We had way too much fun this week at the Take Back America conference and I loaded photos of the event onto our FDL Group Facebook site (anyone can be a member). Members of the group got an advance peek at them when I sent out an email letting them know that familiar faces like Joe Wilson, Chris Bowers, Donna Edwards, Tim Tagaris, Atrios, David Niewert, Bob Geiger and the heretofore enigmatic Digby could all be seen in full conference mode in our photo gallery — all that’s missing are the Shriner’s hats and those little plastic martini glasses.
I also learned a trick to encourage someone sign up for Facebook real fast. After I uploaded the photos I tagged them with the names of those who appear in them, and there was an option to send the non-facebook photographees an email:
3:46pm: I tag tag two photos with Marcy’s name. Marcy is immediately notified that there are pictures of her online.
4:01pm: Marcy Wheeler joins Facebook.
4:06 pm: Jane Hamsher wrote: “I knew I could lure you in with photos.”
4:08pm: Marcy Wheeler wrote: “Damnit Jane! That was a dirty trick!”
There is also quite a furious “caption this photo” contest for the above photo of Stoller and Bowers raging over there. So far Stoller gets high marks for his own “someone is explaining the concept of ‘dating’ to us, and we’re skeptical.” The suggestion was also made that someone was trying to pass Bowers and onion ring. Thanks to their recent Althousian re-interpretation of that item that could mean roughly the same thing.
Also Brian Keeler has a video of Digby at the Blogger Panel (she’s pretty much in full-on panic mode at this point, only hours away from her speech and being carefully guarded by blogger public speaking guru Joel Silberman, but she looks lovely). Digby started out racing through her speech for Joel at 8 in the morning in my hotel room and it was a remarkable speech from the start but by the end of the day Joel had really taught her how to own it. As she says, he’s a miracle worker and anyone who speaks in public should consider engaging him. I’ve worked with him on many occasions and he also coached Marcy and me when we were in DC doing our Libby trial videos with PoliticsTV. He’s a genius.
We’re trying to find a web designer that can retool FDL for some of the social networking stuff we’re trying to incorporate here, but every time I look at portfolios it’s always full of vanity websites nobody goes to full of slow-loading multi-media shit. Nice eye candy but it’s actually harder to find someone to do the kind of clean design a heavily trafficked, functional site needs to have. I realize I may wind up wanting to shoot myself in the face for opening up the floodgates like this but you gotta start somewhere.
And finally, I’m interested in hearing from people who want to keep their anonymity and still have a presence on Facebook. Many, like Pach and Punaise, have done it successfully (Pach used “Firedoglake” as his surname, I guess it could well be a family thing). What’s your experience been?
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Jane!
Duo
2
Hey Jane! Looks like you’re doing well today…
dakine01 @ 4
I am in fact. My sister Pam is here. Kobe got to go to the airport to pick her up, which as far as he’s concerned is almost more fun than beating out Sean Hannity for the Nobel Prize.
Almost.
Biggest problem with Facebook is you have to sign up before you can see any of the pictures, or anything else that they might possibly have available. (It feels like buying a pig in a poke, y’know?) Their front page, the one that you get when you try to visit one of the groups, is, like, grim.
P J Evans @ 6
Yeah it’s a bit grim. But it IS free, and kinda fun once you start decorating the place.
Jane Hamsher @ 5
Howdy Jane!
Marcy’s in for a lot of friend requests, methinks.
Am still on pins and needles waiting to hear from Kobe.
I just can’t seem to get enthused about facebook. What can you get there that we don’t already get here? What am I missing? I signed up for it, but rarely sign on.
Jane Hamsher @ 5
Sisters are wonderful people aren’t they?
LS says:
June 23rd, 2007 at 3:07 pm
According to this, the VP is part of the Executive Branch of government:
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/files/gov_chart.pdf
(the above came from previous post.)
LS, I went to the kiddie version of this site yesterday, and emailed the fine folks at GPO with the question, “How come the vice president is listed in the Executive Branch when he says that he’s not?”
I received a reply that said I’d have an answer within 24 hours…. So far, no answer. Either ’cause it’s the weekend or ’cause they’re still investigating this “small” matter.
