting married. The sales consultant at St. Pucci Sposa told me about TheKnot, a wedding site that helped me plan and organize most aspects of my wedding. Actually sticking to the budget was a lost cause, but at least it prepared one for me. I wasn't very big on posting and what-not, but I did create a "wedding website" for family and friends to view so they could learn the details of our relationship and upcoming nuptials. A few people, at least, visited the site as indicated by messages left in our virtual guest book.
Sometime after we were married, I "graduated" to TheNest, a website for newlyweds about marital and home issues, mostly. Again, I didn't really post, but it could be considered a most visited site for me. After I became pregnant I thought about how cool it would be if the same company had a website for pregnant women. Behold, TheNestBaby, now TheBump. This site I really got into! I updated my profile, posted like crazy, worked on my profile's web page, and blogged on their site. I also joined other pregnancy and parenting sites, such as BabyFit, BabyCenter, WhatToExpect, etc., but I wasn't quite as thorough with the others and just seemed to mesh well with the system and other members of TheBump. The problem with these websites, however, was that my family and friends couldn't view the information and updates I was posting.
Enter GooglePages. Now anyone could view information and images. While this created more work for me (posting entries and information to both TheBump and the website), I was able to create a more elaborate site easier, and again, reach more people. Besides, I had a lot of time on my hands pre-baby. Posting pictures was the greatest hassle, but alas, there was a solution.
With our Internet server we received free Flickr account. When I checked this out I discovered that some pictures sent through our email were already in our account. I could have pictures available to the entire public world, just for me, or easily viewable by friends and family, either through a guest pass or by inviting people to join so they could view all pictures I chose. Now I had various albums with every wedding photo, birthday parties, each baby bump photo, hundreds of pictures from our Bahamian vacation, etc. Not only that, but through Picnik I could edit the photos in various neat ways. Unfortunately, the contract between our server and Flickr ended, so my page went bye-bye.
Hello Shutterfly. When I took DD for her Santa Claus photos I purchased the package that gave us a $25 Shutterfly gift card, so naturally I had to sign up. After playing around with it for awhile I discovered that I could create web pages (so far I've only created one) to showcase photos, calendar of events, photo books, even a feed to this blog.
During all this I was disappointed that, while my Bump friends could post comments to blogs left on that site, non-Bump friends and family couldn't post comments on my website (well, apparently there was a way to do it, but this is much easier), so I started this very blog and have been trying to transfer over all my posts.
I then began a family tree on Geni which not only allows family members to post basic information about themselves, but various happenings, pictures, videos, etc. as well. There are no blog feeds, but you can add links to your blog, website, whatever.
Well now my GooglePages hosted website is changing, and just as I was starting to add more non-baby or even me related materials. As I said before, ugh! I don't know who to feel sorrier for, my loved ones who have taken the time to sign up for viewing rites to various sites that have or are becoming defunct, or myself for wasting so many hours creating and updating such sites. So, epiphany. Return to simplicity once more, and just post what's on my website to this blog, which is fed into my Shutterfly page. By going to the one site my family can view pictures and read what's on my mind, such as this very post, and they can click on a post if they want to view the actual blog itself. As for Geni, that's a whole other project.
So, be on the lookout for new information. It will be slow in coming, but hopefully some exciting, interesting, or at least, "It helps to pass the time" posts will be coming your way. And don't forget to post your opinions or send me an email letting me know how you're doing. Otherwise, who am I doing this for?
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1 comment:
I'm sorry. DH's reaction was do to all my questions. Sigh...
I am also a blogger and have multiple social networking accounts here and there around the web. I like because it reminds me what I was doing four years ago - like an easy to reference diary or something. Plus, it is fun. :)
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