Mutant Poodle @ 8
Oh shit! I forgot your photos, MP. I was gonna link those up too.
dakine01 @ 4
My new facebook friend! How’s it going dakine?
Suzanne suggested we use our first and last names, with our fdl handle as a middle name. Don’t know if that’s too much info to give for some people, but it works for me. Also, people recognize who is requesting their virtual friendship.
sofistic @ 9
When somebody makes a comment here on FDL we want to have an icon next to their name if they’re a facebook member so you can go over and see a portrait of them, either pictures or whatever limited information they want to present as an anonymous person. Sort of an identity anchor, a place you can share photos and videos and other information that just can’t be left in a comments section.
Loo Hoo. @ 13
I’ve identified myself in a couple of places on facebook. My wallpaper on my profile, the wallpaper on the fdl page as well as a couple of other places…Don’t want to make it too easy for folks after all. ;})
sofistic @ 9
Maybe it’s a generational thing…I signed up but I am not sure what it is all about..my GF would know but she is out of town…maybe Jane could give a short explanation for the old farts.
well, I successfully signed on as Odd A. Mommy so people would know who I was….then I tried to change it so that folks could see my real first name (Elaine)……but then I got this stern-looking screen about how you are REQUIRED to use your real name, NO nicknames, and you have to get APPROVAL to change the name you signed on with, so I freaked.
I am SO too old for this stuff…….it’s fun tho!
I might add that only events like the Take Back America conference make me wish I were in DC. So sorry I missed it…
Loo Hoo. @ 13
I took the easy and *ahem* fraudulent approach: I’m Pun Aise at FB.
I got really annoyed with Facebook last night trying to sign up so I could see ET’s Alaska pictures, but today have been having a bit more fun. Feels like I’m back sitting on one of those little desks, waiting for that bell to ring. :~)
Humm, I understand what you mean, Jane, but I guess I am just not a visual person. The words on the page give me enough to recognize the people, I guess. My wife, on the other hand, seems to relate on a visual basis over a textual basis.
OK, must run. Good friend getting married in Pasadena, so off to fight traffic.
what the heck is a “poke” at FB?
Did somebody say party!?
Hi Jane!
I think “Too Sexy For Their Shirts” could be the caption contest winner.
oddmommy @ 17
I think I ‘friended’ you :~) but there were a lot of people I couldn’t find, not having a clue as to their real names. Too bad FB makes it so hard to change your name.
EPUed:
Christy,
How common is it for a judge (as opposed to the prosecution or the defense) to file a memo like this? I was sort of surprised that Walton bothered to file something like this at all.
punaise @ 23
would a comment like this be cause for a Poke Swarm?
spurious @ 25
I believe Tom Maxwell, aka Tommy Yum, set up a thread on the FDL group page allowing people to identify themselves with their FDL name as well as “real/FB” names.
punaise @ 19
Good idea. I couldn’t think of what to use for a ‘last’ name.
Elliott @ 27
uh-oh
dakine01 @ 28
Ah. Will go look for it.
you’ve all probably already heard about my facebook experience……
well, i was a doofus and emailed facebook with a question…couldn’t figure out how to get my birthdate and email off of there..didn’t occur to me that my name dmac dmac would be a problem……it is. i’m not sneaky-minded enough.
i’m blocked now until i use my real name….and they have my email, so can’t sneak in…..still contemplating whether i want to use my real name or not…….
enjoyed seeing all of your faces!i even scanned a photo from christmas of my dog callie and me to put on my page! we looked good!
i was one of the first commenters on the wall. joined right away.
it is a great idea!
jane, glad your sister is there with you!!!!!!
my sister cracks me up more than any other person….we have been helping mom with her elks pizza night to raise money for CP once a month…..the three of us in the kitchen making pizzas has been a riot! sometimes i have to tell her to stop, i am laughing so hard…..last month we made 32 pizzas..all fresh ingredients…we use pizza shells, and man are they delicious! is worth the three hour drive, then i stay a few days and see my best friends, too…..
enjoy the love, have fun and laugh a lot!
===================
here’s the email from facebook:
Hi Dayna,
Thank you for your Email.
Please understand that fake names are a violation of our Terms of
Use. Facebook requires users to provide their full first and last
names (i.e. no initials). Impersonating anyone or anything is
prohibited. Nicknames are only permitted if they are a variation of
your first or last name.
If you would like to use this profile again, just get back to us with
your real name and we will reactivate the account for you. At this
time I can further instruct you on how to make the requested
changes to your profile.
Thanks for your understanding,
Dori
Customer Support Representative
Facebook
spurious @ 29
I suggested to someone the other night that if security is a concern, use something like your great-grandma’s maiden name…
Poking Suzanne and heckling Elliott has been fun.. but sharing ideas between firepups without feeling all OT and everything, has progressive promise, imo. Where else can we go and poke Al Gore?
I managed to use my real name
Giovanni Eureka Springs AR *g*
Friends welcome anytime..
spurious @ 29
And you’re a spurious _______?
caption:
“Open the blog bay door, Hal”
spurious @ 25
yes, I friended you back! Thanks. : )
punaise @ 23
Seems like it’s just saying hi.
I’ve really enjoyed associating the pictures with names I recognize from reading the posts here.
If anyone wants to be friends, here’s
my Triciawrite’s facebook page
[Mod Note; link fixed.]
spurious @ 29
Curious?
punaise @ 36
“I’m sorry, Dave, but I can’t do that.”
Scarecrow @ 41
707!
jane at 14 says:
“When somebody makes a comment here on FDL we want to have an icon next to their name if they’re a facebook member so you can go over and see a portrait of them, either pictures or whatever limited information they want to present as an anonymous person. Sort of an identity anchor, a place you can share photos and videos and other information that just can’t be left in a comments section.”
=========
weeeeeeellllllll, i’ll think about it a little harder……..
AND any chance of bringing back the recent posts menu????
i wrote this to suzanne about it-
too bad about the menu bar, being without it has drastically changed how i maneuver through the site, hope they come up with something……i’m on dial up and it definitely was a good thing, made it easier for me to jump back and forth….read all of the posts to catch up then go back to read comments, and then jump up to new thread to read comments as i go……and now you have to go to the home page to see how many threads are ahead of where you are……now i can’t jump back and forth unless i open up multiple screens……which gets confusing…..and it takes a whole lot longer doing things that way………..oh well…….i’ll keep hoping……never know…..
dmac @ 32
well, they’re obviously not too vigilant about enforcing this, since I got a welcome e-mail that began “Dear Odd”
Hah! Hah! Dat Stoller and Bowers what a pair of cards. I’m lookin’ forward to their new blog fer sure.
As fer facebook…not so much…pokes are fun I guess…but it’s got some structural probs I don’t like.
There is one feature it does have that I and my blogmates at Bear Republic Action Group, an offshoot of Drinking Liberally, Oakland Chapter created to fundraising and advocate for specific candidates, which D/L cannot due being a 503 (c), are going to try to implement when we move to our own servers in the near future.
That is, the ability to contact our ‘members’ by phone texting. You may or may not be aware but most of 25 to 35 use their phones far, far more than their computers. Texting is huge in this demographic.
I’m excited about the possibilities of orgainizing ‘textswarms’ and building community using this tool.
We’ll see how it works out.
Is there an FDL Chapter of Drinking Liberally, I’m not referring to last night or anything.
Sorry Mr. Facebook…yah lost me with this bullshit. If being anonymous was good enough for the Founding Fathers when they wrote The Federalist Papers it ought to be good enough for you.
See ya!
dmac, how do you know the facebook representative’s real name is dori? And why is it she has no last name?
punaise @ 19
Not fraud – You just… bullshitted them.
Perhaps Cheney can use that excuse on the stand
;>)
Thank you … thank you … THANK YOU for putting the NAMES of the people in the picture — with the picture! So many times, in online picture galleries, I have no clue who it is in the picture!
dmac @ 32
dmac- You can always get a new email account at Gmail, or some other webmail site, at Gmail you don’t even need a secondary email account, then go back to Facebook and try again.
New thread, upstairs.
there was a time when you could call yourself what ever you wanted so long as you weren’t defrauding anyone, particularly the IRS.
Don’t know what the Patriot Act did to that, but when I got married, I never changed my name formally. And I could use my ex’s last name now if I felt like it, not that I feel like it.
Scarecrow @ 41
…and they were last seen hurtling off into space, untethered from MyDD.
oddmommy @ 17
Maybe I’m too old too. I ended up giving my real name because I got that stern message too when I tried to sign up as “Kewalo.” I sat there for the longest time wondering if I should just make up another last name and ended up using me real name. And that makes me very uncomfortable.
IMO what they should do if they feel they have to require real names is give us the option of having a screen name.
BTW loved the pictures. Do you have any of last years YearlyKos? I’d love to see those.
I signed up on Facebook at Jane’s request. Used my real name at first, then I put my FDL screen name as my family name. That’s one advantage of being a francophone, the mods simply don’t know…
I dropped my Montreal network though, the amount of french bashing was simply stunning.
Scarecrow, where are you hiding in facebook?
Thanks mods for fixing the link
(blush)
dakine01 @ 28
Aargh. Still haven’t found it. Finding FB very hard to navigate.
oddmommy says:
“well, they’re obviously not too vigilant about enforcing this, since I got a welcome e-mail that began “Dear Odd””
funny……
i should have just asked someone on fdl, but at that time, weren’t that many yet talking about it, so i emailed facebook with my question……duh…….
dakine- i forgot about using a gma name……only thing is, it’s pennsylvania dutch and won’t believe it’s a real name!!!!!!
Ian and I are gettlng lonely…..(snif).
spurious @ 59
Go to the FDL group page (link up in Jane’s post here). Then scroll down just a bit to “Discussion boards”. There are usually three showing but you can choose “select all”. Then view the various discussions that are showing including Tommy’s. I think it is “I know your name but not your handle” or something like that.
dmac @ 32
Set up a new Yahoo e-mail account, and use that. But if they are going to police false names, a number of us are going to be booted off.
dmac @ 60
Sure they will. I mean you do have four different great grandmas, after all…
funny loo hoo!!!!!
yeah, dori sounds like a spam name, doesn’t it????
Loo Hoo. @ 40
Damn, didn’t think of that!
sofistic @ 9
Here are a few reasons:
* Here, if you want to communicate directly with another commenter, you have to do it in public, like this. And you have to hope that their eyeballs are on the same thread at the same time. If not, no connection. On Facebook, you can send a private message, and like e-mail, they’ll get it when they check their mail, so delivery is more a sure thing.
*Here, there’s very little way for anyone to know anything about you, unless you have a website where you feel free to post that kind of info. On Facebook, you can let your friends know a bit more about you, but you can also control how much they can see.
Bob in HI
dmac @ 65
At one time, it was actually a crime to send letters in a fake name. Collection agencies had to get special permission for their “Jane Smith” names. Probably long gone by now.
Elliott @ 35
The cat walked by, so I typed ‘cat’. Could have been worse!
seamus at 51 says:
“dmac- You can always get a new email account at Gmail, or some other webmail site, at Gmail you don’t even need a secondary email account, then go back to Facebook and try again.”
THANKS SEAMUS!
how about: I am spurious, yellow.
punaise @ 71
pa, are we going to have get out the router again?
thanks, curious spurious
dakine01 @ 62
Thanks, dakine. Found it.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 72
nahh, I’m about to varnish.
punaise @ 75
THWACK! (Troll swatter, doing double duty)
punaise @ 71
707!
And Now For Something Completely Different.
Conservative Judge Calls Bush A Tyrant (In Front Of Other Judges!)
What makes this neat is that it’s the ex-FISA judge.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 78
Amen.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 76
thanks, I needed that. No self can troll, you know.
punaise @ 80
punaise, if I die at this frakking keyboard from choking on spew from your handiwork, I’m gonna HAUNT you, I sweartaghod…
Is there a link anywhere to a video of the panels @ TBA? I’ve searched their site, searched on YouTube, and can’t find anything.
Mauimom @ 82
They’re actually on google video but hard to find there.
And finally, I’m interested in hearing from people who want to keep their anonymity and still have a presence on Facebook. Many, like Pach and Punaise, have done it successfully (Pach used “Firedoglake” as his surname, I guess it could well be a family thing). What’s your experience been?
FYI, this cricket is registered in the FDL group at Facebook as “jcricket firedoglake” — again the surname approach — seems pach and I are somehow related. Fine with me!!
I began my perusal of the liberal blogosphere with Kos, but quickly migrated to TPM and FDL, where I have been lurking for some time. Amazing how attracted I am to FDL and the long, friendly, intimate threads. You feel like friends, and you don’t even know me. Later tonight or tomorrow I will dip a toe into Facebook, and try to sign on as a friend. Have patience with a 64-year-old liberal. I may not post much, but I love reading. It took some time to figure out “zed” and I still don’t understand 707, but I will learn. You all are great!!
Mod note: name repair by request
OOPS. Scratch previous post at 85. I don’t want my full name out there, lest it attract malware and other stuff.
I signed up at facebook but can’t figure out how to post a comment to a discussion board thread. I tried to on Tom’s I know your name, but who are you? thread, but ended up sending a message to Tom only. Couldn’t find an FAQ or a new user guide either. And navigating is a beyotch, I couldn’t get to where I was without using the Back button up top, or the history on the Back button drop down menu.
Call me Leg Firedoglake.
Call me Poopyman Firepup.
But really, I don’t know how much I’ll visit Facebook. Most of my FDL time is from work (gasp!), and Facebook is blocked.
msmolly @ 85
it originates with LOL – laughing out loud. some knucklehead inverted it to upside-down LOL = 707, as if you were laughing so hard that you tipped over backwards in your chair.
welcome!
punaise @ 90
Ah, thanks! TOO funny! I’ll learn! Also, hopefully, Facebook. I think my grandkids are into that!
OK, I don’t want to upset anyone or anything but all this talk of how to get away with breaking the rules on FB bother me a lot. How can we sit here fuming about rule-breaking by members of the Administration while we gleefully chat about doing the same thing, on a much, much smaller scale on FB.
I had trouble navigating Facebook, but the FDL group gave me the incentive to be kewler than I usually am.
As for guilt about breaking Facebook’s rules . . . huh? This from a hard-nosed play-straight kinda gal.
But because I think it necessary to keep my political opinions, often expressed with considerable snark, separate from my professional identity, I use a pseudonym and an avatar that isn’t me. I’m certainly track-downable, but not worth the trouble to do that.
And I won’t be doing any harm on Facebook. I also felt the usual Catholic guilt for violating rules, any rules, which proves that decades of churchly schooling endures like kudzu. I’ll probably find it necessary to do penance of some sort. Maybe watch all of Bush’s next presser, if he dares to have another.
IMHO Facebook (FB) is the wrong tool upon which to expand the current success of FDL. There are existing tools (that I sketched in a summary and some URLs, in an email to Siun IIRC) that can do the job, and quite handily too I might add.
The required anonymity upon which FDL is missing, for good reason, in FB. That’s because it was designed, properly, to let people form networks, and real names are required for that, when different networks want to combine. But most FDLers will shy away from that initial requirement, and then are confronted with much more social complexity than FDL needs, IMHO. Why should I care about “being friended?”
That’s not the FDL ethos, where anyone can visit and comment, and thus build up their FDL persona. Why, in order to retain my own anoymity, I had to struggle in order to make FB accept my pseudonym: So there, I’m “SOS von MA.” Others have resorted to similar stratagems — some worse than others. How would I know, for example, that Pach was participating in FB as “firedoglake?”
In my memos, I have analyzed what I believe to be FDL’s current most desperate need: the ability to carry on conversations after the life of whatever’s the current base-post has completed. What is needed, imho, is a simple web-based BBS adapted to the FDL blog, which would be largely untouched — still the best community on the web.
I’d appreciate some feedback. Preferably via email, since there’s no way I could ever find my way back to this defunct string. I only happened on it by accident. Whereas if there had been a BBS topic, that problem would not exist.
Thanks for listening, if indeed your eye falls on this lost post. And thanks, from the bottom of my heart, for the hard work, conviction and inspiration you have shown in creating and nurturing FDL.
/SOS from MA